If it means anything to you, yes, it was unauthorized and I had about 70 people there. It was one hell of a party. That's what it was, man. Welcome to The Exit Interview. We are retired master chiefs on a new mission to honor the workforce by seeking real feedback. The Coast Guard doesn't have an official exit interview for people to provide unfiltered feedback directly to policymakers on their way out the door.
The majority of folks leave with a hearty handshake, a DD214, pride in what they have done, friendships that last a lifetime, maybe an award for a small barbecue. This podcast seeks to respect veterans by providing a place to exercise their first amendment right through sharing their experiences, opinions, career, and recommendations with you, the listener. I'm Travis, and I'm joined with my friends. Florida Corey. This is Matt. Producer Brian.
And today on the show, we're interviewing retired chief electricians made Todd Buncie. Todd is a prior Navy sailor, came over to the Coast Guard after his career there, and had a journey through many ships, units, and plenty of ups and downs that we'll get into. I came to know Todd when we served together on Coast Guard cutter Mustang. He was my first class electrician, and we had some great times there, stayed in touch afterward, and he surprised me at my own retirement.
So for our first chief that we're going to bring on the air, Todd Buncie. Hello. Hey, Todd. Welcome. Thanks for having me. So the first question we like to ask is what brought you into the Coast Guard? It's a little different for you. So what brought you into the Navy? Tell us that little origin story. Well, there's an old saying, and I might not go for everybody, but a lot of people were joining the militators. Two things to be happy neither just want to serve their country.
Or they're running from something. And I'm the one that was running from something. And at a rough life as a childhood left my house when I was 15 years old. Quit high school in 10th grade twice. And got a little bit of trouble. And it wasn't a good thing, but it ended up being a good thing. Because if I want to go out and trouble, I probably won't be who I am today. I know it sounds wrong, but that was my life. So a long story short, how I joined the Navy was my dad actually was retired.
CB is 24 years being on that. Me and then get along. And like I said, I left my house when I was 15, basically run around on the trope Pennsylvania. 30 miles east of Pittsburgh rolling rock beer on or palm or Mr Rogers neighborhood. So long story short, I was working for the Italians. I could tell us. At food land. I grew up in an Italian town. And. I happen to have a girlfriend. There's a lot of stuff that happened between that, but we'll go with whenever I was 19 years old.
I was stalking shells. Sound a little bit of weed. And I happen to have a pound of weed in my apartment one day. And I had a girl from a halfway house. There was my girlfriend's friend. And there's a police officer named Colombo. Said, hey, you got a, you got a girl here at your house. We want them. Yes, she's upstairs. So I went upstairs to get her brother down. And he sent a canine in my household. And there I was. So what happened was he said, hey, how's your father going to react to this?
I said, I don't know. I really don't care about my dad. And he goes, well, if I, you're going to go to jail. And I said, well, I'm leaving in three days, which no kidding. I did lie to him. I wasn't leaving in three days, but I went and talked to a neighbor crew and I left for boot camp within two days. The crazy thing about the whole situation was I didn't have a GED or a high school diploma. I went up to a great lake. I got through EMA school. And they. This chief her name was chief balls.
And she says, she says, fire EMF and buncy. How the hell did you get my Navy? And I said, well, I don't know, but I'm here. And she goes, you can't go to Texas till you get your GED because you don't have a GED. I said, yes, chief, I do not have a GED. She goes, when you want to take it, I said, well, I made it through EMA school. I think I'm passing the GED. So I ended up taking that test and I left for Texas and I reported to the mine warfare community. I was on my sleepers for seven years.
I was on US's pioneer, US's century. And then I went to semi-angle side. And I did seven years there. And I got out. Yeah, it's the seventh year that I was done. I was like, I'm going to move on. Well, I didn't work out too good. I got out for three years and I was back at my old ways. So I figured I needed to foot my ass again. I went back, talked to the Navy. They said I would have had a cross rate. I would lose my seed time. I lose rank. And I'd be higher, 10 years, what it was.
So then I went down and talked to the Coast Guard in Pennsylvania. I was like, I'm going to go to the Navy. I just went to the Navy. I got out. And right there at Pittsburgh. And they were like, Hey, we'll give you $8,000. Well, it should keep your rank. You're going to go to a pit stop. Can't be New Jersey for two weeks. Let you keep CP. All that. And then they said, where you want to go? I said, well, I'll go to Bahrain. Because all my buddies were there, of course, in the Navy.
So I was like, hey, I'll go back to Bahrain. I'm going to go back to the Navy. They changed it to Coast Guard Cutter, a cushioned out of a catch can, Alaska. I reported there and I believe it was 2004. Somewhere around in there. So yeah, I mean, that's when my career started in the Coast Guard. So was the a cushion at the Queen of the Fleet when you went there? Was it still the story? Yeah. We actually took. I was actually, it was pretty cool.
I was in the Saudi Act and we did the, the changing of the, yeah, Queen of the Fleet. Stores was Queen of the Fleet time and then we became the cushioned. I mean, the cushioned, it came Queen of Fleet, which that was one of my actual best votes. None against you Travis. But the reason why is there's a whole other story behind that. When we became the Queen of the Fleet, there's an article you can look up. Em Too Todd Bunsy that I wrote about the cushioned.
There was a roller two veteran that came aboard that, that cutter. And he served in midway as a Navy diver. And I actually interviewed him. I have all the slides and everything. I actually wanted it to go into the Coast Guard Museum. But it seems like the new Coast Guard Museum. Seems like there's going to a lot of pushback off of that because he wasn't a Coast Guard at the time. He was Navy because it was called US's Shackle ARS 9. It was a salvage boat for the Navy. And it was cool.
But yeah, I ended up being on the cushioned. Did I think two and a half, three years there? Right on. If anybody out there's listening and has a connection with the Coast Guard Museum, that's being built. Reach out to us in our email on the podcast and we will help link you up with Todd and see if we can't get that in the museum. Yeah, it had a lot of history behind it. So anyhow, I'm on the cushioned. Oh, I forgot to say this in between my Navy and Coast Guard career.
I went through, I got divorced. So of course, I hated the world, hated everything. You know, I accepted it, it takes two to tango. But I ended up going to the cushioned single. And then I did two and a half, three years there. Accepted orders to Guam. And for some reason, man, I always got my orders that I wanted. But I think it's because I always picked everything that nobody wanted. So I was supposed to go to Guam two weeks before I go to Guam. My daughter was with my ex-wife.
