Episode 9 - Trooper Ben

Army veteran and Retired Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper (Trooper Ben) sat down with me and talks about his journey from Active Army to being a Trooper for the Kansas Highway Patrol for 26 years. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Trooper Ben, um local Kansan, not native though. You got stationed at Fort Riley what year?

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Yeah, so I mean Fort Riley, uh what brought me to Kansas was in, man, I gotta think about this pause thing, get the brain working, because it's back in the day. Uh 1999 is when I no 1995. 1995 is when I first arrived to Kansas, to Fort Riley, Kansas, after going through basic training at Fort Knox and leaving Michigan before that. So 95.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Did you what were you expecting when you got orders to Kansas?

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Well, honestly, you know, the backstory to that, I mean, I I was in high school, I graduated high school, spent a year wandering, figuring out where I belonged in this world. Um, I don't think I was lost. I mean, most people think they use that word lost. I don't think I was lost. I was just wandering. We all wander at times. I was wandering, trying to figure out where I belonged. Worked in a factory for about a year, and then I enlisted in the Army. So when I enlisted in the Army, I didn't tell anybody, just enlisted, and they told me where I was going, Fort Riley, Kansas. Didn't know anything about the state, didn't know anything other than it's Kansas, um, had no connection in any way. And uh, so after basic training, Fort Knox got to Fort Knox and thought, well, this is the next chapter. Let's see what this is like, and I'll ride it as long as I need to.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

And what was your official MOS code and what did you do while I'm active duty?

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Yeah, so 19 Kilo, uh uh dat. If you don't know what that is, honestly, that's the most funniest moment of my entry into the military.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

I was at MEPS, uh, MEPS station, you all the you know, all the physical tasks and things like that. And the guy sitting across me, a civilian guy, asked me, So what's your MOS? And I said, I'm 19 Kilo. Abrams tank crew member, and I was like so proud and bolstering, feeling good.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

And the guy goes, With the straightest face, he looked at me with a scowling look because I was like apparently too comfortable and confident and happy about my career points. And he goes, Oh, you're a dad.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

And I'm like, What's that? And he's like, I didn't know what dat was. I was like, What is a dad? I never heard that. And he goes, You're a dumbass tanker.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

That was the first thing that I learned about me entering in the military was a guy at MEPS telling me I was a dad. And I was like, Oh, wow, that's an interesting moment of entering into the military. So 19 kilo Abram crew member. Now they call them C DATs, computerized dumbass tanker, but uh it was a wonderful uh entry into the military career was at MEPS.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

How was how was life as a uh and so I I don't know if you're familiar, so for Marines, and we just refer to them as all we're tankers when they were in the Marine Corps because they they eventually got rid of the tanks in the Marine Corps. Really? Yeah. Uh I want to say, yeah, so I want to say it was um about 20, let's see, I think that was post-deployment for me.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

So I'm guessing I remember Marines being on tanks.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yeah. I think it was 2017-2018. I could be wrong about that. The command on the Marine Corps came down with a new force redesign where basically um the Marine Corps needs to be more mobilized and be able to move faster, right? And uh a tank does not necessarily be.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

They're fast, but they're not that fast. It's hard to move tanks to a space they need to be.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

So, as a tanker, what was your life like at Fort Riley? Being uh new, were you a private when you showed up? Yeah, and so what was that like for you?

SPEAKER_02 3:27

I mean, so brand new in the military, no type of college, no career path, no nothing as a new but nothing. And so you started out as a as uh E1, you know, a private, that's it. Uh went through basic training, finished that, I think it was uh E2, and then eventually private first class. So I was brand new in the military working up the ranks. Um, Kansas was flat without trees. That's what I that's the first thing I noted. Being from Michigan, I'm used to trees and some hills and some woods and density, but no, Kansas is flat. The thing I first thinking, I first thought of when I got to Kansas is like, where are all the deer at? Like, where do they go?

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Like, where are they hide? Like they used to out here in the in the fields. Like I'm used to trees and woods and things, but I quickly learned.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

So, you know, military, brand new, no one no military career prior, so just a lonely new E1.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Yeah. And over those, because you said it was five years at Fort Riley, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:26

So it was three years active. Yep. And then I transitioned after getting out uh to five years garden.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

So eight-year complete commitment. What what year, what were your what rank were you at when you left active?

SPEAKER_02 4:35

So when I left active, I was um E4 specialist promotable. I went through all the things to become a sergeant, but I wasn't gonna stick around any longer. So there was no point in sending me to the uh then the NCO class or or course because I was exiting. Yeah. Um so E4, and then after getting in the guard, um, you know, doing a weekend warrior thing for five years, they quickly moved me through the next thing up in Nebraska, Camp Ashley, Nebraska, to get my um NCO type of course done and became a sergeant E5 after that.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

Okay. Um, what was the transition like? And I know we've talked about it, but why did you make the transition from active to guard?

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Yeah, money. Yeah, they dangled money in front of me, man.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

You're telling me an E4 made a uh made a huge life decision based on the monetary values. I'll tell you what.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

Uh yeah, I was gonna get out and I was like, well, I could go in the guard, and they said that I could get some sort of bonus. Yeah. Uh honestly, I can't remember. I if I if I want to guess, I want to say it was like only three or four thousand dollars for a five-year guard commitment. And for me, three, four thousand dollars, you know, like heck yeah, I'll do that. Uh so I signed up and it was a great moment. I mean, it was a great thing to be a weekend warrior, but it it certainly didn't fit the next trajectory chapter of my life, but it worked for the time that I was in, and knowing that as soon as my guard time was up, I was tapping the desk and I'm out of here. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Did you have any hard times transitioning from that active to guard mentality?

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Yeah, a little bit. I mean, you think the the active guys, they're so that's their world, that's what they do. Um, there is I say there's no off. I mean, you're off, you're not always at the motor pool messing with the tanks, but you're really that's your life. That's what you're doing. When you're guard uh reservist, you're not doing that all the time. You've got your normal career path, you're at home, and oh, I'm a weekend warrior this weekend, or for two weeks, I gotta go do drills, whatever it is. So there's that transition of adjusting to not being maybe so high high speed. Yeah, I mean, active, you're it's you're doing it all the time. And the guard are like, okay, now is when I got to get myself acclimated and refocused to this military thing that I also do. Um, so that was a unique thing for me to adjust. I I honestly not to insult, because it's not an insult. I just always joked with the other guard reserve guys, because I was then a reserve guy, so I joked with them that I used to tell them when I got to the the weekend dribbles. I would be, I'm just let you guys know that whenever if we ever get deployed, the first thing I'm doing is I'm jumping off this tank and I'm jumping on some active tank.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

I'm leaving, I'm leaving y'all behind. I'm gonna go find me some real full-time military guys uh because I just wanted to be able to have that much more stronger, connected.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Where I was with military at that point is I I was all in, and it was an adjustment.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Yeah, it's kind of like I I hate to make the analogy, but it's like the difference between you know playing in a minor league versus playing in the major leagues a little bit. Yeah, like you're still like I can't play minor league baseball. Yeah, number one, I'm I'm too fat for that. Number two, it but there is a there is a difference between the two of it. Because like you said, it's a lot of people it's Monday through Friday active duty. Like you do get your weekends, but there's times where hey, you're going on exercise, like you don't get a weekend, you're gonna be in the field for the next you know four or five weeks, and that's gonna be your life. Yeah, um, and obviously joking with them in that like you did five years guard, what ultimately led you to the decision of, hey, I think I'm gonna take the step away from the military altogether and focus on the next chapter.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

Yeah, I mean, we all have our purpose, our path, our place, and what speaks to your heart, what in what and makes you enthusiastic about going to work or going to do the things you're gonna do for the day. Um, I love my active military time. Uh I certainly enjoyed, it wasn't as enjoyable being in a guard, but I enjoyed it. Um it wasn't as as passionate in my mind compared to what it was in the in the active time. So I knew from the beginning that I'm just trying to go through these five years and eventually exit out. There's other things speaking to me. So if it's a family with my marriage, with with dating, with me engaged, with being married, with having kids, starts pulling to hey, am I gonna be in the military? Uh weekend warrior and continue that much further than just the five-year enlistment, or do I need to exit out and be the best father and husband? Yeah, or the other career patch, which was just getting started, was going into the Kansas High Patrol. So, like, hey, I've got these other things that are pulling at me, and the military was sort of fading, that chapter was exiting out, and it was time to take the exit ramp and go down and take an alternate route.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Okay. So, and I guess while you're doing your guard time right, before you decided to join the highway patrol, what were you doing in between of hey, active duty and now I'm guard? What was your kind of Monday through Friday like job that you're doing?

