From Battlefield to Ballot Box | Dr. Trei McMullen S.O.S. #260

A combat veteran can plan operations under pressure and still feel completely unprepared for the moment the uniform comes off. That tension sits at the center of my conversation with Trey McMullen, a U.S. Army combat veteran, former counterintelligence agent with 7th Special Forces Group support elements, entrepreneur, and candidate for the Florida House of Representatives in the Pensacola area. 

We start with Trey’s roots outside Cleveland and the way September 11 reshaped his sense of duty, then move into what military leadership really teaches you: how bad leaders warn you, how good leaders stretch you, and how great leaders push you past what you thought you could do. Trey also shares the reality of a service-related medical crisis and what it means to be medically retired when you still feel ready to serve. 

From there, the conversation turns practical and personal: the brutal “door shut” feeling during military transition, the scramble to find work, and why he chose contracting and veteran entrepreneurship to keep a mission and build jobs. Trey explains what campaigning is actually like in a grassroots race, why fundraising can distort priorities, and how dark money and constant financial pressure can steer politics away from voters. 

We also dig into the issues he hears every day in his district: child safety and school security, underemployment, water quality and agriculture, plus strong support for veterans and first responders. Trey closes with blunt advice on the VA, accountability, and why veterans have to share benefits and transition knowledge instead of guarding it. 

If you care about veterans in politics, civic leadership, Florida elections, or building safer local communities, you’ll get a lot out of this one. Subscribe, share this with a friend who should run for office, and leave us a review with the local issue you want leaders to tackle next.

Transcript

hy Veterans Should Lead Locally

SPEAKER_03 0:00

One of the most powerful ways that you can make an impact post-military is by taking a position of civic leadership within your community. And that's what we are going to talk about today. As you guys know, I'm in a graduate program for veterans who are considering running for office. And I believe that those of us who have served, who have seen conflict overseas, and who understand the business of war are some of the best people who are positioned to lead in the highest positions of government. And to start us off and talk about this again, I have my second candidate that I've had on the Stories of Service podcast, Trey McMillan. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

I'm doing great, Teresa. How are you?

how Intro And Guest Welcome

SPEAKER_03 0:42

I'm doing good. I'm really happy to do this show. You're running for state office. I did have a gentleman on previously who was running in, I believe, the Maryland 4th District, and he was running for uh federal office. So I believe that it's wonderful to get a wide array of different candidates at different levels of government and talk about the duties and responsibilities that we all have after we take off the uniform and to get us all started, as we always do. Welcome everyone to the Stories of Service Podcast, ordinary people who do extraordinary work. I'm the host of the Stories of Service Podcast, Teresa Carpenter. And here is an intro from my father, Charlie Pickard.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

From the moment we're born and lock eyes with our parents, we are inspiring others. By showing up as a vessel of service, we not only help others, we help ourselves. Welcome to SOS Stories of Service, hosted by Teresa Carpenter, here from ordinary people from all walks of life who have transformed their communities by performing extraordinary work.

SPEAKER_03 1:45

And we're going to talk about what happens when a combat-tested intelligence professional steps off the battlefield and into the fight for America's future. And today I'm talking with Trey McMillan, who is a U.S. Army combat veteran, former counterintelligence agent with the 7th Special Forces Group, entrepreneur, and candidate for the Florida House of Representatives. His style is one of relentless service from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan to building a security and technology company that has created jobs and supported disaster response operations. His career reflects a commitment to protecting communities, both overseas and at home. But this path hasn't been without challenges. After his military career was cut short due to a service-related illness, he redirected this mission towards leadership in business, veteran advocacy, and public service. Armed with advanced degrees in emergency management, homeland security, and global security, he now seeks to bring that experience into state leadership. Welcome again, Trey.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Thank you so much for having me, Teresa. It's a pleasure to be here.

Growing Up Near Cleveland

SPEAKER_03 2:43

Well, it's a pleasure having you. So first off, as I always ask all my guests, where were you born and raised, and what fueled your desire to enlist or to join the Army?

7/11 And The Decision To Serve

SPEAKER_01 2:52

So I'm from a small place outside of Cleveland, Ohio. I'm the youngest child of six, uh preacher's kid, raised in the church. Um my brothers, I have two older brothers that both enlisted into the Marine Corps. My oldest brother, he ended up retiring from the Marine Corps. So it was just a lot of service that I had saw that I really fell in love with at that point. But the the kind of the tipping point for me was on September 11th and 12th. So September 11th, I'm in seventh grade to date myself a little bit here. Uh so I'm in seventh grade, and I remember the social studies. I'm in Mr. Potts Um social Studies class. They wheel in that reading Rainbow TV, and uh we were watching, we watched as the last plane hit the towers, and we saw all the teachers going in the hallway, and we inevitably got released for the day, and I walked home. Back then it was safe enough to walk home. Um, I walked home about half a mile, mile. And uh I got home, and uh my mom was on the phone. She was talking to my brother, he was in a marine, um, who was in a map, um, and he was on the the ready reforce ready response team, and he was getting ready to head out and he was talking to my mom and I said, Hey, I want to talk to him. And he got on the phone and said, Hey bro, I'm gonna be all right. I love you. I'll see you when I get back. Okay. I said, All right, Roger, that well, I didn't say Roger that. I said, okay. And uh he gave my mom back on the phone. I went out on the front porch and my sat on the front porch to my sister-in-law, and she explained to me what was happening because I really didn't understand what was going on. I didn't know if like we were about to start seeing bombs drop where we lived or you know, whatever. This is a seventh grade imagination. So that day ends September 12th. I wake up and I go outside, and for the first time in my life, I saw the country look like something off of a movie. There was flags everywhere, everybody was kind to each other, politicians weren't arguing. Everybody seemed to be, yeah. Everybody seemed to just be getting along because we had a common enemy at that time, and it wasn't each other for the first time in my life. Um, didn't matter race, religion, creed, gender, none of it. Nothing mattered. And I sat there and I looked around, you couldn't even find a flag anywhere. I remember my dad had to go to big lots, and he got he said I got the I got the last flag. And uh I was sitting on the front porch with him as he was drilling it into the pillar, and uh I looked to the left, flags, I looked to the right, flags, and it seemed like our country um had came together in a way that I had never seen before. And unfortunately, since September 12th, I've only seen it maybe one or two times again, and I find that to be very unfortunate. Um, so I knew that at that point um I wanted to go and fight.