She was only four years old. And I was like, no, I got to get back down the taxes to be with my daughter. And believe it or not, the detailer actually honored that. And he canceled my orders. And I think the only reason why he did is because he had somebody at a one at Guam. And coming out of Alaska, I already had a priority one, but because I can't so that he let me go. So I came down to a Corpus Christi, Texas, Naval engineer. And it was fun. Did four years here.
Did a TDY was in deep water horizon, the oil explosion. Up there in the Gulf, Mexico. I volunteered to go up the EM one that was there at the time. His wife was going through a bad pregnancy. So I volunteered went up there. And I was in the spill for about 39 days on Harry Claiborne out of Galveston, Texas. I threw that came back here. My one officer at the time asked me where I wanted to go next. That's when I called Travis. I said, I want to come to Mustang. What's going on in Alaska?
Because I enjoyed Alaska. So. Yeah, reported a Mustang. They had to kick me off there because I wanted to stay. I did almost five years straight on that 110. They were forced me to. The short duty. And I said, there's no way in a hell. I'm going to retire on short duty. I'm a sailor. Well, then we're out too good at first. And I started having back problems. And somehow I made it because the detailer course called me and said, hey, guess what? We got a boat for you. And I'm like, let me guess.
Coast Guard Cutter Monroe out of a Kodi, Alaska. Imagine that. So yeah, so end up in. Kodiak on a Monroe. My back finally gave out and I'm getting flown to Washington. So we're smiling suit at a Laminac to be done. The doc told me how long you got the retire. I said, I got four years. He goes, I'll get you four. I only last there for about, I think 14 months. And then I pulled off to come back to Texas. So that's the career. So I was on the Pioneer to Sentry Sema, a cushion.
The Mustang, while clayborn and Monroe. Those are all my cutters and ships I was on. So a lot of stuff happened in between all that though. How many, how many years of sea time did that total up to 15? 15 out of 22. So seven years of your military career was spent somewhere other than, than it's see that is a noblem endeavor. I went for, I wanted to get my 20, but my back, my body wasn't having it. You know how it is living in the Gulf of Alaska and the barring sea.
But I was a fighter on the two year billets. But when they can't get people to come up there. You know, I enjoyed it. That is one thing I didn't understand about the Coast Guard is why are we forcing people to be someone where they don't want to be? I get it. But I don't because they say in Kodiak, there's three D's. Death, DUI or divorced. And that's the truth. There was suicide up there. And I was forced to move up there. And then it wasn't happy for anybody. And I never understood it.
I get it. I know why they do it. They want everybody. Hey, we want to send you east. Because why? You got, you got men and women that want to stay in Alaska. Let them stay there. You got men and women want to stay in Florida. Let them stay there. California, wherever. Let them stay. Did your family move with you to Kodiak? They did. Yes. They moved with me. What do they think about Kodiak? They love it. My family loved it. But we were plugged in. I'm a faith guy.
We're plugged into a good, a good church up there. Kodiak Christian fellowship. It's a Samoan church. Pastor Pisa. Great guy. I don't know if you ran into them. Cory or not. I don't think so. But it's amazing how many Pacific Islanders are in Alaska. Yes. Yes. I didn't see that one coming. Pretty cool. You know, you think about it. They'll look out close to Hawaii you really is to Alaska on a flight. They would take hops all the time. Yeah. It's not that far.
And a lot of them just said, you know, I like the island life. But I'm kind of tired of all this heat. You get up there and they love it. It's freedom in so many ways. It is. It is. It's when they say it'll ask frontier. That's it, man. It's real. I'm going to truly believe it. And they like I'm going to tell you my kids. And I'm not disrespecting kids in a load of 48. But my kids are different, man. Like I'm talking, they're survivalists.
Yeah. They literally, they're, they're, they have more respect for things. They, they appreciate stuff more. Does that make sense? Absolutely. Yeah. And I have to change you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I gotta say those, those some moments, they make great movers for the moving company. No, they can't do stuff like, oh my god. They look, I look at it and it looks heavy and they're just throwing it over the back, walking out the house. Yeah. It's impressive.
Yeah. You were up in Kodiak for a while too, weren't you, Matt? I'm probably the outlier here. I think Kodiak's beautiful. I enjoyed my time. I too am familiar with 3Ds, although it was, I forget. But my category I left with a dependent. So we ended up, pregnant with our first child on the way out, which is not a negative thing by any means. So of those of those doomsday ds that come along with a moniker or Kodiak, I think that's probably the most positive outcomes that happened to kid.
With the person who were married to when you were a mother. Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, we could probably tell stories for days. But Kodiak is hard on relationships. It's tough. And I agree with you 100% Todd, you know, if somebody wants to be there, and they're happy, productive, why are we, why are we dickering with that? It makes no sense. Like, please, because it's hard. This was my first time out of the city ever going to Kodiak. I grew up in the city.
I'm a city kid station station in the 7 cities there in Virginia for a couple of years. I was a bump down to Miami, Florida of all places after that. So it's, you know, just incrementally city after city after city. Never once saw a place like Kodiak. And I remember the day the boat arrived and, oh my god, my wife was in tears. You know, I'm like shit, she's going to leave me right now. Like day one, like she was ready to fly, dude. So, you know, it was, it was culture shock. It's beautiful.
I'd go visit again. You won't catch me live in there. It's just too remote. But like, you know, outside of Anchorage is cool. But I can't be that disconnected. I'm just not that, I'm not that survivalist. So I need these. One of the, one of the things about Alaska that I learned is you make some amazing friends. Talking about, for sure, Pacific Islanders. I had a store giver that was from Hawaii when I was stationed up in Tog.
And him and I had become friends and stayed in contact over the years. And we still talk. And holidays at our house were amazing because you would have food from all over the world. Because everybody would come in. And it was a small community there in Tog. It was amazing. I don't know that that sense of community exists without the adversity. Whether it's whether or the mission that seems to bring a bond that's tighter than anything else I've found.
I got a punch in and all lean on Todd here too. But I think one of the things that kind of made my small family at the time. My wife and I, our Kodiak experience successful was. We got out of base housing and, you know, got tied in. With, you know, some local friends there. And that helped immensely to get outside of the fish bowl that was the greater Kodiak base. And not no knock. Like probably the best housing the Coast Guard's got. But, you know, very.