SPEAKER_02 9:27

So, right after I got out of the active army, um, I wandered again for a little bit, not lost, but wandered. Just like when you get out of high school, I wandered, not lost, but just wandering.

SPEAKER_03 9:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

So exited the active army and wandered trying to figure out any job. So what the job was was simply anything. I worked at Sutherland's Lumber in Salina just to get a paycheck to try to figure out that next direction of life as I was entertaining a career in law enforcement. So I was applying for a wide variety of law enforcement positions. Junction City Police Department, Gary County, Chapman PD, uh Celina PD. I was applying for any agency between Fort Riley and Celina.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

And as I was going through the hiring process, also the Kansas Side Patrol.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

What led you to lean towards law enforcement?

SPEAKER_02 10:10

Um, I think it's a natural, it's natural for a person in the military, especially active army, to transition into law enforcement because there's a chain of command. And it seems like with law enforcement, most agencies, especially state patrol, state police, there's a a pretty chain of command type of belief. It's very much like the military that the high patrol is. So that spoke to me. And I wanted to have something that felt very honorable. Um, I you know, being a city officer and deputy, there's nothing that doesn't make that not honorable. It's very honorable. But I just I really, really felt that the high patrol was was a better fit for me because it seemed to be more honorable. Um, the way I always describe it to people is when you when you are driving up on the highway and you notice there's a crash or there's a bunch of emergency lights. Uh I imagine the general public start saying, Oh man, what's going on up there? Look at all the emergency lights, and then they quickly recognize, oh, that's a bunch of troopers.

SPEAKER_03 11:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

And there's probably a difference in how they perceive that moment being that, oh, that's not just city officer and deputy, that's a bunch of troopers. That they perceive that there's something more significant, much something more notable. Yeah. And to me, that spoke to me like I want to be a part of that community to be in that selected group. Yeah, I had to be more notable.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

So while you're like applying, look at it, were you being recruited or were you going out doing the footwork and applying?

SPEAKER_02 11:30

Yeah, when I when I left the active army, I was doing all the footwork at that time in um '98 when I was getting out of the active army, but doing going into the guard and working at Sutherland's Lumber. Honestly, most law enforcement agencies didn't have a problem with recruiting. It was a very different world than we're in now. So they had the pick of the litter. They could decide who they wanted of the many people applying for the 30 positions, they could hand select the ones they wanted. So for me, I had to do the work. I was going in, knocking on doors, filling out paperwork, going through interviews, taking the tests, trying to further myself. I wasn't being recruited because agencies really didn't do that, it seemed like at that point.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Just getting in application-wise, what was the hardest part about that? Did you hit any roadblocks with transitioning into hey, I want to do this, I want to try to do that? Was there ever a point in time where you're like, maybe this isn't my option, maybe I need to go a different route?

SPEAKER_02 12:23

Yeah, so as I was applying for all the different law enforcement agencies between Celina and Fort Riley, um, usually one of the first things you do with all these agencies is take a written test. And I know that my academic background in high school was always challenging. Schoolwork, being in schools, being in classrooms, that type of space is not a space that I've ever thrived. So I knew that, man, if I've got written tests, that's gonna be a challenging thing. The first roadblock that I experienced was uh applying for Salina Police Department taking their written test and failing it.

SPEAKER_03 13:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:00

And I was like, man, I don't know if this is gonna be the trajectory or the career path that is ahead of me. You know, if I can't make this first agency, then what's the other one's gonna be like? They're gonna be the same thing. I'm not gonna, I'm never gonna do this. I just need to figure out something else. Uh but fortunate enough, the Kansas High Patrol's written test was a couple weeks after the Salina police department test that I had failed and thought, well, that's fine, let's go do another one, let's see what happens. And in my mind, it was always the thought that if I can pass the written test, everything else I'll be able to handle. I just gotta get past that first written test and I'll be able to work through all the other challenges. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

So, and going through this process, and you end up, I'm assuming obviously past the written test for the highway patrol. Yep. Um, what was the next step after that? And uh what was what was the highway training in the highway patrol? What was that culture like and how long was it? And um, did you work with other veterans along the way that had different experiences? And what did being a veteran help you a little bit? Did it set you back and stuff?

SPEAKER_02 14:02

So the first thing is when I was leaving and taking on the written test, I knew that if I could get in, so I got in, um, and I just I still had concerns about going through all the written tests. Once I was in the system, everything physically, mentally, emotionally, I could handle just that academic side of it. Um, there's a lot of other veterans. I think law enforcement, as I just spoke, is a very it's a career path that's driven by veterans, so there's a lot of other military branches in there that have exited their military time and looking for the next chapter just like I was. Um, but it all worked out and I just kept on pushing ahead. The biggest struggle was just the academic side of it.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Um and what was that what was that training culture like once you had gotten in?

SPEAKER_02 14:46

Yeah, so that's what I liked about the patrol again. The patrol is very military-like. So you you're marching, you're saluting, you're having room inspections, you're looking for dust bunnies. If the rooms that's right, if the room wasn't cleaned, your coaches for the academy was ripping your room apart. Uh just very disciplined academy for the higher patrol, which is what I wanted compared to well, a lot of agencies here in Kansas, if you're a city officer or deputy, you go to KLETC, Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center done by Hutchinson or by Yoder. Uh that academy is is certainly not uh very military-like, it's almost like a college environment. I mean, you go to classes, you have your expectations, but there's not the the the difficulties of room inspections or PT or just the I don't know, just the discipline is is not at the same level that I was seeking. So the patrol spoke to me in a a more connected way because I experienced with the military. Um so that that was a different thing. I mean that that was very different. Military people could handle it though.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Yeah. Um, and so you get through the the highway patrol academy, was it still in Salina at that same point in time? So it's it's been in Salina for a very, very long time.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Um, and it actually is looking to be uh a new campus being built, but in Salina. So Salina is where it's always been um for me for my 26 years.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

So you're based at around Salina or in the Salina area your entire time?

SPEAKER_02 16:10

Yeah, so for the patrol, um the way it works is you get called or you get an email. At the time when I was coming on in '99, uh, you get an email. Actually, you get a call. You get a call basically saying, hey, this is so-and-so from the Kansas High Patrol. We want to offer you a conditional offer of employment. Uh, if you accept it, we would like to place you in, and then they tell you the county that they're gonna be stationed in. For me, it was McPherson County. Um, and I was working at Sutherland's Lumber, the phone rang. Hey, Ben Garden, you have a call on line one. I'm like, who the heck is calling me? Like, I don't know anybody in this state. Like, I'm all my military guys are, you know, past they're they're at Fort Raleigh. They're not calling me right now for some crazy reason. So who's calling me? I pick up the phone on line one, and it's the high patrol, and they tell me that I'm going to McPherson County. I immediately said yes, I would love that. Yes, I'll be there. Thank you so much. Hung up the phone, and the next thing I did as soon as I hung up the phone was I I loudly requested somebody give me a map. Because I had no idea where McPherson County was. I had no idea. Uh uh, so that was my introduction to the high patrols. Like I got offered a position to somewhere in Kansas called McPherson County. I was very glad to learn that it was just the county south of where I lived at the time in Salina, so it's good.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

That's that's kind of funny. Uh yeah, I mean, it's what? So Celina McPherson, the drive difference is what, maybe 20, 25 minutes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

So I mean, when you go through the academy, you go through the high patrol academy, you certainly can live wherever you need to or you want to at that point. But the day you graduate from the academy, you have to, you must, you will, you shall be living in the county that you've been offered. So for me, McPherson County. So through the academy, I lived in Celina at my now wife's parents' house. They offered me an opportunity just to live in their basement as I was moving through the career path of law enforcement. So it was really, really easy just to go to the academy Monday through Friday on the weekends, come home to the house in Celina. Yeah, and then Monday through Friday back there. And then when I was nearing the end of my 23 weeks through the academy is when I started looking for opportunities and houses and apartments in McPherson and found them and Myth moved down there.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

And so did you officially did you move to McPherson where do you or did you have some?

