Transcript
Speaker: When your great grandkids want to hear your story, they click a button and they hear you talk about it.
Speaker: They don't read about it.
Speaker: They don't hear about it from their parents and grandparents.
Speaker: They hear you tell it in your voice.
Speaker: And it's totally free.
Speaker: This month, we welcome Glenn Pugh to the podcast.
Speaker: Glenn retired in 2018 as the superintendent for the 7th Maintenance Group, Dias Air Force Base in Texas.
Speaker: He was the principal advisor to the maintenance group commander on all issues relating to aircraft and equipment maintenance.
Speaker: He also advised on all concerns affecting the overall morale and welfare for 1,500 assigned personnel spanning 20 Air Force specialty codes.
Speaker: He was the liaison between group staff and squadron superintendents overseeing production efforts supporting 33 B-1 and 28 C-130 aircraft valued at over $10 billion.
Speaker: Glenn is also deployed to numerous locations in support of Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Enduring, and Iraqi Freedom, and Combined Task Force Horn of Africa.
Speaker: Upon retirement, Glenn worked as the Regional Director for Congressman Jody Arrington, District Representative for State Senator Don Buckingham, and currently works as an Outreach Specialist for the General Land Office.
Speaker: Glenn also serves on the Board of Directors at the NOAA Project, a domestic violence shelter.
Speaker: and as a victim advocate for the Regional Victims Crisis Center.
Speaker: Additionally, Glenn is the co-owner of Lone Star Tactical Services, a private security company based in Abilene, Texas.
Speaker: Glenn and Kervin discuss how the state of Texas is improving and enhancing benefits for all veterans of that great state.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Welcome Glenn Pugh to the podcast.
Speaker: Glenn, how you doing?
Speaker: Doing well.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Oh, thanks for coming on.
Speaker: Thanks.
Speaker: Thanks for reaching out and getting this set up.
Speaker: I can't wait to get into this because you do a lot of good stuff for veterans, especially out in Texas.
Speaker: And I want to get into that, but I want to give you an opportunity to introduce yourself, what you've done in your past and what led you to where you're at now.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Well, I did 30 years and 22 days in the Air Force, if anybody was counting.
Speaker: And you were.
Speaker: Yeah, I counted every day.
Speaker: My wife is also retired.
Speaker: She's a retired E8 senior rassel sergeant that she did 22 years and six months.
Speaker: She makes sure that I give her the six months that she did.
Speaker: But I'm from Van, Texas, which is a small town in East Texas, close to Tyler, if anybody knew where Tyler, Texas is.
Speaker: And then I joined the Air Force from there.
Speaker: I worked for the oil company right out of high school, and then the oil company went bust.
Speaker: And anytime gas prices get really low, then oil companies tend to...
Speaker: not have as much work.
Speaker: So we, so I joined the Air Force and, um, you know, and I was an aircraft armament specialist, which, which is a fancy term for bomb loader.
Speaker: And, and, uh, we did the fixed the weapon system on aircraft, uh, on helicopters.
Speaker: So I worked eight tens, uh,
Speaker: F-16s, HH-60 helicopters, as well as B-1 bombers, which is where I finished up at Dias.
Speaker: I deployed multiple times, Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom.
Speaker: We did a joint task force with the Horn of Africa.
Speaker: I can't remember what they called that deployment now, but I've been retired six years, so I'm even forgetting acronyms that I never thought I'd forget, but
Speaker: So, you know, after I retired, I retired here in Abilene, Texas, at Dias Air Force Base.
Speaker: I immediately went to work for a U.S. congressman, Jody Arrington, and I was his regional director for this area, and I handled all the VA operations.
Speaker: cases you know we when people write their congressman about the issues they're having i would take care of the va and i also handled all his academy service academy appointments since i was the only veteran he had on his staff at the time so i took care of most anything to do with military but and as well as the other stuff too but and then after that i went to help a friend with his business for about 10 months and once we got that going i'm
Speaker: I went to work for a state senator, Dawn Buckingham, and she was the senator for this area all the way down to Austin.
Speaker: And then she ran for Texas land commissioner and won.
Speaker: And then I just moved over to the general land office, which the Veterans Land Board falls under that.
Speaker: So that's how I got to this point is whenever she went over, when she won the election, she says, well, what do you want to do?
Speaker: And I said, well,
Speaker: Let me do something with veterans because that's what I know.
Speaker: And that's what I'm passionate about, making sure people know what's available to them, the benefits and things such as that.
Speaker: And then about two years ago, I started a private security company with a business partner who was also retired military.
Speaker: And he was actually the squadron commander.
Speaker: My wife was his first sergeant.
Speaker: So that's how we met.
Speaker: But we started that a couple years ago, and it's doing well.
Speaker: Most of our security officers are either prior military, prior law enforcement, and a couple of them are active duty, still active duty military.
Speaker: Oh, wow.
Speaker: Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker: Quite a career.
Speaker: I mean, like you said, what was it, 30 years and 22 days?
Speaker: Counting every single one of those days.
Speaker: So I guess the first thing I want to get into is you come in, you're in Texas, and I'm from southern Louisiana, so I kind of understand the whole oil field kind of conversation where, you know,
Speaker: Small town, for me, small town Louisiana, I think about 70% of the people that I went to school with, as soon as graduation happened, were in the oil field.
Speaker: They were doing 14 days out in the oil field.
Speaker: So that's where you started.
Speaker: But then when that went away, you joined the Air Force.
Speaker: Did you always want to be in the military or join the military?
Speaker: Or if you didn't, what made you want to at that time?
Speaker: So I always had a draw.
Speaker: to the military.
Speaker: You know, and I will tell you, I was not the best youth in my small town.
Speaker: My police chief was named Charlie Swope, and he was a retired security forces, Air Force security forces guy.
