[00:00:00] Lloyd Knight: Thank a veteran for their service. If, if you, if you see ’em and then not only thank ’em for their service, but spend some time with them. You know, ask ’em what they did in their service. So, most veterans, not all, but most are, would, would love to chat with you, especially the older veterans in the Vietnam veterans.

[00:00:18] Lloyd Knight: So it’s always appropriate to thank a veteran for their, their service.

[00:00:23] Voiceover: Welcome to the Tango Tango Podcast. Real raw and unfiltered conversations with veterans and those who support them, tune in, be inspired, and walk away

[00:00:36] Scott W. Luton: stronger. Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you are. Scott Luton and special guest, host and rock and roll star Lloyd Knight here with you on both Supply Chain Now and Tango Tango. So Lloyd, how you doing today?

[00:00:50] Lloyd Knight: Scott, you and I are together for another Veteran’s Day. This is, I think we’ve known each other for, uh, close to the 12 years now. So the, uh. Yeah, but another Veterans Day is here, is upon us. That’s wonderful.

[00:01:05] Scott W. Luton: I love all of the, all the things we’ve done over those 12 years, including many Veterans Day activities.

[00:01:11] Scott W. Luton: So we got a special show teed up that’s gonna offer up outstanding insights and valuable perspective, both from a couple angles here, from a great series that Lloyd’s been leading, dedicated to the veteran community. All of our Tango Tango audience already knows that ’cause it’s Tango Tango with Lloyd Knight.

[00:01:27] Scott W. Luton: You can find it wherever you get your podcast. But we’re also gonna offer up. Valuable perspective on some of Lloyd’s hiring best practices when it comes to bringing on incredible, uh, incredibly capable veteran talent in your supply chain organization. We’re gonna touch on some of the differences in all the military theme, holidays, the big ones out there each year.

[00:01:49] Scott W. Luton: And, and perhaps best yet we’re gonna dive into Lloyd’s brain. That’s right. What’s between his ears on some of his favorite takeaways from season one of Tango? Tango Plus. Some sneak peeks of what’s coming up in an exciting season. Two that’s coming up really soon, Lloyd, man, all that and a whole bunch more.

[00:02:07] Scott W. Luton: Should be a great show, huh?

[00:02:09] Lloyd Knight: Looking forward to the conversation.

[00:02:12] Scott W. Luton: Alright, I think you’re ready to go, huh?

[00:02:14] Lloyd Knight: I I’m, I’m like bouncing in my seat. I’ve, I’ve been like looking forward to this, like all week long.

[00:02:21] Scott W. Luton: Oh, same. All right, so lemme do this. So Lloyd, I wanna dive in. And I wanna start with a fun, warm warmup question that’s very topical of today.

[00:02:32] Scott W. Luton: Some folks may not know, Lloyd, that you had not only spent tons of your career journey making supply chain logistics happen, but also you retired from the United States Air Force after 20 years of service. So with that as a backdrop, I gotta ask you the tough questions here. What’s one of the best chow halls you ever ate at and what’s one of the worst chow halls you ever ate at?

[00:02:54] Scott W. Luton: Tell us Lloyd. Well,

[00:02:56] Lloyd Knight: I can definitely answer that. You know, I was a crew member flying cargo planes, uh, travel the world, been to 75 countries, so I spent a lot of time eating at, at, at chow halls or in the Air Force, we call ’em dining facilities because Right, right. Was civilized. So absolutely the worst, uh, man, I apologize if, if I’m hurting anybody’s feelings, but, uh, Navy dining Facility in road to Spain.

[00:03:23] Lloyd Knight: So the, uh, so showed up at a Road to Spain one time, and it was late at night and we were eating midnight chow. And normally midnight chow is a combination of what was served at dinner and then what’s gonna be served for breakfast. And it’s, it’s normally pretty good. But wow, that, that was really, really, really horrible.

[00:03:44] Lloyd Knight: Uh, crunchy rice, uh, undercooked rice, old beef patties, and it was the only thing open. You know, you eat when you have an opportunity to eat. When you’re a crew member, you don’t turn a meal down. And norm, you know, I, I went on a mission one time. We took a flight surgeon with us and we were gone for 10 days and we ate breakfast for, for 20 times in that 10 days.

[00:04:09] Lloyd Knight: And he, he measured our cholesterol and was was, it was like, oh my gosh, your cholesterol intake. And it’s a much different time now, all the, those years later. But absolutely the best dining facilities have been the Air Force dining facilities. You know, we put more of an investment in it their, their night and day compared to the other branches of service.

[00:04:32] Lloyd Knight: And the one, I was a first Sergeant at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, and there’s several headquarters there, and that one was off the chain. And the food was always good. The service was always great.

[00:04:43] Scott W. Luton: Okay. I love it, man. What about you, you, Scott?

[00:04:46] Lloyd Knight: Do you, you remember back.

[00:04:48] Scott W. Luton: I do. I sure do. And I’m gonna tell you I’ve got some pictures.

[00:04:52] Scott W. Luton: These were tough to find of, uh, dining facilities as you put it. I had a couple bosses that always referred it to, to it as a chow hall when I was, uh, active duty. And that probably stuck in my brain somewhere. But let me share a couple, not so exciting pictures, but pictures nonetheless. This is Carolina Pond’s, uh, chow Hall Dining Facility at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, which was my first right.