SPEAKER_03 5:57

Right.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

I wanted to go fight. Um, I joined in 2006. Um, so we were already in war. Um I deployed Iraq 07-09, and I got my first opportunity for 15 months in Iraq and uh Babel province. And um it was it was a life-changing experience. It was the best of one of the best times of my life and also one of the worst times in my life. Um, but that was what made me want to join. And coming from where I'm coming from, there wasn't a lot of options. Um, there was no money for school, um, there was none of that. So um I'm big on lessons learned. So uh if you tell me the stove's hot, I don't need to touch it. Um seeing where my brothers had gone and everybody had enjoyed when they come home, everybody was so excited. I love that feeling, besides my mom making me wash baseboards every time one of them came home. And uh, but I just enjoyed that feeling, how everybody got so excited and happy when they came home. And I wanted that feeling, I wanted to see how that felt on the other side. And uh, I truly got that opportunity. So that's what made me serve.

SPEAKER_03 7:10

How many years uh did were you in in the army total?

SPEAKER_01 7:14

So about uh nine years.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

Okay. And then someone was asking, uh, when were you with the seventh seventh special forces group? Gary was asking that.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Um, so I got to Florida in 2013.

Lessons From Good Leaders

SPEAKER_03 7:26

Gotcha, gotcha. What do you think was the biggest lesson that you took away from serving in the army? If you had to say what was the top thing that you learned through that experience, what would you say it would be?

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Um, I would say it's about leaders. Um it's three-pronged. You're gonna have bad leaders, you're gonna have good leaders, and you're gonna have great leaders. And you learn from all three of them. Um, a bad leader is gonna teach you some things that you don't want to carry on. A good leader is gonna bring you to the line of your potential, but a great leader is gonna take you two steps past where you think you can achieve so you know you can do it again.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

Yeah, that's so true. That's so true. I would say that's probably one of my biggest takeaways, too, from serving is learning from those really, really amazing and inspirational leaders. In fact, uh Admiral Brad Cooper is one of them, and he's now uh CentCom commander, and he's in the thick of all this stuff going on with Iran. And then of course, like all of us, I've served with some people who I definitely didn't see as examples and and didn't do the work. And I I just did not have my respect because of that. And like you said, you you take away the the the stuff that you admire and and and emulate with the good leaders, and then the rest of them uh you don't you you you take away the bad things. And oh, by the way, Gary says he was with the special the seventh special forces group in 2007, working for Major General Edward Reeder, then Colonel.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

So I don't know if you know who those are, but uh we appreciate you for your service.

SPEAKER_03 9:07

So small world, small military.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Definitely. I was in two seven, if you want to know, self-served underneath Sergeant Major Tebow, one of the best green berets underneath the state underneath the sun.

Flood Clots And Medical Retirement

SPEAKER_03 9:17

That's awesome. Awesome, awesome, I love it. So you get you served for 12 years, and then when you're transitioning, I'm sorry, how many? Nine years, rather. Sorry, nine years, and then when you're transitioning, what what what's going through your head at that point? Because the nine-year point, that's that's that's like where you can say, Oh shoot, I I can only do 11 more, or it's time to go. So, what was going through your mind at that time?

SPEAKER_01 9:42

So I had came home and actually I had caught a blood clot. So during a jump, um, did a jump and um I caught a blood clot in my leg. I didn't really notice it. And I remember I was out doing my little three-mile um PT test warm-up um that I usually do at the house. And uh I remember I caught this cramp in my leg, and I was just like, oh, you're fat, you're out of what shape, even on leave 30 days. And actually, I had just got out of school. Um, so I wasn't fat and I wasn't out of shape. I just had been sitting. Um, I had just reclassed. I started off as a military policeman and then I reclassed to counterintelligence. So, not to be confused with the Green Beret, I was a maroon beret, supporter the organization embedded into the battalion.

SPEAKER_04 10:29

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Um, but um caught a blood clot, went to the hospital, and I'll never forget the nurse. He came in, he says, Man, you're about to die. And I said, Well, all right, well, tell me how. And he says, You got a you got a DVT and a pulmonary embolism. So that means I had a blood clot in my left leg and I had a blood clot and it had broken off, and a piece of it had gone in my lungs. And I said, Okay, sounds good. I said, Um, do we have the resources at this hospital to handle the situation? And he says, No, we don't. So they called they call in the PA and uh said, Hey, we need to schedule a life flight. Um, so they gave put me on a life flight to Pensacola. Um, this is why District 2. Um, you know, it saved my life. So they life flighted me to Sacred Hearts in Pensacola. And those doctors, you know, they put an IVC filter in my carotid artery. Um, so if I ever die from a stroke, just know they killed me because I can't die from a stroke. I can't have a stroke. So um, but uh I got that treatment and I went back in and you know, I had the uh went through the uh the medicine portion to thin the blood, and you know, the doc came back and said, Hey, you're good to go. This was not something that we see that you'll ever happen again. It was probably just because you went through investigations portion in a counterintelligence school. So um where you're I had just came back from Afghanistan, so I just came back from walking mountains to doing surveillance and collections and straight into investigations that half of the class, and you're sitting a lot, and it was really my first time sitting that much. And uh he says, You're gonna be all right. So keep going through, and I think something you know kind of triggered during that time. Um, but I was already having some symptoms of ulcerative colitis, and the doc came back and says, Hey, have you ever been exposed to any? And this is before the burn pit registry ever happened. Um, have you ever been around any burn pits? And I said, Yeah, all the time. I said, We burn all kinds of. And he says, he says, uh, it looks like you you might have something, you know, that has been exacerbated from that. And I said, Okay. And uh at this time I'm I'm 27, I'm extremely nervous. Um, I'm high speed, I'm I'm just coming up for E7. I just um got the CW5 to sign off on my warrant packet. I'm excited. I've been going to schools, you know. I'm just I'm amped. I'm I'm army, I'm heavy on the IV right now.