Speaker: And
Speaker: And I'd gotten to a little scrape and a little trouble, and he kind of pulled me aside and said, what do you do with your life?
Speaker: You know, maybe you should think about joining the military.
Speaker: And he planted that seed, and it really was life-changing.
Speaker: You know, I probably should have done the first enlistment for free.
Speaker: I'm glad I didn't have to.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, for for what the military and what the Air Force did for a small town country boy who was just doing nothing but looking at a road of getting in trouble.
Speaker: And then even when I went back on leave, I think for the first or second time, you know, we're standing around a burn barrel and we're all having a beer and, you know, we're talking and.
Speaker: And everybody there was talking about the last time they had to see their probation officer.
Speaker: And I don't have that story.
Speaker: And that was eye-opening to me because, like I said, I'd be right there with them.
Speaker: These are guys I grew up with.
Speaker: Family members as well.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I have a very similar story.
Speaker: I mean, I wasn't getting into trouble with the law at the time, but, you know, as a kid, I didn't care for authority, I would say.
Speaker: And so I was just doing my own thing and I did not want to join.
Speaker: military out of high school.
Speaker: But while I was still in high school, I said I wasn't going to do it.
Speaker: I tell this story a lot.
Speaker: I told my recruiter when I was who became my recruiter.
Speaker: So my junior year of high school and he's talking to everybody in the school.
Speaker: And I said, don't even waste your time.
Speaker: I'm not signing up for that.
Speaker: This is not who I am.
Speaker: A year later, and I'm signing up and getting ready for my first tour, and I did 15 years.
Speaker: But I really wanted to just graduate high school, you know, go out.
Speaker: I thought I'd go up to New York and do acting and then go out to L.A.
Speaker: And now I look back and I go,
Speaker: You talk about that burn pit where you went and sat around the burn pit and talked to everybody.
Speaker: I would have been one of those guys, you know, probably on the streets just going, I just ruined my whole life because I had no discipline.
Speaker: And the military gave that.
Speaker: And so I'm sure you would agree with that, that the biggest part of it was getting that discipline.
Speaker: Oh, absolutely.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: And so now here you are.
Speaker: The military gave you so much, you would say, the Air Force did, and you're trying to pay it forward now.
Speaker: So you're the outreach specialist for the Veterans Land Board.
Speaker: And I just, you know, forgive me, I do do the research and I know a little bit about that after reading up on it some, but I'm sure the majority...
Speaker: of the people listening, the majority of my audience probably has no idea what the Veterans Land Board is, what it does, or how to get in touch.
Speaker: Well, even in Texas, and I travel around and I'll do presentations for the land, for veterans groups and what have you.
Speaker: And last weekend, I was at a Texas Elks Veterans Retreat.
Speaker: There were about 60 veterans there.
Speaker: And I just happened to ask when I was doing my presentation how many had heard of the Veterans Land Board.
Speaker: And I only saw three hands.
Speaker: Which, you know, talking to my colleagues and talking with the land commissioner, I was with her yesterday up in Lubbock and Amarillo, you know, talking with, that's the common theme that veterans in Texas just don't know what we do.
Speaker: And so it's my job to get out and make them aware that
Speaker: And, you know, not everybody on our team is veterans, but that's okay.
Speaker: They get out and they're sharing the good news.
Speaker: You know, one thing is I'm a member, I'm a life member of the American Legion, the VFW and those things.
Speaker: So I can get into those locations and they let me in pretty much with open arms just because of my military status.
Speaker: And I speak their language.
Speaker: So it makes it a little easier sometimes.
Speaker: But all our folks on our team, you know, we've got El Paso, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Temple, and a lot of them are veterans.
Speaker: But, you know, they're just doing a great job.
Speaker: And we all do the same thing.
Speaker: We go out and try to market, basically market the Veterans Land Board and just make sure the veterans are aware of it.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So what is the Veterans Land Board?
Speaker: Well, so it was actually started in basically 1946.
Speaker: It started out in 1949.
Speaker: There was a land loan program.
Speaker: So if you don't know, the General Land Office or the Office of the Land Commissioner is the oldest office in the state.
Speaker: It predates the office of the governor.
Speaker: It was established during the Republic of Texas days to basically keep track of the land grants that they've given out and the land scripts that they've given out to make sure that they don't give them out twice, you know, and make sure everybody can keep track of who owns what land that the government gave them.
Speaker: And so it was during the Republic of Texas days that that office was formed.
Speaker: So and then then fast forward, go to after World War Two, you know, we had the the Veterans Land Board created 1946, 1949, he started doing a land loan program for veterans.
Speaker: Hey, you could borrow land or borrow money for land and pay it out.
Speaker: At that time, I think it was up to 40 years.
Speaker: Now we're down to 30 years, and I'll talk about that in a second.
Speaker: Then in 1983, we started the Home Loan Program.
Speaker: Then in 1986, we started the Home Improvement Loan Program.
Speaker: And then in the year 2000, we started the State Veterans Homes Program.
Speaker: And then in 2006, we started the State Veterans Cemeteries Program.
Speaker: So
Speaker: We do land loans, home loans, home improvement loans, and we own all the state veterans' homes and the state veterans' cemeteries in Texas.
Speaker: Wow.
Speaker: And Texas was the second largest or had the second largest veteran population in the
Speaker: We are now number one.
Speaker: California is number two.
Speaker: They were number one.
Speaker: I guess it's for obvious reasons.
Speaker: Everybody's moving from California to Texas.
Speaker: That's very true.
Speaker: We have the largest veteran population.
Speaker: We have north of 1.6 million veterans living here, which is about 9 or 10 percent of the adult population in Texas.
Speaker: And Texas is known, you know, you're a Texan, you're proud to be a Texan.
Speaker: But if you're a Texas veteran, you're proud to be a Texan first and a veteran second.