Not, I guess not what I was trying to get into. And so it was really nice to, like you said, Travis, building those bonds. And like Todd was saying, you know, hook up. With a pastor that kind of guided a lot of things. That that's what made the difference there. And kind of what pulled us through was some non Coast Guard folks that were nice enough to kind of. Support us, even though they knew we were leaving. Yeah. That's how Kodiak like you said, I lived on aviation loop.
So. But we had the hillside. I had a creek in the bag. It was nice. But anybody who lived in the middle of the man, you couldn't get away from your shop. You couldn't get away from anything. I mean, it was Coast Guard 24, seven unless you went out and down and found that separation. But you had to go do it yourself. It wasn't coming to you, you know, let's you ended up out the mecca or something. You know, but. Yeah, no, it was. We enjoyed it. My wife loved it. The kids loved it.
I mean, like I said, we're going back to the end of month. We're going to go visit the kids. We're going to go visit the kids. I mean, like I said, we're going back to the end of month. We're going to go visit sewer dough. So go back to. I got a film we're going up there anyhow. We'll see what happens. So I know all your time in Alaska, Todd. Yeah, you probably have a lot of memories. What was your best experience in the Coast Guard up in district 17? You know.
And it does go back to the childhood side of it. I lost trust in a lot of things grown up. And that's what got me into the military anyhow, right? So I'd have to say it was the Mustang. And this is why I was the independent electrician. I it was me to, you know what I mean? I. That was my cutter. I mean, I know I was a first class at the time, but in my in my heart. As far as having an electric electrical plant run and, you know, we were able to fulfill our missions.
That was, you know, it was a team effort. With my mind, it was like, man, you, you. That's your boat, man. You know what I mean? Yes, there's somebody said about pride and ownership. That goes a long way. That's it. It does. It goes a long way. And like I said, without, you know, the MKZM's all of them. It's, you know, it was just the community was good too. I had a little bit of rough time as you know Travis after you left. You know, we talked.
And you got me through some bad times that I was dealing with on the Mustang. And you made me a better person for that to be honestly. And I learned, you know, I was. I matured with what I went through. You know, they, that's what they say, you know, you, we go through hell times. But at the end of the day, you mature through it, you know. But it doesn't always have to be that way either. So, but the Mustang, we had a good time.
And when I remember calling you whenever I, from Corpus Christius, hey, Travis, you got a Dutch harbor? No, we don't go there. We go to Kodiak. I report in two days later, you're like, hey, get your shit ready. We're going to Dutch harbor. I'm like, what? On a one 10. So, yeah, so that was actually a crazy deal. There was a jack up oil rig. There was a jack up oil rig going up to the north slope. Yep. And the ship that was supposed to be escorting it broke down.
And they couldn't get another asset up there to cover the security zones. Because there were some, you know, some eco terrorist organizations trying to interfere with it. So they said, hey, Mustang, you guys want to go? And, you know, we're young and crazy. We're like, yeah, we'll take a one 10 out to Dutch harbor. Well, you know, it sounds like a good time. And we did. It was, it was a good time. There was a one night in particular Todd and I were on the fan tail.
You know, chicken for Halibut while we were anchored. I don't think we caught any Halibut in that bay. But Todd, he gets something on his line. And he's like, there's a chief, chief, chief. I got something. And I look over and he gets excited. And I'm like, oh, it's something good. And he gets it up alongside the boat. And it was one of the biggest king crab I've seen in my life. That he caught a god jig. Yep. Sure. I still have that picture, man. Yeah. We weren't allowed to cook it.
Because we were told it was out season. Naval isn't out of season. We could have cooked it. That person knows who he is too. If he ever listens to his podcast. He might have been jealous that you were the one that caught the crab. Yeah. Yeah. He might be. Yeah. Now that was always, you know, that was always unique to me. I always called it my home away from home. You know, I'll talk to people. Half of them don't believe me. It doesn't matter. I got to live it. It was fun.
You know, sitting there having beers with Sid and all them. Even when I was on the acoustic and Northwestern all that stuff, it was fun. But there's nothing there. There is nothing there. There's some nice mountains, you know, a lot of a lot of history, you know, as far as World War II. So yeah, I had no idea they had such a cool museum out there. Oh, yeah. You'd never know it's there. It's amazing. There's a lot of history there. For sure. So you talked a little bit about injuring your back.
And that's that's a part of the story. I don't know if you've seen the history behind it with the cutthroats coming in. That's the United States troops. They brought the horses in and they, you know, they taught them all the cold weather. They're all the, uh, inuits from Alaska. The cutthroats. Yep. There's a lot of history there. For sure. So you talked a little bit about injuring your back and that's that's pretty common for engineers looking heavy stuff and people at sea.
What was the recovery like from that? Man, it was, it was hell. I still live with it. Uh, if you're to look at me. As you know, Travis, I'm a hunt and fish all the time. Uh, but I got, I got put to all stop. And I think when you get put to all stop in your life, it sucks. Man, it's, it's the mind embodied at hurts, man. You know, uh, I had that lamb and act to be done and then whenever I came down here, the, uh, Texas.
Uh, I ended up having to have major surgery because my, uh, left side, my side, I knurled some of severed. So I, like my left foot right now, uh, I'm not proud to say I had to go through marriage counseling because honestly, my wife thought I was cheating on her because. Uh, when you have that much surgery, the nerves, it messes up everything.
And when I mean everything, it messes your junk and, you know, people looking at me as the funny guy hanging out and stuff, but reality man inside deep down inside it sucks, man. It really does. I'm only 48, man. And it's like, you know, mama, mama's like, what's going on? But she's in the earth so she understands now, but at the time she's like, no way. And I'm like, oh, yes, way, but it's stocked. It was miserable. Uh, because like I said, when you, when you, when you get put, though, stop me.
I'm, uh, messes with your mind too. Fact, uh, I ended up going to, uh, it's called Laurel Ridge up in San Antonio to get through it. And, uh, went through, uh, 30 days of lockdown with the best of the best up there. Uh, seals, recon. You know, I didn't think I belonged there, but after talking to counselors and stuff, it was, it was pretty. It's a good thing I did it. And you know, it's interesting how you guys interact, uh, introduce the podcast.