SPEAKER_02 18:22

So McPherson, I mean, you have to live within the county, they assigned. So anywhere within the geographical footprints of that county, and not even on that other side of the road, yeah, you have to live within that county. So I I just picked McPherson because it was the bigger one. It had the things of shopping and and just eating and things like that. So McPherson's where I picked, um, found an apartment and settled in. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

So you get McPherson, you got through your training. Obviously, what was, I guess, like let's say like your first five years in the highway patrol, what was that like for you?

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Yeah, so the first five years, after you graduate, you are not just out on the road by yourself, you've got a training officer with you, and you're with that training officer for um several months where that new training officer that's shadowing you, mentoring you, further refining you, is there to allow you to lead but not stub your toe or fall on your face. Yeah. Uh, and when you're starting to struggle, they're there to be the wind behind you and help you uh as you navigate the difficulties of being a state trooper. So you did that for many months in December of 99 is when I finally was released on my own. And then after that, December of 99 is when I spent the next, you know, many years uh just being a road trooper, you know, hooking and booking, cuffing and stuffing, doing the things we do out there, working the road, making a difference, serving and protecting and and hopefully doing so in an honorable way. Yeah, I did that for the many years for probably close to 10 or so years. But I knew that from the very start of my career I wanted to do one of two things that was gonna be a dog handler, a canine handler, because that'd be badass.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Um but you could did you get to take the dog home at that point?

SPEAKER_02 19:58

Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, that's that's that would be cool. That's the number one benefit. I know. Yeah. So I was gonna do that, or I was gonna be the public information officer, public resource officer. And honestly, quickly, when I got out there working on the road, I realized the dog thing wasn't for me.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

So I started preparing myself for what would be a future opportunity being the public information officer, knowing that when that position would open up, I was gonna write for it. And honestly, as arrogant or as cocky or as whatever you want to call it, I knew that when I was gonna apply, no one else was gonna apply for it because everybody was gonna be well aware that that was that was Ben's. Yeah, and that's what happened.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Was that kind of a weird transition for you? Public speaking and interacting with people more often, or it isn't it the saying?

SPEAKER_02 20:36

I mean, the saying what's the number one scare, the number one fear that people have is public speaking. That's what they say. Get up in front of the stage and talk for three hours to 500 people.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Um that's fair. I I remember uh I was at a training event and we had a mass servant walk in, and he's like, Hey, you're giving the brief today. And I was like, What? First off, I'm I'm the I'm instructing. What do you mean? What do you mean I'm briefing? He's like, Well, the Commandant of Marine Corps Aviation is here, and that's high-ranking person is here. And uh, I just blacked out and I just knifed hand everybody. And he goes, Yeah, you knifed hand the commandant of the aviation at one point in time, and he kind of chuckled, but you got through it and you got through all the points, and it's like, Did I mess anything up? They're like, No, you just yelled at everybody basically, and it's like, well, okay, yeah, I guess there is a bit of fear of public speaking there.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

It's not easy, but honestly, if you're gonna uh you you gotta kill your past self to become your new self. Yeah, and honestly, for me, I knew that hey, I might not be gifted, skilled, prepared to be that public information officer, but I'm gonna kill my my current self and I'm gonna make it a new self, and I'm gonna start refining myself and gain the skills needed to become the best public information officer that I could. So that's what my mindset was. I leaned into it and said, let's let's stumble, but I'll get back up, let's bust the knees up a little bit, but I'll I'll put a band on it and I'll eventually become better and better at this.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

What was what was the hardest transition with it, and what was the thing that helped you the most with it?

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Um you know, when you're a public speaker, when you do the the media, public information. Officer stuff. Um, there's great rewards that come with it. So I don't know, when you're doing public speaking and you see an audience is leaning in, nodding their heads, they're connecting with every word, that's the return that you're wanting, which is great. It wants you to continue to do those things. So I always look for those moments, and when I found them, it just motivated me to continue to do those things. Um, the challenging parts is uh as a public information officer, was to hold information that you probably can't give out to the public at certain times. The information you know. So an example would be uh a fatality crash where maybe five people have been killed, including some kids. Yeah, the media has caught wind of that well before family members are aware or notifications have been made. So you're getting calls from radio, television, news basically asking, hey, we know we've heard it's been a fatal crash, there's kids involved. Can you confirm that? And you, even though you know it's factual, can't confirm that information because you're trying to be respectful to the family to make sure that our officers, our troopers can get to the house and have that face-to-face conversation about a loved one being killed. So there's a time and a place, and just being respectful, professional, and allowing as much transparency as you can, but with the most important task, the family's involved.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

Well, was there anybody that really kind of kind of I don't I guess I would say like cross the line with it that you know, hey, you're trying to be respectful of this family so they can be notified as they should be, but someone just somebody from the media or something just pushes and pushes and like what's what's kind of because I that's I think that's a really like hard perspective for people like hey, we we deserve to know everything, especially with social media. Like, hey, like you know, nothing's not gonna stay you know unfounded for you know whatever exact time, but you know, uh in the military, especially uh overseas, like if there's an accident, um, there it's a saying it's like hey, it's River City, like you're not supposed to be reaching out to family, you're not supposed to be emailing, and you know, we are walking around Kuwait and we have Wi-Fi pucks in our hands. We like you're you're talking on your phone constantly, so it's like, hey, don't say anything about it. But of course, you hear about the you know, this helicopter crash, and people are like, Well, what do you know about it? Yeah, like well, uh, I can't say anything about it. They're like, Why not? I'm talking to you right now. Yeah, like it's just one of those weird situations.

SPEAKER_02 24:19

I've had I've had one moment, honestly, in all of my career where um reporter was pushing more than they should have been. Usually in those moments, it's a new reporter that has not recognized the balance of the job that they have, but also the responsibilities and respectfulness that they need to have to their viewers, but also the families involved. And in those moments, I always had a line, uh, I always had a statement that I said. I said it one time and it's sort of stayed in my back pocket. I use it whenever I needed to, which was uh no one's gonna move me faster than I need to. I'm not gonna move faster for you or anybody. The most important thing to me is the family, and that's not you. So for that, I'm gonna hold, and you're not gonna get anything more from me until I've had the moment to further talk to the family. And if you don't like that, I apologize, but that's the way it's gonna be. And that's factual, that's professional, and the most important priority at that point is the family. Uh so uh that's what that's what I would always say. It was uh it wasn't that big of a deal. Honestly, most reporters, television, news, radio, they they recognize and they certainly don't want to provide information that's not ready to be consumed by the public. There's a a race to get information. Social media causes people to put out information too fast at times, but a lot of agencies have learned that when they push information up too fast, they get burned because the public quickly starts scolding them. Like, how can you put this out? The family hasn't even been told yet. Like my sister learned that her her own brother died in a crash because of your comments online. Yeah, so they start recognizing whoa, you know, sometimes we media have to hold and slow down to make sure that there is a proper order to this, especially when it comes to a loss of life. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

And so how long were you at that position with public information?

