Trailblazing Leadership: Lieutenant General Patricia “Patty” D. Horoho on Resilience, Service, and Empowering the Next Generation

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There are few things that make people successful.

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Taking a step forward to change their lives is one successful trait, but it takes some

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time to get there.

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How do you move forward to greet the success that awaits you?

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Welcome to Next Steps Forward with host Chris Meek.

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Each week, Chris brings on another guest who has successfully taken the next steps forward.

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Now here is Chris Meek.

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Hello, I'm Chris Meek, and you've tuned to this week's episode of Next Steps Forward.

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As always, it's a pleasure to have you with us.

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Our focus is on personal empowerment, a commitment to wellbeing, and the motivation to achieve

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more than you ever thought possible.

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And we're so fortunate this week to have retired US Army Lieutenant General Patricia

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Horojo as our guest.

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These days, Patricia Horojo is the Chief Strategy Innovation and Transformation Officer at OptumHealth.

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She was the 43rd Army Surgeon General, and she was the commander of the US Army Medical Command.

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She made history as the first woman, first nurse, and non-physician to hold these posts.

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In these roles, Patricia Horojo led the world's third largest healthcare system with a multibillion

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dollar budget, a staff of 156,000, and a global logistics research and care network that spanned

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five continents.

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After retirement from the Army in December 2015, she joined UnitedHealth Group in 2017

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and founded the OptumServe brand, which is the end-to-end federal business of both Optum

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and UnitedHealth Group.

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In the last two years, OptumServe has entered into new markets, grew the top line by 300%,

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and grown into a multibillion dollar organization.

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In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, her agility and ability to effectively leverage

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resources resulted in OptumServe rapidly standing up new business models to support COVID-19

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In 2023, Patty expanded her role to include leading OptumHealth Solutions, an integrated

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direct care delivery platform.

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OptumHealth Solutions works to simplify the industry rather than adding complexity by

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re-engineering the healthcare delivery system for those who need care the most, while providing

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holistic condition care management for oncology, kidney, rare diseases, and transplant.

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Also in 2023, General Horojo established the To Serve Together Foundation, a nonprofit

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dedicated to honoring our military women.

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Currently, she's the Chief Strategy, Innovation, and Transformation Officer for OptumHealth.

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General Patty Horojo, welcome to Next Steps Forward.

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Thanks, Chris.

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Great to be with you.

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It's an honor to have you with us, and I always pride the show on being a show of firsts,

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and this is the first time I've had a page and a half introduction.

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So we've got a 52-minute show here today, 54 minutes.

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I'm not sure that's going to be enough time.

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We're probably going to skip the break, just so Matt, you know that, but let's get right

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into it.

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Let's stop wasting your time here.

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General, you came from an Army family.

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You were even born on an Army base, but plenty of people from military families never joined

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the armed services.

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What or who motivated you to choose not just a military career, but specifically one in

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the Army?

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Yeah, Chris.

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So I, you know, we don't get to choose what family we're born into, and I feel very, very

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blessed of the family that I did born into.

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Born and raised at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, my dad fought World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

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My parents were married 70 years, and we lived in a neighborhood, Cottonade, North Carolina,

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that was, to be honest, filled with a lot of Special Forces officers, a lot of officers

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and enlisted soldiers that had served in Vietnam.

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And so I grew up seeing, really, the strength of our nation.

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I saw families that came together, really supported each other during tough times, supported

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each other during the joys that occurred, and watched my dad every Thursday go to the

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Overhill Gang, where it was enlisted in officers, came together and kind of just shared their

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war stories and bonded and supported.

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And so nobody, though, however, ever talked to me about joining.

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Not one person.

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And it was my senior year at UNC Chapel Hill.

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I was sitting in the back of the room in a nutrition class, and I thought, I just want

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to do something different.

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I want to serve my nation.

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And I thought I was just going to do it for three years.

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And so I called a recruiter and said, I'd like to join the Army Nurse Corps, and met

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him on the corner of Franklin Street and did my interview.

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So I think I shocked my family.

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I think I shocked everybody when I called and said, hey, I'm going in the Army.

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Unbelievable.

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I did not know that story.

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Your decision to join the Army also must have lined with your personal and career goals.

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How important were education and training opportunities in your decision?

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Yeah.

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You know, my education is the foundation for us to do anything we want to do.

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And that really was instilled by my grandfather.

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My grandfather came over from the boat from Italy when he was a young child, worked in

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the coal mines, and believed in the value of education.

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And he had a fourth grade education, but he ended up putting many of my cousins through

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nursing school.

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He instilled the value of education, and he said, it's the one thing that no one can ever

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take away from you.

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So education was really important, and I knew at the time when I grew up, there weren't

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a lot of choices for women, to be perfectly honest.

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It was teaching, secretary, or nursing, or a flight attendant, and I can tell you that

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story later, but I chose nursing, and it really came across as a profession that you can give

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back to others.

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And I thought, that's the heart of military service, and so if I can combine both my nursing

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education and my military belief in the value of service, I just felt like that would be

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something worthwhile to do as a young person.

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So it's just ingrained in you to serve others.

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That's just a core value, principle for you.

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I had great role models growing up, and I truly believe there's a statement out there,

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and I used it in every one of my chain of command speeches, and it was Andre Mello,

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who said, a French officer, who said, to command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.

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And I really believe the higher you go in anything you do, you need to be more humble,

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and you need to always embrace a servant leader's heart.

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And it's something that just inspires me every single day.

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A servant leader's heart, that's, I love that, I love that.

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What expectations did you have before you signed up, and how do they compare to the

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reality?

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Yeah, I probably was extremely naive, I'll just, I'll be honest.

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I think my expectations, I don't think I realized how much of a team the military was

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in the clinical profession.

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And so I worked nine months before I went on active duty, and there really was a hierarchy

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within nursing.

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There was a hierarchy within your clinical profession, and at that time, if you were

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sitting and a doctor came in, you had to stand, you had to give up your seat, and it was very

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much what I would say, very traditional.

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And so when I came into the military, I came in thinking that that's going to be very similar.

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And what I found is, it is such a collaborative team.

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And it's doctors, it's nurses, it's our combat medics, everybody working together with a

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focus on the patient.

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And I think it won.

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I don't think I expected it to be that way right off the bat, and it was, and you felt

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like you were a part of this strong community that invested in leadership from the day you

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joined at every level.

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And it's actually what kept me on active duty for 33 years.

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Way off topic, what kind of dog do you have just walked in the room?

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So we have two, I apologize for that.

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We have two, one is a very large golden doodle, and his name is Patrick Patton, and we call

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him Pat-Pat Goodboy.

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Actually I call him Chief Executive Dog, because he's never missed a work meeting, and then

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the small one is Murphy James, which means dog of the sea, and they both are with me

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every day when I work at home.

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I'm asking because I have two Shih Tzus, and one of them, luckily he's sleeping with me.

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My viewers and listeners know Zeke very well, because he lets everybody know when the UPS

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guy or the Amazon truck is here, and luckily he's sleeping right now.

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So I appreciate it.