I think that's where every service, there has to be some kind of debrief, especially. I know this respect to those who haven't done more than 20, but especially those who are retiring. There has to be some kind of debrief somewhere, somehow, I don't know what it is. I'm not saying they need to go where I went, you know, because honestly, the stories I heard up there, you'll leave there with PTSD.
I wish I wanted to hear some of those stories, man, you know, I sat there with people they wrote books about. And, uh, it's the truth and, uh, great, great soldiers, great Marines. Uh, it was, it was interesting. I'm still in contact with a lot of them and we help each other out. Uh, but the back issue, yeah, it kicked my ass. And, uh, you think you're going to get out and go do something and be an electrician.
I live down here by the oil fields. I know when I'm worth an oil fields, but I can't climb ladders anymore because even when I sit down, I feel like I'm standing on my left foot. It's just constant pressure on my foot. It's neuropathy is what it is, but about a thousand times. So, uh, I ended up getting in a row, stayed after that. I kind of did it backwards because my network was there already. And, uh, I went and got my license and that's what I do now. But I have a lot of wasted.
In my mind, uh, a lot of wasted knowledge of the 22 years as an electrician. You know, it's cool whenever my neighbors call me, I say, my AC doesn't work. I'll go fix your AC. You know, stuff like that. But I'm not climbing anywhere. That's true. Sure. A Coast Guard career in the post-COVID environment is extremely demanding. And we all know that the organization can be frustrating.
But if you're feeling disillusioned and burnt out, it might also be a sign that your human operating system is struggling and needs an upgrade. Because you don't have the luxury of quitting, you've basically got two options. If you can check out, or you can engage with the intensity that's nying at you and take your whole being to the next level. Fierce Heart Development serves those courageous enough to choose the second path.
I'm John Cop, a Coast Guard veteran, therapist, and developmental coach. And I can support the growth that life wants from you. If you're dissatisfied with ops normal, don't squander this opportunity to make use of your discomfort. Catalize your evolution at Fierce Heart Dev dot com. I want to back up real quick. I don't really know what a laminectomy is. Can you explain that procedure? Did the doctors really lay it out? Do you understand what that looked like?
First off, if you're going to be told to get a laminectomy, don't google it. It's pretty aggressive. Anyhow, they go in. Your laminas, your spine on the back, your spine, what they do is you have nerves that come out the side of your spine. Go up in your arms, down your legs, the whole works, and there's little holes that they come out of. What happens is whenever your disc ruptures, it's like a jelly donut, the jelly just oozes out. And it presses on your nerves.
And so what they do is they go in, they take half your spine, they cut whatever this that is, half of it out. It's just muscle, the other half's there. And it relieves the pressure. Well, think about it. If you take that piece out and just made your back weaker, you're out of pain. You know, you're more than likely going to have a surgery, which at the end of the day, I ended up having a surgery again.
Because they took out my right side of my lamina and my left side collapse. And that's where I'm most severed my sciatic nerve. And that that that one there, uh, brings up whole other story because I went through 10 days of hell. Until the VA actually, my nurse practitioner told me to lie to get a MRI done because when it collapsed, I went in and they said, there's nothing wrong with you. And I don't know if you've ever had Charlie horses and your hamstrings and your your ass, basically.
And it just constantly squeezes, constantly squeezes, you know, it's just constant pain. And I went to the hospital here in Texas shoreline. And, uh, they said, uh, you're fine. You just need a casket. And I'm like, no, I need, I need an MRI. So I went to the VA, got an ambulance there. I went back to the same hospital. They were like, hey, you were just here yesterday. And I'm like, yeah, because my back collapsed. I know what happened. And they said, no, no, no.
So then I, they gave me a bunch of drugs. That's what they do. They give you hydrocodone. They sent me home with that. I didn't want to take them. But I had to take a few to get out of the pain. Next day I go back to the VA. They say, get in an ambulance again. And my nurse practitioner told me, hey, listen, this time, Tommy lost bladder control. So they put me in the gurney, put me in the, uh, ambulance. And I'm not going to lie. I tried pissing myself.
And I just couldn't, because I didn't have any control anyhow. So when I got there, they said, you lost bladder control. And they said, okay, we're going to give you an MRI. So again, an MRI, the neurosurgeon comes in and says, you need emergency, emergency surgery. I said, no shit. So yeah, it was, it was crazy. I was thinking I get, when I retire, medicals take care of no questions asked. Man, you got to argue a little bit. So anyhow. It was something you had to advocate for yourself.
That's for sure. Yeah. It was rough. I don't wish that pain on end. My worst enemy. I mean, it was, it was rough for sure. But that, I mean, I had eight surgeries when I was in. So my whole right foot was redone too. So yeah. I mean, when I turned my medical record, well, my two books in the VA, there was no questions. But I had a way to year because COVID had broke out. So I didn't get my retirement because of COVID. I didn't get my pay for a year.
In fact, I had an upselling stuff just to get my wife through nursing school because we're living off my retirement. And I just couldn't, I couldn't work. I was beat up. So, but at the end of the day, it worked out. And you were, you were trying to sell, you were selling coil eggs there for a while. I mean, I, yeah, business is rolling right. I did. Whenever I got out, I was, I raised 5,000, Bob White coil. Then when the back went, that was the end of that.
And then I started raising the Rio Grande turkeys. And I would sell them to the ranches. I was just trying to make ends meet, you know. And it was just, you know, I was just reaching for whatever I could. But I had to, man, because when you just sit there and do nothing, you know, everything starts going the wrong way. So I caught myself the VFW for about three months straight whenever I got out. And the same guy that was sitting there when I joined, still sitting there. So I was just like that.
Now, I tried everything. And ultimately I got in the real estate. Now it's been a blessing in disguise. I'm honest with you. Yeah, that transition from being institutionalized for years and not even realizing it. You do. And then all of a sudden you're out. Yeah. That can be really awkward and, and, and a little bit painful sometimes, you know. It is. You miss. You did. You know what the number one thing you miss is the camaraderie.
Like right now, all of us sitting here right now, the camaraderie is what you miss, man. You know, I'm not going to say I miss the all of the stuff. But the camaraderie is a big one. The purpose is a huge one. You know, my purpose is a electrician. Well, it got taken from me. You know, and that's what you're new mission now. You know, I down here in Corpus, like I said earlier, I did my network backwards.