[00:05:16] Scott W. Luton: Permanent duty station after basic and tech school. Now they have, this looks a lot different. They’ve invested in this and rebuilt out a little bit since I was there back in 96 and nine seven. Yeah. And the main thing I remember about this Lloyd, is after I get my sub sandwich, which was my favorite treats, I’d always get it to go.

[00:05:35] Scott W. Luton: ’cause I’d go out and sit in my Saturn SL two in the parking lot, turn some sports talk radio, and I’d eat. And every once in a while we’d have an F 16 demo taking place right across the. Uh, the ramp and oh my gosh, if you’ve heard that 16 demo when they hit, when they do various turns and, and it is incredibly loud.

[00:05:57] Scott W. Luton: So loud, you can hear it through your car and it would scare the devil out of you from time to time. So that was, that was one of my favorite dining hall moments. ’cause that is the sound of freedom at the end of the day. Right. And then secondly, I know you can relate to the second one, Lloyd. The worst chow hall, not because of the food, but because of the experience was basic.

[00:06:20] Scott W. Luton: Of course. Well, basic training.

[00:06:21] Lloyd Knight: Oh, yes. Oh, I, I had to be what in basic training I had to be the chow runner with, and what’s what you’re looking at here? It’s the worst job you can get. You have to go in front of all the drill sergeants as the technical instructors three times a day and request permission to eat, and it’s horrible.

[00:06:41] Scott W. Luton: It is. I’m so glad you were a child runner. I was not. But that’s what this picture, as you mentioned, that’s what this picture that which comes to us from Brian over with the Air Force and it’s the three 31st training Squadron from 2022 at joint base San Antonio, which was Lackland Air Force Base back in the day for for me and probably for you, and this is the flight 6 76 Chow Runner from a couple years ago doing exactly what you just mentioned, reporting in his flight.

[00:07:09] Scott W. Luton: Scott, you just

[00:07:10] Lloyd Knight: gave me post-traumatic stress disorder. That is six weeks. So, and, and you gotta think six weeks, 42 days times three. So, so 126 times I had to go ask in front of what we call the snake pit. Yes. So, yeah, a table. Full of drill sergeants who are not in good mood to request for my flight to have permission to eat.

[00:07:40] Scott W. Luton: Oh, oh gosh. Why’d you do that? Well, one last little nugget here beyond the chow. The chow, um, the chow runner so to speak, is the time you got a man is still marvels and I don’t try to eat fast, but I’m just a natural fast eater driven probably by those days. At basic where you had 10 minutes, there was no talking unless you wanted to, to invite folks from the snake pit to ruin your lunch and it was evening and you’re out and oh gosh, you dared.

[00:08:14] Scott W. Luton: Remember this, Lloyd, if you dared go get ice cream.

[00:08:18] Lloyd Knight: Oh, that’s what I was just gonna say there. There was an ice cream box.

[00:08:25] Lloyd Knight: Oh wow. I wonder if that still there.

[00:08:29] Scott W. Luton: Oh, I, we’re gonna have to go back. I’d love to go back to, uh, what’s now joint base, San Antonio, and, uh, revisit some of those, those experiences. But nevertheless, we got a great show teed up folks. Again, it’s Veterans Day 2025. It’s a celebratory day for so many different reasons, which you can get in, get into in just a second.

[00:08:47] Scott W. Luton: But before we do. Let me make quick one quick blurb. Well folks, we always like to bring resources to you and we wanna make sure that you’re aware of our almost weekly newsletter called With that set now we always offer up upcoming live shows, tools, resources, perspective from across global supply chain.

[00:09:04] Scott W. Luton: Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss a single thing. Alright, so Lloyd. It’s really important. I see this all the time on Social Scrolls when it comes to various military themed, uh, days of the year. There’s a lot of confusion out there, and I don’t wanna pick on anybody. I gotta tell you, one of my biggest pet peeves in the world is hearing Happy Memorial Day and, and seeing it as a celebratory day like others.

[00:09:30] Scott W. Luton: And what I wanna do here with you for starters, is just kind of walk folks through what are the three of the biggest military related holidays each year. So let’s start with Veterans Day, which is today. No, it, it happens on November 11th. Every year. It doesn’t change dates, it’s not tied. So to a certain day of the week, it’s November 11th, every single year.

[00:09:51] Scott W. Luton: And Lloyd, what do we celebrate on Veteran’s Day?

[00:09:53] Lloyd Knight: So, yeah, let’s take a look. It’s, so November 11th, so why November 11th? So actually, veteran’s Day is celebrated at 1111. Am on November 11th, ’cause that’s when the armistice was signed in during World War I. The holiday used to be called Armistice Day and President Eisenhower in 1957 changed it to Veterans Day.

[00:10:18] Lloyd Knight: So this is the big celebration. So yeah, so Veteran’s Day, you go find somebody that served in the military and, and you thank ’em for their service. That’s right. So, so this is, this is the, this is our holiday, like Right. A lot of folks get a month, veteran’s Day. We get, we only get one day. So this is our, our big holiday.

[00:10:39] Lloyd Knight: It’s a a grand celebration. Then there’s two other holidays or or days that you, you need to be aware of. The next one is Memorial Day, as Scott mentioned, and Memorial Day is a a little bit more solemn. Definitely have celebrations for Memorial Day weekend and spend with your family. Because, you know, that’s what the sacrifices were.