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Yeah, it was the best times of my career. So uh it was 10 years being, you know, road trooper, so academy, then the road trooper stuff for 10 years, hooking and booking and cuffing and stuff and doing the things we do, as I say. Then I transitioned to the public information officer for north central Kansas, which is referred to as Troop C, made up of 18 counties in Salina, or made up in 18 counties in north central Kansas. Um, and I did that for 16 years. So this this basically the the bigger portion of my career, the last half of my career was that public information officer. The the space that I wanted to be in, yeah, it would not meet, would not leave from that position because it was the space that that spoke to me.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

Yeah. Um, do you have any interesting interactions with the public while doing that? Like, you know, hey, you've got this job that you're doing mainly of public information, but hey, I've got a I'm I'm on the road to do something and I had to pull somebody over for doing something stupid.

SPEAKER_02 27:03

Yeah. When you're a trooper, you're you're always a trooper first. So you might have a specialty role. Maybe you're an interdictor guy that's looking for interdiction, human trafficking, but you're also working the road and stopping speeders and simple things. Um so even as a public information officer, you're working the road, and then when there's the main task that you're specialized in, you do those main tasks, and everything else falls to the side. One of the challenges, um, a life lesson, I guess, for me, you know, you try to be as as accessible and helpful to the family, but emotions become so driven. I mean, families, when they've lost a loved one, it's a very emotional topic. So you have to give them space and grace, and at times there they'll challenge you, yell at you. I don't know if it's because they are needing to do that or wanting to do that. They just they're their body sort of brings it out of them because of that emotional moment. I just remember a wreck I worked on in K61 where some teenagers were killed, and family was there. I met them at the crash scene. I wanted to be there to help them and be as transparent as I can. And then what I learned is they were they were just challenging me left and right because of the progress of the investigation and not moving as fast as they could and as fast as we we should. And it's just a hard thing to try to be as professional, and we will be, I will be. I was, but also to try to um accommodate a family's desires with what is my desire, what law enforcement desires to be a servant to them and help them as best we can.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

I know you touched on it a little bit with you know, meeting your wife, living with her parents, and what was what was family life like for you starting patrol and then moving in public information? And was it was it hard kind of being a little bit more public eye and having to deal with all those emotions and being at home and everything, too, as well?

SPEAKER_02 28:50

Yeah, there's a big burden that comes with being a first responder, not just as a trooper, but city officers, deputies, the MS fire. When you are in those career paths, you carry an additional amount of burden because you're seeing things, hearing things, touching things, smelling things that are uncommon. And that stuff doesn't turn off when you're out of work, out of uniform, it stays with you when you're sitting at the couch with your family, your kids. So you need to be really, really good at balancing and offloading those difficult things. Uh, if it's with hobbies, crafts, family tasks, whatever it is, you can't just continually carry those burdens because it's gonna break you. So for me, um, I messed up at that time. I think most first responders do that same thing that when you try to enter the career path, it's all in, man. I'm foot to the floor, I'm gonna best log, I'm gonna be a best EMS, but you know, all those things. And then what you learn over time is that you start fatiguing, you start recognizing that you're taking away from being a good father and a husband. And you know, every call over the radio is not one you have to be listening to on your scanner, uh, that if they need you, they'll call you. You don't have to check every email that comes on your phone because if it's something accritical, they'll call you, make you aware that you need to go to something. So you have to realize how to turn that stuff off, but also to carry it off your shoulders, speak it to others. And when you don't do those things, is when you see first responders um uh kill themselves, uh suicidal rate with first responders is higher, uh, divorce rate is higher, and it's because they carry those burdens and they don't speak them or offload them like they should with their trusted friends, family, spiritual leaders, whatever it is, and it breaks them.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Yeah. What was your what was your biggest thing? So for for me, me and my wife, we we call it decompress. Yeah. Like at some point in time, like regard, like, hey, you've had, you know, I work a weekend and I'm I'm away for eight and a half hours and you're with the five-year-old all day. You need time to decompress. What was your biggest thing that helped you find a way to give decompress and be there with family and and and help yourself?

SPEAKER_02 30:53

Yeah, I mean, for me in the beginning, I worked many years before being a father and as a as a husband, but I wasn't a father yet. Um, so certainly I think in the first several years it was me just all in being a law enforcer and I messed up and learned, but then as being a father, I started trying to prioritize. I can't I can't always be locked in on key, you know, be you know, in the crosshairs already to whatever moment I've got to like be able to turn it off and push it away. So that's when I started trying to take a mindful approach of not checking my phone as often, um, not listening to the scanner, not you know, just trying to really recognize that there is a shift that needs to occur, and uh it's not healthy to just be always online 10-8, you know, um to to shut it off, tune it out. So I started doing so, and I think it's uh very beneficial for me. And I think those that do that, they'll they'll recognize the benefits that come with it if they can be disciplined and realize that not everything has to involve you. Yeah, I mean you you're a first responder, but you're not a first responder at all times. Yeah, uh, there's a balance and you gotta figure out how to balance it.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

Awesome. Um, and so now we're kind of at that, you know, you you said 16 years, right? So now at the end of your career, yep. What what made you decide, like, hey, it's time for me to hang up the hat and or or I guess hang up the smokey as some people like, I know I'm a big bear hat.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

Um, you know, for me, it's certainly different for everybody.

SPEAKER_03 32:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

Um, when I first came on the patrol, um, I'll tell you that most troopers stayed for a full 36 years. It was very odd and unexpected if you've seen a trooper exit the patrol earlier than 30 years. I mean, they you just people stay until 36. You maxed out, you maxed out and then you retired because you're maxed out, and there's no benefit of staying 37 to 38 because your retirement check was going to be the same as 36, so why stay longer? But now, um, what I see in law enforcement is people exiting the patrol or city officers or deputies as quickly as they can. Yeah, it's a very different world. So for me, uh again, it's different for each person, but for me, as I was getting about five years from when I could retire, uh, I started sort of trying to prepare myself mentally for what's that gonna look like. You know, I know that when I exit out, I can't just have to recreate myself from the very beginning. I've got to sort of dip my toe into that world and sort of acclimate to it and feel it and sort of navigate it so that I can realize the pitfalls or the benefits of it in advance. Yeah. So I was trying to do that. And I'm glad I did because it prepared me for what I'm doing now today is public speaking, social media, writing a book, building a foundation, uh, doing all the things that I was wanting to do. Um, but when you're doing that for an employer, there's other people telling you how to do it and when to do it. And uh there's too many cooks in the kitchen, and uh, you don't get to decide how you get to navigate your life.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:56

And for me, five years prior to my exit of retiring, I just was like, I gotta get myself ready for this. There'll be a time of when it needs to occur, but as I got closer, closer to when I could retire, just kept on speaking to me more and more. Uh in 2025, uh September 2025 is when I could retire. For the highway patrol, uh, and for uh state troopers and and uh people that work at the prison in Kansas, uh, we have KPNF or CAPERS, which is Kansas Police and Fire. It's the retirement thing through CAPERS, which allows you to retire younger. So for me, you can retire as soon as you're 50, as long as you've had at least 25 years of service. So I knew that September of 25 I would be 50, and I would also have 26 years of years in the patrol. So I would have the two magic numbers. Age plus years has to be 75. I've got it, I can retire.

SPEAKER_03 34:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 34:52

So um I I basically had my my dad had passed away unexpectedly. I went up to his funeral. There's other things speaking to me about, hey, it's time to sort of start dipping my toe in this, in this world outside of the uniform. I was doing so. I was seeing traction and opportunity of being a public speaker outside of the uniform. So I just decided, hey, at some point this this uh carousel that I've been riding, uh, this amusement ride that's been wonderful and joyful for 26 years is gonna end.

