NYPTALKSHOW Podcast
NYPTALKSHOW: Where New York Speaks
Welcome to NYPTALKSHOW, the podcast that captures the heartbeat of New York City through candid conversations and diverse perspectives. Every week, we dive into the topics that matter most to New Yorkers—culture, politics, arts, community, and everything in between.
What to Expect:
• Engaging Interviews: Hear from local leaders, activists, artists, and everyday citizens who shape the city’s narrative.
• In-Depth Discussions: We unpack current events, urban trends, and community issues with honesty and insight.
• Unique Perspectives: Experience the vibrant tapestry of New York through voices that reflect its rich diversity.
Whether you’re a lifelong New Yorker or just curious about the city’s dynamic energy, join us as we explore what makes New York, New York—one conversation at a time.
Tune in and let your voice be part of the dialogue on NYPTALKSHOW.
NYPTALKSHOW Podcast
The Truth About Discrimination in 2025—and How We Rise Above It - Dr. Paul Dyer & Scott Dingle
What does it take to shatter a 250-year glass ceiling? Lieutenant General Scott Dingell knows firsthand. As the 45th Surgeon General of the United States Army, he made history as the first administrator, first HBCU graduate, and second African-American male to hold this prestigious position in any military branch throughout our nation's existence.
From the neighborhood courts of Prince George's County, Maryland to commanding 122,000 personnel with a $22.1 billion budget, Dingell's journey reveals the transformative power of competitive spirit, unwavering self-belief, and strategic relationship-building. Growing up as a "latchkey kid" with parents working multiple jobs, he and his neighborhood friends pushed each other toward excellence from an early age, developing the mindset that would later define his leadership philosophy.
Surprisingly, Dingell initially refused to follow his father's military footsteps, emphatically declaring "I ain't serving in the man's army." Life had other plans. When he became a father during his college years at Morgan State, he joined the Army to support his family. What began as practical necessity evolved into an extraordinary 35-year career that would make military history. Along the way, he encountered racism and discrimination but responded with his signature philosophy: "Nobody defines who we are. Nobody but us and we got to define it."
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dingell faced unprecedented leadership challenges that pushed him to his physical limits. After nearly collapsing from exhaustion in his Pentagon office, he learned that sustainable leadership requires personal equilibrium and self-care—a lesson as valuable as any military strategy. Through stories of White House press conferences, congressional hearings, and critical pandemic response decisions, Dingell offers a master
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
NYPTALKSHOW EP.1 HOSTED BY RON BROWNLMT & MIKEY FEVER
#consciousness #spirituality #meditation #love #awakening #spiritualawakening #spiritual #mindfulness #healing #energy #selflove #yoga #enlightenment #wisdom #peace #lawofattraction #inspiration #life #awareness #soul #motivation #universe #lightworker #nature #quotes #happiness #believe #higherconsciousness #art #gratitude #hiphop #rap #music #rapper #trap #beats #hiphopmusic #newmusic #producer #artist #love #dance #rapmusic #rnb #dj #art #hiphopculture #explorepage #soundcloud #spotify #rappers #freestyle #musicproducer #youtube #bhfyp #beatmaker #instagood #s #musician #follow
#newyork #nyc #newyorkcity #usa #losangeles #miami #love #brooklyn #california #manhattan #ny #fashion #london #music #atlanta #photography #hiphop #art #newjersey #florida #instagram #instagood #chicago #canada #texas #paris #travel #longisland #rap #explorepage
#healthy #fitness #healthylifestyle #healthyfood #health #food #fit #motivation #workout #lifestyle #gym #love #vegan #weightloss #foodie #fitnessmotivation #instagood #nutrition #training #foodporn #instafood #fitfam #diet #bodybuilding #yummy #healthyliving #exercise #healthyeating #wellness #delicious
#currentevents #currentaffairs #news #gk #politics #upsc #ssc #knowledge #podcast #gujarati #ias #discussion #gpsc #debate #generalknowledge #instagram #currentaffairsquiz #politicalscience #youth #gujarat #voting #ips #current #politicalcompass #mun #gov...
All right, what's going on? Everybody is Ron Brown, lmt, the people's fitness professional, aka sold sold brother number one reporting for duty. Today. I have a general Scott Dingle and Dr Paul Dyer. General Scott Dingell might be having some technical issues with his screen or what have you. I don't know if he can hear me. General Scott Dingell, are you here? He might be having some issues. He should come, go out and then come back in.
Speaker 2:As he's doing that. Why don't you read his bio, and then we can get right into it why we're having this show today. All right, let me pull that up, because one of the things we want to talk about this show is there's so much going on, but it's about moving forward. Right, it's about seeing ourselves and seeing other people who we don't normally see Sometimes. That's just going to be better for everyone. Read his bio, right.