Speaker: So there is that built in community there.
Speaker: Yes, sir.
Speaker: And the nice thing about our programs is you do not have to be, you don't have, you do not have to have enlisted in Texas or been discharged in Texas.
Speaker: If you live in Texas one day and you're a resident of Texas and you're a veteran, you qualify for all of our programs.
Speaker: And so the eligibility requirements are if you can be active duty and, you know, active duty members are eligible, National Guard, reserve if they've completed 20 qualifying years of retirement or a veteran who served at least 90 days, you know, unless they're discharged sooner due to like a service-connected disability.
Speaker: And as long as you're not dishonorably discharged.
Speaker: So as a former first sergeant, we dealt with discharges a lot.
Speaker: But the, you know, the five classifications, the worst one being dishonorably dishonorable, as long as you don't have one of those, you're eligible.
Speaker: And also if you're a surviving spouse of a veteran who's listed as missing in action or if their death was service connected, they're also eligible.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Wow.
Speaker: So that's a big group.
Speaker: You talked about already the number of just the sheer number of veterans within Texas.
Speaker: And now you've also opened it up to veteran spouses who have lost a loved one and other people like that.
Speaker: I mean, that's got to be a lot.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: And the thing is, just getting the word out.
Speaker: And like I said earlier, just surprised at how many people that don't know about it.
Speaker: And we're the only state that I know of that actually has a land loan program.
Speaker: And so you can borrow up to $150,000 to buy land, a minimum of one acre.
Speaker: It must all be in Texas.
Speaker: And then you just put 5% down and you can pay it out over 30 years.
Speaker: And we
Speaker: We do all the loan servicing in-house.
Speaker: And so the interest rate right now is 7.25 percent.
Speaker: And the board looks at it periodically to determine whether they need to raise or lower it.
Speaker: They raised it last October from 6.95.
Speaker: So depending how interest rates go, depending on where it's going to sit.
Speaker: But you can, when you borrow that $150,000 and put 5% down, you can borrow, you can pay that out to 30 years.
Speaker: And if you've ever gone and tried to buy land at a bank, you know, they want 15 to 20% down and they want you to pay it off in 15 to 20 years.
Speaker: And so this just makes it possible for our veterans to have some of their own dirt, especially when they've, you know, maybe, you know, some like us that have stayed in for so long and never were able to plant roots.
Speaker: Because we were traveling all over the world and it gives them an opportunity to buy their own dirt because, you know, God ain't making any more dirt.
Speaker: So we still have less and less of it.
Speaker: Yeah, there's less and less available.
Speaker: And of course, the prices keep going up.
Speaker: But we also do the home loan program, too, which is very similar to the VA home loan program.
Speaker: You can borrow up to 766,000 and some change.
Speaker: I can't remember exactly what the amount is.
Speaker: Those loans are written under participating lender.
Speaker: So they go to our website and they find a participating lender.
Speaker: It must be your primary residence, just like the VA.
Speaker: But you can buy, say, a condo or townhome or duplex.
Speaker: And if you buy it and that you can...
Speaker: live in one side and rent out the other.
Speaker: So you could potentially have your mortgage being paid for.
Speaker: So you can use your VA as well.
Speaker: So if you bring your VA eligibility over to the land board and say, hey, I want to use my VA eligibility, that eliminates the 5% down rule.
Speaker: And you can also do 15 to 30-year loans.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I think that's very important.
Speaker: Honestly, I mean, anyone would agree.
Speaker: Owning land, owning property is a very important thing, especially within the United States.
Speaker: We're very big on owning your land, owning your property.
Speaker: So it's incredible that you can give veterans this opportunity.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, compounding on that VA loan or other VA opportunities.
Speaker: And I think you're right.
Speaker: I've never I like I said, I hadn't heard of the Veterans Land Board.
Speaker: And so, yeah, I don't think any other state does that.
Speaker: But it's no surprise that Texas would do it.
Speaker: But what's really interesting to me is, and I'd like you to explain the benefits before we get into how people can get in contact and what they need to show, but it's your cemetery stuff.
Speaker: So what is incorporated into that?
Speaker: What is that benefit?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So we have four cemeteries right now, and we are having a fifth one being built up in Lubbock.
Speaker: We were out there with the commissioner yesterday seeing the construction going on, and it's very similar to the VA.
Speaker: Matter of fact, if you go on, some people will mistake it as a VA unless you redesign going in.
Speaker: But I have people say, yeah, I'm going to be buried at the VA cemetery in Abilene, and I correct them.
Speaker: So, well, it's not a VA cemetery.
Speaker: It's a Texas State Veteran Cemetery.
Speaker: But the VA actually, they come out and inspect and make sure that our cemeteries are up to code because they provide the grant money for us to build those cemeteries.
Speaker: And so the eligibility is the same as I mentioned earlier.
Speaker: And if you have – as long as you have a DD-214 and you can be buried out there.
Speaker: And your spouse can be buried there.
Speaker: So even if she wasn't – he or she was not a veteran, if they – they will –
Speaker: When you sign up and you can pre-register for your spot, you can't physically pick out a spot, but you'll get a spot.
Speaker: And you can pre-register and you can pre-register your wife or husband.
Speaker: And then they'll make sure they have a spot and you'll be together.
Speaker: So if one dies and the other one doesn't pass and for another 10, 15 years, they will still be with that person when they pass.
Speaker: So they'll be guaranteed to be with them.
Speaker: Um, and you know, some L some dependents are eligible, you know, unfortunately we do have children that die as, you know, car wrecks and things happen.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So if we have, uh, you know, things happen, but if we, you know, they, you can, they can be buried there.
Speaker: Um, gold star families have some eligibility and some in our nursing homes, which we'll talk about in a second, but, um,
Speaker: There's so much eligibility.
