An Introduction of High Speed Low Drag

13271785874_1f03c2a3df_oA lot of you who may be new readers may not have any idea what High Speed Low Drag is all about and what it entails.

This is why we wanted to kick off these podcasts transcriptions with some sort of proper introduction. High Speed Low Drag is actually a weekly podcast that will feature veterans who have successfully transitioned into the civilian world.

We’ll dive into more of that in detail below, as well as some other things that you may want to know.

Who are the founders of HSLD and what are their goals for HSLD?

High Speed Low Drag actually came about due to the collaboration of 3 veterans. These guys are John Lee Dumas, Antonio Centeno and Tom Morkes, respectively. These guys have come together to help those who are in the military or who may be transitioning out of the military, and veterans. The podcast is dedicated to telling the stories of different veterans who have crushed it in various ways and in all branches.

Antonio Centeno is the first founder and is a veteran, having transitioned out in 2003. Antonio thinks that HSLD has been a long time coming as he also recalls his own time in transition. He took what was officially a week-long course in the military that was supposed to help soldiers transition more smoothly.

The course turned out to be only three days and to be honest, Antonio didn’t find very much of it useful. He remembers his mind being somewhere else during the course, sitting at the very back. He was with 200 other marines and only 3 of them were officers. The rest of the class was made up of corporals and lance corporals who he didn’t have very much in common with. He truly thought the experience was a waste of time.

The class consisted of being shown how to write a resume and that was pretty much it. This is where Antonio thinks HSLD will be pretty helpful. It will be able to show veterans through the stories of other veterans how they may want to transition and what they may want to do after they serve the army.

Tom Morkes makes up the second member of the founders and left the army recently. He just transitioned a year ago and can confirm that in the ten years that the army has been doing transition assistance programs, they have not really improved much.

Tom had a similar experience to Antonio except that the class was smaller. He went through the same resume training and he isn’t quite sure if anyone really found that valuable. The one thing they had during his time was a sort of a job fair. The army brought in different businesses and those in transition were encouraged to talk to them, make connections and see where they fit in or what the business could offer them.

Tom went to the job fair and was a little dismayed that every booth that he saw was some sort of trucking company. It sort of said to him that the only option was to become a driver for these companies. He was convinced that there were other options out there and like Antonio, Tom believes that HSLD may help find that.

John Lee Dumas is the third founder of HSLD. For him the army’s priorities include protecting the country and fighting its battles. They don’t happen to include helping guys transition out into regular civilian jobs. Of course there is a lot of arguments that may say otherwise but this is John’s opinion.

He also had the same experience at the transition course as Antonio and Tom. John didn’t take the course seriously because he thought he had a plan. He always thought he would go into law school right after.

To make a long story short John actually hated law school and left after a year. He quickly had to find a job in corporate America and while he was slowly climbing up the ladder, it was no means a great start.

If you look at it from these three guy’s stories no one had a great experience transitioning out. John thinks that this is a great opportunity for the three of them to step up and just tell their stories. They’ve been in the same position before and know the right and wrong steps to take as well as the best course of action.

For John, HSLD is all about fostering, building and growing a community of veterans that are there for each other. These guys give guidance, assistance, support  and feedback to each other to help everyone be successful.

13271460675_64e0578f5c_oWhat is the vision for HSLD and what are some things to look forward to?

The three HSLD founders were actually officers in the army and had a lot of advantages that other veterans may not have had. Some of these advantages included being able to go to good schools and meet great mentors. Many veterans simply never get the chance to do all of that. And when these guys transition out they may have a harder time.

There are so many problems that veterans encounter when transitioning to the civilian world. This is sad because there are so many guys that come out of the army with amazing skills but end up settling because they aren’t aware that there are so many opportunities for them out there.

The founders have a common vision of not wanting to see veterans settling. They want to open their minds and realize that what you learned in the military doesn’t necessarily define you. You can definitely become anything you want to be. Even though they didn’t train for it, the founders of HSLD all have their “dream jobs. John is a podcaster. Tom has his own publishing company and is also an author. Antonio is in the Fashion industry.

If HSLD can open a veteran’s mind to what it is he is capable of then they will have considered their venture a successful one.

A third and more some somber point is this: every day, 22 veterans kill themselves for many reasons although mostly from depression. This may be because these guys come from being on top of the world in the army to suddenly getting a job that pays them very little, brings them no satisfaction, and leaves them feeling depressed. HSLD want to reach out to these veterans and tell them that it doesn’t have to resort to suicide. They are other career paths that they can take.

HSLD want to bring veterans the best people to listen to and take advice from when it comes to business, entrepreneurship, small business ownership and business skills. The podcasts are available and accessible from anywhere in the world and at any time so that they can serve all veterans, wherever in the world they may find themselves in.

In time, HSLD also hopes to be a medium that will help veterans find each other and connect with each other. The hope is that veterans help each other to become successful.

Not only will HSLD conduct interviews with successful veterans and share their stories but they will also be conducting live training which is accessible fromhttp://highspeedelite.com. Anyone can sign up for the free webinar. There is also highspeedlowdrag.org which already has a wealth of information for anyone who is looking to no longer settle.

There is really so much to look forward to and we are hopeful that you will join us on this exciting journey! That in a nutshell is what High Speed Low Drag is all about. Our first transcribed interview will be up soon so please check that out along with our succeeding podcasts.