SPEAKER_03 35:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:24

And I think it's time for me to make the decision to step off and jump on the next ride. And that's what I bravely decided to do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

Um, losing your dad at that point in time, was it uh uh unexpected or what Yeah, it was unexpected.

SPEAKER_02 35:37

I mean, my dad wasn't sick before. Also, I got a call from my brother that he was in a hospital, something's going on, and then within just a couple days he passed, and so just another moment of reflection, like hey, life does end. Yeah uh you only get to breathe so many breaths over your life, and you gotta figure out where you're gonna breathe those breaths. And for me, I just I wanted to make sure that I have some opportunity to do some things in the next part of my life. I didn't want to have all of the biggest chapter of my life being just commanded by the patrol and other people telling me what to do and how to do it. I wanted to be able to navigate it free of anybody else, so that's what I'm doing now.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

Yeah. Um, and so transitioning because it's scary. It it's it's funny. So uh starting to see you a little bit more and more, and it was on the highway patrol side of social media. Uh-huh, on social media.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

Behind the V. I mean, I wasn't I didn't pull you over at any point, did I?

SPEAKER_00 36:32

No, no, actually uh um my missed opportunity. My first interaction with Kansas Highway Patrol was actually probably about three weeks ago. No, that's what I was like three years ago. No, no, no, three weeks ago.

SPEAKER_02 36:45

And let me look at your wrist. Oh, I can see cancuff marks on them right now. We still got them on there right now. No, no.

SPEAKER_00 36:51

I was I was going home and it was a it was a beautiful day, and I it we've been very fortunate with the weather related. I've been riding my motorcycle almost every week, and I probably was cooking a little bit faster than I should have. Uh and lo and behold, I'm kind of in the left lane. I've passed a decent group, and I realize there's a Mustang behind me, and it's blacked out.

SPEAKER_02 37:09

And I'm like, Oh, I know exactly who that trooper is.

SPEAKER_00 37:11

And I was like, I was like, I was like, oh god, man. I'm just enjoying my ride. And in my mind, I thought I was like, oh great, some douchebag in Mustang that probably wants to race me. Like, I don't like I don't want to be able to. So I just get over in the right lane and I'm just cruising, and it pulls up next to me, and then I see on the side that little flash of the Kansas Highway Patrol badge, and he just looks over at me and he just points his finger down, like, hey, slow down, and I'm like, Yep, that's my badge.

SPEAKER_01 37:36

He didn't pull you over.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

No, no.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Oh, he just gave you the name.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

I believe he was he had something bigger and porn to go to. He had his backlights on and he cooked it past me. So um uh you can tell him thank you for me if you run into it. Uh so and it's not that uh I am a speed demon or anything, but one of those times of hey, uh it it got I get it got to me a little bit, the freedom of it. Um but so kind of dealing with public information and being at the end of your career, what led you to being like, hey, this social media thing is what I want to do, or be be, I guess, super active with and reaching out to people.

SPEAKER_02 38:14

Well, that's where we're at in today's world. Yeah, for right or for wrong. I mean, you have a moment of pause, you look around the room if you're at a waiting area or at a restaurant or you're even out for entertainment. You just look around the audience, there's gonna be people on their phones, and while they're on their phones, they're checking their feeds. And uh for me, I recognize from the moment I became a public information officer that I needed to be in that feed. I need to be visible, I need to be relevant, I need to be connected to the public. So I started using social media to connect, to recruit, and deliver safety messaging. Okay, and um, it it just took off significantly uh across Kansas and eventually started to become a thing that I spoke about across the nation. Uh the patrol is having me travel speaking to other law enforcement agencies and conferences about what we do on the Kansas High Patrol and how beneficial it is. And you've seen these other states modeling themselves off of what we were doing. The FBI Academy in Chronicle Virginia was referencing Trooper Ben and how he tweets, and this is how you should be doing it. I was like, man, it's pretty dang cool. The FBI's talking about me and their academy. So all those things were showing that the work that I was doing was having a significant return. It was very beneficial for patrol, but it was also beneficial for me because it allowed me to have a platform of voice to deliver messaging on a wide variety of things. And then as I was getting ready to get out of the patrol, I was like, I gotta, I gotta retain that, man. That is something that's been built. That's a vehicle, that's a platform that has great value, yeah, benefit. I shouldn't just hand that off and and get rid of it. I need to carry that further. So I I've now built out my own social media channels and it's been very beneficial.

SPEAKER_00 39:55

Did you building that within the highway patrol? Because like uh the military side the the social media is kind of like I don't want to say it's taboo, but it leads to people getting into trouble than it is more useful. Did you have any kind of kickback building that up as you started it?

SPEAKER_02 40:12

Yeah, when I first started with the patrol, uh I just took my personal account and started branding it for the high patrol purposes, didn't tell anybody. I just said, let's go all in. I'm gonna get fired or I'm gonna get promoted. Well, we're gonna learn real quick.

SPEAKER_03 40:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:24

Uh so I started doing so as a public information officer, and then I quickly started seeing the benefit of it because the media was just jumping on it. They couldn't have a reporter at a crash scene, or they couldn't get to the space that I was at for weather and road conditions. So they were taking my content and they were furthering it, and it was making me being more visible to do the other things of recruiting or delivering safety messages. So it was really, really good for me, but also for them. And then you also seen elected officials, the governor's office retweeting and liking my post. So I knew that in the earlier ages of me being on social media, I had accomplished what I needed to. I had backers, I had people that were going to support me. True Benjamin, wonderful things. It's hard for the patrol to walk me back at that point because I was doing things that are good and it was benefiting them. Uh, but they didn't necessarily enjoy it in the beginning because it was new and it was scary. Just as you mentioned, I think there's some pitfalls where you can get fired real quick, depending on how you navigate and how you use social media. So I I learned and stumbled through some things, but eventually just continue to start understanding the guardrails of how to use social media in an effective way. So I put out a book. I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna boast right now. I'm gonna here I got a moment here to I've got a book out there about how to use Trooper Ben's social media pocket guide. You need to look that up. Uh but I have that about how to use social media and how I built my platform and how I use it still today. Um but it's it's a very valuable thing, and some people hate it, but it's not going away. That's where we're at. Um, and media uses it, elect officials use it, I need to be using it, and it's it's just a great, great thing. But it didn't come with some harsh life lessons, no moments of stubbing my toe. But we do that. That's how you learn. Um just like back to public speaking. You're not good at the beginning. Yeah, you have to have grace and understanding that you're gonna mess up, and eventually, if you just keep on pushing forward, you're gonna get better, better, better. Eventually, you're gonna be way better than what you were in the beginning. It's gonna be cringy in the beginning, but that's what it takes to be cringy. Cringy. Yeah, cringy. Like you look at past, you look at okay, look, I imagine if you look at your past podcasts, you're like, man, some of these pat first, oh, that's a little cringy how I started that, but you've learned and you refined, you've gotten better with time.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

That's fair. That's fair. That's that that is a great cringy. Cringy. What what was probably I and I'll I'll put it this way to you. What was probably the biggest stub your tub moment stub your toe moment that really did like, hey, I I stub my toe here, but it also helps you really kind of.