Speaker: Basically, all your family has to do is once they get you as the deceased veteran to the gate of one of our cemeteries, everything inside that gate is free.
Speaker: The service that you have out there and the burial, the headstone, everything.
Speaker: So the family would be responsible for getting the funeral taken care of, either the cremation or embalming, and getting the body to the gate.
Speaker: So there's still some charge to the family for the funeral part of it, but the burial part of it is totally taken on by the state.
Speaker: Oh, wow.
Speaker: That's an incredible service.
Speaker: So do you have to be, obviously you have to be living in Texas at some time, but what if you have signed up for it and you're elderly and you move out of the state because you want to live with your kids or your grandkids or something like that?
Speaker: Are you still eligible if you move out of the state after you've signed up for it?
Speaker: You know, I've never had that question and now I'm on the spot.
Speaker: And I don't.
Speaker: I have an answer, but I can get you one.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: It's a good question.
Speaker: As if anybody would leave the state of Texas, right?
Speaker: And maybe that's the reason why the questions never come up, because who would do that?
Speaker: Who would do that?
Speaker: We were the republic at one time, and so people want to stay here.
Speaker: But I can definitely get you the information if you want to add it on.
Speaker: Yes, I would.
Speaker: I'd put that into the show notes and everything so people can see.
Speaker: But and I know we'll get into, you know, the eligibility and how to do all this stuff.
Speaker: But you did bring up the nursing homes and that was pretty fascinating to me that you also have that capability, give that benefit to veterans.
Speaker: So what is that benefit as well?
Speaker: So we have nine state veterans homes.
Speaker: We're having a tenth one being built right now and it's in Fort Worth and it's called the Tuskegee Airmen State Veterans Home.
Speaker: Not sure.
Speaker: Hopefully it'll be ready this year.
Speaker: So they're still working on it.
Speaker: No specific timeline.
Speaker: The nice thing about the veterans' homes is, and I was at one, and I went to visit one in Amarillo yesterday with the commissioner, and that is such a nice home.
Speaker: And it's all centered around veterans, veterans' activities.
Speaker: They even have their own honor guard.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: When someone passes, they play taps over the speaker, and the residents all line the hall, and their honor guard escorts the body out, and it's just absolutely amazing.
Speaker: And these, you know, Vietnam vets, Korean War vets, and some World War II vets are out there participating in this, and it's just amazing.
Speaker: They feel like they feel at home when they're there.
Speaker: And then almost all of the ones we talked to are just happy they're there and not at a different nursing home because this really keeps them connected.
Speaker: And the nice thing is that if you're 70% or greater disabled through the VA, your stay at one of our nursing homes is totally free.
Speaker: Your therapy is free.
Speaker: Your medications are free.
Speaker: And unlike civilian nursing homes,
Speaker: You get to keep your VA check, your retirement check, your Social Security check.
Speaker: We don't take your money.
Speaker: You get to keep that.
Speaker: I mean, that's just I'm sorry to stop you there because it's just mind blowing.
Speaker: It's somebody who's had to deal with this on the civilian side with family members and and just the what we would the word we would use is rigmarole.
Speaker: that you go through to get into there.
Speaker: And then you're not, you know, if you're not paying for it, usually through Medicaid or Medicare, it's because you don't have any money in your bank account.
Speaker: You're not going to have any money.
Speaker: You're not going to have any money to pass down to your kids.
Speaker: And I think that's a very depressing for a lot of our elderly people.
Speaker: our parents and grandparents to think about that.
Speaker: And yet you guys are able to give veterans this enormous quality of life because of the community, right?
Speaker: That's the first thing I thought of.
Speaker: The veteran community.
Speaker: First of all, when you get into the military, your brothers and sisters in arms, those are your family.
Speaker: And you lose that as you get out and go off and, you know, do other things.
Speaker: You kind of lose that sense of purpose.
Speaker: You lose that community.
Speaker: That's going to be incredible for these men and women to find that community again.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: And going to the price, even if they're not 70%, so everybody will say they pay a fee.
Speaker: It's somewhere around $1,900 a month.
Speaker: I'm not real sure what it is.
Speaker: But as someone who just, my mother was in a Medicaid nursing home here in Texas.
Speaker: She passed away on Sunday, but I'm sorry to hear that.
Speaker: She was in a lot of pain, and I'm happy she's not hurting anymore.
Speaker: But
Speaker: I was dealing, we dealt with our nursing home.
Speaker: What they do is they take your social security and they give you $75 a month allowance.
Speaker: And so, and you can, so they couldn't have anything.
Speaker: They couldn't own property.
Speaker: They couldn't own a car.
Speaker: They couldn't have any assets like you were just saying.
Speaker: So with us, you know, they get to keep their assets.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: They get to keep their money.
Speaker: If they have to pay the monthly fee, that's all they have to pay.
Speaker: And then however else, whatever insurance they use to get their therapies and their medication would be on them.
Speaker: But it's still only about $1,900 a month, somewhere in there.
Speaker: How do you guys pay?
Speaker: I mean, how is this funded?
Speaker: So that's a good question.
Speaker: So the land loan programs, which we do land auctions as well, I didn't mention that earlier, four times a year.
Speaker: The land loans and the home loans and the home improvement loans, the...
Speaker: The money we make off the land auctions and the interest from the loans is what pays for the cemeteries and the veterans' homes.
Speaker: So when you're supporting with those loan programs, you're supporting the veterans' homes and the cemeteries as well.
Speaker: And so you should take advantage of all of that.
Speaker: You're paying into it for the home loans.
Speaker: Take advantage of the veteran nursing homes.
Speaker: Take advantage of the cemetery.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And if you think about it, so we kind of cover the latter half of your life.
Speaker: People want to buy land, they get the land and they want to have a home, they buy it.
Speaker: And at some point they may need a nursing home.
