Retired Gen. Matt Smith spent more than 30 years in the Army and National Guard, commanding at every level from company to brigade and serving in strategic roles at the Pentagon. Now, as executive director of Veteran Initiatives at Emory University's Goizueta Business School, he's on a mission to help transitioning servicemembers translate their military leadership into civilian career success.

On episode 313 of Tango Alpha Lima, Smith talks about his "Leave It to Beaver" childhood, his path into the Army, and how he now leads Emory's Master of Business for Veterans program. The one-year accredited degree is designed for servicemembers with 20-plus years of service. He breaks down why NCOs are "the ultimate salespeople," how he's educating civilian employers on the value veterans bring to the workforce, and what makes veteran students different from the rest of higher ed.

Also in this episode, podcast hosts Stacy Pearsall, Adam Marr and Joe Worley discuss:

• How the USS Skate made the impossible possible at the North Pole in 1958
• America’s oldest military decoration that dates back to the Revolutionary War.
• Why yelling “Geronimo!" became a military tradition thanks to a U.S. Army paratrooper in 1940 at Fort Benning, Ga.

, Recruit Miliary and Hiring our Heroes

Enter our sweepstakes to win a Humvee

Emory University Goizueta Business School

Gen. Matt Smith on LinkedIn

Tell us Why You Love Your Service Animal

What if the best therapy for a veteran wasn’t in a clinic but in the ground?

Stephen Humphreys is a former Air Force officer, PhD archaeologist, and co-founder of American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR) — the only organization in the United States using professional battlefield archaeology to build long-term careers for veterans. AVAR crews have worked Saratoga, Fort Ticonderoga, the Battle of Camden, and are headed to Bunker Hill. Through a partnership with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, they have helped bring home the remains of three WWII service members lost for eight decades.

Humphreys talks about why veterans belong on these sites, what archaeology gives them that most programs can’t, and why purpose — not sympathy — is what actually changes lives.

Also in this episode: a myth-or-fact battlefield archaeology edition that covers what’s still left to find at Revolutionary War sites and whether WWII remains can still come home after 80 years. Plus, a Navy sailor opens a Monster Energy drink and finds something that was definitely not on the label.

Your stories. Your service. Your community. This is Tango Alpha Lima.

SHOW NOTES

• Learn more about the birth of NASA
• Ad Break: S.O.A.R.
• Learn more about Veterans Curation Program
• Dig deeper into Stephen's work with AVAR
• Enter the Drive for Freedom Sweepstakes for a chance to win a Humvee!
• Join The American Legion

Jon Macaskill spent 24 years as a Navy SEAL Commander, leading special operations from 16-man teams to formations of 2,500. He was in the Joint Operations Center the night Operation Red Wings claimed 19 American lives in Afghanistan — men he called his own. What followed was a decade of self-medication and darkness. Then a Navy psychologist suggested mindfulness and meditation. Macaskill laughed at first but then tried it. And it changed everything.

Now a leadership coach, speaker, and co-host of the Men Talking Mindfulness podcast, Macaskill joins Tango Alpha Lima hosts Adam Marr and Joe Worley to talk about survivor's guilt, why he started blocking off mental health days in red on his calendar where his sailors could see them, and why hypervigilance and mindfulness are more alike than most veterans think.

Also in this episode: the DOJ takes action against a towing company targeting service members, the 80-year history of American Legion Boys Nation, and a myth-or-fact breakdown on meditation and the military.

SHOW NOTES

Learn more about American Legion Boys Nation

Enter The American Legion Drive for Freedom Sweepstakes

Learn more about Jon Macaskill

Check out the Men Talking Mindfulness podcast

The American Legion National Oratorical Contest

Read full article: Feds sue towing company for allegedly illegally auctioning off troops’ cars

Military Myth or Fact? — Mindfulness Edition

The Take Care of America's Veterans Act (TCAVA) may be the most consequential piece of veterans legislation in years. But what does it actually do, and how will it affect you?

In this special episode of Tango Alpha Lima, host Stacy Pearsall — a combat-wounded, medically retired Air Force veteran whose own benefits could be affected by this bill — sits down with American Legion Legislative Director Cole Lyle to break it all down.

They cover what TCAVA does and why The American Legion has invested so heavily in getting it passed, how ratings for tinnitus and sleep apnea may change, what the bill means for mental health services and suicide prevention, improvements to access to care, and major changes for caregivers.

"Whether you support the bill, oppose parts of it, or simply haven't made up your mind — our goal today is to give you the information you need to make an informed decision."