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Dogs bring love, and so I just wanted to highlight the dogs there.

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They do.

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General, what advice would you give to a young person, especially a young woman considering

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joining the armed forces, or maybe not even in the military at all, but they should?

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Yeah, I'll tell you, I would advise young women, especially, I'd advise anybody to join

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our military, whether it's Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, or Space Force.

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You will grow in ways you never imagined, and you will be exposed to leaders.

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You will be exposed to new challenges.

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You'll learn things about yourself that you never thought you could accomplish, and you

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also grow both personally and professionally.

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And for women especially, I think there's no greater time than to serve our nation.

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Women are able now to serve in every field that we have across our armed forces, and

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we're watching women right now continue to not just break a glass ceiling, but actually

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pave a pathway for others to follow.

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And to me, it's women lifting women up, and it's that team of teams concept.

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So I think even if you choose to serve three years, or if you choose to serve a full 30

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or 40 years, you will leave the service knowing that you've been part of something much greater

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than yourself, and it will tie you to the American values, and it'll tie you to what

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I think is inherent in our flag.

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And that's the opportunity to support and defend our democracy, and there's nothing

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better.

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A few years ago, I had the honor of working with General George Casey Jr. and Dr. Joel

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Cooper Smith at Georgetown on a workshop focused on the 50th anniversary of the All-Volunteer

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Force.

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So that was a couple of years ago now.

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It was sort of in the middle of COVID, I believe.

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You know, so we're all volunteer, not like Israel or something like that where it was

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mandatory service.

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We're seeing the numbers decline pretty significantly in terms of enlistments.

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Knowing the state of the world right now, what can or should we do to encourage young

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people to, to your point, have that servant leader heart go out there to serve, you know,

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have a greater calling than yourself?

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You know, I think one, this past year under Major General Johnny Davis, who's just one

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of the most dynamic leaders I've served with, he actually exceeded the recruiting mission,

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which is pretty impressive when you realize how challenging it's been, you know, across

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all the services.

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What I would say is where we are today, and I believe in hope, and I think right now there

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is so much hope across our nation, the hope to unite, the hope for voices to be heard,

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the hope for a better world.

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And I think when men and women make the decision to serve, one, you're taking a lens and looking

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outside of yourself, which always changes things, right?

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And it makes us more open to culture, to diversity, to experience.

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And I think when we bring the melding pot kind of mindset through that diversity of

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service and individuals, it just strengthens our nation and it strengthens us as individuals.

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And so I believe when you serve, you get back way more than you'll ever give.

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And it changed the trajectory of my life and of our family's life with that decision to

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serve.

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Every career seems to have watershed moments, but you had two that were manifestly bigger

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than the vast majority of other careers.

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The first was the Green Ramp disaster on March 23rd, 1994 at Pope Air Force Base.

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And you were the head nurse in Womack Army Hospitals Emergency Room.

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What happened that day?

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Yeah.

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You know, I have to take you back a couple of years if I could before that day occurs

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because I always believe we go through challenges.

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I've learned this over my life because I've had more blessings and more challenges.

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And I always think when I go through challenges, I always pray to God and say, help me to learn

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what I'm supposed to learn during this dark time so that I can spiral upward.

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And so I was at the University of Pittsburgh.

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I was getting my master's paid for by the military.

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And I started doing my first thesis on critical incident stress debriefing and couldn't get

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enough patients for the study.

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So then I went to my second master's thesis and it was going to be in Burns.

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And they ended up firing a lot of the Burns surgeons.

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And I wasn't able to do that one.

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And both of those, I had done the research in 60 type pages.

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It shows my age because it was all typewriters.

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And then the third one was on hardiness.

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And so finally, I got approval to do a comparison of two types of Burns dressings and finally

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finished my thesis.

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The reason why I bring that up, because it ties directly into what happened on that day.

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So going to Fort Bragg, I was honored to be the head nurse of the emergency room.

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And a couple of months before, we had brought together a MassCal scenario where we trained

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with Cape Verde Valley.

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We trained with Pope EMS, Pope Air Force Base EMS, and then our medical services.

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And we created a scenario where we would prepare for in the April time frame, where there would

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be two planes crashing, multi-trauma victims.

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And we had prepared MassCal packages.

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We had prepared the MassCal cards and comms and everything.

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Well, in March at 14, 15, I remember Phil Layton running into the emergency room and

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he said, Captain Horojo, he said, we have a MassCal incident at Pope.

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And he said, two planes collided.

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And I said, oh, this is our exercise.

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And he said, no, ma'am, this is real.

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And literally in 15 minutes, we started receiving patients that were injured.

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What had happened is two planes collided.

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There was 500 paratroopers on the ground, 50,000 gallons of jet fuel ignited, and a

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fireball went across the service members that were on the ground.

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And because of individuals thinking so quickly on the ground, they did the scoop and run

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method.

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They just picked them up, sidecars within motorcycles bringing them in, deuce and a

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half, big trucks where literally soldiers were stacked on top of each other with their

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uniforms burned off.

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I have never seen anything like that.

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And we had 134 burned victims that arrived in our emergency room in less than an hour.

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You and the rest of the medical personnel at WOMAC must have been overwhelmed with so

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many casualties there, especially so many who were critically injured.

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What were the most critical challenges you faced?

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Yeah, so it was a 22-bed emergency room.

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And what we did is we took the front, the outside of the emergency room, and we had

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so many people that responded.

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It was in the middle of the day.

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It was a sunny day, blue sky.

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People responded from everywhere.

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We had people take sheets, and they created an emergency room external where we could

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put many of the severely wounded, those that needed to be on ventilators, went into our

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emergency room.

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The 44th Med Brigade brought ventilators over.

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We had 22 on ventilators at one time, which is unheard of.

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And I think some of the challenges were the severity of the wounds.

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We were doing escharotomies external outside of the emergency room to relieve the compression

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that starts with severely charred.

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We were intubating internal because of all the inhalation.

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And it was opening up and our pharmacy and having buckets of morphine to relieve people

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out of pain.

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But the overall challenge that I remember saying to my team is America, this is America's

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sons and daughters, and we will not lose one person by not knowing who they are.

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And they were coming in with no names.

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So we had accountability of Jane Doe, John Doe, and we made sure that we gave compassionate

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care.

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And the story that I've got to tell you because I promised myself the moment that I heard

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this, I have never missed an opportunity when we talked about Green Ramp to share the

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story of Sergeant Price.

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Because as we were taking care of the soldiers that were injured outside, we were talking

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to each while we were working on them.

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And I remember talking to Specialist Winfield just to get her attention for pain.

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And I said, tell me what happened.

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And she said, ma'am, she said, I was on the tarmac.

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And she said that the next thing I knew is this soldier, Sergeant Price, who she didn't

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know before, who was an African-American soldier, picked her up, threw her in the air.

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She landed on the ground.

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He jumped on top of her, and he whispered in her ear, and he said, run, run now.

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And she said, ma'am, I just ran.

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And when I turned to look behind me, she said, I realized he took the fireball.

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And he gave his life for her.

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She was a Caucasian soldier.