SPEAKER_03 13:01

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

He's uh so I go through a couple more months, and uh this ulcerative colitis thing, it just kept coming up, kept having problems with it. And Spartan Major T bow, he pulled me aside and you know it kind of opened my eyes. He was like, hey, listen, he says, why don't you get out? You know, I said, What? I said, get out, Sar Major. What are you talking about? And he says, because I was like, you're not supposed to say that. And he says, he says, hey man, listen, you're special. And he says, I feel that you're gonna go off to do great things. He says, you've already served in Iraq, you've already served in Afghanistan, you've already been down south. What do you have a death wish? Yeah, and that stopped me in my tracks. And I was like, this Green Beret Special Forces Sergeant Major is asking me, he's got nine deployments if I got a death wish. And I'm like, this is what I love to do, Sergeant Major. Like, this is all I it's not all I know, but this is what I'm good at. He says, Well, you'll be good at something else. He says, and I'm gonna make it even sweeter for you. And he says, Um, I know you want to go on this deployment, but you have more deployment time than anybody in the shop. So we need you to stay back and we need you to run the section. And I said, Okay. And he says, and if you can get it together, you know what I'm saying, once we get back, uh, you know, you'll go off to warm school or, you know, go to walk. And I said, All right. Well, he already knew. Um, so during that time, you know, I had, you know, we're sitting in the bubs, uh, which are just weekly meetings where, you know, downrange and back home talk and do coordination. And he says, Mullen, what's going on with you? I said, I'm good to go. And uh he says, let me talk to the doc. And you know, the doc comes in, he says, Man, he says, um, this guy doesn't want to get out. He's, you know, he wants to, he wants to, he doesn't he won't listen to us. And uh, and I'm trying to hit him in the leg, like, yo, chill, like, don't say that. And he says, No, man, you're gonna get yourself killed out here. And I said, All right, so I ended up getting medically retired, and I get out in 2015, April 1st, April Fool's Day. And I remember immediately, even before I was getting out, I was already looking for work. Um, so I went through the hundred applications a night. Uh my wall would be like, you know, hey, are you gonna go to sleep? And the weight of getting out into an uncertainty was something heavier than I had ever felt. Not only to mention, and I just heard this, so it's really good.

SPEAKER_03 15:43

Hey, hey Trey, just just real quickly, is do you hear a beep, like a constant, like a beep going on on your end? I'm just hearing it every now and again in my in my head headset, just a technical question. If you're not hearing it on your end, then I'm not gonna worry about it. But are you hearing anything?

SPEAKER_01 15:58

No, I don't hear anything.

Civilian Doors Closing After Service

SPEAKER_03 16:00

Okay. Well, uh, if you guys are hearing anything out there in the audience that are joining us live, let me know. May just be something in my ear, but I can still hear you through it all. But go ahead. So you were at that point where you're like, okay, I'm putting in all these applications. What am I gonna do? Then what?

SPEAKER_01 16:14

So Sergeant Major T Blood had called and he says, Hey, listen, what's going on? And I said, Uh, you know, uh, I'm having trouble finding the job, Sergeant Major. And he says, What? He says, No. He says, How could you be having trouble? You're, you know, you're this and that. And I said, I am. And I said, you know, um, when you get out the military, it is the hardest door shut you've ever felt in your life.

SPEAKER_04 16:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

And you're no longer invited to the barbecue. And this is the same thing that we did to all of our brothers and sisters when they got out. Um, the machine has to keep going, and for good reason. Um, so the same thing that we did to them was done to me. And you know, you keep in contact here and there when you can, always those first deployment guys and gals that you keep in contact with, and you know, here in this trip and that trip. Um, but it was tough. And he says, Well, what do you want to do? I said, You know what I want to do. I said, I want to go downrange. And he says, Well, let me see what I can do. So he calls up a buddy of his, and I get into um at that time it was called Academy. It was previously called Blackwater, now it's called Constellis. So I got on a TS program, top secret program for those in the audience that aren't familiar. So I went on a TS program and I got to work with the highest agencies in the United States and going to Afghanistan and a couple other different countries for 60 to 90 day rotations.

SPEAKER_04 17:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

So I did that for five years. Um, it was a great time. During that time, I cut my teeth quite a bit on several things. Um, one, I started my first company, Cyotis, which Sciotis stands for, C U on the other side. Uh a company that I had get dedicated to my brothers and sisters that I had lost in the fight against global terrorism and those back home on the opioid addiction. And uh that's how I funded it. I paid I front I funded all the money for all my payrolls for five years, um, going downrange, making that money, and coming back. Um, I had a fear of credit. My parents lost my our house, my senior year, um, due to financial literacy, illiteracy. And I swore that, you know, if I could work and make cash and you know, pay people a good, honest wage, um, that's what I was gonna do. And I wasn't done with the culture. Um, you know, this we the people thing, you know, these people that stand up and go fight for their country for pennies on the dime. Um, I just loved them. And I knew the struggles that I went through and I had some success. So I always thought about my brothers and sisters that may not have been able to obtain the level that I have um that were struggling. And some that have been able to achieve higher than me, I found them to also be struggling, and I found it to be everybody was struggling.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

Right.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

And just a rank thing. It was it was just everywhere, everybody was struggling. So that's kind of how I got here.