SPEAKER_02 42:50

Yeah, I know exactly the moment. There's one moment, absolutely. It's uh an individual, a little girl that was abducted and killed in Springfield, Missouri. Uh, there's an Amber alert that came out the day prior, uh, that night. I happened to get an alert on my phone like Kansans did, like we get now today's world. I took a screen capture, I posted it out there to all my followers, basically saying, hey, know this individual. Look for Haley. If we're getting this alert, then there might be a chance she's moving through the city of Kansas. Don't just retweet it, don't just share it, know it. Yeah, know her face, know her descriptors, know the vehicles, be a partner to law enforcement. None of that was bad. The next morning I woke up and I started seeing on social media that she had been found and she's deceased. And I felt a burden. I felt sad, first off, that she had passed away, been murdered by her abductor. And um, I didn't want to leave what I had been posting and furthering open ended. Yeah, I had all my followers that next morning still retweeting and sharing my content. Look for Haley, look for and I knew at that point that she had been found and she was deceased. And I knew that because of all the reporters in the Springfield, Missouri area reporting that she had been. Found from her family. Her family members were reporting this. So I knew that was factual. So I took a screen capture of what I posted the day prior and basically said Haley's been found. She's now deceased. Rest in peace, Haley. That was it. Didn't think anything was wrong at that moment until as I was getting myself dressed in my uniform. I turned on the Channel 12 news and Channel 12 news. Breaking news. Haley's been found in Springfield, Missouri. She's deceased per Trooper Ben Gardner of the Can't South Patrol. And I was like, oh my goodness. Like they used me as the validation of that story when I did not play that role. I was not part of that agency. I was not over in that location, but I spoke in a law enforcement capacity.

SPEAKER_03 44:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:44

Uh at Trooper Ben, Can't South Troll says, and they the media says, there it is, it's valid, it's proof. And I learned a lesson that I need to make sure I speak on things that I'm involved in or I'm connected to. And if I'm not, I need to pivot and move my followers to follow that agency, that individual. I need to stay in my lane. Okay. It's a life lesson right there, right there. And I remember when that moment had occurred. I honestly thought I was gonna get fired. I was like, I'm gonna get fired. This is this is like this is the moment right here. Yeah, I clearly have overstepped. Um, I took the tweet down, deleted, I put another tweet out real quickly, basically saying, hey, the information I have about hailing does not come from any law enforcement channels, it only comes from the media talking directly to her family in Springfield, Missouri. That's only where it comes from. And then the news, local news, the next uh segment comes back on after the commercials and they made a correction. The information doesn't come from Trooper Ben, it comes from Media Outlets. So they made a correction real quickly. It was really, really good. But there's a small window when I was the lead. Uh I had a call from a senior trooper. He's like, Ben, what are you doing? I'm just seeing this news right now, and like I'm freaking out right now. I think I'm gonna get fired. But it shows you how beneficial as well as how bad a media can be if you don't stay in your lane.

SPEAKER_00 45:58

What and was this kind of where was this at with you building the social media? Was it pretty fresh and new?

SPEAKER_02 46:03

It was new, it was an earlier part of my career.

SPEAKER_00 46:06

So it's kind of obviously being the concerns of hey, you're in new waters, like hey, like um, and that senior troop calling you. Like, was did you have a a good reflective response from senior leadership or like well honestly?

SPEAKER_02 46:18

I think it moved so fast in social media at the time. You know, usually upper command staff they don't understand social media, they don't have social media, they're older people that don't use them. So when I was coming onto social media, you know, that's 16, 17 years ago. So we're talking about a newer era of social media, and the command staff didn't know it, didn't they like what we ain't doing social media that understands so they didn't they didn't become aware of it. Yeah, uh, it moved so quickly for me to be exposed, but also to to handle that moment that it wasn't an issue. But if it would have lasted, it probably would have been an issue. I'm just glad that I was able to make that correction quickly and then make the adjustment. Uh, we we need to understand that we as I've said before, life takes moments of falling down, yeah. And hopefully the people that surround you are there to support you in those moments you've fallen down, and they're not just gonna bash you or demote you or fire or whatever it is. They give you enough space to grow, but not enough space to hang yourself, yeah. You know, and if you have a moment of misstep, you're treated in a way that basically say, Okay, hey, we messed up a little bit, but let's refine, let's take a couple steps back so we can continue to move forward. Yeah, I mean, that's what we need to have as leadership is that if you want a person to grow, the person that they are today is gonna be a different person they are five years from now. And it takes, I mean, if you don't start out as being a public information officer, you maybe have the title, but you grow into that position. Yeah, and in the beginning, it's not gonna be pretty, you have to grow through it. Um, so the same thing with everything else. Yeah, you might not be the best welder, but hopefully you can continue to get good at it. And the person you're employed with says, Okay, you're not the best, but we're getting better, and eventually you're gonna be one of the senior persons doing wonderful work.

SPEAKER_00 48:02

Makes perfect sense. So now we're we're post-retirement, but I'm gonna put a pause on post-retirement right now because you've got like a million and one things I feel like going on.

SPEAKER_02 48:11

Got a lot of things going on.

SPEAKER_00 48:12

But I and this is what what I really like to ask a lot of veterans and everything. Um, number one, what's the biggest thing that helped you transition out of the military? Um, and two, what's the biggest thing you could tell a veteran that, hey, you're about to get out? Like this was my big three things I wish I would have done differently or would have known or somebody would have told me.

SPEAKER_02 48:33

Okay, so the question is to make sure I heard it right, is what are the things that I did that benefited me when getting out of the military? Yes. Okay, so for me, I guess I tried to dip my toe into those spaces that I thought I wanted to go into prior to getting out. So even though I wasn't out of the active army, I was talking to recruiters, I was visiting with law enforcement agencies, checking websites, I was learning, I was trying to really try to get myself acclimated to what that would look like prior to my time of exiting the active army. Um, compared to okay, I'm retired, or I'm not retired, I'm exiting the military. Yeah, and then you're just sort of awkwardly like uh you know the fresh prince, you know, that little meme. You have him standing in his room, he's looking around, there's no furniture, there's nothing. He's like, what am I like okay? And what do I do now? Yeah, like you gotta have some next moment ready, you gotta be ready for the next moment. So I tried to prepare myself, and veterans should be doing that. And I think the military does a good job of, you know, for me when you get out, it was um it was out pre-opered for two weeks. I don't know what it is now, it's probably very different, but for two weeks, you could do what you needed to to get yourself ready to get out.

SPEAKER_00 49:42

Every every branch is different, I found out. So uh my brother-in-law just got out as a chief warrant officer, and I think it's called TAPS. Okay, uh in the Marine Corps, it's called TRS Transition Readiness Seminar. Yeah. Um, and I would say, just because it's kind of funny for me, uh getting towards the end of that seminar, they they were like, Hey, you need to come in in like professional interview attire, you're gonna build a resume, you're gonna build a LinkedIn. And I walked in that day, suit, tie, like all ready to go. And she starts going around the room, like, hey, what's your job? What's your job? What's your job? And she's like, What do you do? I was like, Oh, I'm air traffic controller. And she goes, You can just leave. And I was like, What? And she's like, You'll have a job offer within a week if you like and and that's and and sometimes that's people's mindset. But the funny thing was, is I didn't even go in directly into air traffic control. I I went to uh a welding course to transition out through. So I wanted to take some time off, so I took six months while still on active duty, went to welding school, and then I got a job offer to do private contracting for the Air Force in New Mexico, which wasn't directly an air traffic control job. So it was one of those funny situations of like dipping your toe into different waters, find something else. Um, I'd actually found out about the New Mexico job about almost a year before I'd gotten out, and the guys were like, hey man, timeline doesn't meet up. I was welding for somebody at the point in time when I was actually about to get my paperwork, and um, I was kind of upset with who I was working for because it was like, hey, full-time pay, and they're like 25 cents more, and I was like, Okay. And I swear it was either the day that day or the next day after they hit me up and they said, Hey, do you still want to come to New Mexico? And we had actually just spawned the house out there, and we're like, Hey, so told my wife, so we're moving to New Mexico, and uh she hasn't she hasn't forgiven me for that one cents. Uh but uh no, I think I think that's a really, really good perspective on it. You know, you're reaching out to people, you're talking to people. Um was there, I mean, I I actually moved here to Lindsburg, and the my previous landlord at the time was like, hey, you should go check out the American Legion, like go talk to a few people. Um and jokingly enough, I think I'm probably still one of the youngest members here at our at our local Legion, and I don't mind it at all just because um of a maturity thing. Um, was there any organization that you reached out to that you worked with or that you're tipping your toe at? Um there's some crazy stuff going on in the veteran world with organizations right now, so it's kind of a weird question to ask.