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He was an African-American soldier.

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They didn't know each other.

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But what they did know, that they were soldiers, and they had a common bond to protect each

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other.

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And to me, that's the heart of the American soldier, that we're willing to give our life

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for the person who's on the right or the left of us.

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And so I always try to honor him.

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Having stories like that and seeing it firsthand the way you did, how did you and your colleagues

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manage the emotional and the psychological stress of treating such a large number of

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severely injured patients?

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It goes back to why I started with this story at the University of Pittsburgh, because if

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I had not gone through that challenge, I would not have realized the importance of critical

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incidents, stress debriefing.

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And then when I had the in-depth knowledge with Burns, the first thing I did was I went

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to the emergency room and I asked Dr. Burns, those two came together.

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Because the very first person that I put to start with accountability as people were coming

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off of the deuce and a half and coming into our emergency room was my very best LPN.

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And I asked her to make sure that she didn't lose accountability.

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So she was tracking everybody.

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We did a couple of days later and she said it made her feel devalued because we had people

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coming off and she could not use her expert skills to save them.

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And what I was able to say to her is what you did for us was we didn't lose track of

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one individual.

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And when people called, they were able to find where their loved one was.

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And so it was a tremendous amount of healing.

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So afterwards, we brought physicians, clinicians, social workers, chaplains, and we allowed

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people to share their emotions and to work through that for healing.

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I mentioned a few moments ago, two watershed moments.

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The second occurred seven and a half years after the Green Ramp disaster on September

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11th, 2001.

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We share that in common because I was at ground zero and you were at the Pentagon when the

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attacks happened.

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You were the Army's assistant deputy for personnel and health management.

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You evacuated your building and then you rushed to where the terrorists had flown a jet into

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the west side of the Pentagon.

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As the FBI was monitoring against more attacks, you were treating 75 of the wounded under

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combat conditions.

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Were the injuries of the 9-11 casualties very similar to the injuries suffered by those

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00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:51,320
on the Green Ramp?

308
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You know, both of those days, and I know you share this, are imprinted on my heart.

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Um, those are the things that you quietly carry inside of you.

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And you saw the very best of what Americans can do, and you saw the very worst of what

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people can do.

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Very similar in inhalation injuries of burns, of severe burns.

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The enormity within both were a lot of loss of lives, of young lives, of heroism under

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the most severe conditions.

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You know, I always said on both of those, I felt like God was with us in that they happened

316
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on very sunny days.

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The Pentagon was attacked when there was a chaplains conference and there were, I forgot

318
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:53,400
how many chaplains were there, but I felt like we had a chaplain for almost everybody

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that was there.

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It was incredible spiritual strength that was there.

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We had people respond.

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Specialist Cahill was a young medic who was in the reserves, who was home on his leave,

323
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his vacation.

324
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And for some reason, he took his aid bag when he traveled home with him.

325
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And when he saw the fireball, he took his aid bag and he ran over two miles.

326
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That was the very first medical supplies that we had on that side of the Pentagon.

327
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The heroism was incredible.

328
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:32,680
General Webster was a one-star at the time, infantry officer who was going in and out

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00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:33,880
of the Pentagon.

330
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And he came up to me, I didn't even see his rank, and he said, can I help you?

331
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And I said, I need your belt and I need it right now because I need a tourniquet.

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He gave it to me, went back into the building.

333
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People just helped.

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And it was an amazing response.

335
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It was also one of the most heartbreaking response because later in the day, we realized

336
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that we were no longer in a saving mission.

337
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We were actually in the recovery mission.

338
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We were just recovering bodies.

339
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And we had to transition both mentally with that and then have people go in and try to

340
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recover the lost lives that were in that Pentagon.

341
00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:18,600
I would think each of those two days were very formative experiences that must have

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fundamentally changed you.

343
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Were you a different person from the day of the Green Ramp disaster forward?

344
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And how did the 9-11 experience leave its own mark on you?

345
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:32,760
Yeah, I think everything we go through shapes us and how we respond to it.

346
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And it increases our empathy.

347
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It increases our knowledge, our expertise.

348
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And it helps us, that saying, train as you fight, fight as you train, because you start

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seeing the importance of readiness in everything that you do.

350
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So after the Green Ramp, I then had the honor to deploy to Haiti when it was going to be

351
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a forced invasion with a small team.

352
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And with that, realized the importance of logistics planning.

353
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And there was so much from that experience that carried over to the response at the Pentagon.

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And what I would say with all of those is it made me realize that our enemies look at

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us and they see our divisiveness.

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And what they underestimate is the power of how strong we are when we come together as

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Americans.

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And that when they thought they crippled us by hitting the powerhouse of our nation, which

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is the Pentagon, what they really did is they united every single American with the resolve

360
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:46,280
that we would support and defend our democracy and democracy worldwide.

361
00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:52,280
So I'm a completely different leader from going through those experiences.

362
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:55,960
I have gratitude every single day of my life.

363
00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:04,040
I understand the sacrifices that it is by many and millions of people who choose to

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00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:04,840
serve our nation.

365
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,800
And I don't take any of our freedoms for granted.

366
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:12,280
And did those two days reshape how you approached future assignments?

367
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,400
Oh, you know, a funny thing about future assignments.

368
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,520
I had someone call me once and said, I track your career.

369
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:22,360
And I said, you do?

370
00:25:22,360 --> 00:25:23,960
I said, why would you do that?

371
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,960
And he said, I track it because you seem to everywhere you go, there's a disaster and

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I don't want to be assigned with you.

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So, you know, I, I believe that.

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That you learn from every place you go and every experience gives you tools in your tool

375
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:51,880
kit that allows you to hopefully lead more effectively to have a broader lens of experience

376
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:52,760
and expertise.

377
00:25:53,560 --> 00:26:02,120
And and so I have been one that I've embraced the journey where leaders have said, I think

378
00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:03,720
you should go into this job.

379
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:09,880
It wasn't always the job I wanted to go into, but I trusted, you know, their mentorship

380
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:14,920
and it ended up being every single job I've ever been in.

381
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:16,360
I've absolutely loved them.

382
00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:17,960
And I'll give a good example.

383
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:22,840
When I was a young officer, I wanted to be a 91 Delta instructor, special forces, you

384
00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:24,520
know, medic instructor.

385
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:29,640
And my assignment manager said, Colonel Kennedy wants you to go into recruiting command.

386
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And I said, well, I don't want to go into recruiting command.

387
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:36,680
And I said, I really want to be a 91 Delta instructor.

388
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,280
And she said she would really like you to go into recruiting command.

389
00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:42,120
And I was very naive at the time.

390
00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:43,880
And I said, well, can you do me a favor?

391
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,480
Can you just write down what I would like to do?

392
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,440
And she takes her pencil and she just made a dot.

393
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:52,920
And she looked at me and I said, I'm going into recruiting.

394
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:55,480
She said, yes, you are.

395
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And I am so glad that I did.

396
00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:02,120
There's so many stories with that.

397
00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:10,520
But I ended up going as a recruiter for Pittsburgh and Harrisburg recruiting battalion, met my

398
00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:14,040
husband there who was actually teaching at University of Pittsburgh.