Contract Work And Building A Company

SPEAKER_03 19:09

Yeah, and I think there's two different, I've said this in a lot of shows, that there's uh two different ways I think in which military members struggle. There's the um obvious with those of those who have tragically suffered a wound from combat. That that's the and that's the one that the American people and society is the most familiar with. But there's another injury that we don't talk about as much that I would argue is probably more prevalent among more people, and that's moral injury. And that's that's the fact that there isn't proper due process for people who want to resolve workplace disputes, or if somebody has a legal issue within the military, there's not a proper court process that mimics the per same protections that our um our colleagues in the civilian community can can enjoy. And so because of that, there's just unfortunately not the same level of protections and and uh an ability to properly work through or to conflict resolve some of these issues. And so there's a lot of people who feel um they they don't feel like they were treated fairly because of that. And so one of the things that I I really do hope to see going forward, and and though this is an aside, but on the federal level is is is for uh people to work those due process protection issues, because I really do think that we're just gonna continue hearing about them if uh if if someone doesn't attack those and and go for those root cause issues. So um I I I think what you're doing is uh is amazing. And I think that for military members, entrepreneurship is probably one of the best options, uh, I think entrepreneurship or or nonprofit, because I think that giving back and being of service. And I think that at the point where you get when you get out, you don't want to have another boss again. You want to be able to have more, a little more autonomy and giving back and being of service and then figuring out what your cause is and what your next mission is is so important. And then during this time, too, as you got out, you also went to school, correct?

SPEAKER_01 21:16

Absolutely. So I had a great team leader. Um, she was actually an MP. She was my first team leader, she was my squad leader. Um, I had a lot of men leaders um that were big on physical fitness and you know, soldiering and stuff like that. But she came in and she really made me read ARs, Army regulations, field manuals, FMs, TMs, train, and really I became a board baby. Um, so very good at boards. I supereceed them, tons of battalion, brigade, um, division competitions I've won. Um, but she was really the one that embedded in me that soldiering just wasn't about shooting a rifle and it wasn't just about PT. Um, it was about knowing your job and really being able to. Digest that. So when it was time to leave soldiers, you were able to reflect back on actual regulation and not what you thought. So I think sometimes leaders do that. They're like, this is what I feel. And sometimes they they roll over into the toxic leadership realm because you're not necessarily which same thing in politics. You know, a lot of people don't do what the constitution says.

SPEAKER_03 22:22

Sure. Yeah, that's a good metaphor.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

So you have to know what it is that you signed up for and what are your guidelines that you are supposed to follow.

Why He Runs For Office

SPEAKER_03 22:33

Correct. And a lot of times what we're we're sadly seeing in politics is that uh because of things like big money or gerrymandering or other things, we're just not seeing good people for the right reasons getting into office. And I think as veterans, especially, that that really incenses us because we know that these are the people that are ultimately going to make the choices about what we do when we go into conflict. And so we want to make sure that those people are of the most highest moral caliber. And they are people that aren't going to be swayed by by dark money or other other hidden things. And they're going to be transparent about the decisions that they make. And I think that's probably what inspired you uh to run. Now tell us a little bit about what that journey was like for you. How did how did you even begin to say, okay, I I think I think I'm going to run for state government? Like, how did that get started for you?

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Um, so actually a year before a lot of people don't know this, a year before um I announced, I had actually started to tiptoe around and start to see what was available. Um, I had some representatives from Ashley Moody's office come down and interview me. Um, they liked me. Um, I was I was just trying to start as an aide where I'm from, and I was just trying to get in. I like to know things from the ground up um before I really wrap myself because it's a lot of times people forget that it's not a one-way interview. I'm also somebody in something, so I'm interviewing you to make sure that I want to be a part of this organization.

SPEAKER_03 24:11

Make sure this is something you actually want to do.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

Absolutely. You know what I'm saying? I know I want to represent the American people, but they're not always best represented in this place that I'm trying to go.

SPEAKER_03 24:20

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

So I wanted to make sure that this was, and I wanted to make sure it's like in the security industry. I work every post that I have um before I put a guard on it because I want to know where they can get over it. When does that Z monster come in? Two, three o'clock in the morning, four o'clock in the morning. Where can you hide at? What can you get away with?

unknown 24:39

Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

You know what I'm saying? I want to know I want to know the left and right limits of this so that way when I see it, I know what it looks like. Um, so that's where I initially started off. Um, you know, they were waiting for some funding, it didn't come through, so they didn't expand their office. And uh I waited about a year. I finished up my doctorate, and I was like, you know what? Uh I feel like something I'm not sure what's next. Um, and then my daughter, um, she goes to school down in Tallahassee and she called and said, Dad, there's an active shooter. And every cool guy, tough dude, all this that was in within me at that time went limp. I realized that I couldn't get there in time. And it was two hours away. And that stuck with me. Three weeks later, my son had a bomb thrown into school. So I said, God, if you're trying to get my attention, you got it. Um, so that was my tipping point for getting into politics.

SPEAKER_03 25:45

What did you learn through that process within your state and school security? What were some of the gaps that you observed and you thought to yourself, if I am a representative, I might be able to have an impact on this?

SPEAKER_01 26:03

I mean, I uh honestly, um, when you look at um a lot of elected officials, let's look at where they come from. So you got a couple different categories. One, straight out of college, they're a lawyer, past the bar, may or may not have ever worked for an office. You got the bloodline people that, hey, my dad, my uncle, my cousin, whoever was in this, and I've just been groomed for this my whole life. Yep. And then you got some veterans um that say, hey, you know what I'm saying? I've I've hung up the boots and I still want to continue to serve.

SPEAKER_03 26:36

Um yeah, that's pretty much like the three categories. Or you or you you have a few business owners like Marjorie Taylor Green, for an example, um, people that are just they get very, very prominent within the business community. And then that inspires them to go into politics because they realize, especially as small business owners, that they're not being supported in the way that they think they could best be supported. And they want to, they want to run and and support the business community. So I think there's that. There's the lawyers, obviously, tons and tons of lawyers who run, and then there's veterans, and then there's the pedigree, the people who, oh, my, you know, I'm the kid, my dad, you know, like um, and it's nothing to say that they're not qualified in their own right, like Tulsi Gabber. She's a she's an example. Um, but that just they know that they know the ecosystem. It's no different than a Hollywood kid. They just know the ecosystem of that particular industry. So it's natural that they might want to go into that. So you're right, there's like certain flavors of politicians. And as you saw, you thought, okay, I I can do this. Did it seem overwhelming to you? Did it seem insurmountable?

