Veteran's Affairs Plus W/ David L. Washington

Unknown Speaker 0:00
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Unknown Speaker 0:42
You can see what's going on what's going on? What's going on? Good morning, Las Vegas. This is Veterans Affairs plus on 91.5, jazz and more. I'm Dave Washington, your host start out with a few announcements and I certainly would be remiss if I didn't say Happy Mother's Day as it approaches us this month. So to all the mothers I want to say Happy Mother's Day, and I will always consider Faye doc and Daniel as one of the top mothers and she had a daughter with special needs and Faye really took care of her. And I just wanted to acknowledge her for that. Excuse me, my my mother had she been alive in my aunt Georgia. My mother you Gina, their birthdays was this month so just want to say Happy Birthday even though they're they're gone to the other side. And I want to express condolences on a national level to the families of Mr. Harry Belafonte, singer, actor, activists. Great guy 96 years old when he passed away just a few days ago. On a local level, Mr. Cleve Thomas, a community worker, nice guy always attempting to assist others through his Helping Hands organization. And then finally, as far as condolences are concerned, to the wife of a dear friend of mine, Pat, Chief Larry Powell, one of the chief architects of our strategy to assist the black firefighters in their complaint against the city of Las Vegas back in the ad. So Larry transition most recently. And then I want to very quickly say that there's a veterans residence function that will be going on in town square may 22, through the 26th and we'll have a gentleman on to talk to us a little bit about that. Damon Brooks will come on shortly. That again to my grandson, Karen, he, his basketball team did extremely well. They will have a be in the tournament of champions coming up soon. Now Las Vegas, a dear friend, longtime friend of public safety colleagues of mine, I call him Lieutenant Lieutenant Wilbert Jackson, Lieutenant, retired Metropolitan Police Department. Hey, Lieutenant.

Unknown Speaker 3:11
How are you doing today?

Unknown Speaker 3:12
I'm doing well. Man. Glad to hear your voice. Glad to hear your voice. Lieutenant I know that you were you're a veteran, what branch of service and how long did you serve?

Unknown Speaker 3:24
Well for and for you. Post training the Lackland Air Force Base and transferred to here in Las Vegas. And in July of 1954 until July of 1950. Okay. I work in the fire department.

Unknown Speaker 3:53
Oh, you worked in the fire department. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 3:58
crash risk. We said between the runway during the flight time. And which was two hours a day and then we do two hours in the station house. Then, what is the 24 hour shift?

Unknown Speaker 4:21
Okay. So what rank were you do you recall when you were discharged?

Unknown Speaker 4:30
You sweat charge is a sergeant

Unknown Speaker 4:33
as a sergeant. Okay. What did you do once you left the the Air Force and you said you you're actually a firefighter while in the military?

Unknown Speaker 4:42
Yeah. And though some of those things you did. Chief Garen and I came to Las Vegas, and we have some classes on crash rescue for the Las Vegas Fire Department.

Unknown Speaker 5:04
So I was contacted by Dave oh god and Bernie Pope to apply for the fire department in Las Vegas, because they had communicated with the personnel director general a little photo that they came up with a qualified negro. She was put into work, is that right? And after I went through the procedures, she was informed by the administration of the fire department that the farmers did mostly asleep in the same room with a negro. And so she contacted me and let me know, stead of outfit for tests for the police department. If they picked us out more, and she will hold the job over. Until I was discharged.

Unknown Speaker 6:17
He said he was paying $50 more or more than the fire department. Okay. So you made a little decision.

Unknown Speaker 6:26
So it sounds like a good deal to me. Right? At the time, so you're on the job. I was discharged at 10 o'clock in the morning, I went down the street to the police headquarters and change from the Air Force uniform to the police uniform. And of course, we'll talk about where the work for Las Vegas Police Department

Unknown Speaker 6:57
is that right? So there was no formal training, you just go from one uniform to another.

Unknown Speaker 7:06
He was in jail, okay. And you had to go to work in the jail and that way, they taught you how to handle people and became familiar with the local criminals. And some idea, and they will have some idea how you would handle yourself. Okay. That was starting to jail. And that was a training process.

Unknown Speaker 7:40
So where are you from?