399
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,080
He was an ROTC officer, instructor.

400
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:25,880
And I learned what it took to entice someone to see the value of joining our military.

401
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,160
And I worked with infantry officer, line officers.

402
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:34,840
And I felt like I grew more as a soldier in that assignment, which really changed, to

403
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:41,320
be perfectly honest, my embracing that I was a soldier first, I was an officer and I was

404
00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:41,720
a nurse.

405
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,400
And that's how I approached every one of my assignments afterwards.

406
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:50,760
So as your career advanced, you were in charge of the United States Army Medical Command,

407
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:55,240
the Western Regional Medical Command, the Madigan Army Medical Center, the Walter Reed

408
00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,640
Healthcare System, and the DeWitt Healthcare Network.

409
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,360
Is one command pretty much the same as the next?

410
00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:01,960
And was one of them your favorite?

411
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:03,400
Or do you love all your children equally?

412
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,120
I have two kids, so I always love my children equally, right?

413
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:16,840
But every one of those assignments, oh my goodness, talk about their own set of unique

414
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:17,480
challenges.

415
00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:27,320
And the diversity of the people you get to lead, the opportunities in front of you, the

416
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:33,000
strategic challenges make every single one of them, to be honest, a very unique experience.

417
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:35,560
But there was always a common thread.

418
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:41,800
When you lead, and I'll go back to serving, it truly is about leaning forward and serving

419
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:47,400
to the best of your ability and ensuring that you take the calculated risks that you should

420
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:47,960
take.

421
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:52,600
And what I would always tell people is the reason you have the rank in the middle of

422
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:58,920
your chest is for you to take calculated risks, set conditions for success, and do the strategic

423
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:04,680
roadmap for that command while also creating the leadership bench for the future.

424
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:08,600
That's the honor and the privilege that we have.

425
00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:12,520
And you have to be OK with the Army saying, thank you very much.

426
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:14,040
This is your last assignment.

427
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:15,720
So you've got to take the risk.

428
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,160
Every single one of those were challenging.

429
00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:27,640
Probably the one that maybe imprinted on my heart the most was the Walter Reed assignment.

430
00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:33,560
It was one I thought I was only going to be there for a year as the chief nurse of the

431
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:34,920
Regional Medical Command.

432
00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:39,560
And I already had my orders because I was selected to command launch to Regional Medical

433
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:40,360
Command.

434
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:46,760
So I thought, OK, this is going to be the opportunity to focus on improving the patient

435
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,160
care environment because I thought we could do that within a year.

436
00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:54,280
General Waitman at the time told me, I'm going to get two years' work out of you in one year,

437
00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,280
so I need you to really lean in on that.

438
00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,960
And I think he probably got four or five years out of me in one year.

439
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:09,480
But when that happened in Walter Reed, where we lost the confidence and the faith of those

440
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:16,440
that we served in the nation because of the challenges of being at war for so many years

441
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:21,720
with the infrastructure challenges, it was never about the quality of care, but it was

442
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:27,080
really about how do you support people and their family that are going to be there for

443
00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:32,840
three to four years going through 36 or more surgeries, right?

444
00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:36,600
And how do you make sure you have that full complement of rehabilitation?

445
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:43,560
I watched a team that was under 42 investigations is what we led through.

446
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:50,440
42 investigations, a presidential commission, four unannounced joint commissions, all within

447
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:59,160
a year, and media and Congress all coming in constantly while we were receiving injured

448
00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:01,320
patients three to four times a week.

449
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:10,680
I watched that team be transparent, change the way we care for warriors, being very open.

450
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:15,800
And we literally went from the worst customer service to the best customer service out of

451
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:21,480
Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines in a year and made changes that last today on how we

452
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,000
care for our warriors.

453
00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:26,520
It was the most humbling experience to lead and serve with that team.

454
00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:28,520
Amazing.

455
00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:29,240
Absolutely amazing.

456
00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:34,200
You were, as we mentioned earlier, the first woman and nurse to serve as the Army Surgeon

457
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,600
General and Commander of the United States Army Medical Command.

458
00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:39,720
Had you imagined that was possible when you began your career?

459
00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:40,220
No.

460
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:46,040
So I'll go back to when you talked about careers.

461
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:51,320
I had wanted to be a flight attendant, but at that time, they actually had a height restriction

462
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:52,840
and I was too short.

463
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:56,760
And I always say, thank goodness for my height because my career would have been totally

464
00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:57,160
different.

465
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:07,000
And so when I came in, it was just a few years prior that if you became pregnant, you had

466
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:08,440
to leave active duty.

467
00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:09,800
That had changed.

468
00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:12,200
When I came in, nurses could not command.

469
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:14,840
Only physicians could command hospitals.

470
00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:18,680
So it was never anything that I had planned or thought I would do.

471
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,360
And things changed over the years.

472
00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:28,920
And literally, General Ursone, who was a Medical Service Corps officer, had ran into me one

473
00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:33,800
time at General Volpe's promotion and said, hey, Patty, are you going to compete for command?

474
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:35,720
Because it just opened in 1990.

475
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:37,480
I believe that was the year.

476
00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:39,720
And I said, no.

477
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:41,000
I said, I wasn't thinking about it.

478
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:42,760
I don't think I'd be that competitive.

479
00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:44,040
He said, you need to compete.

480
00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,720
That little bit of encouragement changed the trajectory.

481
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:48,600
And so I competed.

482
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:50,920
I got selected to command.

483
00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,520
And then it opened up the opportunity to future commands.

484
00:32:54,520 --> 00:33:04,520
And when I got selected, I had actually just flown to Australia, had just gotten on the

485
00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:06,200
ground the night before.

486
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,120
And I got a call from General Casey.

487
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,040
And he said, Patty, what are you doing?

488
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:15,000
And I said, well, sir, I said, I'm in Australia starting a conference.

489
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:16,920
And he said, congratulations.

490
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:19,400
You just got nominated for the Sergeant General.

491
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,400
And he said, you need to get on a plane and come on home.

492
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:26,360
So it was the quickest trip I've ever taken for the longest ride.

493
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:31,320
But it was the honor of a lifetime.

494
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,840
It was the most humbling opportunity.

495
00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:40,600
And a year into the job, one of my very good friends that I met was General Grice, who

496
00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:41,240
was the U.S.

497
00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:42,840
I mean, the U.S.

498
00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:45,160
He was the Israeli Sergeant General.

499
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:46,120
And we were having dinner.

500
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:49,560
And he said, hey, do you want to know what happened when your name got announced?

501
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:51,000
And I said, I would love to.

502
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:53,880
And he said, it was the shot that was heard around the world.

503
00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:59,800
He said, countries called each other and said, can you believe the United States of America

504
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:00,840
picked a woman?

505
00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:02,360
I thought they were going to say a nurse.

506
00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:04,600
And they said, picked a woman.

507
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:06,200
They could not believe it.

508
00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:13,880
And so it really changed my lens about how the world looks at what we do in the U.S.

509
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:20,040
And we are role models for so many, for men, for women, for other countries.