SPEAKER_01 27:50

No, I don't know. I'm the guy that's in the one of my biggest pet peeves is when somebody says an idea and somebody says, Oh, that's gonna take so much, or oh, I just don't. I'm like, there's no question in the world with five well plus quite five well well-placed questions that you can't answer. Oh, no, I don't think anything is unachievable. Um, but also yet this doesn't define me. You know, I went through a period of, you know, I think a lot of veterans do, you know, once we get out, we're looking for that next stone. Um, because, you know, we were we had this identity that was up here, the identity of the family, identity of the friends, and we're looking for that next identity moment. And we want to validate to people who we are, not realizing we've already done that enough.

SPEAKER_03 28:42

Right, we have. But you're you're you're absolutely right.

SPEAKER_01 28:46

So you go through that, and you know, I really just wanted to, I wanted to show up. Um, I wanted to be different. I wanted to be, I didn't want to be, I am. And I wanted, but in that arena, I wanted to be different. I wanted to show up and I wanted to, you know, leave this, do something really for the people. Um, I didn't want to be bought, I didn't want to be a puppet. Um, I really want to make change and I want to do it for the people. And my I tell people all the time, tell me how you plan to use me so I can help you use me. Alters in my world, in the business world, are ridiculous. Just tell me how you plan on using me. So my ulterior motive is I want to protect my children. And that means at school, that means as they advance through their lives into adulthood, um, and I'm willing to sacrifice whatever I have to, as I always have, for that. In lieu of me doing that, I will protect yours and help make sure they have the same pathways as well.

SPEAKER_03 29:43

Yeah, I mean, safe communities mean the world. I mean, if you have community safety and cohesion, you have happy people. I mean, I live in a town now where people are so friendly to one another and people are happy, and the community takes care of one another, and it is so amazing to have that. And it's because people feel safe, they feel safe in this community, and that just bleeds over to everything else. People want to go out and do things for others, they want to join civic organizations, and you don't have, and if you don't have safety, and if you have lawlessness, lawlessness, or you have the police not being empowered to carry out their responsibilities and hold people who are committing crimes accountable, well, then you're you're not going to have a safe environment. It's no different in the military when bad leaders aren't punished, or when transgressions happen and there's no um consequence. It's the same thing. Uh, you aren't going to have a safe working environment when that happens. And it you can say the same thing about a community.

Grassroots Campaign Reality Check

SPEAKER_04 31:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:02

So, how how has the campaign been going for you? Like, what's then the experience like so far?

SPEAKER_01 31:08

Um, you know, there's been tons of ebbs and flows. Um, you know, in the beginning, um, I expect when I get in from having so many different businesses that have failed, and you know, I've learned and been humbled so many times. Um, I know that everything is a challenge, and there's no easy road to anything. So, whatever you're wanting to do, whatever business idea you want to start, expect to allocate some time. Expect there to be some challenges, expect there to be some days where you look around and nobody's responding. Expect everybody not to necessarily believe in your vision up front. Um, and those are the things that I would say I experienced. Um being able to get out and just show people who I am, um, the things that are important to me. It started to catch wildfire. Um, you know, it's been a true blessing to have uh a grassroots community around me. Um, I've got some great um REC leadership in the area, whole Northwest Florida panhandle. Um, some great leaders that have, you know, pulled me by the ear and said, told me this, educated, mentored me. I mean a lot of people from the community that pulled me aside um and said, hey, listen, we're rooting for you. Um and now it's really got started to get some legs and it's starting to walk. Um we're not full-blown walking yet, but it's starting to walk. Uh we went from, you know, we went from a crawl walk run. So we we were crawling now we're walking, and uh we got a little limp, but we're getting there. And um, I would say the biggest limp is finances, and that was more of a me thing. Um, you know, when you get into politics, the first thing they say is go ask your family and friends. I don't come from that, and I'm not ashamed to say that. I don't come from that.

SPEAKER_03 32:59

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

It's an inconvenience to go ask my friends and family for some money.

SPEAKER_03 33:03

Right, I couldn't do it either.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

It is an inconvenience, and one thing that I really understand with this money thing is. Um, I'm gonna write a book called The First Candidacy because it's it's nothing like I've ever experienced before. Now, the difference between businesses, business and this is completely different. Why? Because everybody's your ideal candidate. You can't stop and have half story somebody, you can't give somebody a stump. You got some people, they want it all. Um, so you got to give every single person that opportunity to hear your campaign. So, if anything, that's probably the most tiring thing. Um, everybody's an ideal candidate. Um, but the the money issue, what I started to realize in it is why there may be so much corruption with it. Now, is the money being used for good reasons? Yeah, it is. But there's a backside to that. So when you have some of those groups who aren't dealing with money, um, never missed the payroll, um, never done business, you know, so forth and so on, um, their experience with that and their influence, how they could be influenced, varies. So every single person that I've met, almost 90%, the first thing they asked me is, Trey, what's up with the money? Where are you at with the money? And it just begun to, I would say, hey, you know, we're we're fundraising, we're doing this, and we're doing that, you know, we're trying to get some money in. But every single person, important people, mentors, mentees, the the regular guy at Publix that you run into, everywhere, the the lady that you run into at church, everybody wants to know about this funding thing. So, what equates to that is when a person they have an initial spur that this is the reason why I run a run. And as you start to move along, the people start to show up, for better or for worse, they start to show up. And uh, when you start to move to as soon as you start to move to it's about the people, the people don't ask you, they don't want to come up and tell you what they want or what they need. They did the first thing they want to ask you is about the money. So, in a person's mind that isn't used to business, a person's mind that may not um have the experience, the story starts to change about what's important. So, you the people, you we the people, keep telling me that the most important thing isn't their voice, it's the money. So, as you continue on and you're constantly running for re-election, you've already programmed me inside of this environment that your voice is not the most important thing.

