Law Enforcement, Stress, and Marriage with John Jones

In this episode, we talk with John Jones. John is a veteran and retired LEO who has worked in a number of different assignments. Please tune in to hear John talk about law enforcement, stress, and marriage. 

Transcript

Critical Aspects Podcast (00:03.075)

Alright, welcome back to critical aspects of law enforcement. I'm your host Vernon Phillips and today on the show We've got John Jones. So he's gonna share a little bit about himself Just a little bit about his background his history kind of what he's doing now. So John, I appreciate you coming on I want you to go ahead and just give us a little bit about yourself

John Jones (00:21.462)

All right. Thank you, sir. Yeah. So 30 plus years in the military and first responder field, went in the military. Back in January 92, I was a Navy corpsman, FMF, went to Somalia with the Marines. After just under seven years in the military, got into local law enforcement, was able to catapult that or use that to get into federal law enforcement. And, uh, most recently I retired as a senior federal air marshal. Um, and, uh, yeah, did, uh, retired in January of 2023. So now I'm after being retired for a while, got bored and started, I got my insurance license and now I'm working in the insurance and financial services field.

Critical Aspects Podcast (01:23.551)

Awesome, well I appreciate your service and thank you for what you've done. So being an Air Marshal, I'm sure that was pretty demanding, probably a lot of interesting stories you can share on that. But throughout your career, military, being an Air Marshal, what did you do to make sure that you were taking care of yourself? So what did you do to take care of yourself, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?

John Jones (01:26.638)

Thank you.

John Jones (01:55.676)

Well, I was raised in a very strong Christian household. The whole praying mother, you know, which was very, very helpful, which when I was younger, I didn't necessarily understand the benefit of that, right? But I also, I come from a very large family as well. I have seven sisters and two brothers.

Critical Aspects Podcast (02:15.879)

Yeah, yep.

Critical Aspects Podcast (02:22.571)

Wow.

John Jones (02:22.634)

Biological, all biological. So, so that aspect as well. Several of my siblings were full-time missionaries and you know, so, but it wasn't until later in life where I really developed my own faith, not just from being raised in church, if that makes sense. But,

Critical Aspects Podcast (02:48.554)

Oh yeah.

John Jones (02:51.83)

With them, you know, it was a lot of, a lot of working out a lot of physical activity. Um, the benefit of physical activity should not be discarded in the first responder field or the military. You've got a, the physiological responses for that is tremendous, but really the biggest thing though was, uh, especially as being an air marshall is, uh, my wife, the stability of having my wife at home raising the kids and, you know, knowing that when I came home from wherever it was that I was coming home from, that she would be there, that, you know, that stability was there.

Critical Aspects Podcast (03:40.539)

Absolutely. And I want to touch on that real quick. But first, you know, you said that, you know, having, you know, growing up in a Christian home, being part of a large family, I can totally relate to that. You know, I grew up in a in a in a Christian home. I'm the youngest of six, not quite as large as yours. But but I understand that. But also, you know, my mom, she was a prayer warrior. I mean, it was she was

John Jones (04:00.949)

All right.

Critical Aspects Podcast (04:07.003)

There was a lot of things that she felt she couldn't do for people, you know, because of her disability. But one thing that she could do, man, is she could pray. And if you had something going on, she would be praying for you. Or if you were involved in something that she didn't want you involved in, you could be sure she was going to be praying for you for sure. But you know, and just like you, I mean, growing up at the time, you don't really appreciate that until you get older. And you really see how much, you know, being raised in that environment.

John Jones (04:13.314)

Mm-hmm.

John Jones (04:22.514)

Right.

Critical Aspects Podcast (04:36.695)

Is just beneficial to just your overall outlook on life and just how you've been, you know, how you are brought up and kind of shapes who you are and your worldview. You know, so I look back and I'm super appreciative of, you know, my family, my parents. So, but one thing you did talk about, you said about having support of your wife. And I think sometimes that's something we don't really talk enough about in the law enforcement, first responder military realm is the family dynamic and the importance of the relationship that you have with your spouse, your significant other. And that is huge. I mean, it's got to be teamwork, right? For myself, my wife stays home with our four kids. We homeschool. She has got the harder job by far.

John Jones (05:33.151)

Right. Yeah.