Unknown Speaker 7:44
I'm from Columbus, Georgia. Originally. The service from my point North Carolina.

Unknown Speaker 7:51
Why was that?

Unknown Speaker 7:56
Well, that's where I was living at the time. Okay. And a lot of my friends and classmates schoolmates were killed in the Korean War. So, upwind by Asia, so I could join the Air Force to get back as from Korea.

Unknown Speaker 8:20
Okay. So you had a personal reason for joining up? Yep. That's interesting. Interesting. So, you joined the police department after joining the police department. How what different ranks Did you serve in and and positions or etc. And how long did you work there?

Unknown Speaker 8:45
Well, first of all, like I said, I worked in the jail and then I worked in uniform and work for new for my work, and the detective bureau. work when they started or became I would work for them and the Kainai and asked to work in the key man and man was infected before I got there was approximately 10 years. Well, more than society. Work and the detective bureau and I went to uniform and I went back to the juvenile Bureau as the sergeant juvenile and work for the next 10 years, eight years and was promoted to Lieutenant went to uniform. And I worked there for a few years to the detective bureau and the euro for juvenile division. Okay, well, we're working through now.

Unknown Speaker 10:40
So what was your total time with Metro? Total user?

Unknown Speaker 10:44
was 34 and a half years, 34

Unknown Speaker 10:48
and a half years. Okay. And how long have you been? How long? You've been retired now?

Unknown Speaker 10:53
27 years?

Unknown Speaker 10:55
27. Okay. All right. How do you feel with regards to the efforts of the black police association? And do you feel it has had any help on what's going on on the department today?

Unknown Speaker 11:14
I was one of the original. That started deflectors of association. And there was a lot of controversy, guys, it was call ourselves black police officers are both variations. And they couldn't understand why we had to have a separate Association than than the regular police organization. Right. But they was not representing us. When we got in trouble. We had we had no members, we could pay the dues, but we had no positions. So we started along and gals an attorney and discrimination against the department, discrimination and I and sadness of beauty. And women and minorities would

Unknown Speaker 12:36
file lawsuit. You remember when you file you guys file?

Unknown Speaker 12:42
proximately. Hello. Remember Biden?

Unknown Speaker 12:46
probably sometime in the 80s almost soon, because we filed a complaint ourselves and we had similar things going on with the firefighters over at the Las Vegas Fire Department. Yeah. Okay. Well, Lieutenant, you gotta do it. Hours

Unknown Speaker 13:02
before yours. Right. And so then they are women. Because when they hire me, the way to under found and be six feet tall,

Unknown Speaker 13:20
right. And

Unknown Speaker 13:23
so that opened the door for the Orientals and for this the whole, the whole community. Right, right. Right. And it was transferred. And after that, the blacks were promoted to under share the cheese lieutenant and Captain. And by the time I retire, we had all different ranks. And we went from July 28.

Unknown Speaker 14:19
Well, Lieutenant, I don't I don't know if you you've been thanked, but let me do it publicly on this radio station. Thank you guys for the effort. And I know that your buddy Cliff was actively involved, long before he passed and, you know, the work that you guys have done? I certainly believe that it has assisted, as you already mentioned, some folks in various ranks as a result of the effort that you guys put forth. So any closing remarks as we prepare to close out this segment?

Unknown Speaker 14:50
Well, both of them are good revisions. And, you know, more of like the People should fill out the applications. And because it's not that you just have to go out and arrest people. If you're interested in, in animals like dolls, they got a place to work in or if you like horses, the details is you can work in flying airplanes and they got helicopters and all the extras in fingerprinting or not detectives or you can enter into a number of fields. Right, right beyond job. And I think the same thing applies for the fire department. Absolutely. They got over vision open for you. Makes all a good career. And it's really worth it.

Unknown Speaker 16:04
Absolutely. Well, I know brother Cain was one of them. One of them horsemen. I remember him seeing him in the parade. I'm like, Man, you rad horse. And I know we've all read a little bit because I used to go read Sam Armstrong's horses and Gene Campbell. Lieutenant, I thank you for coming on the show, man. And, again, thank you again, for the work that you did, particularly with the Association, I think it still has a positive effect on the ability of others to come on to the department and make it more diverse. So appreciate your time and your effort, my friend, and I'll get you back on sometime in the future.