[00:11:02] Lloyd Knight: Were to, you know, our quality of life as Americans definitely go out there and celebrate. But Memorial Day itself is a solemn occasion. It’s to celebrate the, uh, service members and veterans who have passed away. That’s right. And they, uh, it, and honestly, it doesn’t have to be. That they’ve passed away in military service.

[00:11:22] Lloyd Knight: You know, it could be that hey, they, they’re someone that served the military passed away, and this is a day to honor their military service. And then the third one is a less, no, it’s called Armed Forces Day. And Armed Forces Day is simply to recognize those that are currently serving in active duty, guard and and reserve.

[00:11:42] Lloyd Knight: So that’s another celebration day, uh, you know, go out and service, you know, to celebrate those currently serving.

[00:11:50] Scott W. Luton: Well said Lloyd. And folks, if you’re, uh, keeping track at home, if these dates are new to you, remember that Veteran’s Day is always November 11th. Memorial Day is always on the last Monday in May, so that rotates to date a little bit.

[00:12:04] Scott W. Luton: And Armed Forces Day is always the third Saturday in May. So good stuff. Lloyd, I appreciate you educating our already smart audience, but, uh, all of us, I’ve seen a lot of folks, really smart folks unintentionally mix and mingle those days, and it’s important to, well, why they stand on their own. Let’s shift gears here.

[00:12:21] Scott W. Luton: Really want to get some of your perspective and point of view. ’cause you’ve become quite a subject matter expert Lloyd on recruiting veterans into leading supply chain organizations and doing big things, as I mentioned in supply chain logistics. So this could be, as I think we were talking pre-show, this could be like a 18 hour conversation based on all that you’ve seen, good, bad, and, and indifferent and ugly.

[00:12:47] Scott W. Luton: If you had to pick three best practices for those organizations that wanna start getting it more right. What would be the first one? First best practice?

[00:12:56] Lloyd Knight: Yeah, so, so this is based on, on my experiences. You know, I lead veteran talent acquisition at UPS. We have a over 18,000 veterans that work for us. So hey, I’ve got a lot of experience doing that.

[00:13:08] Lloyd Knight: I’ve created co-founded and have led Vetlanta. For now. God, that’s 12 years. Holy cow. Wow. And then I also have my own company called Knight Work, where I provide consulting services for, for companies looking to, to get help and also the veterans with the, uh, that are transitioning. I, I do really these low cost workshops to help ’em better transition.

[00:13:31] Lloyd Knight: So the, the very first one is where, where companies really, um, error is they don’t have somebody with military experience. Or that are experts in the military recruiting area, uh, on their staff. So, you know, the military is a unique beast. You know, if you don’t know the culture, if you don’t know the rank structure, if you don’t even know how to get on the base, if, if you don’t know what uh, the terminology is, it’s gonna be a big hit and mess.

[00:14:04] Lloyd Knight: I’ve seen many companies. Really struggle with this. You know, something small like stock photos. You know, a lot of companies go out there and get on social media and they pull out these stock photos that are horrible and like, don’t represent the military population. And I can tell you we see that as service members and veterans and we’re not gonna take you seriously if, if we know that, hey, you’re not going to put your best foot forward, not only to recruit veterans.

[00:14:34] Lloyd Knight: But have a culture that is very receptive. We call it veteran friendly, or veteran ready, and to retain veterans. So please, you know, hire subject matter experts or, or at least bring in a consultant that’s gonna help your company do it. Right. So for me, that’s the, uh, biggest take of it. And Scott, we need to do a whole episode on, on just this subject.

[00:14:59] Scott W. Luton: We do. We sure do. ’cause you have so much more to offer and there’s so much more organizations need to know. But I wanna throw this out there too. Uh, don’t take it at face value. If they say they’re military experts or if they use that in their sales and marketing, you know, ask the question, ask ’em about their experience.

[00:15:16] Scott W. Luton: And better yet, if they’re, if you are confused, especially if any, our global. Uh, supply chain audience is confused and what, what they’re hearing or seeing. Hey, shoot us a note. We’re happy to help you vet absolutely real resources from a lot of the reindeer games out there. Okay, Lloyd, and we’ll get back to a full series, uh, to come on.

[00:15:35] Scott W. Luton: This topic’s really important one. Secondly, apart from all the reindeer games that go on in recruiting, nonprofit, you name it. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of bad, bad actors out there. You’ve got some. Vetted organizations that folks can partner with. Some veteran nonprofits that you and the team, probably the Vetlanta team, have really vetted and have seen their good work.

[00:15:56] Scott W. Luton: What comes to mind there, Lloyd, for best practice number two?

[00:15:59] Lloyd Knight: Yeah, so absolutely fine. Great partners that, that are out there that can help you. There’s definitely some business partners like, you know, Knight Work, my company, but there’s some wonderful nonprofits that can help as well. So just like to cover the, uh, several of them.

[00:16:15] Lloyd Knight: Hire Heroes. USA Love Hire Heroes, USA ’cause they’re right in our backyard, headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia. Ross Dickman has been their, CEO is a previous guest on On Tango Tango. So they provide resumes for veterans and then mock job interviews. So they’re one of my, uh, favorite organizations out there.