Critical Aspects Podcast (05:34.215)

And I don't know how she does it. She is an absolute machine. And I don't say that in any type of derogatory way. She's just fantastic in what she's able to do and achieve, especially with our kids. So that is a huge dynamic. So just kind of give us a little bit of idea of how you guys made that work.

John Jones (05:44.097)

Right or right.

Critical Aspects Podcast (06:00.947)

What were good things you guys did as far as like communicating, you know talking through things and just really Holding that, you know that marriage together because that's a big that's a big thing

John Jones (06:14.046)

It is, it's a huge thing. And so for us, we are actually both on our second marriages. Neither of us really came into our own faith until later, ironically, shortly before we met each other. But because of our prior relationships, we really...kind of sat down and said, hey, look, this is what we're not going to tolerate. This is what we're going to do in conflict. This is what we're going to do in, um, you know, any, like. Disagreements were, we're not going to do this and we will do this. Um, you know, we're, we're not going to scream and yell and do any of that stuff. And we're not going to shut down and disregard or, um, be distant or leave. We're gonna sit down and we're gonna calmly talk about the things as calmly as, you know, not saying that we don't fight, but we try to stick to these things. But it was based off of prior relationships that we came into this. So with law enforcement, I think specifically, you gotta have those...

You got to have those discussions on what you're going to tolerate and what you're not going to tolerate. But the law enforcement member or the first responder or the military member needs to understand that the spouse actually wants to know what's going on. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Now there may be certain aspects of that you leave out, maybe specific details or... something like that, but they do want to know what's going on. They want to know what you're dealing with and they're capable of the, of handling that, you know.

Critical Aspects Podcast (08:22.375)

Yeah, and I think that there's a lot that, they don't wanna impart on their significant other, their spouse, the things that they see day in and day out in the profession. But that still doesn't negate the fact that they wanna be included in your life, right? They wanna know the things that are bothering you. You don't have to go into the details, right? You don't have to describe the scene that you,

had worked that day or the things that you saw, but they want to know how you are doing. And a lot of times what happens is, you know, you come home and you shut down, right? And you don't talk, you don't communicate, and you know, you self-medicate, and that translates to them at, oh, he doesn't want to be here, or she doesn't want to be here, right? They don't want to have any type of, you know, quality interaction, conversations when that's not necessarily really what's going on. It's just that, you know, they're trying to, to work through all the things that they've seen and been a part of. And they just really probably don't really know how to share that, but you don't have to, like I said, like you said, you don't have to share the details, but they want to be included, right? They don't want to be excluded. They don't want to be isolated, just like anybody in the first responder community or the military community, like they don't want to be isolated. You know, they, there's, they want that, you know, that.

John Jones (09:38.529)

Right.

Critical Aspects Podcast (09:50.303)

That community and that's a lot of times what the significant others want. And something that you touched on, which I think is a huge deal, is you said, hey, we're on our second marriage. And that happens a lot. But the difference is when you guys came into it, you said, hey, and you laid all the cards on the table and said, this is what we want to do. This is what we don't want to do, right? We want to be able to have discussions.

We wanna be able to do that constructively. We wanna be able to do it in a way that resolves whatever the topic of conversation is, whatever the disagreement is. And we wanna do it in a way that is respectful to each other, but also gives us the ability to build upon our marriage and move forward. So I don't want anybody to think that, if you've had a separation, you're on your second marriage or even beyond that, that just means, okay, well, whatever. I guess I...

I'm just gonna throw it in. No, you can move forward, you can have those conversations, you can build and you can have a good successful marriage moving forward even if maybe the first one wasn't. So learn, apply what you've learned and go into it, but communication's a big thing. And that's what you guys did, right? You sat down in the beginning, you laid it out, and you said, okay, hey, this is what we're both looking for.

John Jones (11:16.094)

Yeah.

Critical Aspects Podcast (11:20.307)

And I think that's an aspect that we leave out is the communication.

John Jones (11:25.226)

That's a really big aspect. And going back to that whole thing about talking to your spouse about the things that you're experiencing on the job, it's the same thing in your marriage. If you're on a second or third marriage or whatever it may be, we got to grow. We got to learn from our past and apply the things that we've learned from the past in order to make our future better. And if we don't do that, we're going to end up doing the same, you know, having the same situations continuously play out. And I'm not judging them, but I see I have friends, I have, you know, former coworkers who are consistently, you know, married.