This is essential listening for any veteran, military family member, or caregiver following this legislation.

For more information, visit legion.org/tcava.

Army veteran Cory Brown watched 17 people from his cavalry troop die by suicide after returning from Iraq. The loss of his closest battle buddy became a turning point.

His response was "Eat Your Feelings," a YouTube cooking and storytelling show that uses food to lower the walls around grief, identity, and veteran mental health — without ever calling it therapy. Cory joins co-host Sam Nathews, a civilian and friend who brings his own experience with loss to every episode.

Together they join Tango Alpha Lima hosts Adam Marr and Joe Worley to talk about why connection beats intervention, what it really takes to get veterans to open up, and how a shared meal can do what a counselor's office sometimes can't.

Also in this episode: the landmark executive order accelerating psychedelic therapy research for veterans, and new science on blast injuries and cumulative TBI that is changing how the military thinks about invisible wounds.

National Commander praises executive order that expedites psychedelic treatments for mental health

Learn more about Executive Order 14401

To celebrate Father’s Day, retired Army Colonel Mike “Sully” Sullivan and his daughter, Olympic bronze medalist and Army Captain Sammy Sullivan, talk about five generations of military service, accidental trailblazing, a Green Beret’s surprisingly tender parenting philosophy, developing grit and more.

Sully, the executive director of Team Red, White & Blue, also discusses the organization’s mission to keep veterans “left of clinical.”

Plus: New research on team sports as therapy, and how The American Legion supports adaptive sports programs.

SHOW LINKS

Learn more about Solace Health and check your eligibility here

Learn more about Team RWB

Learn more about the Army World Class Athlete Program

Learn more about Capt. Sammy Sullivan and Team USA Rugby Women's Eagle Sevens

There is still time to be part of The American Legion Family USA 250 Challenge

Read more of the Journal of Veterans Studies report on how team sports help veterans with PTSD

Find out more about how The American Legion can help you get back in the game with Operation Comfort Warrior grants.

Follow the progress of the Veterans SPORT Act on and the National Veterans Strategy Act of 2026 Capitol Hill

Your stories. Your service. Your community. This is Tango Alpha Lima.

What does it take to reach tens of millions of people a month while still on active duty? For Army Sgt. First Class Johnny Vargas — better known as Viva La Vargas — it started with a car fire, a recruiting station and a promise to himself to show up every single day.

In this episode, Johnny chats about his journey from aspiring recording artist in Los Angeles to one of the military community's most trusted and entertaining voices online. He breaks down the three pillars that guide every piece of content he creates, explains why staying nonpartisan isn't just a strategy but a responsibility, and shares two powerful stories of how a single social media post changed real lives — including a family fighting a $800,000 insurance billing error while their toddler battled a terminal brain tumor.

Johnny also shares a closing message about mental health that every veteran and servicemember needs to hear, which is in line with The American Legion's Be the One mission to create mental health awareness.

Also in this episode, the hosts discuss a veteran-founded nonprofit turning vets into entrepreneurs, the growing world of remembrance tattoos, and Women Veterans Day on June 12.

Show Links

• Celebrate Women Veterans Day
• Learn more about VivaLaVargas
• Check out the Warrior Rising Activate Accelerator
• Check out the Task & Purpose article about TAPS gallery of military memorial tattoos

On Aug. 26, 2021, Marine Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, age 20, was among 13 servicemembers killed at the Abbey Gate in Kabul during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He had wanted to be a Marine since he was 8.

In the weeks after Jared's death, condolence checks from strangers filled more than a foot of mail. His father, Mark, couldn't bring himself to spend a single dollar of it.

So he launched a nonprofit instead aimed at honoring the fallen and helping servicemembers with their mental health.

On this Memorial Day episode of Tango Alpha Lima, Gold Star father Mark Schmitz joins hosts Adam Marr and Joe Worley to share the story of The Freedom 13, a mission to build therapeutic retreat camps for veterans and law enforcement on 100-plus acres in all 50 states, free of charge, with the first camp already under construction in Missouri. He also discusses the coalition of Abbey Gate families fighting for GI Bill reform and increased death benefits for fallen servicemembers.

Also on this episode: Memorial Day events around the nation, the origin story of the Battle Buddy system, and Memorial Day fitness challenges honoring the fallen — including The Murph.

SHOW LINKS

Learn more about Armed Forces Vacation Club

Visit The Freedom 13 website

Learn more about the 2026 Angels of Abbey Gate Memorial Ride

We Are The Mighty: Battle Buddies originated in the trenches of WWI

Memorial Day Challenges: The Murph