So what I do is I help coasties out that are coming in and coasties that are leaving in my real, in the real estate world. But I also will tell you this. I've always wanted to work with kids seniors. And this is why you've only heard part of my story, grown up to where I am today. And there's a lot of kids these days that they don't have any hope. And I think my story gives them the hope of getting a minute fact here. Here's one for you. I believe it's for not my buddy Joe. He, uh, he's a thug.
He joined the Navy last year. Me and him had a talk last year. He joined the Navy last year at the age of 38 years old. He imagined going to basic training 38 years old. It's a full grown man. He is. He, he became an AE aviation electronic. He's over in a Norfolk right now. He's attached to a squadron carrier and he loves it. He totally loves it. I'm like, there you go, buddy. I say you're going to be 58 when you retire, but you got something now, man.
But it's the truth, man. And he, he's thankful for it. But I taught, I talked to a lot of, a lot of people because they look at me and they're like, man, you, how'd you do that, man? And I'm like, do what? I'm like, I love being out to see, man. I love being underway. That's where I believe I was supposed to be when I retired. It didn't work out, but you know what? I got friends for life.
I can fly a damn there in any state in the United States to meet up with somebody, even other countries, you know, my Navy buddies. I can fly anywhere I want and there's a bed for me to stay and my family can go, you know. I don't know where else you can get that. And I always tell him like, look, you don't get rich in a military. Like, as far as cash money rich, but the camaraderie, the friendships, you're not going to find it in a lot of places. You get the stuff you can't pay for.
Yeah, that's right. That stuff you don't want, but you're going to get it anyway. But you are. Yeah. And then the even medical medical's huge. I mean, somebody breaks the arm doesn't have insurance for what I don't know. I mean, I love, I'm thankful that, you know, my kids get sick or what have you, you know, because I served. They got medical, you know, and what's really cool is education. My wife used my, well, I signed up for the GI bill, but then I went to post 9-11.
And whenever they allowed spouse to take over, my wife actually went to college with my GI bill. She was able to go get her our end degree. And I didn't tell you guys this earlier. I joined the Coast Guard in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, I knew this. I flew to Texas and went through MePS. And the reason why I did that is because I knew that if you join in Texas, you get that it's called a Hazelwood Act. So once you use your GI bill up, the state gives you another four years.
I think it's for 36, whatever. Don't quote me on that, but you get, it's called the Hazelwood Act. And the state of Texas pays that. So I did, I flew down here to get the extra college. And ultimately, because of my back, it didn't matter anyhow because in the state of Texas, I'm 100% permanent disability. And my kids get to go to any state funded school in the state of Texas for free. So that's one thing I will say about Texas. They're pretty good with their vets.
Yeah, and Texas is number one on a lot of lists out there for veterans. Oh, yeah. And that's one of the reasons. Well, I have two houses, my one house though. I'm tax exempt on. So I mean, I can't complain, man. I mean, I rather have my foot back, but you know, it is what it is. You broke it. I want to say what? I want to change what I did my 22 years for the world, man. I enjoyed it. Do I miss it? Yeah, I know. You know, it's, it is what it is. Yeah. And what year did you say your retire?
Three and a half years ago. Yeah. That's right. Yeah, about three and a half years. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was in COVID broke out because COVID, COVID hit. And I did feel robbed on my retirement. I wanted to pass into the flag. I wanted all that. My family didn't get to see that, you know, that sucks. But what do you do? You know what I mean? I, uh, that pissed me off a little bit. So we went from, hey, we were going to have a hundred people there to know 50 within three days.
And then we went from 10 to 10. And then it was down to, you know what, the hell with it? We're doing it at my neighbor's house. And if you're coming, you're coming. And there were, there was actually quite a few people that came, but we weren't in uniform. Yeah. So you had an unauthorized celebration during COVID. Damn straight. How many people did you kill at that ceremony? Because you had this. Yeah. I'm trying to say it's somewhere around zero.
Yeah. I'm trying not to trigger myself right now. If it means anything to you, yes, it was unauthorized. And I had about 70 people there. It was one hell of a party. That's what it was, man. But I didn't, but I didn't get to, you know, do the ceremony ceremony. You know, you, you talked about the importance of an out brief. And I think part of it too is getting all your friends and family together. It is.
Yeah. Well, it's the pride, you know, like I said, we're all running, not all of us, some of us are running from something, you know, I failed as a kid. And then I made something good out of it. Does that make sense? I never walked across the stage. The stage I was walking across was when I got my retirement letter. That was my stage and that got taken from me. Does that make sense? Definitely. And that one, that one kicks you into nuts sometimes.
I think about it because I'm still in with the cheese mess here. I go to the CCTI dinners, you know, I'm still with the network. And I go to them and it's like here's one for you. I compare it today. It's like, tell my buddies, don't look, have a wedding for your wife because every wedding you go to, she's going to look at you with puppy eyes. Like, man, I wish we would have done that. Right? Great. Nice. And I'm saying no for real because and every retirement I go to or any, anything like that.
And I'm not trying to be like, poor me, you know, poor me, but it does. It has a little factor in there. Like, man, what a great retirement, you know, Todd, you're speaking my language. I'll share this another day, but I didn't get one either. And I know exactly how you feel, but, but there's a little bit of a wound there that I hope heals someday. Not a huge gaping one, but a little bit of a wound. Yeah. Yeah. I heard you.
What it helped if, what it helped if somebody, you know, it had been a high ranking position in the military came out and said, hey, we're sorry you guys didn't get that. I mean, just that conversation and note a letter, a handwritten card, something saying, hey, you served your country for 20 some years and you didn't get a retirement. No, I don't, that's, I don't, I don't think. Now, I mean, one of the important people there was there was my boss.
He went against the rules also, you know what I mean? I'm not going to say, I'm not going to say his name. He just retired actually 30 years. Chief one officer. And I'm going to tie that dude. He was there for me, regardless of what that command wanted to say. That's true. Yeah. So he, he backed, he backed, he backed it up, man, he, he was there. So that was important.