SPEAKER_03 35:48

Which is sad, which is not what this should be about. It should not, and and and that is honestly, that's why like I'm such a proponent for election reform and what we can do to get dark money out of politics. And and and I'm not saying you don't need money to print out mailers or to do ads and all those things, yes, but there has to be a way to make it so that these super PACs can't come in. And I know this is more at the federal level, maybe, maybe I don't know. Yeah, yeah, but but that that's what's sad is that these people expect something in return. And and I mean, I a perfect example is Dan Crenshaw shared a an Instagram post not about maybe a month ago, where some radio guy was basically trying to hit him up and harassing him because of the fact that I guess this guy gave him a donation, is what I'm assuming. I can't remember the whole story, but basically, like, why aren't you why aren't you promoting me? Why aren't you doing this? And I thought, oh my God, this is terrible. Like, this is what you have to do to run, is you have to raise money from people who now you are going to owe back in some kind of way, instead of looking at every issue on the merits of that issue, balancing that issue with your state laws, with your constitution, with what is in the best interest of the people, which is what it should be. But because of big money, because of dark money, we're not able to do that. And that's why I'm so passionate about veterans running, because I'd like to think that of all people, of all those classes of people that you just talked about, that we say are sort of the flavors of congressional or candidates, I would like to think that the veterans are probably the ones that try to be at least the most ethical that they can be and don't sell their soul as quickly. Now, they might, but I would like to think that they are the ones that can be trusted a little bit more. And I mean, that's why we have these incubators across the country, like the one I'm in, that is trying to get more of these veterans to run for office. And I think that's a wonderful thing to be doing. So absolutely I really hope to see more people like yourself doing this. Um, what's it like um going around and doing the events? I'm curious about like what like where do you speak? Do you speak at rotary clubs? Do you speak at churches?

SPEAKER_01 38:17

Everywhere. I speak at everywhere. I speak at all the RECs, I speak at um, I host my own events. Um, anybody that's ever gonna run, let me tell you some grassroots tricks. Go get a library card. Um, it's free to use the library. Host some meetings at the library.

SPEAKER_03 38:34

Oh, yeah, I've just I'm renting a room tomorrow for a book club.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

There's a way to do it. Um, you know, uh you you need money, you need money for road signs. You never realize how much a sheet of piece of paper costs with color on it until you need$500,000. And you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 38:48

So you need signs on the road.

SPEAKER_01 38:51

Yeah, those should be hard for money. You need the money, but you just gotta make sure it's coming from the right places, right? You gotta make sure you're doing it for the right reasons, um, so forth and so on. I'd rather um even in business, there's been investors that I've never done business with because I why would I get to doing something that was my dream and for my whole team to love it, but for me to dread having to deal with it every day? Right, it's not worth it, you know. So um, you need money, you need good people, um, you need people to, and which this has been my experience. The good people start to come uh karm about and give you money after you've proven yourself. It just takes a little time. They'll come, they will. Yeah, just keep going. It's lonely, it's a lonely road. It's like white snake. Here I go again, baby. But uh, you know, you have to keep going and it happens. Trust the process, good people will show up. Don't sell your soul in the beginning um just to be a puppet or be used, or hey, you're gonna say yes to this and no to that. Well, what about this? Do you remember that money I gave you?

SPEAKER_03 39:58

Um, yeah, and that's my that's what I would be my biggest fear about running, is like I'd want I'd I the donations would come in, but then then you feel like you're obligated to serve whatever and it's a win-win, it's mutually beneficial if it's something that you're already passionate about and they're giving to that cause. And and I think that that's what you're talking about. You're gonna have those good people that are gonna want to donate, and then they're gonna be representing causes and and issues that you're also as the candidate passionate about, and so it's it's it's a win-win when that happens.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

So even if I'm not passionate about it, you know what I mean? Like, hey, listen, it's not all about me, you know what I mean. My constituents are concerned about it. It's a it's you know, a lot of people say, Trey, what do you plan on doing? Well, it's not about what I want to do. What do you want me to do? This is not a me thing. What do you want me to do? And I'll go through it. That's it. Yeah, I will cast my vote in the in the ballot, just like yours. My vote counts for one, just like yours. Um, what I may personally do, or I may personally vote, may not be reflected upon what my what the majority of my constituents want. And I'm okay with that. Yeah, because I'm representing them. And sometimes as a leader, you got to do the best thing for the greater good. And leaders make hard decisions that may jeopardy put them in jeopardy. Um, but it's for the greater good of the cause of the people.

SPEAKER_03 41:20

Yeah, and we had a question here what state are you running? He's running in Florida, and you're running in Pensacola, and I don't remember the exact district, District 2 in Pensacola. So yeah, uh, Gary at Unia says, uh, tell Trey to reach out to the Combat Vet Motorcycle Association, C VMA, lots of chapters in Florida. So I'll I'll send that to you after this.

SPEAKER_04 41:41

Thanks for that.

Cop District Issues And Platform

SPEAKER_03 41:41

But uh yeah, yeah, Gary's a great guy. I met him at the at the VA. He works there, and I go there for my doctor's appointments, and we've just become friends. And uh he he is uh a very very trusted resource for a few things. So thank you so much, Gary. So tell me a little bit about what were some of the issues that you've been hearing from people in your district, like what were some of the main what were what were some of the things that were recurring? Like what what things kept coming up over and over again as you've as you've been going down this road?