510
00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:24,120
And I think we gave other countries hope.

511
00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:28,920
At least I got told that all the time, that we gave them hope for them to be able to do

512
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:29,560
the same thing.

513
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:33,080
And thank you for sharing that story about Australia, because now I know why you smiled

514
00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,160
when I mentioned General Casey's name early in the show.

515
00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:35,720
Yes, I did.

516
00:34:37,720 --> 00:34:39,000
That's exactly.

517
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:39,880
Great man.

518
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:41,560
He's been on the show before.

519
00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:42,600
And we go back and forth.

520
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,440
So he's originally from Massachusetts.

521
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:45,240
I live in Connecticut.

522
00:34:45,240 --> 00:34:46,280
I'm from New York.

523
00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:48,120
We went back and forth on Red Sox, Yankees a lot.

524
00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:50,440
And so he was a very good sport about that.

525
00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:51,720
Well, I'm a Red Sox fan.

526
00:34:51,720 --> 00:34:52,220
I know.

527
00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:54,200
You're still a nice person.

528
00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:54,760
That's OK.

529
00:34:57,240 --> 00:34:58,360
No, I'm kidding, General.

530
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:03,080
So you insisted on going to Afghanistan when you became the Army Surgeon General.

531
00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:05,000
What did you want to learn there?

532
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:06,280
And what did you do with that information?

533
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:07,420
Yeah.

534
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:17,880
I knew I was going into a position where I not only led the medical command, but I was

535
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:24,120
responsible for the overall health of the force, for the entire Army, and our clinical

536
00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:28,120
capabilities that were embedded in the T-O-N-E units, the line units.

537
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:34,520
And I knew if I was going to serve well, I needed to understand ground truth of what

538
00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:35,960
was occurring on the battlefield.

539
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:41,080
And we had been at war at that time for 10, 11 years.

540
00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:46,200
And so I went in and asked General Schoolmaker and General Corelli and said, I'd like to

541
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:46,700
deploy.

542
00:35:47,500 --> 00:35:54,860
And they said it's the very first time it would be an individual that's been selected

543
00:35:54,860 --> 00:35:57,820
as a Surgeon General or a Surgeon General who's deployed in combat.

544
00:35:57,820 --> 00:36:00,300
And they supported my request.

545
00:36:00,300 --> 00:36:08,380
I went over and worked for General Scaparrotti and General Petraeus at that time, traveled

546
00:36:08,380 --> 00:36:13,500
4,000 miles, over 200 forward operating bases and command outposts.

547
00:36:14,220 --> 00:36:18,060
And what I saw was so many things.

548
00:36:18,060 --> 00:36:22,460
But one of the biggest takeaways was at COP Lightning.

549
00:36:22,460 --> 00:36:30,060
And at that time, it was a team that was in RC North, the most dangerous areas.

550
00:36:30,060 --> 00:36:33,340
They were fired on with RPGs every single day.

551
00:36:33,340 --> 00:36:35,660
Mail took about two months to get there.

552
00:36:35,660 --> 00:36:38,460
We were trying to get virtual behavioral health out to them.

553
00:36:39,020 --> 00:36:44,940
And one of the things that I looked was saw this stack of prescriptions.

554
00:36:44,940 --> 00:36:50,380
And I said, hey, help me understand what half of them's Adderall and half of them's Ambien.

555
00:36:50,380 --> 00:36:54,220
And they said, well, when we go out, we want people on heart and alert.

556
00:36:54,220 --> 00:36:56,140
And so we're giving them Adderall.

557
00:36:56,140 --> 00:36:58,540
And then when they come back, we give them Ambien.

558
00:36:58,540 --> 00:37:05,260
And I thought, oh, my word, we have not weaned people off of poor sleep hygiene.

559
00:37:05,260 --> 00:37:08,940
And then you think of the impact that that has on your mental, your physical,

560
00:37:08,940 --> 00:37:10,700
the increased incident of PTSD.

561
00:37:11,340 --> 00:37:15,740
And it really showed me where we needed to focus on sleep, active nutrition

562
00:37:15,740 --> 00:37:18,060
and optimizing human performance.

563
00:37:18,060 --> 00:37:22,300
The other piece that I'd say is when I flew up to RC North,

564
00:37:25,020 --> 00:37:27,020
Brigadier General Mulholland was the commander.

565
00:37:27,020 --> 00:37:32,780
And he met me and he said, hey, he said, pretty blue collar of you.

566
00:37:32,780 --> 00:37:33,820
And I said, what?

567
00:37:33,820 --> 00:37:37,500
And he said, I saw that you flew in with the troops.

568
00:37:37,500 --> 00:37:40,460
He said, you know, you could have had your own air transport.

569
00:37:40,460 --> 00:37:41,500
I said, I know.

570
00:37:41,500 --> 00:37:43,820
And he said, because you made that decision.

571
00:37:44,380 --> 00:37:46,380
He said, whatever you want, I'm going to support you.

572
00:37:46,380 --> 00:37:47,260
What do you want?

573
00:37:47,260 --> 00:37:52,060
And I said, I would like to talk with your Black Ops and your Black Black Ops folks.

574
00:37:52,060 --> 00:37:53,660
And I said, and I will never share it.

575
00:37:53,660 --> 00:37:55,260
And I never have.

576
00:37:55,260 --> 00:37:59,820
And so at one in the morning, he allowed me to meet with them.

577
00:37:59,820 --> 00:38:02,540
And we had several hour conversations.

578
00:38:02,540 --> 00:38:08,700
And what it did for me is I got to really understand the impact of war,

579
00:38:09,500 --> 00:38:14,620
what sacrifices, the impact of the families, what we needed to do for behavioral health support,

580
00:38:14,620 --> 00:38:18,700
what we needed to do for women's health support with the women that I met on the battlefield

581
00:38:19,420 --> 00:38:24,540
and completely changed our strategic campaign that we had for Army Medicine.

582
00:38:26,620 --> 00:38:29,340
I need to have you for like three more shows because this is just fascinating.

583
00:38:30,060 --> 00:38:32,380
I mean, no, I'm honored, General.

584
00:38:33,100 --> 00:38:34,780
And now I'm going to throw a big one at you here.

585
00:38:35,660 --> 00:38:38,140
This could be the toughest question given the length and groundbreaking

586
00:38:38,140 --> 00:38:39,420
accomplishments of your career.

587
00:38:40,540 --> 00:38:42,540
What are your proudest achievements during your Army service?

588
00:38:46,060 --> 00:38:48,940
I think my, I'm going to give you two.

589
00:38:48,940 --> 00:38:58,220
My first proudest is that I was able to serve 33 years and leave the service

590
00:38:58,940 --> 00:39:04,060
with my marriage being very, very strong and having two wonderful children.

591
00:39:04,700 --> 00:39:08,380
So I'm grateful for that every single day.

592
00:39:09,180 --> 00:39:15,500
My second greatest accomplishment, I think, would probably be moving Army Medicine

593
00:39:16,460 --> 00:39:19,020
from a disease model of care to a system for health.