It really sounds like after you, you know, transitioned out of the service and started your retirement, you were able to take advantage of programs for your family and VA systems. Yeah. How did you learn about that? Did you get that through taps or word amount? You know, you know, this is probably pissed a couple of people off here, not maybe here, but anyway, it's listening in, but I'm going to tell you something. From day one, when I joined the military, it was me. I had to make it happen.
I was just going to tell copyrights and medical records and everything else, right? So that's what I did. Well, then I'm, I am on a lot of VA websites, so that's when I learned on my own, but I always tell people, listen, you got to look at the people get mad at VA. And I'm like, what did you do for VA today? They're like, well, what do you mean? I'm like, you got to look at VA as being your lawyer.
I think someone's going after the government to get you paid. And I hear the horror stories all the time about, well, I haven't been on, what did you turn your paperwork in? Well, no. Well, it's not, there's not some kind of miracle paper. What the VA knows about you unless you turn it in. So I was on top of it. I was on top of it. And I do help out a lot of veterans around here locally. I did work for a ranch.
I'm not going to say their name because we, we, we, we broke ties, but I used to take a lot of active duty and veterans hunting down here in Texas. I've volunteered for that. And I think that's where when I was missing a camaraderie, it brought it back together. And they helped out a lot, man. They really did. And I'm not, I'm not going to see her and be like, I'm a war hero and all this stuff, man, a bottom line man at eight surgeries. My back literally got ripped out of me.
You know what I mean? And, but the programs, I just did my research. Texas is huge. I think they're like number two to Florida. I mean, and they take care of their vets here. They 100% do. There's no questions asked. I get shit all the time because I have my disabled vet plate. You guys are going to laugh, but I got fried in this one. I have my combination metal on there. And there, because that one combination, it was a life saving that I was remembered that life could be worse than what it is.
And that's why I wear it on my plate. People are like, God damn, he's got that freaking combination metal on his plate. I'm like, you don't even know what I had a dude to get that thing, man. And it's the truth, man. All you swimmers out there have all the big ones that we get to, you know, and you guys earned it. You know, that's a wrap right now. You're standing on this side of your career. You're retired.
If you could get in a time machine and go back and talk to that kid with the cop standing in his apartment, what advice would you give him? Okay, if I was the cop. Yeah, if you were the cop knowing what you know now Todd Bunce's brain and you would advice, would you give that kid? Man. That's tough, man. That's a tough one because look, I look at it this way. Don't have pity. Don't have sorrow. Don't feel bad for yourself where you came from what you've done or anything.
Tomorrow's another day and you can go get it, but you have to, you got to be the one at once it, you know. And I, Colombo, I actually saw Colombo mid, mid career and I had a beer with him in La Trope, Pennsylvania. And he was proud of me, man. He was. He was. You saw that same cop years later. Sure did. Yeah, I sat, I sat right down next to him had a beer. It's called the lantern. It's not there anymore. It's called the lantern. It's in La Trope, yeah. Did he recognize you? Oh, yeah.
I mean, my dad was still there and him and my dad were buddies. So yeah, he, yeah. I drank free beer that night. Trust me. Yeah, it was. Yeah. Now it was cool, man. Yeah, for sure. And it's interesting because, you know, even when I go back to Pennsylvania now, I'm in a different, I don't know, man, it's weird. I got a lot of pride. How's that? Yes. And pride kills, but I also learn humbleness too, man. To be humble, I didn't know what that was growing up, man.
You know, you've got a lot to be proud of. I mean, a lot of the enlisted workforce comes from backgrounds that are down and outers or people trying to be afraid in the world. Yeah. And that's where you came from. I mean, drop that high school. Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, I'm not proud of it. And I tell people that because you know, I don't know, about three months ago, I was going to go sell a house. I had people looking at and there's this kid there. 19 years old.
You know, kind of look like a hippie. I'm waiting on my clients to show up. He's sitting there. He's like, so how do you like roll? I'm like, it's all right, man. I said, I served 22 years. It says seven years in a Navy, 15 cuts. Because he says, oh, yeah. I said, yeah, he goes, man, my dad didn't have any, but we don't get along. You know, I gave my card to say, give me a favor. Give me a call. Let's talk about military. I said, you doing anything? He goes, no, I don't know what I want to do.
I was in the same shoes, bro. I said, did you graduate? He goes, yeah, I said, we got one up. I'm not proud of it. I didn't graduate. I'm retired now, bud. I'm doing real estate. And I said, you can do that. You're 19. You can do that at 39 years old. Same thing I'm doing at 48. So he did call me. I talked them for a little bit, but I didn't get to, you know, I don't know if he signed or not. So they're moving to San Antonio. But, no, it's interesting, man.
I think my hardest thing with the whole thing is attention to detail. Not in against civilians, but conversations we have, like, get the job done. It's like, ho, di, ho, you know what I mean? Like, let's get it done. And it's tough. It's kind of, I hate to say it. Sometimes it's like to sound the music at my house. You know, Reveley and Taps and all that, man.
It's like, you know, it's stuff you traditionally are used to, because you are your institution lives, you know, Reveley and, you know, lunch, dinner, breakfast has to be the same time usually for us. I don't know. And that's one of the reasons why I went to Lowell Ridge, by the way, is because I, I couldn't tone it down if that makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense, because you were, we're wired and programmed for so many years.
And you really have to consciously unplug yourself from that mentality. If you want to take care of yourself, you know, mentally and physically, you just don't really have stressed out and burn out you are until you get in a different environment. And you almost have to just kind of slow down and. That's one of the hardest things to do though. It's to slow down. Yeah. I'm 100 mile an hour still this day, but where I learned when I went to my therapy was, I would snap too easy.
I snap, snap, snap. Yeah. And it had something to do with what happened during my career. Travis, it has to do with, you know, some stuff I went through on one of my cutters. And Travis was no longer there. And I had a call on my, hey, man, I was embarrassed to do what I had to do. I had to get a whole of the gold, the gold badge because stuff that was going on. And I just, you know, but I was the wrong guy. I was, all the blame was on me. And Travis actually gave me good advice.
He's like, just suck it up. You know, move forward. And I actually walked off the Mustang with a calm and manker. So it did work out. But it was six months of hell that I put my family through, you know, with what was going on in that boat. And to this day, I lost trust and a lot of people because of that because the backbone wasn't there. There was no, you know, just wasn't there, man. Yeah. So many times you see people scared to do the right thing to cover their own tail. They did.