You know, it goes bad really fast. They go through a bad divorce and as soon as the divorce is over, they're back in another relationship and cycling, cycling those negative things. So

To stop that, you have to have the communication. You gotta communicate.

Critical Aspects Podcast (12:51.411)

Yeah, so what would be your advice to those just getting in the profession, and they're getting in the profession and maybe they haven't sat down and had the conversation with their significant other, with their spouses like, hey, this is what I'm getting into, this is what I'm going to be doing. What would be your suggestion for them as they kind of navigate their career and their relationship?

John Jones (13:18.542)

So my advice to anybody that's starting out, especially younger people getting into this profession who are in a relationship is just that sit down. You have an idea of what you're going to deal with, but you have no idea. The things that you're going to experience are going to be better than what you think they're gonna be. And then there are gonna be some that are way worse than what you're expecting. And it's the cumulative toll on that. So getting in this, when you're younger, talking to your spouse and just laying that framework, this is what I will tell you if I go above what...you're comfortable with, let me know and I'll scale that back, but I'm not going to shut you out completely. Right? So it's learning that balance of, of what the spouse can tolerate and also what you're comfortable sharing. Don't be afraid to share some of the more negative aspects of what you're experiencing, but also don't, don't use that as a blanket, I'm just going to vent, I'm going to yell, I'm going to do something. You know, you need to do it, you know, as a rational, mature adult.

Critical Aspects Podcast (14:56.627)

Yeah, no, that's good sound advice. I mean, it all just stems from communication. I mean, it stems from being able to effectively communicate with each other because they don't know what you're thinking and you don't know what they're thinking, right? So to alleviate those frustrations, to alleviate any type of misconceptions or those kind of those little lies that the devil will feed during those times where there's just miscommunication is talking.

John Jones (15:04.115)

Exactly.

Critical Aspects Podcast (15:26.355)

Right? Having that good quality communication where you're sharing your thoughts, your, your feelings, your frustrations, your concerns, and then likewise for them. It really just helps to kind of to, to clear a lot of that, that confusion that comes up. That doesn't mean that it's always going to be sunshine and rainbows because if you've been married, you know that it's not always sunshine and rainbows. That, you know, there's, there's times where it's, it's hard. Marriage is hard work.

John Jones (15:44.916)

Oh.Always correct, correct.

John Jones (15:54.432)

It is.

Critical Aspects Podcast (15:56.12)

So make sure you're working those things out. So when you.

John Jones (16:00.702)

Right. Yeah. If it wasn't hard, there would never be any divorce or second marriages. You know what I mean? Yeah. So yeah, you've got to, just like going into a marriage, hopefully not thinking that it's going to end in divorce. Hopefully you're not going into a marriage like that. The first responder field, hopefully you're going into this knowing that, yes, you're doing this because you have this desire to help people and

Critical Aspects Podcast (16:05.755)

No, absolutely. Yeah. Yup.

John Jones (16:27.862)

You want to make a difference within your community or whatever the reason why you're getting into it, but you also have to understand that it's going to be a toll. It's going to be a grind. It's going to be hard. But this is kind of what I talk about in the book that I have coming out. You've been called into this, right? Most people don't stay in law enforcement or the first responder field without feeling like they'd been called into it, right? So if you're a believer, which, you know, probably if you're listening to this, you probably are, but if not, you know, but if you feel like you've been called into this profession, then the one calling you is giving, will give you the...tools to help you cope with this over the course of it of your career. You just got to be able to recognize what those tools are and accept that. That's one of the things about law enforcement or first responder field in general is we don't tend to think that we need the help, but absolutely we do, especially with what we see day in and day out you know.

Critical Aspects Podcast (17:54.299)

Yeah, no, absolutely. So with that, when we start looking at the profession and really preparing people, for one, I don't think we prepare them for relationship success at all on any level. But kind of with that aside, do you think that in general, that the community, that the law enforcement community, do you think that they prepare individuals coming in?

John Jones (18:09.119)

No, not at all.

Critical Aspects Podcast (18:24.903)

for the profession, for them to really thrive and succeed in their career.

John Jones (18:34.517)

Uhhh...

Critical Aspects Podcast (18:35.923)

Kind of a loaded question, I know.