594
00:39:19,660 --> 00:39:25,020
And that was a huge fundamental culture change, process change.

595
00:39:25,740 --> 00:39:33,900
And it allowed us to really implement this human performance of focusing on sleep,

596
00:39:33,900 --> 00:39:37,980
activity, nutrition, the mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional aspects.

597
00:39:38,700 --> 00:39:42,460
And I always said, someone said, how do you know you're going to be successful?

598
00:39:42,460 --> 00:39:45,500
And I said, the moment that it's in the DNA of our Army,

599
00:39:45,500 --> 00:39:47,740
and they don't see it as a medical program.

600
00:39:47,740 --> 00:39:52,860
And I can tell you today in 2024, it is throughout the Army.

601
00:39:52,860 --> 00:39:59,340
It is the health to fitness of our Army, and it's not a medical program.

602
00:40:00,220 --> 00:40:04,700
And that's probably what I am so proud of, because we're changing lives

603
00:40:04,700 --> 00:40:08,780
and we're helping families live the best last 10 years of the lives that they can.

604
00:40:09,580 --> 00:40:13,820
And that's no easy feat because you're changing hundreds of years of a mindset.

605
00:40:13,820 --> 00:40:21,660
Oh, I can't even begin to tell you the resistance that I had from so many within medical,

606
00:40:21,660 --> 00:40:26,780
outside of medical, with people telling me culture change takes more than 20 years,

607
00:40:26,780 --> 00:40:28,060
you'll never get it done in four.

608
00:40:29,180 --> 00:40:31,420
And our response was just watch us.

609
00:40:31,420 --> 00:40:32,300
And we did.

610
00:40:33,260 --> 00:40:36,380
I got to serve with some of the most brilliant minds,

611
00:40:36,380 --> 00:40:40,060
the most dedicated people, and they made it happen.

612
00:40:40,860 --> 00:40:41,420
I love that.

613
00:40:42,540 --> 00:40:45,100
General, you've received more citations, medals,

614
00:40:45,100 --> 00:40:49,420
recognitions, and awards than I can count, including five honorary doctorates

615
00:40:49,500 --> 00:40:52,620
and France's National Order of the Legion of Honor Chevalier.

616
00:40:52,620 --> 00:40:54,060
I mean, you've been knighted by the French.

617
00:40:55,020 --> 00:40:57,340
But one honor that I imagine is special to you

618
00:40:57,340 --> 00:41:01,260
was being voted in as a Family Circle Top 10 Most Influential Mom.

619
00:41:01,980 --> 00:41:04,140
Being a mom is a tough enough job any day of the week,

620
00:41:04,140 --> 00:41:07,660
but especially so in the military, how'd you balance your family and your career?

621
00:41:08,380 --> 00:41:09,340
Yeah, not easy.

622
00:41:10,060 --> 00:41:16,380
One, I married a wonderful man and incredibly supportive of me.

623
00:41:17,020 --> 00:41:21,420
I think the thing that I would say, we never use the word balance,

624
00:41:21,420 --> 00:41:23,260
and it took me a while to figure this out.

625
00:41:24,220 --> 00:41:25,660
It's a series of trade-offs.

626
00:41:26,220 --> 00:41:30,940
And what we would do is, and we didn't get it right a lot of times,

627
00:41:30,940 --> 00:41:34,860
but we would talk through and decide what we're willing to trade off.

628
00:41:34,860 --> 00:41:36,700
And then we wouldn't look back and question it,

629
00:41:36,700 --> 00:41:38,940
because you could wear yourself out

630
00:41:39,500 --> 00:41:41,420
questioning whether you're making the right decision.

631
00:41:41,420 --> 00:41:43,900
And so the question that I would always ask myself

632
00:41:43,900 --> 00:41:48,300
when trying to decide between being present family-wise

633
00:41:48,300 --> 00:41:52,060
or being present work-wise is, who's going to remember I wasn't there?

634
00:41:52,700 --> 00:41:56,220
And sometimes it was my family, and then I made that decision.

635
00:41:56,220 --> 00:41:58,860
And sometimes it was work, and I made that decision.

636
00:41:58,860 --> 00:41:59,900
It just really helped.

637
00:41:59,900 --> 00:42:02,300
And so I share that with people all the time,

638
00:42:02,300 --> 00:42:08,380
because there are always more demands on your time to be present, right?

639
00:42:08,380 --> 00:42:11,740
And somehow you've got to figure that out.

640
00:42:11,740 --> 00:42:16,460
And so I would put my family's big moments on the calendar.

641
00:42:16,460 --> 00:42:19,900
And if it was sitting and being present when my son or daughter

642
00:42:19,900 --> 00:42:22,700
were going to read a poem for one minute, I would race there.

643
00:42:22,700 --> 00:42:25,180
I'd sit there at the exact time they're going to read.

644
00:42:25,180 --> 00:42:28,780
They'd read it, and then I'd kiss them, and then I was back at work.

645
00:42:28,780 --> 00:42:33,180
And so it was figuring out how do we make sure that one of us

646
00:42:33,180 --> 00:42:35,260
was always present in our children's lives?

647
00:42:35,820 --> 00:42:39,820
And how do we support each other's careers?

648
00:42:39,820 --> 00:42:44,780
And we always felt like no job was more important than our family staying together.

649
00:42:44,780 --> 00:42:47,660
And we've been very, very blessed.

650
00:42:49,020 --> 00:42:53,100
So I never knew that lieutenant generals must retire after 30 years of service

651
00:42:53,100 --> 00:42:55,740
unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to serve longer.

652
00:42:56,380 --> 00:43:00,060
And there's also a mandatory retirement age, though you retired long before you reached 64.

653
00:43:00,860 --> 00:43:03,180
Had you just reached the point where you'd seen it all and done it all

654
00:43:03,180 --> 00:43:04,300
and were ready for new ventures?

655
00:43:05,260 --> 00:43:07,260
No, it's a great question.

656
00:43:07,260 --> 00:43:14,060
And I don't usually ever share this, but when I was getting ready to retire,

657
00:43:15,420 --> 00:43:21,020
I had been asked by several leaders if I would consider staying on

658
00:43:21,020 --> 00:43:22,860
and extending past my four years.

659
00:43:23,580 --> 00:43:26,460
And I really thought about it, and I prayed about it.

660
00:43:27,420 --> 00:43:31,340
And I went back, and it's the first time in my entire career

661
00:43:31,340 --> 00:43:33,580
that I said no to a mission request ever.

662
00:43:34,220 --> 00:43:41,420
And the reason why I did is I believed in the investment we had in the leadership bench.

663
00:43:42,220 --> 00:43:46,700
And I knew that if I stayed two more years, on one hand, it would have been great

664
00:43:46,700 --> 00:43:49,420
because it would have given more longevity to supporting

665
00:43:49,420 --> 00:43:52,460
some of the strategic objectives, right, and getting them in place.

666
00:43:53,100 --> 00:43:56,700
But what it would have done is it would have passed over leaders

667
00:43:56,700 --> 00:44:02,460
for consideration for a promotion because they would have aged out or timed out.