Unknown Speaker 16:41
Appreciate Good talking to you again day.

Unknown Speaker 16:44
All right. Take care, Lieutenant. Thanks.

Unknown Speaker 16:51
Good morning. Once again, this is Veterans Affairs plus on 91.5, jazz and more. I'm Dave Washington, your host and I'm excited to have the next guest on this show. That is Captain Andre Rhodes retired Las Vegas Fire and Rescue. In fact, I was his training officer, as I recall way back in the day. So I do a cap.

Unknown Speaker 17:12
I'm good. How are you? Thank you for having me.

Unknown Speaker 17:15
Oh, for sure. So your fire service professional. You worked for Las Vegas? How long have you worked for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue

Unknown Speaker 17:23
Las Vegas? Fire I did 27 and a half because I had a smart gentleman one time told me to buy a couple years. So I bought a few years. So I did 27 and a half and got credit for 30.

Unknown Speaker 17:42
You, Eugene Burton, some of you smart guys. Man, I wouldn't have smart I did 33. But in retrospect, well, if I'd have bought a couple, I'd have been really good. But I'm in good shape. What am I whining about? Great service. So now use Hill, a couple of different ranks within the department, right?

Unknown Speaker 18:04
When I firefighter, then I went and worked at the hazmat station for a long time. Then I became an engineer and then I became a captain. And ABS pretty happy there.

Unknown Speaker 18:18
We also admitted we also admitted I was not I was not really I thought she was a paramedic. So I

Unknown Speaker 18:27
was about to do it. And I used to ride with the old paramedic Tommy grace and then Oh, yeah. And we you know, I did a lot of a lot of years over there with him at station three over on the west side. So by the time I the three years came, I got engineer and promoted to captain so

Unknown Speaker 18:50
now you are a businessman. And I know there's two businesses that I'm aware of. And let's talk about the first one first give us an indication of what you're doing in the cannabis business and then you have a successful fire training business. So let's talk about the cannabis first.

Unknown Speaker 19:11
Well, about eight nine years ago, I approached a couple of friends about I heard the cannabis business was coming and and I approached multiple gentlemen in in the Las Vegas area, and different different types of business people they saw was in real estate, the couple was doctors, a couple of people construction companies and it was all said and done. It was monda with three of us which was Frank Hawkins Luther Mack and myself open the battle. And since then we've got awarded another license so we have two dispensaries. Excellent.

Unknown Speaker 19:57
So business is going well I assume In

Unknown Speaker 20:01
the business, he,

Unknown Speaker 20:05
businessman, I go use that word lightly.

Unknown Speaker 20:10
It's funny look, so tell us about the other business that you run, and and about any successes that you've had with it.

Unknown Speaker 20:19
Well, I started back when the pandemic was going on. I had a few kids who worked in the industry at E bar tendering at these clubs, you know, make making a very good living, but it was taken away from me. At that time, I had my oldest son, my son in law, to some of my nieces, husbands and other kids want to get on the fire department. So I started training, ma'am. And lo and behold, we turned around and created the rookie school experience. And I know there's other people that do it. But for my 30 years, Razon department, I always had rookies. So I feel like I had a good idea on what is expected from a rookie.

Unknown Speaker 21:18
So it's called the rookie school experience. That's what your business is called? Yes. Oh, interesting. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 21:25
And that, that's the background, the rookie school experience, because I, especially in the fire service, the failure rate or not even the failure rate, let's call it the non achieving firefighter status rate. I mean, people were calling out nationally at a 30%. Rate. And I think after looking at it, I talked to some me and some other firefighters that I would work with we'll spears, Nate, Patek, just it's been around. We're teaching people how to pass the test. But when they get in the rookie school, they just aren't achieving the goals because they never been around it. It's hard to take somebody that's in the street, that's Joe Blow, and tell him, Hey, here's this chainsaw. Hey, climb this ladder, Hey, Greg, this hose, tie this knot. So I went that extra extra effort and a body engine and a whole bunch of hose and a whole bunch of turnout gear along with air packs. And it just like as if it was a rookie school. And you know, for a while I was thinking I cinema wheels, but

Unknown Speaker 22:53
is off.

