Heyo five here at fifty five ker CD talk station. By the time, it's wishing everyone at very very happy Friday, and please as I can be, and I'm sure my listening audience is happy that I have him on right now. Thanks to Joe Jacker for lining up Doctor Colonel Josh McConkie. He is an award winning best selling author, an estemed emergency physician with more than two decades of clinical experience, also as a professor at Duke University and maintains Board
certification in Emergency Medicine. The twenty fwo years of military service, Doctor McConkie now commands the four hundred and fifty ninth Aero Medical Staging Squadron in the US Air Force Reserves. He also has a military service which includes providing critical medical support in both wartime and peace time operations, more than three hundred and forty hours as a flight surgeon and ninety combat hours in rotor wing medical evaluation and
air assault missions in the Middle East. He's an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal recipient for exemplary service during Operation Iraqi Freedom. I mentioned he's a best selling author, worked here to have doctor Conki doctor Colonel McConkie talk about his best selling book, Be the Weight behind the Spear. Doctor Colonel McConkie, it's a pleasure to have you on the fifty five Carosee Morning Show and thank you for your service to our country.
Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be with you this morning.
Now, you actually perform surgeries in helicopters.
So you can, Yes, a lot of it is just trauma, trauma and life support. But yes, it's a it's not ideal.
But if you have to yes, oh my word, and so you were in the thick of it, if you were flying wounded individuals and in combat, that's a that's I would obviously say, that's a very dangerous proposition.
Yeah, that was before my before marriage and children, So I would probably, uh, it would have to be a World War three level scenario for me to put myself in a situation like that for an hour.
You can get a young person to do anything. Doctor anyway, Be the Weight behind the Sphere I obviously from the notes, and I think anybody can observe we are not exactly a very unified country or quitely divided country. And I absolutely think I've noted on the air and observed many times over. I think that there are some you know, evil forces out in the world that intentionally stir the
pot of division in this country. Obviously, we being the most successful country that has ever been, Thank God for that. We're the source of envy and greed, and of course we've got enemies in the world, and it does them a lot of benefit to divide America. I used to look at the American flag and view it as a symbol of unification. It stood for freedom under which anybody can stand and enjoy their own life pursuits. But at every turn we seem to be yelling at each other
about every minuscule problem in the world. I guess is that concept as at least I observe it one of the reasons you wrote this book.
That has a major part to play. You know, it's the most divided politically and generationally in this country that I've seen in my lifetime. You know, I'm forty seven years old, and you know, I'm hoping that we can find something in common to focus on. And if people would just focus on developing our future leaders and engaging their communities, America would be a much better place and try to bring us back together.
Well, and you would think, because future leaders are going to be running the show, we want the best and brightest, that we would all work collectively for the benefit of everyone, regardless of stripes standing beneath that flag, to advance these people and help them out along the way. But in this society, part of the reasons we have so much divisions, these so called current leaders actually foster and encourage the division that we're talking about.
It really is detrimental to our future. The best resource that we have in this country is our people. It's coaches, it's teachers, it's volunteers and mentors. That needs to be the focus instead of the political division. And you know, right now you feel like you have half the country that's just missing the plot completely.
Yes, you do, well, I wrote as I was, you know, think preparing for this interview, I wrote down the three profound you know, the type of folks that were most profound in him having an impact on my life. My parents first and foremost, they gave me the gift of education, and they really encouraged and insisted that I get a good education. So and they helped me to get through college in law school and I went on to practice law for sixteen years. They able to build a family
and take care of them thanks to the education. But also education included certain of my educators, my teachers in K through twelve and of course college. Some of them stood out and were truly inspirational. Thank you, Chuck Barkholtz, you're out there listening. He was a brilliant man and one of the most influential teachers of my life. And then my mentors, the people that I worked for, the partners at the law firm who taught and trained me and gave me all the tools of the trade I
needed to be successful. That's the kind of people we're talking about. But moving aside from my personal experience, everyone I think is an expert at something and can pass that along to the next general of people. If we're all thinking about, you know, building these future leaders.
Everybody has an unique skill, everybody has something different to give, and what they do every single day matters. They need to realize that and they need to get out in their community. It can be something different for everyone, right coaching little league or soccer, or volunteering in your church or your school. And some people that don't like working with people. That's fine, get out there in your community. There's plenty of organizations, animal shelters that become emotional support
animals for somebody. There's this is a team sport America, and life is a team sport.
So in writing this book, how do you how do you frame it in the sense that to get like people to to to answer your call to action along these lines, because again, with all the division immunity of people, I think people just like ada, hell with it, I just give it up.
You know, unless you recognize the problem, you can't fix it. So our bad policy decisions over the past four or five years are now coming to roost. As an emergency physician, I see this generation. They're coming in with a huge mental health crisis. I see anxiety, depression, and very sadly suicides, and it rips your heart out every single time. These kids are so young. The mental health crisis is very real. And then as a military commander, I see the same generation.