John Jones (18:37.846)

It is a loaded question and I'll just pull the trick. No, they don't. The coming into this profession, just like going through an academy, doesn't prepare you for what you're going to experience on your own, on the street. It gives, they, they get you a basic understanding of what you're going to be dealing with long-term. And, and then the longer you're in this profession, the less they actually prepare you for what you're dealing with because they, and when I say they, the general leadership, administration, what have you, they assume you're dealing with it because you're still showing up to work and you're still putting in your hours and you're doing your job. So they assume that you're doing fine.

You know, so it is a loaded question to catch 22, but as far as the basic coming into the, they don't do, I don't think there's that it's, but how are you going to make it to where

Critical Aspects Podcast (19:35.155)

Yeah. It is.

John Jones (19:52.39)

majority of people coming into law enforcement understand a longer term aspect of law enforcement when they don't understand what law enforcement actually entails. You know, it's a...It's a challenge.

Critical Aspects Podcast (20:08.935)

Yeah, yeah it is and I understand that to a degree. I mean, because there's certain scenarios, certain situations you're gonna get into throughout your career that they just, they have no way to create some type of mock scenario based out of that as you're coming in, as you go through the academy or when you first start out in your career, there's just no way to prepare you for every single thing you're ever gonna encounter.

You're probably doing a little bit more work on the forefront, you know, just talking to teaching people good communication skills with their family, their significant others, you know, just kind of giving them a good overview of, hey, these are some of the things you're going to encounter. These are the way they're going to impact you. These are kind of some of the things that may, may come up, you know, and kind of trying to just establish a good groundwork from there. Um, but I mean, I, you know, you're, you weren't air marshal.

John Jones (21:04.961)

Mm-hmm.

Critical Aspects Podcast (21:08.911)

So I'm sure there's a lot of things that you encountered that you were not You know, you weren't prepared for that. They didn't really say hey, this is this is Something you might deal with so when you look back, you know, you know over your career What was one of the most difficult situations that you had to encounter? I'm gonna kind of work through

John Jones (21:29.33)

Uh, probably the most difficult situation in the law enforcement career was actually when I was a local deputy in Omaha, I was in Omaha, Nebraska where, where I was. And, um, I graduated the academy in April and that October. So what, five, six months, whatever.

Critical Aspects Podcast (21:57.044)

Yeah.

John Jones (21:59.142)

Later, I was within the first three or four deputies that responded to a school bus that had fallen 68 feet off of a bridge into a creek. Total mass casualty situation, you know, kids, you know, the parents, it was a band competition, regional band, high school bands that went to a regional competition in the school bus was on its way back to their city. And there was a bridge that was, the road was under construction and ultimately the bus fell off of this 68 feet into a ravine. But just that chaotic, four kids died at the scene and chaperone parents and just.

that kind of mass casualty, mass trauma event being so quickly out of the academy, right? I was actually, if I remember correctly, I was just a month or two out of FTO, right? So I was, this was like right when you're first getting into doing some stuff, you know? You're still excited, you're still raring to go. And I mean, it was...

It was, you know, it was a bad day.

Critical Aspects Podcast (23:32.219)

So how did you process through that? What did you do? What are some of the steps you took to kind of work through that call?

John Jones (23:40.526)

Uh, well, so I had been a corpsman with the Marines, like I said. Um, so I understood the traumatic medical part of it, but that wasn't my role. The fire department was there. There were paramedics were there there, but I was assisting in any way that I could, you know, um, uh, CPR and, uh, but, uh, during the event, you're actually just doing what you need to do to get it done.

After the event, we actually, it was the first time where I had been forced into a, a debrief, where we actually had counselors come in and we had to talk, but it was, it was an open room debrief. So there were a lot of people who, myself included, that didn't say anything. You know, we just, we were like, you know, so, um, dealing with that afterwards was really that honestly that's probably one of the things that I had gotten back into going to church. I had, but I was still kind of one foot in, one foot out. That really I think helped push me into seeking you know Christian guidance and you know, pursuing my faith. And so that's what actually I did. That's how I dealt with it. Several of the other officers did not deal with it that way.