Speaker: Well, we have that taken care of.
Speaker: Well, then every one of us is appointed the time to die.
Speaker: So we're going to have you, we have a cemetery for you as well.
Speaker: Yeah, death and taxes, right?
Speaker: Those are the only things you can be assured of in life.
Speaker: Yeah, this is just, I'm just blown away by the amount of benefits that it shouldn't surprise me, like I said, from Texas, but just the sheer amount of benefits you guys give to veterans.
Speaker: So if there is a veteran now, well, first of all, if there's a veteran outside of Texas that's listening, we do have quite a few.
Speaker: Would your suggestion be moved to Texas?
Speaker: Yes, sir.
Speaker: If you move to Texas, we love veterans and we'll take all of them.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, this is such a veteran friendly state.
Speaker: Dr. Buckingham, the commissioner of Buckingham is loves veterans.
Speaker: She does so much for us.
Speaker: And this is one of the programs that she's really proud of.
Speaker: And in her, because she, you know, she runs the, the digital land office is responsible for 13 million acres of staying owned land as, as well as the Alamo and the veterans land board, our heritage department, which is, which encompasses the Alamo.
Speaker: But, you know, there's, uh,
Speaker: The general land office has a lot going on, and Veterans Land Board definitely has a soft spot in her heart for the Veterans Land Board and the veterans.
Speaker: You should have seen her interacting with the veterans at the Amarillo home yesterday.
Speaker: These guys and gals that are in these homes, we met with one yesterday.
Speaker: His name is Gunny Hatch, and he, Marine Corps.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: Purple Heart recipient.
Speaker: And he did our Voices of Veterans program, which I do want to touch on that as well.
Speaker: But yes, she did.
Speaker: You know, she met with him and, you know, he had he was successful in life.
Speaker: So, across from the VA hospital in Amarillo, there is a motel.
Speaker: Well, they bought it, and they named it after him, Hatch, because he funded it, basically.
Speaker: And it's going to be a home for veterans.
Speaker: It's going to be a place for veterans to live.
Speaker: Oh, wow.
Speaker: Yeah, it's just going to be like a veterans community.
Speaker: And he ponied up the money for that.
Speaker: Oh, wow.
Speaker: I mean, that's incredible.
Speaker: But since you brought it up, do you want to get into the Voices of Veterans?
Speaker: Sure.
Speaker: So the Voices of Veterans program is really neat.
Speaker: I did it.
Speaker: I participated in it.
Speaker: So Monica is in Austin, and she handles that program for us, and she'll do an interview with you.
Speaker: And as long as you're a veteran who lives in Texas,
Speaker: And she will do an interview with you over the phone or in person if you want to go down to Austin.
Speaker: She'll meet with you in person as well.
Speaker: And she'll talk about kind of what you and I started out talking about while I joined the military, a little bit about my career.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: But expand it a lot more with her.
Speaker: You'll be able to tell all the details.
Speaker: And then you send her any pictures of your military time that you want.
Speaker: And then she'll compile that audio, that audio recording, and she'll, she'll clean it up and make it an audio file.
Speaker: And it goes into our archives and it's there forever.
Speaker: And when your great grandkids want to hear your story, they click a button and they hear you talk about it.
Speaker: They don't read about it.
Speaker: They don't hear about it from their, you know, from their parents and grandparents.
Speaker: They hear you tell it in your voice and it's totally free.
Speaker: Wow.
Speaker: There is so... We'll stick on this a little bit because there's so many things that I love about this.
Speaker: First of all, it's part of the reason why when I start the episode, I ask, you know... And sometimes we don't have veterans.
Speaker: Sometimes we just have people who are in the intelligence community, things like that.
Speaker: But specifically for veterans, I want them to tell their history, tell their story.
Speaker: Because what I found is...
Speaker: It really helped me go, you know, push through after I got out the things that I had done, you know, just get that to the first of all, put it in the forefront of my brain so that I can always remember that that stuff.
Speaker: But it also helped through any depressive states or any, you know, mental health episodes that would happen.
Speaker: You tell the story and people listen.
Speaker: That's very it's it's very important to the individual.
Speaker: But then the other thing is you now.
Speaker: So that's another very important thing is somebody whose parents have passed away.
Speaker: Having that, I don't know if people listening who have not had a loved one pass away understands how important it is to have the actual voice of that individual that they can go to at any time and press play and hear the that voice.
Speaker: It's a very important thing.
Speaker: Psychologically, it's very important thing emotionally.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: You know, my, my grandfather who basically raised me, uh, was, was in world war one.
Speaker: Wow.
Speaker: And he was born in 1895 and he had to raise teenage me.
Speaker: And I wish I could go back and just hug his neck and, and, and apologize.
Speaker: But, um, you know, he told me stories that were, you know, some great stories from being in France fighting the Germans in world war one.
Speaker: And, um,
Speaker: I've forgotten most of it, you know, and I should have written it down.
Speaker: But if we'd had something like that for him to do at that time, we could all our whole family could could listen to it and and we'd have it memorialized, if you will.
Speaker: So it's such a great program.
Speaker: Yeah, I 100 percent agree.
Speaker: And listen, I'm learning stuff right now, even though I've looked, you know, I did went to the website.
Speaker: I did a little bit of research on everything.
Speaker: But what you're talking about here is incredible.
Speaker: And I think other states should pick this up.
Speaker: I don't I don't believe Texas should be the only state doing this.
Speaker: Oh, the entire veteran community.
Speaker: should have access to this on top of the benefits that they receive from the federal government and their state governments.
Speaker: But this is just, it's incredible stuff that you're doing.
Speaker: So if somebody wants, first of all, to get these benefits, what should they do?
Speaker: So they can go to our website, vlb.texas, spelled out,.gov.
Speaker: So vlb is in Veterans Land Board,.texas,.gov.