Unknown Speaker 22:55
So how would an interest in parties make contact with you to get involved?

Unknown Speaker 23:02
You call 3328042. And that would be Andre. And he would give you the information we meet twice a week, six, six o'clock, to eight o'clock. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we made a we made a gym called the lift factory over shining rainbow. And every day is different. But we also we go to the NFPA book. We do turn out drills, we do a little bit of cardio exercises, and then we implement the physical stuff is all directed towards what you would do. You know, just a bunch of lifting weights.

Unknown Speaker 23:47
Everything you do is meaning something that will help you be more successful. Should you get into the academy. Yep. Thank you for your time. And again, get that information again to make contact with you. And that's Andre, that's your son. Yes. Okay. Get that information, please. 328042.

Unknown Speaker 24:04
And we also we started a nonprofit in the business because I I understand that people, you know, people work and the younger kids just don't have the means, right? So we really started with nonprofit and we're just branching off into EMS, getting everybody all the information and skills hopefully to have a successful career like you and I have a wonderful, absolutely.

Unknown Speaker 24:31
All right. Yep. I appreciate your time. And we'll get you back on again. Give us some more stories about the success that you're having with the program. So thanks a lot for your time and effort. All right. All right. Thank you

Unknown Speaker 24:49
Good morning. Once again, that's just affairs plus on 91.5 Jazz and more and I got Mr. Damien Brooks. He's a former Marine Hello He's got a great program that I want him to spend a couple of minutes just sharing with, particularly you veterans out there. Go for young man.

Unknown Speaker 25:08
Hello, hello Las Vegas. I'm here with a message for all the veteran entrepreneurs out here. I want to invite you out on May 24, to the bunker labs veteran in residence showcase. We have a nonprofit that helps bring veteran entrepreneurs together to grow and scale their businesses. So we have a great networking opportunity Wednesday, May 24, from five to 7pm. The event is gonna be located in town square, and you can find more information on the bunker labs.org.

Unknown Speaker 25:44
Damian, I mentioned early on the show in my announcements 22nd through the 26th. So particularly what you're doing is a particular day within that within that framework. Yeah, so yours is the 25th, particularly for what you do.

Unknown Speaker 26:05
Are Wednesday, May 24. Yes, 24th.

Unknown Speaker 26:07
And again, what I what I mentioned early on the show was that you did you had something going on from the 22nd through the 26th. But yours is particularly on the 24th of May. So Mark Kelly

Unknown Speaker 26:21
International. Yeah, this is a an international event, where we have over 300 entrepreneurs in 33 different cohorts around the world, all coming together to graduate at the same time. So is a six month program that's free for veterans. And they've partnered with people like we work USAA, Capital One, ADP and more sponsors to give those veterans the resources they need, like grant opportunities, incredible networking opportunities, and all kinds of other support to grow and scale their businesses.

Unknown Speaker 26:57
Excellent. Well, we appreciate it. I'm gonna get you on here and give you a little bit more time. But certainly I want to give you a few minutes to at least promote it. I think it's outstanding, what you and your crew are doing. So appreciate it very, very much. So, again, we'll get you back on I don't know, we'll do it before you actually do this event. But certainly, what you're doing is something worthy of the veterans out there in our audience to hear as well as consider getting involved. So how can they touch base with you as you prepare? And again, I'm assuming you'll be doing this again down the road.

Unknown Speaker 27:31
Yeah, so every six months, we host another cohort graduation and veterans and veterans in residence showcase. So the easiest way to get in touch with me is to actually look up bunker labs online and just look for your local cohorts. So we have them in all kinds of different cities like Vegas la Fenix. And we're always looking for more people to join the team and help us grow to even more cities. So I just look up bunker labs online and you can't miss us.

Unknown Speaker 28:00
All right. Thank you, young man and we appreciate your time and effort and continue doing the great work that you're doing to assist veterans This is Veterans Affairs plus on any 1.5 chairs and more talk to you next week.

Unknown Speaker 28:48
Hey

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