668
00:44:02,460 --> 00:44:08,620
And I felt like that was very unfair to the leaders that we had all invested in.

669
00:44:08,620 --> 00:44:13,260
And so I told them that it's just the right time for me to retire.

670
00:44:13,260 --> 00:44:15,820
And looking back, I have no regrets.

671
00:44:15,820 --> 00:44:17,740
It was absolutely the right decision.

672
00:44:18,380 --> 00:44:24,940
And I loved my time in uniform, and I've absolutely loved my time in corporate America.

673
00:44:26,700 --> 00:44:30,300
It's been an honor to be able to continue to serve and to grow

674
00:44:30,300 --> 00:44:37,260
and to still impact people's lives through the work we get to do within my current position.

675
00:44:38,140 --> 00:44:41,340
So being the leader that you are, you did the proverbial take one for the team.

676
00:44:42,300 --> 00:44:46,620
Well, I don't know if it's that altruistic.

677
00:44:46,620 --> 00:44:52,940
I just think it's we believe in the military that you always invest in training

678
00:44:53,580 --> 00:44:57,180
your replacement and that none of us are indispensable.

679
00:44:57,180 --> 00:45:01,260
And so I think it was more of these are the values that we have as a soldier

680
00:45:01,820 --> 00:45:04,540
and it's the right time to transition.

681
00:45:06,460 --> 00:45:11,340
You seem to make a seamless transition from the military to corporate America, to your point.

682
00:45:11,900 --> 00:45:16,300
It's not easy to do a lot more often than not for those transitioning out of the military.

683
00:45:17,660 --> 00:45:19,820
What challenges did you face and how do you overcome them?

684
00:45:21,180 --> 00:45:22,780
You know, it's not easy.

685
00:45:22,780 --> 00:45:29,340
And I think the aha moment that I've had just really recently is we do a lot of work of

686
00:45:30,140 --> 00:45:34,060
helping people transition and thinking of your resume and all those types of things.

687
00:45:34,060 --> 00:45:37,420
And that is not at all where I think we should be investing.

688
00:45:37,420 --> 00:45:43,260
We should invest in the emotional transition because when you serve, it is all emotion.

689
00:45:44,460 --> 00:45:45,900
It's a mission of love.

690
00:45:47,020 --> 00:45:48,380
It's part of who you are.

691
00:45:49,020 --> 00:45:53,260
And then you transition and you leave that community and that's a big emotion

692
00:45:53,260 --> 00:45:54,940
and we don't prepare people for that.

693
00:45:55,500 --> 00:46:01,500
And you're also transitioning into an environment where a lot of people don't understand

694
00:46:01,500 --> 00:46:06,300
the skill sets of our military and how at the most junior level,

695
00:46:06,300 --> 00:46:10,380
the leadership responsibility and experience that they have is amazing.

696
00:46:10,380 --> 00:46:13,980
And it really translates very well into corporate America,

697
00:46:13,980 --> 00:46:16,140
except there's not a strong awareness of that.

698
00:46:16,140 --> 00:46:23,660
And so I think, you know, one of the biggest challenges that I had were twofold.

699
00:46:23,660 --> 00:46:28,140
The first one is I realized we communicated differently

700
00:46:28,140 --> 00:46:32,860
and we were talking past each other and I had to learn to change my communication

701
00:46:33,820 --> 00:46:37,820
and to understand the same words meant very different things in very different environments.

702
00:46:37,820 --> 00:46:39,180
So that was one thing.

703
00:46:39,740 --> 00:46:45,660
And I think that the second one is it does hit you about the six,

704
00:46:45,660 --> 00:46:49,740
seven month mark after you leave or when you're in a new job

705
00:46:50,300 --> 00:46:57,340
that it can feel like a job, vice a profession, vice, right?

706
00:46:57,340 --> 00:47:00,940
And you have to work through that and you have to find

707
00:47:00,940 --> 00:47:05,260
how do you spark that passion that kept you in the military?

708
00:47:05,260 --> 00:47:09,580
Because really corporate America is very mission focused.

709
00:47:09,580 --> 00:47:14,860
And what has kept me almost eight years at Optum is we have the same culture.

710
00:47:15,580 --> 00:47:19,340
It's very mission focused and our values are the same.

711
00:47:19,900 --> 00:47:24,540
And so you just have to find the company that aligns with your own values.

712
00:47:24,540 --> 00:47:28,540
And General Odierno, who was the chief of staff of the army,

713
00:47:29,340 --> 00:47:32,380
has passed away now, was one of the best leaders I've ever served for.

714
00:47:32,940 --> 00:47:37,340
He said, Patty, he said, be very selective on where you say yes.

715
00:47:37,900 --> 00:47:43,020
And he said, because your reputation becomes their reputation and theirs becomes yours.

716
00:47:43,020 --> 00:47:48,300
And he said, you can undo your 33 years of service by going with the wrong.

717
00:47:48,300 --> 00:47:50,140
And so I share that with people all the time.

718
00:47:51,900 --> 00:47:55,420
That's a great point because imagine one slip up, one hiccup,

719
00:47:56,380 --> 00:47:59,420
everything that you've done for three decades is gone.

720
00:48:00,380 --> 00:48:00,940
Exactly.

721
00:48:01,660 --> 00:48:03,580
Really, really appreciate you sharing that insight.

722
00:48:04,540 --> 00:48:08,220
Now, if you aren't busy enough, you serve on a number of nonprofit boards.

723
00:48:09,340 --> 00:48:12,700
One that holds a special place in your heart is the Two Serve Together Foundation,

724
00:48:12,700 --> 00:48:13,500
which you founded.

725
00:48:14,300 --> 00:48:16,700
What was the inspiration for the Two Serve Together Foundation

726
00:48:16,700 --> 00:48:18,060
and how can people learn more about it?

727
00:48:19,020 --> 00:48:20,780
Chris, thank you for even asking that.

728
00:48:21,420 --> 00:48:23,420
So when I'm wearing the Women of Valor brooch,

729
00:48:23,420 --> 00:48:26,620
which I try to wear either the small pin or the brooch every day,

730
00:48:27,900 --> 00:48:29,740
it really goes back to my father.

731
00:48:29,740 --> 00:48:32,380
My dad, serving World War II, Korea and Vietnam,

732
00:48:32,380 --> 00:48:36,380
special forces officer, exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam

733
00:48:37,340 --> 00:48:41,580
and had Parkinson that started at age 61.

734
00:48:41,580 --> 00:48:48,460
He was a hunter, fisher, woodcarver, artist, civil engineer, and he lost all of that.

735
00:48:49,180 --> 00:48:52,140
In the last 13 years, he was in a wheelchair.

736
00:48:52,700 --> 00:48:55,260
But he always wore the baseball cap that had the three wars.

737
00:48:55,820 --> 00:48:58,860
And when we'd go out, he'd be slumped over.

738
00:48:59,500 --> 00:49:02,860
And someone would say, thank you for your service.

739
00:49:02,860 --> 00:49:07,420
And I watched him and he'd sit straight up and I could see that soldier in him.