SPEAKER_02 52:08

Yeah, honestly, there's there is nothing. Uh I'm I didn't do any of that stuff, and I feel foolish and ashamed in some ways because American Legion, all that stuff, I I just never found comfort in those spaces. Um, it just seemed like in those spaces there are a bunch of older, more senior individuals that are living a different life than I was. They're retired when I was entering into the career path. They didn't have kids, they were empty nesters when I was one having kids. So it was this it was an awkward moment. I was busy when they were fishing on the weekend and woodworking. So it just didn't seem like it it connected with me.

SPEAKER_03 52:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:40

Um, but each their own, and I think there's great value and benefit, and having people enter into the American Legion and other, you know, organizations helping veterans is wonderful because it gives those individuals an opportunity to connect. Maybe I didn't, yeah, but there's certainly spaces where other veterans could connect to find a safe landing from what is a wonderful active military time to that next chapter of life. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 53:07

So now we're we're post and we're we're actually almost at a year, right? Year of post.

SPEAKER_02 53:13

So October 1st. So the very last day of uniform for the high patrol was September 30th of 2025. So we are coming up on it. We're eight months or something like that. Eight months, 20 days right now.

SPEAKER_00 53:24

Who's counting?

SPEAKER_02 53:25

I know I'm honestly the only reason I know that is because my book comes out on the one-year anniversary of my retirement. So I know that like I'm getting close to that. Shameless plug all the way. Oh, I got a plug, I know.

SPEAKER_00 53:37

When we uh okay, so we're back to the shameless plug after losing power and thankfully audio being saved. I know it's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 53:46

So we were talking about was it the book? Yeah, yeah, the book. It comes out the one year anniversary. It's a one year. So when I, you know, I don't see it. It seems like everything I've been doing over this last eight months or so since I've been retired, is because my followers have sort of challenged me or pressed me, motivated me to do things that maybe I never thought of myself. So uh a lot of my followers over the last several years have said, you need to write a book, and I'm like, I can't write a book. How do you write a book? And then one of my followers sent me a message like, yeah, I can do that for you.

SPEAKER_03 54:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:17

I write books, and I'm like, well, let's have a meeting, let's talk about it. So I met with her, Elaine, figured out the price of to hire her to help be my ghostwriter, and we've been working out the last several months. So October 1st is when the book comes out, titled Awkward in a thin blue line. And uh it's just basically about life and purpose and and finding your your place. Uh that we're all awkward, it seems like at times, and we need to help each other and be service-driven, and eventually uh you'll find where you belong in this world to do good things.

SPEAKER_00 54:49

And I find that because one of my favorite hashtags you use and it corrects me, help more.

SPEAKER_02 54:55

Yeah, help more is my sort of the the theme now. My fo I have a foundation now, Trooper Ben Help More Foundation, which is another thing my followers you know suggested I should do. So I started a foundation to help further goodness helping. Um, you know, I try to help people as much as I can, but I also recognize that we don't get to live forever. Yeah, at some point I will have my last breath, and I want to be able to have something that has legacy and that can carry on after my time. So the Help More Foundation is is that that platform to help me carry some things.

SPEAKER_00 55:26

And that just started like like a couple about a month ago.

SPEAKER_02 55:29

Yeah, the very end of June is when I signed the paperwork on that to officially start it. So we are 20 days into that now.

SPEAKER_00 55:35

So writing a book, about to publish a book. Yep. Uh foundation. Starting a foundation. Uh so we sleep in like two, three hours.

SPEAKER_02 55:44

Yeah, I know, man. Last night, honestly, you say that. Last night I couldn't sleep for some reason. I was up till two in the morning tossing and turning with the book and just like gotta make sure everything's in line. But I don't know, it just it all works out. I mean, it it just I just uh keep on pushing forward and eventually um even if it's stumbling through moments, you'll get to where you need to. So I'm trying to accommodate and get everything as ready as best I can for the book.

SPEAKER_00 56:08

So after with all this transition and everything, is there because I think everybody goes through a little bit of uh I it's a it's a more modern term I'm I'm hearing now is FOMO, fear of missing out.

SPEAKER_02 56:19

Um have you really ran into that being away from the highway patrol when I had somebody asked me a message, uh somebody commented on my page a couple uh a couple days ago, and I was like, yeah, that's a good, that's a good comment right there. And they basically asked what what do I missed what do I miss most uh now that I've been retired from the patrol? And I was like, ooh, uh Yeah, here it is right here. So I'll read it to you because I've just first thing I see here. So having been retired for a while now, what do you miss most about not being a state trooper every day? And honestly, it was so quick to answer that uh for me is just the struggles of not being that first person on scene at a crash scene. So when you get on scene first, uh you are a very important person at that point. Yeah, when somebody's involved in a crash and they need anybody, regardless of where we fall in the political world or the things that divide us, it doesn't matter at that moment, it's a very special moment. Uh I always cherish and love those moments of being first on scene and knowing that I'm doing something that is is significant. Yeah. So I miss that most. But there's there's other things that I get to do now that are also enjoyable. That's a good earlier point.

SPEAKER_00 57:28

Yeah, because it was I was actually me and the wife were driving somewhere today, and I was thinking about it because uh this month I actually would be my three, no, four years now that I've I've been away from the military. I still not have not hit the mark yet of I've been out of the military longer than I was in the military. And for somebody that spent 26 years in a career field, I mean that's that's a huge chunk of it. It's a weird thing that it's it's a perspective not a lot of people put themselves in.

SPEAKER_02 57:52

It's such a hard I I said earlier, it you have to be brave uh to exit something that you it's comfortable. Yeah. Uh you get I in some ways you can be complacent, but you know the rhythms of it. Yeah, you know the expectations of it, you know what you're gonna be doing uh whatever you're doing in the military or any other career path. Uh and you stay there because it's convenient, it pays you, and it's comfortable, and you know the expectations. But uh to exit out and retire starts a new norm. Yeah. And the rhythm of when am I getting up? You know, what am I doing? I mean, I when I when I first uh left the high patrol, um sadly, my father-in-law uh had a bad injury, and I spent the next seven or eight months with him almost every morning. Yeah, so that was my next task for many months was to be with him, helping him through his medical recovery. He has since passed. So now, actually, this last month and a half has been a very unique time because now I truly feel like I'm I'm retired. Yeah, because now I get up and like, what am I doing today? Where am I going? I do have a lot of things I do book, public speaking, social media, and the foundation, as well as handling and building my website. But um, but there's now moments where I get up and like I don't have to go somewhere. So my wife has filled my time with a new dog at the house. I wasn't expecting that, which is great. Our new dog, in addition to the family, is is wonderful, gets me up in the morning. I have tasks now that are very, you know, I have expectations, yeah. Uh, other than the things that are I'm trying to further, but I do currently now feel like I am wandering a little bit, even though I've got all these things I'm doing, and I'm very busy with public speaking and social media, the book, and all these things, that's fine. But that's not every second of every moment. So um, while I'm not public speaking, I'm sitting in my recliner and I'm like, hmm, what's today's task?

SPEAKER_00 59:51

What's uh what's public speaking been like for you? And when when was the first time you actually did an engagement?