Speaker: You can apply for the loans on there.
Speaker: You can go through and look at our land auctions.
Speaker: We do land auctions four times a year.
Speaker: And they can bid on our land program, our land auctions.
Speaker: And nice thing about the auctions, if they bid on, they can bid on every piece of land we have on there.
Speaker: And after the auction is over, if they get a phone call and said, hey, you want all of them, you can say, well, I don't want all of them.
Speaker: I just want this one.
Speaker: And that's okay.
Speaker: You're not obligated.
Speaker: They'll just go to the next person.
Speaker: So it's okay.
Speaker: You can bid.
Speaker: Or, you know, life happens if from the time you bid on it and until the time the auction's over and, you know, life happens and you just can't afford it anymore, then you just say, I'm not interested anymore.
Speaker: I can't do it at this time.
Speaker: But they also can call our 800 number.
Speaker: It's 800-252-8387.
Speaker: And we're also on Facebook, X and Facebook.
Speaker: Instagram, YouTube.
Speaker: So we're on all these different social media platforms as well.
Speaker: You guys are getting the word out all over the place.
Speaker: We're trying because, like I said, it was just when Commissioner Buckingham got into office and we all started looking into this, we were just amazed at how many people had no idea that we exist.
Speaker: And it's a benefit that Texas does for veterans, and we want veterans to know about it.
Speaker: You're not trying to hide it?
Speaker: No, not at all.
Speaker: We want that out there.
Speaker: Just a question that popped into my head.
Speaker: What if you are a veteran from out of state, but you want to buy that land in Texas or buy that house in Texas?
Speaker: Can you sign up for it?
Speaker: If you move to Texas, you can.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: If you're out of state and you decide to, you come and move to Texas, that's why it's great for the active duty.
Speaker: So I talked to the brand new folks that come into Dias Air Force Base every month and, you know, they can, they can use our program because they live here now.
Speaker: You know, once you live, once you're in Texas one day and you establish residency here, you're, you're in.
Speaker: Oh, wow.
Speaker: Well, I think everybody,
Speaker: Should be.
Speaker: Look it up.
Speaker: Go to the website.
Speaker: You're just offering so many great benefits, and I really believe it's because you just have a passion for it.
Speaker: You personally, I can tell already, just have a passion for veterans, and this is probably only going to grow to be even more with the hard work that you're putting into it.
Speaker: Well, yeah, it is a team of us.
Speaker: And we have a team in Austin that supports all of us out in the field.
Speaker: And it's just, you know, we're all out there trying to do the good work of Texas and let everybody know.
Speaker: And we're working hard to do it because it's just such a great program.
Speaker: And one thing I'd circle back on the loans, on the home improvement loans and the home loans, if a veteran is 30% or greater disabled, they get another half a percent off on the interest.
Speaker: Oh, wow.
Speaker: That's incredible.
Speaker: Now, taking it from me, because I was going to move out to Texas, had an opportunity to get out there, so I looked at houses, and I saw the interest rates and then the other rates that go with the housing there.
Speaker: I just keep pushing that mortgage up.
Speaker: But if you're a veteran coming out to Texas, especially if you have a disability through the military, there are so many options, you know, to make those loans cheaper for you, more accessible to you.
Speaker: We should just change the name of this podcast to Come to Texas because there is so much being offered.
Speaker: We could call it Come and Take It.
Speaker: Come and Take the Benefits.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't know if everybody listening has driven through West Texas, but there's a lot of land there.
Speaker: Yes, and of course, the farther west you get, the cheaper it is.
Speaker: You just have to follow the rain line.
Speaker: As the annual inches of rain goes down, the price goes down.
Speaker: There might be oil under there.
Speaker: There might be.
Speaker: One thing I didn't hit on was those home improvement loans.
Speaker: These veterans can borrow up to $50,000 for home improvement.
Speaker: And on our website, there's a whole list of things that they can... I guarantee the list of what they can do with the money is a whole lot bigger than the list they can't do.
Speaker: I mean, they can't go in and put a swimming pool, but there are some things, lots of things they can do with the home improvement loan.
Speaker: So it's up to $50,000.
Speaker: If you borrow...
Speaker: $10,000 or less, paid off in 10 years.
Speaker: I believe that's right.
Speaker: And then over that, you can take up to 20 years.
Speaker: So if you have a lien on your home, meaning if you still owe money on your home, you can borrow up to $25,000 because then we can be the secondary lien holder.
Speaker: If you already own your home, your home is paid for, you can borrow up to the entire $50,000.
Speaker: And so most people have a mortgage, so they're probably capped at that $25,000.
Speaker: But that should be able to get you a bathroom renovation or maybe a kitchen renovation.
Speaker: You can do a lot with $25,000 in a home.
Speaker: And our interest rates on the website change every week.
Speaker: I think they update them on Fridays.
Speaker: And I don't know what it is this week.
Speaker: The last time I looked at it a couple weeks ago, it was 6.9.
Speaker: So if you're 30% or greater, it goes to 6.4.
Speaker: And
Speaker: Well, half a percent doesn't sound like a whole lot.
Speaker: If you amortize that out for 30 years or 20 years, that's a significant savings.
Speaker: Yeah, it certainly is.
Speaker: I do think that not a lot of people understand that, you know, when you're going to buy a house and you see that half a percent come off of that.
Speaker: And it's like, well, that's so that is a lot of money I'm saving over 10, 15, you know, even 30 years.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But you also, you know, I think everybody should reach out and at least look and see what they could benefit from for this.
Speaker: But you also have your own business, right?
Speaker: I do.
Speaker: Two years ago in May, so almost exactly two years ago, a friend of mine, he's also retired.
Speaker: And we were sitting at a Chamber of Commerce event and just talking about getting certified to do security because it's
Speaker: It translates well from the military, you know, and it's you're still serving your community.