I don't, I do not, I would not call that leadership. Like you've got to put your neck out there for your people when it's the right time to do that. And I hope somebody's hearing that right now that needs to hear that because it's facts. Yeah. Yep. Now you said earlier, you know, you're still a hundred miles an hour. And that's a great thing. But, but it's what is fueling that hundred miles an hour?
Is it that the stress that the coast guard's getting fueled on right now, or is it just a genuine sheer passion to pursue your new mission and you're getting far more miles per gallon on that then you do stress. That's my. I'm probably doing it backwards and I'm trying to learn that. I think it's the stress factor that came with the coast guard to where the stress factor isn't there anymore. Yeah. You know what I mean, but I'm looking for your stress.
So I snap at the smallest things because of stress isn't there. So I make that. Totally. So I've got, I've got a coworker, several coworkers and one of them's from Jamaica and she, she had a heart attack before I got there because of stress. And it wasn't the environment that we're in because it's not a lot of stress, but it was internal stress. And she told me she's like, just relax. Don't stress about any of this.
Like just you just get through the day and she said, and I won't say it, then you make an accent like she did, because I'll butcher it. But I personally, I needed to hear that. And we can get the job done without that self-induced stress. And that's the best thing I've learned and been able to reprogram myself since you're getting out of the retirement. Military is just being able to get the job done without that self-induced stress and do my change my life. It's amazing.
Yeah. I'm working on it, man. That's what's cool. Like I told you before, I think the best command was being the only EM at the time. It's kind of like real estate. Like I have a broker, but I work out of my house and I really don't need my brokers all on me to make it happen to do the transaction, the attention to detail, you know, the T's, cross, eyes dotted. But the stress still isn't there, man. It is not. And I have a hard time.
Like I said, we're fixing to go to Alaska and I'm sitting here like, okay, we're leaving in 11 days. Am I going to have fun? You know what I mean? I don't know. Is that sad or is that wrong? I don't know, because I'm trying to, you know, I want to go up there and enjoy it. But everything in my mind has got to be planned. Like, okay, Monday, we're doing this, Tuesday, we're doing that, you know, working up the schedule of it's how it's going to be.
And then by the time you get it all done, you forget what the hell you did because you had a plan and all out and you're like, whoa. Yeah. I mean, it's good to have a plan, but it's good to enjoy it, dude. Enjoy every second. That place is so magical. I'll be on that because you live in the key nine and 11 days, man, it's going to be awesome. Great. One of the things that I noticed was the stress level in you dropping at one point.
You told me up and you said, hey, I'm going to be off the grid for a little while. Can you talk a little bit about when you went off the grid? That's going to hit me there, buddy. That's a tough one. So that was a personal thing two years ago. God, you had asked me this question. When I made chief came down here, I didn't go through CCTI the first year. I got reported down here. I went through CCTI and my entire family did come down here for it and for the dinner and stuff.
I had three older sisters, my sister Jennifer, her husband's actually is a fluja guy, E9 Marine, been through hell and back, Braun star. And my sister came down. We did the CCTI. She left about seven months later. She called me and said she had a stage four of varying cancer. So that kicked me my nuts a little bit. And she made it three more years, two years ago, February. I went home and a Thai something man. That'll make a lot of people go off the grid and realize what life's about.
Because I literally sat there with my sister in front of me and watched her die. And that was my buddy. So that's why I went off the grid. I had quit drinking. I quit doing everything man. I just threw the towel in and I hated. I hated a lot of stuff again. So and to be honest with you, I think. That situation made me who I am today. She was 49 years old. And yeah, but you know. One of the most important things we can do is be there for for people when they need us.
And some of the most unselfish ways possible. And nothing says who taught Ponzi as a man. More than going and sitting down with his sister through her end of life and being there for her. As a brother, as a friend and as a person who loved her. And that says for you. Than anything anybody could ever say right or or try to broadcast out there. You're a good man Todd. And that was one of the most important things I've ever heard anybody doing in their life. It was rough man. And I did man.
She I told her I'm like I'm done. She goes now you go live your life. She goes I'll see you on the other side. That's it. And I'm telling you man. I'm like you know I my wife was like you need to fly up there. You know I'm like I'm not flying. I need my time. I literally drove 22 hours straight through by myself. My family didn't go. I went by myself and I I screamed the whole way there man. Yeah, but I did. But you know it was. I don't want it to sound wrong.
I'm glad I was able to be there for that. You know because I want I want to know if she would have passed before I got there. She waited for everybody to get there. Actually waited another two weeks man. And it was just like wow. But I thought it did change my life man. But you know there's just some stuff you just don't get away from man. And it changed your life and it helped bring some clarity and some perspective and things. It did because I took I took life for granted at times you know.
But when you see it right in front of your eyes man. It's. It's rough. It really is. Yeah. And and now today when you're talking with friends or anybody else. You know you know what that feels like you know how bad it burns inside and that. That loss. It never goes away and it doesn't. And you can you can really really connect. What if you. You said that you quit drinking and you made changes and you went on a Christian men's retreat about that time right.
Yeah it's got an operation restored warrior. Yeah. I'm going to name him because he helped me. He's a swimmer Marty Nelson. He lives here in Corpus and he me him talked. And he kind of asked me what you guys. Hey what do you know what do you do after what's your goal and my goal was to work with kids and Marty's very. He's got his group over there in Corpus. He works with a lot of kids with the church and stuff.
And he's like we talked a little bit and he's like hey man he goes I want you to go to this program. And I went to a man and. It was awesome. It was. I open in it did relieve a lot of stress. But you know. I don't know if the blame the coast guard for this or what but. I don't know if the guy is looking at it dude. Like I'll see you on like social media and I'm like man they're talking about me you know. But whenever that program operation restored war it's it's highly recommended.
There's a lot of people who have gone to any even professional athletes that have served. It's open to everybody. You just got to call in and. Make a decision at when you're going to go. I had to pay for my own flight. I supposed to go to Patriot Point and Baltimore. And it didn't work out. With that place and I ended up going here in Florida to fill Texas. And it was very it was a humbling experience for sure.
To say I quit drinking Travis I did quit drinking for two years but I started hitting the cans again. But. I have that little thing in my head it says hey dude. Not again don't start shit again you know. And that's the reality of it man. I do smoke marijuana to sleep at night but I don't take pills anymore. People who have gone through the VA got not you know they use here you go here's your retirement. No hand you about a hundred thousand. Hydrocodones which I said earlier before we went live.