[00:16:38] Lloyd Knight: The second one there is one that’s very close to the, their name structure, but it’s through the US Chamber of Commerce. It’s the US Chamber of Commerce hiring our heroes Foundation. So they, uh, they offer what’s called skill Bridge, where you can actually bring in interns from the military while they’re still on active duty to work for you.

[00:16:58] Lloyd Knight: Another great one is Four Block. Four Block is an organization that provides a full semester’s worth of transition assistance, mostly on the career side of the house, helping a, uh, veterans make that a, uh, a uh, transition. And there’s, uh, a program specifically for. Logisticians and supply ca chain called troops to logistics.

[00:17:20] Lloyd Knight: So all those are are four vetted organizations that I give two thumbs up. But there is something to keep in mind. There’s 45,000 nonprofits out there that provide some sort of support, the either veterans or or for companies. And those range from good, the bad, and the ugly. So make sure you do your homework.

[00:17:40] Lloyd Knight: Charity Navigator is a great resource. Ask questions, reach out to Scott and myself and we can help you find those great ones that your part your companies need to partner with.

[00:17:51] Scott W. Luton: Well said, folks at Charity Navigator. That’s an excellent tool. It’s, it’s a vetted tool and it, and as Lloyd mentioned, it signs up, uh, like a quality score or a trust score on all a, a vast array of nonprofits, better related and otherwise.

[00:18:06] Scott W. Luton: So check out charity navigator.org. So, lastly. Social media, where does it play a part? Lloyd?

[00:18:13] Lloyd Knight: Social media is so important and I’ll specifically talk about LinkedIn ’cause that’s, that’s the only platform I’m really on. So LinkedIn is, uh, so important. Your company should absolutely have a presence. It’s, it’s a great way, I’m always mentoring.

[00:18:30] Lloyd Knight: Veterans, your next career is gonna be found through your network. You have to network, network, network, and you build that network, uh, both in person and virtually. The number one place to, to grow your network is LinkedIn. So if your company is out there and, and you’re looking to hire veterans, what you want to do is you want to get upstream.

[00:18:51] Lloyd Knight: And by that I mean you wanna have visibility for veterans. Years before they make the transition, so they know who your organization is, that they know your culture, that they know you’re veteran friendly. So you need to be making an effort to be posting very pro veteran friendly type of correspondences.

[00:19:11] Lloyd Knight: You know, a UPS, who we have a military and veteran page specifically on LinkedIn. It’s a great way to get upstream. It’s a great way to post jobs specifically for veterans and to provide content. I provide a lot of content. On how service members can be better candidates for UPS positions because, uh, UPS, a lot of our jobs are super, super competitive.

[00:19:36] Lloyd Knight: So I’m providing content that they can go out and read stuff, like how to tailor your resume, how to, uh, uh, network, how to work a job fair, because I want ’em to be better candidates, uh, when they get the opportunity to get in front of UPS.

[00:19:51] Scott W. Luton: Love it. Uh, folks, dig your well before you’re thirsty, whether you’re hiring or whether you’re looking for a job.

[00:19:58] Scott W. Luton: It’s not gonna happen overnight, like a microwave bag of popcorn. So also reach out to Lloyd. He, he’s a pro. Here he can help you. He mentioned the Knight Work earlier. He’s working with some really big, powerful organizations, including, of course, his great work with UPS. Alright, so Lloyd, I know this, there’s a much longer list, but those three things are very actual and I appreciate you sharing it here on Veterans Day 2025.

[00:20:23] Scott W. Luton: Alright, we’re about to get into some great Tango Tango key takeaways. You’re not gonna miss it, but I wanna offer one more resource that is very supply chain related. A neat read. From our Supply Chain Now blog series. Have you checked out our new website yet? SupplyChainNow.com. Brand new website. I love our resource hub.

[00:20:42] Scott W. Luton: Well, the one and only Corin Bura shares some of her key takeaways from an incredible panel session that she led and conducted with an exceptional group of top supply chain leaders about, uh, a month or so ago, maybe two months ago. It included several chief supply chain officers from some of the biggest brands in the world.

[00:21:01] Scott W. Luton: So check out what her key takeaways are and let me know some of your key takeaways. Great session there. Alright, so Lloyd, I want to get into the Smash Hit podcast at Tango Tango. When we dropped it, it was sizzling. It was so hot, it just wrapped season one. How many episodes was it season one? Uh, Lloyd. I believe we did 13 episodes in season one.

[00:21:24] Scott W. Luton: I think you’re right. And we had to do one more this, this wrap up series. So we landed on 14 and not the UN 13, right. So far, absolutely. Uh, you’ve done incredible work. It’s been fascinating conversations, the stories, the anecdotes, the takeaways, the, the poignant moments. Man, it’s been awesome. So I wanna do this.

[00:21:43] Scott W. Luton: We got two episodes in particular we’re gonna dive into in just a second, but at a higher level. Now that season one is done and we’re planning for season two, what’s been a couple of your favorite overall key takeaways?

[00:21:57] Lloyd Knight: Well, one, it’s been absolutely wonderful to work with you and Amanda. So, you know, I’ve, I’ve done podcasts, uh, on, on my own and I’ve had to do everything.