740
00:49:08,060 --> 00:49:13,660
And I saw the healing of that thank you with my parents who are married 70 years.

741
00:49:13,660 --> 00:49:16,860
And I thought, there's so much power in healing.

742
00:49:17,500 --> 00:49:22,460
And women are not going to wear routinely a baseball cap all the time.

743
00:49:22,460 --> 00:49:24,140
And people aren't going to know that they serve.

744
00:49:24,140 --> 00:49:26,300
So literally for 20 years, it was on my heart.

745
00:49:27,260 --> 00:49:32,300
And finally, in 2020, I just said, this is the year I'm going to do it.

746
00:49:32,300 --> 00:49:36,140
And I got with Anne Hand and we created the Woman of Valor brooch.

747
00:49:36,140 --> 00:49:37,420
It's the forget-me-not.

748
00:49:37,420 --> 00:49:40,860
It's purple for Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.

749
00:49:40,860 --> 00:49:43,820
And the space is for Space Force, the space around it.

750
00:49:43,820 --> 00:49:46,380
The leaves are victory, valor, and veteran.

751
00:49:46,380 --> 00:49:50,220
And the pearl is for purity of mission and femininity.

752
00:49:50,220 --> 00:49:55,980
And what I want is, I want people when they see it to say, did you serve?

753
00:49:56,780 --> 00:49:59,340
And then people can say, thank you for your service.

754
00:49:59,340 --> 00:50:03,340
Because you have to see someone, connect with someone, hear their story,

755
00:50:03,340 --> 00:50:04,940
and allow that healing to occur.

756
00:50:04,940 --> 00:50:09,820
So I created to2servetogether, and it's to2servetogether.org.

757
00:50:09,820 --> 00:50:11,580
It's a 501c3.

758
00:50:12,140 --> 00:50:16,860
And our hope is that we get these out to as many women as possible.

759
00:50:16,860 --> 00:50:22,060
It becomes a symbol nationally known, just like the pink ribbon is for breast cancer.

760
00:50:22,060 --> 00:50:24,140
And then we're creating a care connection.

761
00:50:24,140 --> 00:50:28,460
We just had our first two Women of Valor retreats.

762
00:50:28,460 --> 00:50:33,820
We partnered with Travis Mills Foundation, Boulder Crest, and Gary Sinise Foundation.

763
00:50:33,820 --> 00:50:37,980
And we developed a post-traumatic growth program.

764
00:50:37,980 --> 00:50:39,260
It was a week long.

765
00:50:39,260 --> 00:50:45,820
And it was unbelievably powerful to see the sisterhood, the bonding, and the healing that

766
00:50:45,820 --> 00:50:46,380
occurred.

767
00:50:46,380 --> 00:50:55,180
And so my hope is that we can get this to really go national, and that our whole nation

768
00:50:55,180 --> 00:50:57,340
will be grateful for the service of women.

769
00:50:57,980 --> 00:51:01,500
And that website, again, is to2servetogether.org.

770
00:51:02,140 --> 00:51:02,640
Perfect.

771
00:51:03,260 --> 00:51:04,620
General, we've got a minute or two left.

772
00:51:05,820 --> 00:51:09,340
Share with us what gives you hope, and why we should all have more hope in today's stress-filled

773
00:51:09,340 --> 00:51:10,140
and challenging world.

774
00:51:11,100 --> 00:51:11,600
Yeah.

775
00:51:12,700 --> 00:51:18,380
So I think hope is a gift that you give yourself and you give to others.

776
00:51:19,260 --> 00:51:21,660
And I really do.

777
00:51:21,660 --> 00:51:24,220
I get hope every day when I look at the flag.

778
00:51:24,780 --> 00:51:25,900
And I'll tell you why.

779
00:51:25,900 --> 00:51:34,940
I look at it, and I see the threads that really are woven into it are the stories of millions

780
00:51:34,940 --> 00:51:37,660
and millions of people over hundreds of years.

781
00:51:38,380 --> 00:51:41,660
And I think they're quiet, stoic stories.

782
00:51:42,220 --> 00:51:44,860
And I think there's threads of strength.

783
00:51:44,860 --> 00:51:46,780
I think they're threads that connect us.

784
00:51:46,780 --> 00:51:48,220
I think they bond us.

785
00:51:48,220 --> 00:51:49,500
I think they unite us.

786
00:51:49,500 --> 00:51:51,820
And I think it's the fabric of America.

787
00:51:51,820 --> 00:51:56,780
And so when we have hope, nothing is impossible.

788
00:51:57,500 --> 00:52:04,860
And I always believe that at the heart of what we do is if we can instill hope in others,

789
00:52:05,820 --> 00:52:07,420
we can overcome so much.

790
00:52:08,060 --> 00:52:11,020
And so I'm hopeful every day.

791
00:52:11,020 --> 00:52:13,740
There's a cup that I use during COVID.

792
00:52:13,740 --> 00:52:15,420
I got it, and I use it.

793
00:52:15,420 --> 00:52:17,180
And it just says, I choose joy.

794
00:52:17,820 --> 00:52:20,060
And I really believe that it's an action.

795
00:52:20,940 --> 00:52:22,700
We have the action to choose joy.

796
00:52:22,700 --> 00:52:25,180
We have the action to choose hope.

797
00:52:25,180 --> 00:52:30,700
We have the action to be bold, to be humble, and to give mercy and to give grace to others.

798
00:52:30,780 --> 00:52:36,540
And to me, that is a ripple effect that can occur across not just our country,

799
00:52:37,100 --> 00:52:38,220
but around the world.

800
00:52:38,780 --> 00:52:41,260
So it's been such a pleasure.

801
00:52:41,260 --> 00:52:41,660
Thank you.

802
00:52:42,220 --> 00:52:44,700
General Patty Horho, thank you so much for being with us today.

803
00:52:44,700 --> 00:52:46,140
It was an absolute honor having you.

804
00:52:47,020 --> 00:52:47,900
I've loved it, Chris.

805
00:52:47,900 --> 00:52:49,500
Thank you for what you do.

806
00:52:49,500 --> 00:52:54,940
Thank you for your servant leader heart, because you've made a difference each and every day.

807
00:52:54,940 --> 00:52:55,580
It's a pleasure.

808
00:52:56,620 --> 00:52:57,500
I'm Chris Meek.

809
00:52:57,500 --> 00:52:58,060
Right on time.

810
00:52:58,060 --> 00:53:00,380
We'll see you next Tuesday, same time, same place.

811
00:53:00,940 --> 00:53:04,060
Until then, stay safe and keep taking your next steps forward.

812
00:53:09,100 --> 00:53:11,980
Thanks for tuning in to Next Steps Forward.

813
00:53:11,980 --> 00:53:17,260
Be sure to join Chris Meek for another great show next Tuesday at 10 a.m. Pacific time

814
00:53:17,260 --> 00:53:21,980
and 1 p.m. Eastern time on the Voice America Empowerment Channel.

815
00:53:21,980 --> 00:53:26,060
This week, make things happen in your life.

816
00:53:30,700 --> 00:53:46,060
See you next time.