SPEAKER_01 42:13

Overdeveloped, um underemployment. So people working with an advanced degrees, high-level certifications, and they're having to work underneath how much they're actually worth. Um, and obviously the water and agriculture. Um, and then you know, people are concerned with their children's safety, being able to um grow up here and then come back and raise a family. So those are probably those are the some of the biggest issues, which you know I've mimicked that from my platform. Uh, my first pillar is children, which we're always somebody's child, because if you die right now, somebody's getting notified and they're gonna say your child died. Um, so child, um, you have to protect them and then you have to educate them, and then you have to advance them through adulthood. And the reason protecting is coming first is because we live in a world now where people, most people don't remember one child that's been killed in any of the school shooter shootings, any of the match shootings, one child, name one name. They can't. Shame on us, we gotta do better. We can't keep and and the fact that we can't remember names, there was two school shootings this week. Two lieutenant colonel died, there's there's all kinds of stuff that is happening, and we just keep rolling along. And I refuse, and the brothers and sisters that you know have you know went to heaven already and paid the ultimate sacrifice. I made a promise to them that if I was strong, willing, body able, that I would not stand for that. And I I refuse to stand for a world that children can die and we forget who they are. Nobody remembers one name from Ubaldi, Parkland, Columbine, any of them. So if that's That's true. Then where are we headed to? That's and kid and a lot of parents right now don't understand the severity of the situation. This is a time where you as a parent don't actually understand what your child's going through. Most likely because you didn't have the chance of a school shooter or a mass shooter coming to your school, your college, your daycare, your football game, your movies, um, church.

SPEAKER_03 44:28

No, no, this didn't happen when I was growing up.

SPEAKER_01 44:31

So it's a different time, and we have to be open to that. That, you know, this is not something you're not protecting your children by not talking about this. This is a reality. They can educate you on it. Um, so we have to understand that. And most kids can't learn in an environment that they're in fear. So we have to secure the properties, we have to make sure we put in things that don't make it look like a jail. Um, there's a lot of great organizations out here, there's a lot of great nonprofit people, you know, SMEs out here that hey, I'm the guy that says I don't know it all. The smarter you get, the the the less you realize you know. And you start to see where collaboration is key.

SPEAKER_02 45:10

Yeah, because you get more humble. The more the smarter you get, the more humble you get about life.

SPEAKER_01 45:15

Yeah. Oh man, I know one percent of this piece of the pie. So um bringing those people together um is huge to me. So children, um, and then underemployment, unemployment issues, um, water. Um, we live in a beautiful area. We just got voted Best Beach, Pensacola Beach, and you know, it's gorgeous there. And uh, you know, but we have our own issues with water. And if the water's bad, then we have to focus on the agriculture. Um, you know, what happens uh with the things that we put in our mouth? Governor DeSantis does a great job, him and Casey of identifying always uh different things that are arcinogenic and things that we we eat um that we didn't know, you know, had all this different stuff inside of it. And uh big shout to RFK for getting a lot of the things with red dye, you know, all these different things pulled off the shelf. So these generations after us have a fighting chance because that's why you see the uptick in all these GI gastro um issues is because of the stuff that we eat. Um so those are my three biggest three, and then the most important. I usually I don't say this as much because it's just so embedded in me, but veterans and first responders. Like, if you see me, that's what I represent, that's what I've been doing. It's not so much like, hey, what are you gonna do? This is what I've been doing. I've been putting first responders. This is my heart, this is my this is my blood. You know, a lot of people say, Well, Trey, what are you gonna do for the black community? Continue to be who I am and break barriers. All I was supposed to do was be an example. That's all I got.

SPEAKER_03 46:47

Right. No, I hear you. And and you, I mean, you're what I love about your message and and about what you stand for is that you walk the walk. You don't just talk the talk. And there's so many people out there that just talk the talk. Yeah, and they they they don't they don't resonate. They don't people can see through them. And they might get a little far with some sort of faction of people uh in in the short term, but in the long term, number one, people will see through them, and then number two, they won't be internally satisfied because they're not really doing the work to get to to be to make their communities better and to make and and to make a positive impact. And I think that's that's all we can do. Just everyone can do something a little bit at a time within their own community. I've taken a very hard turn too, even on my podcast and the stuff that I'm doing, and really try to put more focus on the local community because I believe that that's where all of us can have an impact. Some of these larger geopolitical issues, uh, we can have opinions on them and we can talk about them, but sometimes we might not be in a position to change them. But we can all do something in our community. We can host a book club that I'm doing tomorrow, or we can join a civic organization, and you're doing exactly those things uh with with your voice and with your with your purpose, and I love it.

SPEAKER_01 48:14

Yeah, I appreciate that. And I tell people all the time national news is not local news. It's not no stuff that's happening in Minneapolis, you know, here and there, it's not happening in Northwest Florida. It's not. We got great law enforcement here.

SPEAKER_03 48:29

Right. We have great law enforcement here in Mississippi, here in Ocean Springs.

SPEAKER_01 48:33

Great community policing. It's not, you know, I I spend a lot of time with those guys and gals. Great, great, you know what I mean? So sometimes when you're watching the news and it's you know constantly being spoon fed to you, you start to think those are your problems and they're not your problems. So I try to, you know, get down to actually what are our problems here?

SPEAKER_03 48:53

Right. Exactly, exactly. No, I love it, absolutely love it. Is there anything else that I didn't ask you about, uh, about your campaign or about your journey right now that you would like to tell our audience?

SPEAKER_01 49:06

Yeah, absolutely. Um, I am a grassroots campaign. Um, I'd ask you to please follow along. You can follow me on Facebook. Um, my name is Trey T-R-E-I. Last name McMullen M-C-M-U-L-L-E-N. Um, you can also follow along on the website www.trey tr e i McMullen M C-M-U-L-L-E-N dot com. Um, there's some links in there. You can support, you can put a yard a yard sign, you can donate um if you still have the funds to be able to do so. Um and I just can and and also just continue. The biggest thing you can do for me is pray. Um you know, we're fighting more than just money out here. Um, so please keep me in your prayers. Um, I want to continue to do this right. Um, that's who I am, but I need some covering. And I tell people all the time, I'm willing to go up front. I'll be point man every day, but I gotta know you're coming in the door after me. And that's where all the constituents come into play. Um, just having my back. And when I ask you to come sit and, you know, have a meeting, or if we're we're posting these these flyers, I ask you to show up. Um, because at the end of the day, you know, it's on us. Um, a lot of probably I'm not the only probably candidate that's ever done this that was really good and may have, you know, gotten overlooked or whatever, but you got to pay attention to all your candidates, um, all of them. You know what I mean? Uh, even in my race, we got all veterans. I tell all the guys, and thank God, you know, there was four of us, two of them conceded to me, and they've joined my team. Um, there's another veteran that I'm primary against, but like I tell him, hey, listen, this is nothing more than a PT test in the platoon. I don't hate you. Um, but I definitely want to win, bro.