[00:22:06] Lloyd Knight: So Scott, you and Amanda and your team are spoiling me. It’s absolutely wonderful. So this is a, this is a dream. So, so thank you. So, you know, my kind of key takeaways is. Uh, this one. It’s a lot of fun. I’m absolutely loving doing this. It’s, it’s so much fun. And my second takeaway is, wow, you are a, an incredible mentor.

[00:22:29] Lloyd Knight: So the, uh, I’m, every time I get on a podcast with you, you are just a, uh, sergeant. Smooth. So, so you, you do this very, very well. And so the, I I always enjoy when, whenever we have an, uh, a chance to do an episode together. And I’ve seen how you’ve progressed over the years too. ’cause we did some early episodes way back in, in, in the day.

[00:22:52] Lloyd Knight: So it’s been wonderful to watch you progress. And then third is, wow, every episode I, I learn more. I think I, I think I get better as a host every episode. I’m excited for the 20 episodes we’re gonna do in season two. My fourth and final takeaway is I’ve learned how to shut up and let my guests tell their stories.

[00:23:15] Lloyd Knight: And, you know, I, I think a lot of podcasters get it wrong. That they feel that they have to do all the talking, and I’ve had these such incredible guests, which we’re gonna talk about three here in a, in a minute, that I’ve just learned that they’ll let ’em speak and throw some, some, some great questions and let them tell their stories.

[00:23:34] Scott W. Luton: Lloyd, I love those. Uh, you’re too kind on the front end. I really appreciate that and it’s been quite a journey. And of course you referenced Amanda who leads production here at Supply Chain Now, but we got a bevy. You know, Josh was behind the scenes helping out production. He’s like a maestro, so many others here at Supply Chain Now that that really helped us reach.

[00:23:53] Scott W. Luton: Our audience and tell some of the stories that they may have missed and then stories that cannot be a, cannot afford to be missed. And Lloyd, I’ll tell you this, Tango Tango series has been incredible. And the last point you mentioned, the ability to shut up. I know some folks may kind of take that as kind of a funny, but that’s a, that’s a, an that’s an important takeaway because.

[00:24:13] Scott W. Luton: Being able to actively listen, especially in a, like an interview or a podcast, really any time is valuable, but be able to stop and just take in what your guests, the story they’re sharing and not think about what you’re gonna say next. That’s a superpower. So I think we all all could get better at that.

[00:24:32] Scott W. Luton: Would you agree Lloyd?

[00:24:33] Lloyd Knight: Absolutely, and I, I have more to learn on that than just, just not in the podcast visit us, but in the 365, that’s my life. You know?

[00:24:42] Scott W. Luton: Don’t we all, don’t we all? Okay, so you tease a couple of all the episodes are great folks. Check out Tango Tango, wherever you get your podcast. Given the time we have here today on Veteran’s Day 2025, we have so much to celebrate.

[00:24:54] Scott W. Luton: We got time for a couple really special episodes. And this first one, pat McNamara. This, this guy is pretty legendary. Lloyd, tell me about this episode.

[00:25:04] Lloyd Knight: So, yeah, this, so this is incredible episode. I laugh at this. I followed Pat. If you get on social media, he’s ha he has hundreds of thousands of followers.

[00:25:13] Lloyd Knight: He’s quite the personality. He had this amazing career, you know, serving as a green bray than over a decade in Delta force, which is just. Just amazing. I think it was 14 maybe plus years. Wow. So, absolutely amazing. I reached out to the pat on LinkedIn again, build your network, and just invited him on the podcast to let him know what we were doing.

[00:25:37] Lloyd Knight: He immediately said yes, and I was really impressed with that. I tried to do the same too. I, I try to be responsive anytime somebody asks me for something and he said yes, and then he asked a little bit about the format and, and I always tell, Hey, the format. It’s like a shorter version of Joe Rogan. Like, I’m not gonna provide you a script.

[00:25:57] Lloyd Knight: I’m not even gonna provide you a, any questions or talking points. We’re just gonna talk about, uh, what comes up. And I want you to tell stories and we’re just gonna go to the conversation. And that’s a, if you, if you looked at the first 13 podcast, I think our shortest one was 37 minutes and our longest one was close to two hours.

[00:26:16] Lloyd Knight: Wow. ’cause they’re just taking us where the stories tell us. So I said, Hey, it’s gonna be Joe Rogan, and he goes. Yeah. Yeah. I was on, I was on that podcast, so not, not knowing that he was actually on the Joe Rogan podcast.

[00:26:30] Scott W. Luton: Wow.

[00:26:30] Lloyd Knight: And a, uh, so I thought it was pretty amazing. And so I went back after our episode and, and watched the Joe Rogan podcast with him.

[00:26:38] Lloyd Knight: I actually thought ours was better. And it’s, and it’s just not me, but just because I think we got, uh, bigger and more personal because it was from one veteran to the next. So I, I thought it was better. So hey, hey. Check, check ’em both out. If you haven’t watched that uh, episode yet, check it out. He is an amazing personality.

[00:27:00] Lloyd Knight: Then Scott, he was intense as well, so we got on, I usually like BS with, with the, with my guest for about five or 10 minutes to get ’em comfortable. I’m all about, you know, putting people at ease and establishing these connections and he was like, let’s, let’s do it like right on the bat. And, and by the end of it we, we had such a great conversation.