Critical Aspects Podcast (25:23.327)

Yeah, and I think that's a component that does get left out. You know, we talk a lot about the physical, right? We talk a lot about the mental. We even talk about the emotional, but sometimes we start talking about the spiritual aspect of the profession of, you know, just first responders, military. That one doesn't get quite as much attention as it probably should. You know, depending on who you talk to, you know, they're gonna say that, hey, that's probably the most important one when it comes to just your ability to kind of go through different critical and traumatic events and just your ability just to kind of see certain things and be able just to kind of come out on the other side. So I think that we often don't talk about that a lot, but I mean for me, I mean my faith is a huge part of allowing me to be able to walk through certain things, right?

John Jones (25:53.492)

Right.

Critical Aspects Podcast (26:22.555)

Any easier, right? It doesn't change the fact that you could be dealing with something that's traumatic, but it does help you kind of process things on a whole different level. And it gives you that ability to kind of just to walk through some of that stuff.

John Jones (26:36.532)

Right.

John Jones (26:42.41)

Right. And like you said, it doesn't make the actual event easier or less, uh, traumatic, right? But your, your ability to process it, I think actually is significantly better. So you asked earlier about preparing new, uh, people getting into this field you know, what can we do to help prepare them better? I think one of the best ways to do it is acknowledging faith-based groups, like whether, you know, so for instance, the air marshals, a bunch of us got together and outside of government communication started a, what we called it, the flying fellowship and ended up just something that started locally in the LA office within like two years had, you know, 120 air marshals from all over the nation in this group, you know, supporting each other. You know, you can send prayer requests, you can send, you know, praise, you know, stuff like that. But it was completely through personal communication, personal emails and stuff like that. And there was nothing officially.

Critical Aspects Podcast (27:54.367)

That's pretty cool.

John Jones (28:10.546)

Recognized by the Air Marshal Service. But when anybody came in, there was, you know, this core group would be like, hey, you know, if you're religious or if you're a Christian, we have this group. If you want to join, just let us know. We'll add you in. When I was in on the sheriff's department, there was nothing like that. There was nothing, even though there were Christian

Like, uh, my Sergeant went to the same church, you know? So, but there was nothing officially recognized as far as a religious based law enforcement affiliation. I think there needs to be a resurgence of that at the local level and then at the federal level as well. And I know there's a lot of groups that do that. I was just never exposed to that or.

Um, you know, told about that. And when I, when I did, uh, when I got into law enforcement, like cell phones were just like, the iPhone didn't even exist. Right. So it wasn't the, the quick communication and stuff like that, or, you know, Google, Google wasn't a thing. Right. So you couldn't look up stuff like that. Now those things do exist. So hopefully it'll be easier for newer people coming in to find the resources that are available to them. But even if there's nothing in their immediate area, there's people like Jeremy Wade with the First Alliance, First Responder Alliance that are in the process of trying to facilitate Christian first responder groups to get the word out to people. And if you're a Christian and a first responder, don't be afraid to approach the new people and tell them that you are a Christian and that if they need that, you're there to mentor them.

Critical Aspects Podcast (30:27.187)

Yeah, absolutely. And even with that, I mean, if you're an agency and like John said, if they don't have something like that, I mean, take the initiative and create something like that. I mean, that's pretty neat that just organically that within the Air Marshal Service, that kind of came up and just kind of developed on its own. And that's really neat. Cause I think that we need that fellowship, right? We need that brother and sisterhood.

John Jones (30:54.771)

Absolutely.

Critical Aspects Podcast (30:56.299)

You know, in the faith to encourage one another, you know, do life with each other and just kind of continue to support one another. So that's pretty cool. That's neat to hear that for sure. So.

John Jones (31:08.138)

Yeah, yeah, it was, it was kind of weird how it all started, but I mean, it started out in the LA office with like five of us that we knew we had talked. We knew that we were Christian. Actually, one of the guys that was one of the founding members came into the air marshal service after having been a full-time pastor. So everybody knew that, you know, he was a Christian.

Critical Aspects Podcast (31:33.94)

Oh yeah.

John Jones (31:36.358)

He actually ended up leaving the Air Marshal Service to take a job working at a mission on Skid Row in LA. So he left the federal law enforcement with all the pay and benefits and everything associated with that to go work on Skid Row. Like this guy, phenomenal. Like the, well, ironically, he's probably one of the most selfless guys I've ever met that like he knocked out a guy in a red man suit. So he's selfless, but he can take out if he needed to, you know? So that's another thing about being a Christian. Being a Christian in law enforcement or the first responder field, even though that's what people perceive it to be, it's the opposite of being weak or wimpy or, you know, meek is not

Critical Aspects Podcast (32:16.147)

Yeah.