Speaker: You're you're you're providing a protection, a service.
Speaker: And so we we had to we had to go to Dallas to get our certification.
Speaker: And so we multiple weekends staying in hotels, paying for food.
Speaker: And while we were there, and mind you, he and I both were instructors in the military.
Speaker: I was the weapons instructor.
Speaker: He did some maintenance officer training.
Speaker: And we just looked at each other and said, you know, we could do this in Abilene and keep the money in Abilene and keep people from having to go back and forth to Dallas, which is two and a half hour drive.
Speaker: each way.
Speaker: And so we can, we can get, we can grow more security officers in our area.
Speaker: So we came back and did a business plan and we started, I got our LLC approved and, and we, but we do security for private businesses, private homes.
Speaker: We've done security.
Speaker: There's a, there's a few of us that are actually certified as bodyguards.
Speaker: So, you know, we do some bodyguard protection or personal protection,
Speaker: And then, you know, we, we, uh, we do fire watch, you know, sometimes you may, you may have had to done fire watch in the military.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Oh yeah.
Speaker: But, uh, we'll, we do fire watch and well, a lot of our, a lot of our guys are, are either active duty, former military or former law enforcement.
Speaker: So, um, you know, so they, they, they,
Speaker: They like it.
Speaker: We have a camaraderie.
Speaker: We have a uniform.
Speaker: They carry a weapon.
Speaker: So it's all, you know, it just translates very well.
Speaker: We have a Marine MP that works for us.
Speaker: And we have a security guard.
Speaker: An Air Force cop that works for us and they do great work for us.
Speaker: And a lot of the other ones do, too.
Speaker: I mean, we've got some really great folks and we've expanded even in West Texas.
Speaker: We've moved out to Odessa and we have about 10 officers out there and we have.
Speaker: Some officers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and in Houston area.
Speaker: And so we've really grown in two years, not even imagined.
Speaker: We couldn't imagine where we've gone.
Speaker: We set a goal, a monetary goal for our first year and then our first full year.
Speaker: And I think we almost tripled that.
Speaker: Oh, wow.
Speaker: But it was such a, we didn't know there was such a need.
Speaker: And, and, but, you know, our, some of our biggest contracts were companies who maybe fired an employee that then, that then made some threats.
Speaker: And so they hire us to come in and make sure that nobody comes on the premises and does any sort of active shooter thing.
Speaker: And we've even sat on people's homes because he threatened to burn people's houses down.
Speaker: So we'd go sit in front of their home.
Speaker: We'd sit there for two weeks, just rotating 12 on, 12 off and just sitting out in front of the home in our vehicles.
Speaker: Do you have to get certification yourself to be able to do that?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: And so the Department of Public Safety, which is our state trooper, you know, if you think state trooper, that's they're part of the Department of Public Safety.
Speaker: They manage our certifications.
Speaker: So we got certified to be security officers, level two unarmed, level three armed, and level four is the bodyguard or personal protection officer.
Speaker: And then we got certified to teach it.
Speaker: So then we opened up our training academy here and we we train the security officers here.
Speaker: And then if they want to work for us and we have room for them, they can do that or they can go to any other security company in the area and go to work for them.
Speaker: And so they just pay for the they pay for the training and then they can go work for any any security officer in the state or any security company in the state.
Speaker: Wow, that's incredible, especially the time frame that we're living in right now.
Speaker: And I'm sure anybody who watches the news or listens to news on the radio, especially over the last four years, have heard all kinds of horror stories of houses.
Speaker: I mean, look, Southern California was inundated with houses owned by the wealthy that were being attacked.
Speaker: And they didn't have a security detail like you guys provide.
Speaker: Well, and we do, if, you know, if a natural disaster happens and somebody wants to protect their home or business from looting, we put teams together.
Speaker: We can go do that.
Speaker: And because we're, as long as it's in Texas, we're certified in Texas and we can do it anywhere in Texas.
Speaker: So it's really a cool job.
Speaker: And it's fun.
Speaker: We've done some pretty cool stuff in the last two years.
Speaker: And it's just been in this community.
Speaker: And what I like to tell people, I say, unfortunately, it's a good time to be in the security business.
Speaker: Yes, very unfortunate.
Speaker: But I wish we didn't need it.
Speaker: And that's okay.
Speaker: I didn't do it for the money.
Speaker: But I did it because it's a service and we like doing it.
Speaker: Yeah, that peace of mind is priceless, especially if there are threats towards a home or family members.
Speaker: Just the peace of mind that I can go to sleep at night knowing that I've got security, not just a little ring doorbell and an ADT out.
Speaker: Somebody that they'll open the door and then who knows when the police are going to arrive to get that person out of the house.
Speaker: You got this security.
Speaker: How do people get in touch with what's called Lone Star Tactical, right?
Speaker: I can't remember if we had said that.
Speaker: Yeah, Lone Star Tactical Services.
Speaker: You can go to lonestartacticalservices.com.
Speaker: And we also call my phone is 940-923-1946.
Speaker: And, you know, we do quinceañeras.
Speaker: We've done birthday parties, weddings, you know, because in Texas, if you're at a venue, for example, and you're serving alcohol and there's humans present, there's got to be at least one armed guard.
Speaker: So, yeah.
Speaker: So we provide that type of service.
Speaker: And we've done, like I said, the businesses for their disgruntled employees.
Speaker: We've done assessments.
Speaker: We do active shooter training.
Speaker: And if you go on our website, there's all the lists, all the classes.
Speaker: We've done ladies self-defense classes.
Speaker: We've done, I do a course called Refuse to be a Victim.
Speaker: Oh, wow.
Speaker: It's basically a couple of hour seminar.
Speaker: We sit around and we just talk about situational awareness.
Speaker: And the last one I taught was some mothers contacted me because their daughters were about to go off to college in another city.