[00:27:22] Lloyd Knight: You know, he was very complimentary. He was like, Hey, this was amazing. You, you, you did a wonderful job at this, so love it. Uh, so yeah, so I, it was, uh, uh, an absolutely amazing episode.

[00:27:35] Scott W. Luton: Outstanding. Uh, I tell you what, uh, it sounds like he can move mountains himself from that conversation. The snippets I heard and what you’re sharing here today, uh, an incredible story that as if that’s not good enough, this other fascinating story.

[00:27:50] Scott W. Luton: Is all about Atomic Echoes and he had a quite a one-two punch here. Uh, Lloyd, tell us more.

[00:27:58] Lloyd Knight: Yeah, so I’m, if you’ve been following me, I’m a presidential scholar at the Bush Institute Veteran Leadership, uh, program, and it’s an absolutely amazing program. It runs from. July through November. So I’m actually, uh, getting ready to graduate and spend some time with President Bush and then miss of Bush, which is pretty exciting.

[00:28:18] Lloyd Knight: But Victoria Kelly is, is one of my classmates, and, and she did this a, uh, documentary on PBS called Atomic Echoes. And then Atomic Echoes is all about a, uh, US military veterans. That were all situated to invade Japan during World War ii. Had to shift their mission and they ended up shifting their mission from war fighting to humanitarian operations, specifically a uh, Nagasaki, Hiroshima.

[00:28:53] Lloyd Knight: So the story is a twofold story. It’s about these service members and there’s still some alive that they’ve interviewed. About, you know, their terrible memories they have of going in and serving as peacekeepers and humanitarian. And some of these gentlemen have some of the worst PTSD that hasn’t been recognized.

[00:29:14] Lloyd Knight: And then the second half is going over and carrying stories from survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And you know, that might seem depressing, but. Wow. It’s about, it’s about forgiveness and resiliency and strength of these people. Some of the stories are just some moving and, and touching. So we actually, Victoria told us about this, this documentary, we watched it in the Bush Institute.

[00:29:44] Lloyd Knight: I was kidding around with like, wow, my allergies are acting up Uhhuh because, you know, I had tears in, in my eyes. And then I asked Victoria. If she wanted to be on Tango Tango, and she jumped at it and invited her co-creator, Karin, to be on, on the show. And so the two of these ladies joined the show and wow.

[00:30:07] Lloyd Knight: I was just so impressed with both them. For one, they’re very accomplished authors, both of them. And then two, they’re, they’re very personable stories. So Victoria’s grandfather was one of these atomic Echo veterans. Then Karin’s relatives were actually in Japan and are featured in, in the story. Wow. And she’d go the three, the two of them with Karin’s father go over the Japan to film some of this.

[00:30:36] Lloyd Knight: So just the being so, so impressed with both of these ladies and just so moved by their interviews. And they were grateful to be on the podcast and, but I was. More grateful tenfold to have them on the, to tell their stories.

[00:30:53] Scott W. Luton: Hmm. Lloyd, that is incredible. Both of these episodes and really they’re, it’s a perfect illustration of all the 13 podcast episodes you released in season one of Tango.

[00:31:07] Scott W. Luton: Tango. Alright, so I got, let me ask you one more quick question. I, I didn’t, I’m gonna surprise you on something here since I know you’re, you’re a big fan of the, the spontaneity. Do you, out of all those episodes. In the warmup on the front end, right? Where you’re trying to get folks comfortable and, and they’re meeting you for the first time maybe, and, and you’re warming things up, you’re making maybe small talk or, you know, before you get into the heavy stuff.

[00:31:32] Scott W. Luton: What was one of your favorite exchanges with any of the guests that joined you on, on, again, the first, you know, five, five minutes or so? In any of those conversations, what comes to mind? Lloyd?

[00:31:45] Lloyd Knight: Well, if you, uh, flashback to the John Thompson episode. So John Thompson, his episode was about his military career.

[00:31:54] Lloyd Knight: He was actually the commander of the night stalkers for the Bin Laden raid. So he was in Afghanistan. It was his, his pilots and his team that went in and flew the, those top secret helicopters. Wow. And the support helicopters that get Bin Laden. Well, well, John’s a friend of mine, so we, uh, we uh, went to the same church together for years.

[00:32:15] Lloyd Knight: He works at Cox Corporate headquarters, which is, I, I can almost throw a rock out my back door and hit it. And it’s very close to UPS. We’ve known each other for, for a long time. So it was, and John and I always throw barbs at each other. So the, uh, it wasn’t as much as. As getting to know each other, it was just having a sense of humor.

[00:32:36] Lloyd Knight: Mm-hmm. You know, they, of course he, he, he throws Air Force jokes and quits up my way. But it was amazing the, to go from, from that to really getting in and knowing John’s story. Mm-hmm. And, and you know, I’m friends with his, his wife, Lashelle. And so if you go back to that episode, I’m constantly asking.

[00:32:59] Lloyd Knight: What was Lashelle feeling like? Right. We get into his feelings, which a lot of veterans don’t like to talk about feelings, and one of the, you know, things I ask him is like when he got invited into, for the first time, he thought he was actually getting fired. He got invited late one night into a general officer’s house and his wife served the milk and cookies, and that was when they broke it to him that they were going to get bin Laden.