John Jones (32:35.478)

Weak. You know, meekness is strength under control. And that's exactly what we're called to be. And that's what we need to be as Christian first responders.

Critical Aspects Podcast (32:47.279)

Yeah, absolutely. So, well, I appreciate you sharing that because that's, I mean, that's a, that's a really good, you know, uh, critical component right there that we often don't talk about, so, um, but to, to kind of transition a little bit. So we talked a little bit about, you know, one of your, your more difficult calls. So being in an air marshal, what is one of the funniest or most awkward things you had to deal with um in your career there. I'm sure you've got a list of uh of them but yeah.

John Jones (33:18.151)

Oh.

John Jones (33:23.922)

Well, uh, funniest, uh, there's-

John Jones (33:36.042)

It's hard to come up with like a specific funny, probably the most awkward actually, one of the most awkward was I looked like this once I went into the Air Marshall service, right? Air Marshalls, I could wear t-shirts and jeans and Chuck Taylors or whatever, baseball hat. My beard is actually trimmed now, I used to have it much longer. I look like a scumbag, you know? And...

One of the, we were on a flight, a feeder flight going somewhere domestically. And then the next day we were going to go internationally from that location. And, uh, um, one of the flight attendants just kept eyeballing me, you know, just cause I would stand up and I'd stand in the back and I'd kind of move around a little bit and, uh, um, what I didn't know is some of the other air marshals towards in a different part of the plane were, you know, they actually had known one of the flight attendants. So we were all invited to go out to dinner with the flight crew because nobody was local to the area we were going to. So, you know, landed, did my workout, and got ready. We went out to eat dinner. And as this the group of air marshals that were on, you know, came walking into the restaurant that the flight attendant that was eyeballing me for the entire flight starts just like almost belly laughing. She's like, I cannot believe you were one of the air marshals. It didn't even cross my mind. She said, I thought you were either a terrorist or had just been released from prison and were being sent back home. So I was like, well, I mean, if the flight attendant couldn't figure it out, I was like, hey, then I must be doing something right. You know? Right.

Critical Aspects Podcast (35:11.796)

Yeah

Critical Aspects Podcast (35:19.755)

Hehehehe

Critical Aspects Podcast (35:29.611)

Well, isn't that the whole idea, right? To kind of blend in and kind of look like everybody else? I mean, maybe you take it a little bit too far to where you cause a little bit of unrest. That might kind of tweak the line there a little bit, but that is pretty funny. You're there to kind of protect the flight, and she's looking at you thinking, what is this joker gonna do on this flight? So that is pretty funny. So...

John Jones (35:33.237)

Right.

John Jones (35:40.288)

Right, right, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

John Jones (35:50.292)

Exactly.

John Jones (35:53.934)

Exactly. Right. Yeah.

Critical Aspects Podcast (35:59.823)

As we kind of start to wind down here, right now you're in the works of writing a book, right? And it's slated to come out here when?

John Jones (36:13.262)

So I actually wrote the book. I wrote the book in 2020, and it was picked up by a publishing group. But over the course of the last three years, it failed to be published. It was supposed to have been released in August. But through...

Critical Aspects Podcast (36:15.502)

Okay, so...

Critical Aspects Podcast (36:35.263)

Okay.

John Jones (36:38.474)

Having to go back and get, I ended up getting my rights back. So the contract is now null and void. So I'm working with a, not a publisher, but a international bestselling author who is helping get everything together for publication. And we're hoping to have it released and out available January of 2024.

But the, yeah, so the book is specifically about, so it's called A Higher Calling, a biblical guide for first responders, military, and veterans, basically anybody who has to go out and potentially, well, not potentially, anybody that goes out and confronts evil and sees the depravity of what people do to each other. What does the Bible say about your role in that?

And so it's not necessary, it's not a devotional book. It specifically addresses training. You know, your personal relationships, your work relationships, you know, trauma. What does it Bible say about you inflicting violence? Um, and then it goes into, you know, what happens now that you're, you're done into retirement, you know, what, what does that look like still being called to serve, but not serve in the same potentially uniform capacity that you did before.