SPEAKER_03 50:49

I love it. I love it. And what also I love about your message as I'm hearing it is I know you're running as a Republican, but everything I'm hearing from you is is nonpartisan. It's straight down the middle. And I think that's really strong because what I would love to see in more candidates is a uniter. I want to see somebody that someone who is on the left wants to be aligned with, and somebody who's on the right wants to be aligned with. They might not agree with every issue, but they can agree on certain issues. Like we all want safer communities. That is a non-partisan issue. Both sides of the aisle want that. And and I think it sounds like you stand a lot for that as well.

SPEAKER_01 51:27

For me, I'm looking at this. Um, like I told you, you know, this is my 11th year in business, and sitting at the table with billionaires, millionaires, hundreds of thousands there, whatever, and learning from every one of them. Business and this is a business. You know what I mean? Like, politics is not, these aren't patriots. These are people that have signed up to do civic duty. You know what I'm saying? So I don't know if necessary, you know, they might feel a little tingling on the back of their neck when Garf Brooks comes on, but it don't hit like taps for us. It's a lot different.

SPEAKER_04 52:02

I agree.

SPEAKER_01 52:03

You know, being able to um look at the situation and say, hey, listen, let's sit down, let's not cause this rhetoric um between any party. You can disagree. Um, I don't have to like everything that you like. Nobody agrees with anything, anybody on everything. That's like so I wish, you know, like, but I don't that doesn't mean they're my opponent, they're not my enemy, you know. So being able to sit down and say, hey, listen, this is the problem. How can we fix it? I'm not here for the games, I'm not here for the the back and forth. How do we fix the problem? And let's come across a joint unified solution. Because if we don't, we got TSA workers that are not being paid right now. I'm a doctorate, the only doctorate of global security in the state of Florida. Do you not know how much how susceptible that makes us to another 9-11 attack? Too much, and the dollar value just dropped. It used to be hey, you know what? I'm just put your kid through private school, and now it's like I can't make my car payment.

A Accountability And Veteran Knowledge

SPEAKER_03 53:11

Right. Yeah. For sure, for sure. Well, thank you, Trey. I appreciate your time on the Stories of Service podcast. We did have one question in the audience, uh, and it I think I understand what he's saying, and I do want to get to it just before you get off here. He says, I live in Tennessee, but I wonder what your thoughts are on the VA operating within the communities around the U.S. and who should be held accountable when things go bad.

SPEAKER_01 53:34

Um, so I think there could be a lot more done um for the VA for soldiers. Um, and this is something I'm working on. Um, shout out to John Frankman, he's running for CD1 up here. Um, great guy.

SPEAKER_03 53:48

Um, I've had him on my show. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 53:51

So, you know, one of the things that I think that should be done for soldiers is they're getting out, they go through TAPS, whatever it may be. We need a civilian version of our DD 214. Period. It's not that hard to make. Two, why aren't these organizations that are veteran-led, veteran-run organizations, why aren't they coming to taps and speaking to us and handing us sheet saying, hey, listen, um, I heard you got 100%. Did you know you get one free swipe of your student debt? Do you know uh that you should use VRE before you use chapter 35? And make sure you use both of those before you get an advanced degree, which is a master's, or you won't qualify for either one of them. There's a lot of knowledge that needs to be passed that is not being passed. And we as the veteran community, we need to do better. So I won't blame the VA, I won't blame anything because there's more veterans than there are employees of the veteran workforce. Um, so we need to be doing a better job as a community and taking care of ourselves, speaking up, speaking often, stop holding this information. It's not a crab in a barrel. Well, if we don't tell everybody, bro, because I don't know when this funding runs out, or I don't know how many people get the information out there. You might save somebody's life, somebody might be on edge. Um, so I would say um I don't like what the VA necessarily just did. I think that was wrong.

SPEAKER_03 55:15

I was happy to say the medicine thing, yeah. That was that was just totally wrong. And the way they rolled it out was even wrong. Just putting it in a yeah, and everybody caught it and spoke out.

SPEAKER_01 55:26

And that is the point that I'm trying to say the power is with the people. You change legislation. So if there's something wrong, my brother in Tennessee, let it be known to your community, your veteran community. Say it loud, be bold, go to these social medias, and if it resonates with enough of us, we'll make change because we saw us do it in real time.

SPEAKER_03 55:49

Yep. And I love your advice about libraries, and you are correct. You can rent rooms at at many libraries uh for free. You can also look to see what your VFW or your American Legion has. So there are resources out there for you to be an active member of your community, and I believe that is where grassroots community organizations thrive. And that is really where, like I've I've told my audience, I'm putting a lot more of my focus. I'm still going to do the podcast, but there just might be more of a local flavor to it uh going forward. But with that, Trey, I want to thank you so much. This has been such an enjoyable conversation. I I really do love talking to veterans who are considering running for office or veterans who like yourself are running. I think this is such a wonderful opportunity to learn from people like yourself. Uh, because I do know obviously I'll be in class, I'll be in class in San Francisco this weekend and be around all my classmates who are considering public office or campaigning in some kind of way. So thank you so much for this opportunity. I'm gonna go full screen, say goodbye to you backstage, but really appreciate your time.

SPEAKER_01 56:58

Shout out to Syracuse University. They got a great program for veterans to get into politics. So make sure you look them up. And I'll leave you with this never above you, never below you, always beside you.

ow To Support And Final Thanks

SPEAKER_03 57:10

Love it. Yes, yes, I've been wanting to check out that program too. Thank you, Trey. And thank you to all of you, the audience. Uh, appreciate you joining us tonight. I didn't know it's been a little bit of a while since I've been on a podcast. I will also be taking another long break for the next couple weeks as I do a little bit of traveling, but you will find me online as you always do, and as I always end these calls, please take care of yourselves, please take care of each other and enjoy the rest of your evening. Bye bye now.