[00:33:24] Lloyd Knight: So the, so I ask him like, Hey, what, what were you actually feeling in this moment? And they, uh, check out the episode if the hero’s response, ’cause his, his response was very special.

[00:33:35] Scott W. Luton: Wow. I’ll tell you what folks, if those three conversations, uh, don’t kind of put a shiver up your spine, hey, you better check your pulse.

[00:33:43] Scott W. Luton: So go check out Tango Tango wherever you get your podcasts and you’re gonna enjoy Lloyd’s. Interview style. I tell you, I’ve seen, I’ve seen it evolve over the years. Like all we do, all of us do. Yeah. Lloyd. If you remember before we talk about season two, you were talking earlier in the conversation about the early days when we hosted podcasts together on Veteran Voices, and we’ve had some great hosts and guests over the years, but there was one show.

[00:34:10] Scott W. Luton: And we are over at Enrique Alvarez, office of Vector Global Logistics over there at King Plow. We do have some studio space and we were upstairs in, which is a bit confined space, and we had some really big guys around a very small table, and we were shoulder to shoulder having a conversation, but it was like.

[00:34:33] Scott W. Luton: The conversation was so good that no, you could, didn’t even notice that you didn’t have room really to stretch out your legs or to adjust yourself in your chair. And that’s when you know you’re having conversations that are hitting, when folks are opening up, they’re sharing their anecdotes and experiences that we can all learn so much from.

[00:34:52] Scott W. Luton: And Lloyd, uh, that, that those are some fun times back in the day, huh?

[00:34:56] Lloyd Knight: Oh, absolutely. We had such a good time. We had some big. Big names on their shows back then, uh, Wera, those early shows. We, that’s, we had John Tien, who was under Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security under the last administration, uh, my all time favorite David Bellavia, the only, uh, living medal of honor, uh, recipient from Iraq that came in the studio.

[00:35:19] Lloyd Knight: And I remember walking out, there was these three very young folks wa walking into King Powell. And they saw the me of honor hanging off his neck and they’re like, what is that? And, and David’s wonderful. He always takes it off. And he’s got the dirtiest me of honor you’ve ever seen, because he takes it off and he handed it to these three, you know, young adults and they had no idea what they were looking at.

[00:35:44] Lloyd Knight: And so, you know, so that was a very special memory and, you know, having Dan Solo to talk about his PTSD story and mm-hmm we had a crazy heavy metal band that some music about, you know, uh, uh, about PTSD. So we, we had some really powerful stories and some big guests early on in the, in, in, in the career of Veteran Voices, and we’re gonna have a lot more of that in upcoming seasons for sure.

[00:36:10] Scott W. Luton: That’s right. And while we’re talking about those early years of Veteran Voices, big shout out to the one, only Mary Kate Soliva, who did a great job hosting several seasons of Veteran Voices. And I’ll tell you, she’s by the way, ask Dr. Mary Kate Soliva. So kudos to you, Mary Kate, I wish you well and wherever your current journey’s taken you.

[00:36:29] Scott W. Luton: Alright, so Lloyd, speaking of big things. You’ve already mentioned we’re going bigger in season two with Tango Tango. We’re planning for 20 episodes. What would you like to sneak, peek and tease here today about season two?

[00:36:42] Lloyd Knight: Wow. We, we have some really good guests coming up, so I’m definitely gonna lean on my Bush Institute.

[00:36:49] Lloyd Knight: Yeah. Some of my, the alum in that group, we have Patrick Flood, who’s agreed to come on the show. So Patrick, before he a, uh. I joined the Army in one of the Special Forces. He was an actor on young and restless. Really? And he did, he did a handful of b rated movies and, and he’s, he’s doing amazing thing in the veteran veteran space.

[00:37:11] Lloyd Knight: So we’re gonna have him, we’re gonna have Mark Riley. Mark is one of my new best friends. Mark is now a retired command sergeant Major. He was in the Army band for I think, 34 years. He was the Command Sergeant major of the Drum and Fight Corps, and was in the Old Guard in Washington, DC for, for 20 years.

[00:37:31] Lloyd Knight: And he runs the, uh, um, uh, some great, the, uh, musical programs that, that he does post Army retirement. So he is gonna come on, I’m working with the, uh, and haven’t been able to announce it yet, but the current Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins, I’m, I’m in talks to get him on the. Podcast. He’s a, a very podcast friendly official in, in, in the government.

[00:37:55] Lloyd Knight: So I think that would be a real coup if we can make it happen. Bob McDonald, one of the previous VA secretaries, was one of the guest at one of my previous Bush Institute classes. He’s agreed to do the show. We have some other big names. I mean big names, but even better than big names. Big stories. Yeah.

[00:38:15] Lloyd Knight: That, that, that we’re gonna have. And you know what, I’m gonna learn how to shut up and let them tell their stories and a, uh, but we we’re gonna have some, some, some great episodes. And then a, uh, Scott, we’re also gonna do some cross pollinization across the, uh, Supply Chain Now. So looking forward to some of that as well.

[00:38:33] Scott W. Luton: We are too, uh, bigger beggar, bigger. Better bolder. But most importantly, as you mentioned, ’cause I completely agree with you. It’s about the stories. It’s about the stories. The names are great. Uh, the big things they’ve done in their career are great. But the stories that help us all exchange world perspective a little bit easier or, or find new ideas or, or new ways to, uh, make it through challenging days or even the good days.