Speaker: And they wanted them to be more aware of their surroundings.
Speaker: So they came through and sat through.
Speaker: And we just went through some things that really is common sense if you think about it.
Speaker: But they don't think about it.
Speaker: You know, a lot of people don't think about that.
Speaker: You know, we have so many people walking down the street with their face buried in their phone.
Speaker: And, you know, that's a sure target.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And so, but our kids do that.
Speaker: They're not paying attention to their surroundings.
Speaker: And people getting snatched off the street, you know, even what side, we go down to the detail of what side of the street you should walk on.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: What floor of the hotel should you stay on?
Speaker: You know, and he's telling us, hey, don't go above the 7th or 8th floor and don't go below the second.
Speaker: Well, why the 7th or 8th floor?
Speaker: Well, because fire trucks, ladder trucks don't normally go higher than that.
Speaker: So they didn't know that you don't think about that, you know, and so heaven forbid, you know, you're probably going to go your whole life and not be in a hotel fire, but it's just being prepared.
Speaker: Yeah, and I think that does get overlooked a lot.
Speaker: You know, these are some of the services that I provide in my own company on the intelligence side of things of, you know, how to keep yourself safe and secure.
Speaker: And I don't think a lot of people understand they go on.
Speaker: Let's say you're going on a vacation outside of the country.
Speaker: And you go, well, I got my plane ticket, I've got my hotel, and I should be pretty good.
Speaker: I know where I'm going to stay and stuff.
Speaker: And you don't know when something's going to pop up, and God forbid something does.
Speaker: It's not that this service is going to help prevent that, the training and everything.
Speaker: But the training will help you get out of those situations.
Speaker: That's what I always try to tell people.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Well, Glenn, incredible conversation and everything that you're doing for veterans.
Speaker: First of all, I just want to say thank you for that.
Speaker: I do think that I believe the statistic was there's only one percent of the U.S. population that is either in the military or a veteran.
Speaker: So that's a very small percent of people.
Speaker: And so what you guys are doing for for the veteran community is, first of all, noble.
Speaker: But I think it is the moral thing to do for for what everyone was put through.
Speaker: I say that for Vietnam and World War Two and and Korea.
Speaker: all the stuff that they had to go through.
Speaker: They deserve when they're, you know, older in life, we talk about the cemeteries and the nursing homes.
Speaker: They deserve that peace of mind that they're going to have something.
Speaker: And I think the veterans right now who have gone through like you did, OIF, OEF, you know, Desert Storm,
Speaker: should have the benefit of owning something tangible, as you call it, dirt.
Speaker: That's not said flippant.
Speaker: It's very important.
Speaker: This country was built on landowners, and owning land is very important, and it should be
Speaker: And to give that to the veteran community is just impressive.
Speaker: So first I want to say thank you for that.
Speaker: But I also want to give you some time to, you could plug whatever else you want, but I want to give you time to just let everybody know, you know, where to find you, what to do if they are looking for something along both lines, whether they want the land or they want some security within their home.
Speaker: Well, so along with the veteran program, so we partner with a lot of different veterans organizations, if you will.
Speaker: The TVC, Texas Veterans, and they're also a state agency.
Speaker: Then we also partner with a group called Combined Arms, and they're kind of like the yellow pages of programs.
Speaker: So if a veteran has an issue, no matter what it is, and we're part of that program too.
Speaker: So if they call like, Hey, I just want to buy some land.
Speaker: They say, well, Hey, we'll refer you over to the veterans land board.
Speaker: But if somebody calls like, Hey, I'm having a hard time paying my utilities.
Speaker: I'm having a hard time finding a suitable place to live.
Speaker: And then that's where they step in and provide.
Speaker: They'll say, okay, well, we're going to plug that in.
Speaker: And here's another partner organization that can help you with that.
Speaker: So the Texas veterans network, they can, they can,
Speaker: Check that out or combined arms if you Google either one of those.
Speaker: And they've got representatives across the state.
Speaker: So it's really a great, great program.
Speaker: If somebody's, you know, looking to do security and they want to know more about it, I'm open book.
Speaker: I'll tell them.
Speaker: And for me, it's not about competition.
Speaker: You know, I don't like to say we don't have any competitors.
Speaker: I have industry colleagues.
Speaker: They may think I'm a competitor, but I just don't think of it that way.
Speaker: We're all providing a service, and we can all have our piece of the pie.
Speaker: And so I'd rather us all be successful in helping people.
Speaker: And if somebody's ever thought about, hmm, I think I might want to get into the security business, I can definitely tell them what not to do.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Because those are important.
Speaker: Those are very mistakes, too.
Speaker: And and and tell them what to do.
Speaker: You know, there's some things that we looking back, man, we always would have done it this way.
Speaker: So but they get my cell phone number 940-923-1946.
Speaker: And if you can reach me on email.
Speaker: I'm on Facebook.
Speaker: So it's if my email address is glenn.pew at glo.texas.gov.
Speaker: That's for the veterans programs.
Speaker: And so if they have questions on veterans programs, they can reach me there.
Speaker: And my email for the company is gpu at lonestartacticalservices.com.
Speaker: Awesome.
Speaker: Thank you so much, Glenn.
Speaker: I just can't wait to see how this how this goes in the future.
Speaker: And I want to see more states doing this.
Speaker: And I think I'm going to take that on and try to inform more people to get that going.
Speaker: But Texas is, you know, they're at the forefront of all this.
Speaker: And we should put that out there.
Speaker: But Glenn, thanks again for taking the time to talk to me.
Speaker: Yes, sir.
Speaker: I enjoyed it.
Speaker: This podcast is a production of Unfiltered Studios.
Speaker: If you would like to know more about joining Unfiltered Studios, please visit our website at unfpod.com for more information.