They lack the simple resiliency skills. They fold at the very smallest of obstacles. And I was so concerned that I sat down and I wrote this book. I need Americans to get engaged and this is the call to action.
Well it sounds like you speak Pete Hegsath's language. Defense Secretary of Pete Tegsath. Because I worry as much. I do anything I can, by the way, sir, to help and support the American veterans, because I have so much respect for them. But I saw the recruit numbers declining dramatically, and now of course you have physical fitness problems in this country with hopefully RFK Junior may help to deal with, but we'll keep our fingers crossed. But also the American
military becoming this woke entity. There was nothing but an extension of the k K through twelve and college education, identity politics, vehicle and in doctrination camp. What does that have to do with killing people and breaking things? Which is always my boiled down look on what the military should be.
You know, it is a terrible and horrific job. I have been on the front lines. I have flown metavac, I did one aerosoult, scariest thing I've ever done. And that's our job. Nobody wants to do that job, but when you're called upon, you have to be able to execute that job and deliver that lethality with no questions asked. So if what your government, if what they're asking you to do, does not help you do that, then you're
wasting our time. You're literally deteriorating our capabilities. And I am so thankful that we have this current leadership in office that getting us pointed back in the right direction, because the last four years have been very, very hard. As a military commander, it's been very difficult. I follow commands. We have civilian led you know, leadership for our military, and you know, I'm proud to follow, you know, our civilian elected leaders. I just disagreed with a lot of
the policy decisions. And I'm very thankful that we have p tag staff at the Helm now.
So you saw this firsthand because you're still in an active role, I guess, can can you explain to my listening audience did it really? Was it really pervasive? These DEI woke policies if I can call them woke policies and get away with it, I mean, was it that pervasive?
It was very pervasive. It almost became a singular focus, and they were dividing people. They were dividing like my airman. So when you would sit down, you know, with the quotas and the DEI, and they were literally different awards that you would submit members for some of you know, at a wing or Air Force wide level, and meetings alone, they were separating. Here's the African American contingent, and here's the Asian contingent, and here's the LGBTQ. It defeated the
entire purpose of building unity in the military. It was separating. And when you try to build your morale and you're spree to corps and then you look at people that were willing to join the military, those numbers were deteriorating.
That's a direct reflection of those bad policies you saw immediately in December with one election in less than thirty days, those December recruiting numbers ramped up exponentially because the men and women that you asked to serve this country and lay their lives on the line, they just want to be able to do their job and execute. The DEI initiatives were degrading that capability.
So you're answering your question, I was going to ask you there are still patriotic young Americans out there that still believe in the message of freedom and liberty that are Cory stands for that probably would have signed up for military service maybe in earlier times, but under this woke governance and this woke ideological concept that was going on, they wouldn't do that. But they're still out there.
They are still there. I am proud to serve with many of them. I have one hundred men and women under my command, best war fighting medics in the United States Air Force, and I'm glad we are back on the right track because the world needs a strong American military. The American people demand one, and we are now heading back in that direction.
One subset of this, and I know you're outspoken on this whole renaming of Fort Bragg Fort Liberty. Can you address that and tell me what an impact that had, just specifically.
So that right there, it is always going to be Fort Bragg. It has always been Fort Bragg. Everyone in the world knows of that name. That there's in pop culture movie references, Rambo. Everybody knows what Brag stands for, and it's the men women that have served. It had nothing to do with a World War two general over
one hundred and fifty years ago. That has to do with the men and women and the mission that is going on at Fort Bragg, you know, the heart of airborne operations, of special operations, the JFK Special Warfare Center. I was not happy with that name changed to Fort Liberty. Nobody in Fayetteville. I live in North Carolina, and nobody
called it Fort Liberty. It was always Fort Bragg. And we're very happy that it's back to being Fort Bragg officially, and in doing so, they've actually named it after a World War Two veteran from the greatest generation, Roland Brag, So it's a win on both fronts.
The name of the book, The Weight behind the Spear, written by my guest today, impressive. He is doctor Colonel McConkey. Who did you write this book for? Is it literally for anyone, anybody in any capacity to pass along their own knowledge and experience from life or career to young people. I suppose the audience for this book is far and wide.
It's far and wide anybody that deals with this younger generation, teachers, coaches, parents, business leaders, business leaders don't realize that this is still their problem. These kids are coming to you looking for jobs, and if they lack these skills, your business will not be successful. So really, everybody.
It's been a real pleasure having on the morning show again on behalf of all of my listening audience, my family, me personally thank you for your service to our country and for writing this inspiring book be the weight behind the sphere what we've done for everyone's benefit. As my producer has put your book on my blog page at fifty five care sea dot com with the link to get a copy and it will strongly encourage them to do that and then share the book with a friend
who you think might help out as well. Doctor, it has been a Colonel, I don't know what you prefer, but doctor, Colonel Josh McCaughey, it's been a real distinct pleasure having in the program. And thanks again for spending time with my listeners in me this morning