Critical Aspects Podcast (38:12.563)

Awesome, well that sounds like a good resource. And we'll be looking for that to come out. And maybe after once it does come out and it does get pushed out, we'll bring you back on here so we can kind of showcase it a little bit. And we can kind of review it a little bit. But as we kind of wrap up, as you kind of look at where you're at now and everything that you've gone through, how much has your faith, and we've touched on this quite a bit, right? We've been kind of heavy on this, but how much is your faith in God?

John Jones (38:25.61)

Yeah, I appreciate that.

Critical Aspects Podcast (38:42.419)

Played a part in where you are today.

John Jones (38:50.01)

I wouldn't be where I am today without it. There's, it's just no questions at all. Even in those times where I didn't necessarily recognize my faith, I think that it was still there, you know, but for sure, God was there. Absolutely, God was there, whether I was wanting him to be there or not. But...

Without God, I wouldn't be where I am. I don't think my kids would be where they are. My spouse, she wouldn't be where she is. So as a Christian man, right, that's leading your family in that faith.

John Jones (39:47.766)

Did I do it perfectly? No, but we did it, right? So without God, I would not have what I have. I wouldn't have the resources available to me. I wouldn't, just because of how I kind of got hired into the Federal Air Martial Service and things that were going on at that time, I actually would not have gotten into the Federal Air Martial Service if it hadn't been specifically, you know, ordained by God.

You know, so.

Critical Aspects Podcast (40:19.987)

Yeah, absolutely. So, well, John, I appreciate your time. I appreciate you coming on and just taking the time just to give us a little bit of background on yourself, just kind of talk through some different things, talk about marriage and communication and talk about working through some of that hard stuff and just sharing what you got coming out in your book. But man, I appreciate you coming on and just being a part.

John Jones (40:37.818)

Yep.

John Jones (40:49.322)

I appreciate you letting me come on and talk about these things. The next generation of folks coming into the first responder field need a little bit better than what we got coming into it.

Critical Aspects Podcast (41:07.507)

Yeah, and that's what it's all about is leaving things better than when we first came in, right? And as believers, we want to live for Christ in a world that tells us not to. And it seems like that's where we're at, man.

John Jones (41:10.4)

Yep.

Absolutely.

John Jones (41:21.57)

Mm-hmm.

John Jones (41:24.838)

Absolutely. And that first responder world, it seems for whatever reason, I don't know if it's the Alpha personality, but it almost seems harder in a way. It's harder to live for Christ in... Well, I don't want to say that because it sounds judgmental, but it seems to me having worked corporate as well now that I'm doing insurance. It seems harder to work and do for God when you're potentially having to fight somebody than it is to at an office where you talk to people in meetings. I'm trying not to say it to... I know right now my wife is going to say, you sounded like a judgmental jerk.

Critical Aspects Podcast (42:18.329)

Yeah, no, I-

Critical Aspects Podcast (42:23.839)

Hehehe

John Jones (42:23.97)

But I'm not trying to, but it just seems like that alpha, that alpha, you know, let's go after it. How can, you know, right, right.

Critical Aspects Podcast (42:29.715)

Yeah, it's the control, right? I'm the one in control. I'm the one that has control over you, over the situation, over myself, over how I respond to things, and I don't need help, right? It's kind of, it's, no, it's very much that mentality. Sometimes we try to articulate what we wanna say, but it's, don't worry about a man.

John Jones (42:43.787)

Right.

Critical Aspects Podcast (43:00.24)

I appreciate you. I appreciate what you shared.

John Jones (43:01.975)

Yeah. Well, you know what I'm trying to say, and I'm not trying to be judgmental at whether I sound like it or not. I do have to say this. When I started working and being on the computer for a while, I actually had to go back to my wife and apologize to her because she does IT and stuff like that. And I actually had to apologize and say, look, I'm sorry. I was so condescending about your office job.

Critical Aspects Podcast (43:05.158)

Oh yeah!

John Jones (43:29.486)

For all these years, because it's hard. It's hard sitting there looking at a computer all day long. And for those of you that are out there doing that, more power to you. But yeah, so hopefully I redeemed myself, right?

Critical Aspects Podcast (43:32.361)

Yeah.

Critical Aspects Podcast (43:47.415)

Yeah, I know you're good man. All right, John. I appreciate it. Thanks again

John Jones (43:48.844)

Yeah.

Thank you, sir. Have a good day.

Critical Aspects Podcast (43:52.691)

Alright, you too.