I buried my buddy he was a halt tech. In a Navy lived in our house for the last guy came back. And two weeks later he died because he. He like drinking and he had his pills they gave him because he had a hip replacement. And his family wasn't very well off. I ended up doing my homework went to the VFW got his D214. I made sure I buried him in a state cemetery veteran cemetery. You know but I don't know I know I'm rambling right now. Not at all.
But it was that was another one man you know I've had two guys. Pills kicked the rest there's got to be a better way man at 22 stuff's real too. So you know I just think that we can do better. For a military folks for sure on the way out you know and even while you're in listen to you will listen to the troops you know. I mean we you guys you guys seen what's been going on you've been hearing what's been going on throughout social media.
You know there's stuff that should have been taken care of and like you said one of you guys said hey. Sometimes the right decisions hard to make because they're trying to cover their ass but the realities is you're actually covering your support. It man you know take care of your troops. And while we're on the topic of the right decision you've got a free shot on goal here is we like to say. You've got a chance to speak directly to anybody in a leadership role.
Hopefully the common not sitting in her chair listening if you could give her one piece of advice that would have helped Todd Bunsy or or somebody in a similar situation what is it. Go visit the person face to face no emails no freaking phone call crap if it's important enough and it is important enough to reach in that eye. Go face to face. Kick the military off to the side go talk to a man no matter woman no one or woman the man and get the story because there are a lot of people.
The they're trying to make rank and they don't give a shit about you. You know one of my fellow chiefs that I had a problem with goes to buy rain. He was me to fix his boat on a 110 and he finally came across and say hey Todd. I apologize to you man if I would have known now what I knew then or a new then what I know now. I would have never we would have never had the prongs we had. And I and I honor him for doing that too.
He did but as far as the senior leadership good talk to your people not as a group if you have that one person you know we we sit there. Okay we're going to have a meeting today every Monday Wednesday Friday I'm not saying that's wrong. But if it's if it's something bad you need to be eyes eyes are important. You know you need to talk don't just hear them out be like okay all right next because that's high that's how I feel sometimes a lot of stuff next next you know.
And that's one of the most important things you can do is go be with that person put your eyes on it make it make it real if somebody's reaching to a level all the way at the top of the organization. I'm obviously think it's important there's a reason. That they're reaching up either the systems failed them. Something in between has stopped that message from getting there breakdown those barriers quit worrying about legal ship and start worrying about leadership. Yeah yeah.
And the other thing is to is a lot of stuff is the food chain man and everybody's trying to get to the top of the food chain but you know what. It's all garbage man if there's an issue you gotta go talk to the person man you really do that's with anything that's even outside the military good talk to the person. You know that's it it's the reality of it but the leadership nowadays I I'm gonna be honest with you all the crap I hear from all my buddies are still in.
You know it's ridiculous and I'm thankful that it was time to go. I mean I probably would have got to us I hate to say it was the truth you know I don't know how much I could have kept my mouth shut. You know it's interesting people bring that up. The people coming in are selected harder than anywhere else I've ever seen John cop was on our last episode and he started talking about how we had firemen coming in with master's degrees.
These leaders need to learn how to harness the selective recruitment that they're using and take these people that have degrees and have these backgrounds and put them into the workforce in a meaningful way. You have people out there that could design the aircraft they're working on. Yes. They're in the service in junior enlisted roles. Do they still have that luxury though? Maybe they're looking for guys like myself and Todd again. Yeah maybe maybe they need leaders more colorful background.
Then you know they kind of I'm going to tell you something right now I got a buddy. He's a chief his wife what she's an EMC and she just made warrant right well they forced them to take a star and this is no lie. They made him take a senior and he wanted to stay at a certain place and he's just done.
And when I left when I left the coastscored people are like you're crazy for getting out right now I'm like no and it was kind of amazing because you seen it like four months not one one of them people who were saying I was crazy for getting out got out six months eight everybody followed suit. And it's sad but you're right I agree with you Matt I mean I'll tell you right now if they call me up right now say hey Todd will give you a desk job.
You know troubleshoot electrical or something like that I'd say maybe I don't know because I don't want the drama to say right now there's the it's a different you know my dad told me when I joined the Navy says good luck son is a different Navy than when. When I joined and you know what here I am telling a kid good luck. It's different coast guard at I joined.
You know and I understand change is good but change for the better don't change for the worst improved don't change right that's it improve it don't change. Yeah I mean don't don't fix something is not broken either man but you're still helping coasties as we wind down here as we wind down here I kind of want to. Give you a chance to talk a little bit about how people can get a hold of you.
To help with their PCS needs in and around the corpus Christi area yeah so I got a I'm actually throughout the state of taxes because I have a veteran's group. I got a marine up there in San Antonio so you know like your friends just move to San Antonio help them out you know. Any I leave my number is a 361 828 1134 I'm Todd Budsy real estate agent here in corpus Christi if you're PCS in here I can have you.
I can send you all the houses you want before you even get here I even pick you up your airport at the airport here you know if you're off if they still do 10 days of house hunting leave. I'll pick you up will go find you a place and I'm put you back on the plane you know I'm here to help you I understand PCS and I mean I did it. Seven times yeah seven times seven PCS throughout my career so I understand the stresses in it locally here I have.
Whatever help you need I mean bottom line it's I'm here to help coasties and veterans all you know Air Force Marines Navy space force. I haven't helped one of you I haven't met when you but yeah. Any but yeah I mean it's it's booming down here too so the old feels booming I know people don't believe that we're like the number one in the United States export.
Mount half from me it's big time a lot of industries come here if you are retiring you might want to look down south Texas because there's plenty of work and there's a lot of coasties the work is refineries now and it's a foot in the door when you say coasty guarantee. There's a lot of them here a lot of senior listed working here so.
Well well Todd thanks for coming on the show it's been awesome talking to you connecting with you you know communicating back and forth over the years and I'm grateful for your friendship I always will be and this is been awesome congratulations on a great retirement thank you for serving your nation. If we can ever ever make it right by you to help you figure out some closure on the retirement piece we will do that. I think I'm going to find it in about 11 days. Yeah yeah good one it's awesome.
Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.