[00:39:02] Scott W. Luton: The stories are the best. And Lloyd, I’ll tell you, you, you’re really good. At shutting up. That might be the title of today’s show, the Power, the Superpower of Just Shutting Up. We all need to learn it and get better at it. Let’s do this Lloyd. So season two folks is coming to your favorite podcast player.

[00:39:20] Scott W. Luton: Look up Tango Tango with Lloyd Knight. You can check out all the episodes already been published and get ready as we download and back up the truck and drop another 20 episodes on you coming up soon in the months ahead. All right, Lloyd. I got two questions before we wrap up here today, and you’ve already kind of answered this first one, but I’m gonna ask you again because here at the end it might be more actionable and it might stick with people.

[00:39:47] Scott W. Luton: What is one simple way that folks can honor veterans here on Veterans Day 2025?

[00:39:54] Lloyd Knight: So I’m gonna give you two ways. So thank a veteran for their service. If, if you, if you see ’em, and then not only thank them for their service, but spend some time with them. Ask ’em what they did in their service. So most veterans, not all, but most are, would, would love to chat with you, especially the older veterans and the Vietnam veterans.

[00:40:16] Lloyd Knight: So they, uh, you know, to have these discussions, but it’s always appropriate to think of veteran for their, their service. And the second one is, Hey, give to the, some of these great veteran organizations out there. So they’re amazing organizations and not only money, but time as well. So they’re, they’re amazing.

[00:40:35] Lloyd Knight: If you’re looking for somebody to give, to, just reach out and I can provide you a list of some great organizations that a, uh, could use your, your support.

[00:40:46] Scott W. Luton: Awesome, Lloyd, very actionable. And I would just echo on both of those, especially giving to those vetted nonprofits. Use Charity Navigator, use Lloyd Knight, what have you.

[00:40:57] Scott W. Luton: But on the first one, beyond thanking ’em. Sit down and talk with them. I bet they got some stories to share. Right? Shake their hand, look ’em in the eye, and then be prepared to shut up and listen. You’ll never know what you hear. That’s good stuff. Good, good actionable advice there, Lloyd, on Veterans Day 2025.

[00:41:15] Scott W. Luton: Now you’ve invited folks to reach out to you numerous times here today. You always do. Let’s make that really easy for folks. Lloyd Knight, how can folks reach you?

[00:41:26] Lloyd Knight: Yeah, the easiest way to reach me is LinkedIn. I’m super, super responsive on LinkedIn, so, so just reach out there then always. Hey, we’re looking for partnerships on the Tango Tango podcast, so if you think of a partnership makes sense, reach out to Scott and his team and he, uh, would love to start doing some more partnerships and maybe an episode specifically for you or for your a l organization.

[00:41:50] Scott W. Luton: Love that Lloyd, love challenge folks. Reach out and get a conversation teed up with Lloyd or our team. And better yet, get ready for season two of Tango Tango. Alright. You know what? I hate to wind down our conversation here today, Lloyd. I’ve had way too much fun. Just the, the beginning fun warmup question gave me lots of memories and, and, and laughs here today.

[00:42:15] Scott W. Luton: Uh, but most importantly, folks, I wanna build on, um, what Lloyd said. Today’s a special day. Let’s celebrate all those that have worn a uniform and, and served our country and made the sacrifice. It is so important. We call time out and I’m so glad we’ve got at least a day of the year. I know Lloyd mentioned other, other countries have weeks and maybe months and that’s great.

[00:42:37] Scott W. Luton: Let’s a beautiful thing. But today of all days, do something to celebrate our incredible veterans. Uh, big thanks today, Lloyd Knight, host of Tango Tango. Find it wherever you get your podcast. Lloyd. Great to have you here today with us. And

[00:42:51] Lloyd Knight: tha Thanks Scott for having us. Uh, thanks for this partnership. I, uh, love you.

[00:42:55] Lloyd Knight: Love what a, uh, what you’re doing with Supply Chain Now. Thank you to the staff and Scott. Thank you for your service and happy Veterans Day, my friend.

[00:43:03] Scott W. Luton: Yeah, you bet. Same to you my friend. Big thanks to Joshua, Amanda, Trisha, you name it. All the folks behind the scenes helping to make production happen here today.

[00:43:14] Scott W. Luton: As Lloyd mentioned, there’ll be some cross pollination throughout the year coming up, and especially one last time. Big thanks to all of our veterans out there that have served our country. So folks, you’ve got homework here today. Hopefully you enjoyed the conversation, but your homework is simple. Take one thing you heard here from Lloyd today.

[00:43:32] Scott W. Luton: Focus on maybe those, those two actual pieces of advice of what to do, how to celebrate veterans here on Veterans Day 2025. Take one thing, whatever it is, put it in action. Deeds, not words. That’s how we’re gonna keep transforming and building a brighter future. And with all that said, Scott Luton here on behalf of the Supply Chain Now teams challenging.

[00:43:50] Scott W. Luton: You. Do good, give forward, be the change that’s needed. We’ll see you next time, right back here. On Supply Chain Now and Tango Tango. Thanks everybody.

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