SPEAKER_02 59:57

So I, you know, for the patrol, I was doing it all in my career. So I did it from the first time I came on, then certainly a public information officer, I was doing public speaking, and I furthered that for 16 years. And then as I was getting ready to get out of the military, I started dipping my toe into public speaking out of uniform to see if I could acclimate to that. So I was doing so from the start of 2025 all the way up until September for nine months, speaking outside of uniform and seeing if I could further that. It has absolutely been a space for me because now I speak many times a week, yeah, uh, all across the Midwest, which is outstanding because I love to be able to travel, especially at somebody else's cost, somebody else picking up the bill. Uh so to go to Vermont and somebody else picks up that tab was great. Go to Missouri and go to Arizona because somebody else says we need you to speak at a conference has been wonderful.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:46

Uh and I I love that for me. I mean, I I don't hunt, I don't fish, I'm not a big passionate gun guy. Um, so there's everybody's got their thing. Whatever you do, man, do you do it good.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:00

Um, for me, public speaking and connecting in audiences is where I really feel like I I most enjoy my life. Yeah. So I've been able to further that.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:10

And and the public has um invited me into spaces, and it's been really, really good. Do you feel like I because I feel like a lot of people with social media wise, like it's it's behind a screen and they're doing a lot of that. But yeah, social media is. And but for you, and I argue that this way is because number one, the highway patrol, uh, like I said, the first time I actually ever had an interaction with you was uh the winter of 25, the bad ice storm we had coming through. I was getting ready to head to work. I caught you at Casey's and I said, Hey, take this highway or take this highway. And you're like, stick to 35 the whole way, man. Like, don't go, don't go the back highway. Um, do you feel like you get a good like public and social media interaction from from everybody?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:51

Yeah, for me, uh, I think that sets me apart from social media, is that usually social media is very filtered, very limited. You're only providing what you want to provide for the narrative, yeah, for the people that are reading your content. And it's again very it's curated. Yeah, um, for me, my social media is real, it's honest, it's open, it's transparent, it's messy at times. It's me talking about stupid stuff uh that is who cares? But I think that's what maybe causes people to connect, yeah, is because man, that's stupid. But you know what? I think that's stupid. You know, they they agree with me, and it's like a moment we're just talking about stupid stuff. Yeah, so I'm just trying to be real. Um, and I think people want to be, they want to see authentic people. Yeah. So when I'm just posting about my dog or posting about my Jeep or uh the things I've done that are burdening me or things that feel great, um, I think that's what causes people to connect compared to the filtered uh world that we see on social media.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:49

Yeah. Um and kind of going back to I really wanted to ask this to you, what's been your favorite public speaking event that you've done so far?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:58

Man, I go all over. Um I love, I mean, I really like speaking to schools. Um, it's the most challenging audience, but when I get invited to speak to middle school, but also high schoolers, um, because man, I tell you what, out of all the audiences and spaces that is most challenging, it's high schoolers. Yeah, you walk into high school, uh, that's their space. Well, that's their turf, man. They will give you the stink eye, the up-down, they will give you the the side eye. Uh, you have to you have to get their approval, uh, basically be in their space for them to be able to listen. So um I enjoy being in that space because I I feel like I can connect with them. And uh, well, I'm in fact, I know I connect with them because what happens is after my talks, they follow me. Which is first off crazy that high schoolers would want to follow a 50-year-old retired guy. Uh, but apparently things I've said to them connect in a manner in this filtered uh world.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:57

So for that, um, I just really enjoy those moments when I can connect with a student and make them realize they're valued, but also to imprint on them how to make safe choices.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:08

Um, in life on social media, behind the vehicle, in life choices, things like that is a nice moment.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:15

I mean, um, working through speaking engagements and social media and everything, and like you said, just being yourself and being retired and living life how you're wandering through right now, um, kind of running social media. Have you had anybody kind of I guess somebody try to outside influence, like push you one way, or you know, hey, you should be more political, or yeah, yeah, and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:39

Yeah, so um, when you start having a voice like I have, because I've got a large following, so I mean, I you invited me in this space because I have a relevance. I mean, you didn't just get any officer, you didn't get any trooper, you got a person that has somebody that has a platform that can further your reach. Yeah, so it opens doors for me. Yeah, um, having a platform, having a knownness, and that comes with the political world of people running for office. There's a lot of people that want to sit down and visit with me because they want to have a photo with me. Yeah, they want to be able to have trooper Ben's endorsement. Uh, if Trooper Ben likes them, then maybe you should like them as well and vote for them. So I have a lot of that occurring right now. And also, I have a lot of my followers, but also political groups uh asking me to run for certain positions, which is very interesting. Uh, things I've never thought of, uh, conversations have been had that are just crazy. Like you want me to do what? Um, but uh people see things in me that I would have never thought of myself.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:40

Um, so it's nice to be humbled and honored in those ways. But you know, we always have to realize where's I've said it before, where's your purpose, your path, your place? Stay in your lane, make sure you're doing the things that really speak to you, yeah. And trying to make sure I'm grounded is what I'm trying to do. Yeah. So while I haven't ran for anything. And even though people have asked me to run for certain positions, I've hit pause on those things because I'm a father and a husband. I want to make sure those two titles are most important. Yeah. And then in future years, maybe I will run for something, but right now, not right now. Senator Trooper Ben. I'll tell you what, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:15

The things that have been asked for me, it's crazy. Uh, it is, it's insane. All um kind of wrapping up here, I kind of want to get like good trooper story and like and just I mean, have you had any weird interactions with social media and not having to deal with that? Because that's that's a space where like you're obviously large public following, but it also opens doors for kind of a people but trying to push boundaries.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:42

There's haters out there, there's haters everywhere. It's easy to be a troll out there and have a fake profile with a fake name that's not really you. Uh so um there's haters everywhere, but uh, you're gonna have me as I am, you're not gonna have me. I'm not gonna be ashamed to be something I'm not. So I've learned to accommodate being me, and I don't care what other people think now. I'm old enough and have enough time in my life to worry about other people's opinions.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:06

I wish I would have had that thought earlier in my life.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:09

Um, but as you get older, you mature and you realize that time's short, and forget it. I don't care what other people think. Yeah, I'm gonna do me. So um you deal with those daggers. That's the one thing on social media that I still I'm growing. I mean, I just said I don't care what they say, but it still stings a little bit when you have people hitting you with tough words that are, I don't know, just comes across pretty abrasive at times. But you just gotta keep on moving forward. If you're doing the right thing for the right reasons, then who cares what other people think? And that's that's what I'm gonna do.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:36

Awesome. Well, I think we're gonna wrap up here. So we've got awkward and then blue line, October 1st of 2026.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:44

October 1st is gonna be amazing. It's on my website.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:46

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:46

Uh I'll do a pre-order, pre-sale, um, pre-order uh at the very beginning of September. Uh unless you're a subscriber to my Facebook page, because then you get a two-day earlier invite than that.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:58

And then subscribers get a little additional benefit of that. What's your website? Trooperbencs.com. So basically, if you search Trooper Ben, yeah, that's Trooper Ben KS is pretty much how I brand myself across everything. It makes it easy for people. So on social, through websites, through everything, Trooper Ben CS.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:16

Okay, perfect. Um, and then last parting words for either a uh a veteran that might be ready, getting ready to get out of the military, somebody that's struggling to find their wandering point where they're trying to go to in life as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:32

So the parting words I would say to a veteran or anybody is that it's okay to wander. Uh, we all wander, you just can't wander forever. Don't become lost. Uh, wandering is just that. You're trying to figure out your direction, your orientation, and that comes from dipping your toes, touching, tasting, feeling, interacting with things and realizing that spoke to me. I enjoy that, I like that, I want to further that. And when you get your direction, lean into it regardless of what other people think.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:57

There's, as we've said, haters all around us that are gonna tell you the things that you can't do, that you want to do, or they're gonna tell you things that you're not supposed to do. Um, I mean, just the up, I mean, it's gonna be the flip side of it. So just basically to be you and don't worry about other people think. Uh, as you're trying to do good things, just keep on leaning into doing those good things and being your true self in a world that doesn't want that. In this world, it seems like they're gonna shame you to be something that you're not. Just be you and uh be comfortable with that. And the sooner you can do that, the better life will be.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:28

Awesome. Well, Tripper Ben, thank you so much for your time, sir.