Speaker 1:Okay, we have Lieutenant General retired Scott Dingell, 45th Surgeon General of the United States Army. Hold on a second Surgeon. Lieutenant General retired Scott Dingell is the 45th Surgeon General of the United States Army. Oh, here he is here, he is here he is here. He is test 1, 2, 3 yes, sir, I hear you now, you hear me.
Speaker 3:Test 1, 2, 3 I hear you, do you hear me? We I hear you. Now you hear me. Test 1, 2, 3.
Speaker 1:I hear you, do you hear me? We can hear you.
Speaker 3:Hello.
Speaker 1:Yes, I can hear you.
Speaker 2:Dr, Dreyer, yep, I can hear you, sir.
Speaker 3:Test 1 Dr Dreyer. Okay, I'm going to sign out. I can hear you, sir. Test one Dr Dyer.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm going to sign out.
Speaker 3:I can hear you.
Speaker 1:Yep, sign out, sign back in. Okay, so to go through it again. We have. Lieutenant General Scott Dingell is the 45th Surgeon General of the United States Army and Commanding General of the United States Army Medical Command. He was commissioned as a medical service corpse officer and served on active duty for 35 years and seven months. He retired in March 2024. He is the first graduate of HBCU, first administrator and second African-American male to serve as a Surgeon General in any service in the 248th year history of our nation. As the Army Surgeon General he was responsible for 122,000 soldiers and civilians with a budget of over $22 billion. General Dingell has commanded at every level, from company battalion, brigade and commanding general of the United States Army Medical Command. General Dingell is a native of Upper Marble, maryland, and is a distinguished military graduate of Morgan State All right Military. Military graduate of Morgan State. All right Military graduate of Morgan State.
Speaker 2:What do you think of? I mean, you're reading it, you know, and I know you got it from before, but what do you think about that as a person, ron?
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, obviously he's highly he's accomplished, that's, that's number one Highly accomplished he's. He's also, I would say, that he's handled and managed a lot of different things that the average human being hasn't, and so I would assume that he's highly intelligent.
Speaker 3:This is like a dead spot, so I'm not getting no signal.
Speaker 2:So how often do we, as black men, can we hear you, sir?
Speaker 1:Yeah, hello.
Speaker 3:Okay, hello, yep, hold on.
Speaker 1:I'm going to go up here. You want to go with me, or?
Speaker 2:you roll? Are you going in house? All right, so we're going to wait until he gets his thing? Yeah, but what, I guess? I guess what I'm getting at. In all the things we do, and no matter how we reach out and touch community in so many different ways, we often, as young black men or young people, really don't see people achieve that much success. We hear about it, we you could say youtube rappers, I don't know what you do you see that sense of success through a time period where we have always called struggles right and discrimination or anything, and yet we still have people complain about, who constantly complain about, to blame others for their lack of success, when hopefully, they just reach out and ask for help and follow the breadcrumbs some people have laid before them and ask the questions and learn. So those are my thoughts. You know what I mean, okay.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, well, from from my experience, like I grew up in Harlem, right, so like to see like, like doctors and teachers and and people in the military, like my grandfather, he was in the military. So like you know we have. You know I'm used to hearing stuff like this, like great accomplishments from black men, so to speak, dr, general, general Scott Dingell. But I understand, you hear me brother, you hear me Can you hear me.
Speaker 3:Yes sir I can hear you. I am so sorry. I had to get in my car because where I was at we could hear you but we couldn't connect. So I jumped in my car to drive out to get connection or connectivity. So hopefully you can hear me now we can hear you.
Speaker 2:Is it the reason why you didn't have good connection, because you're a Q?
Speaker 3:No, it's just the opposite, Because it was the Q power that was only giving me the opportunity to try to tie in, and so all the other latency issues. It said, okay, you got to get out the house, get in the car. So I jumped in the car, drove up the hill to get connectivity and the Q power came through. I am so sorry.
Speaker 2:That's okay. I tease because I'm a Mason myself and I know Ron has pledged too. But my late-given brothers are each other's.
Speaker 3:What did Ron pledge? Ron, you pledged what.
Speaker 1:Well, actually I went into the lodge. I went into the lodge. I went to the lodge some years ago as a mason.
Speaker 3:So another word. I want to be accused, just saying.
Speaker 2:I would like for you to give a shout out to your brothers across the nation and let them know that you're on and you can send them a good luck and best wishes.
Speaker 3:Absolutely To all the men of Omega, psi Phi. Fraternity, friendship, is essential to the soul. Omega men are 10 times the normal man, but all black men are 10 times the normal man. So it's all good, it's all relative, regardless of fraternity, sorority, we don't divide up like that, but it's just a blessing to be here where we are at, and there's a lot of work that we have to do to get where we need to be.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And I think I want to honor that. I also want to honor your service in public. I was a service member myself, but where you sat it was in a whole different rooms than where I sat, and I think this conversation is so much for young Black men about how you suffered or how you got through people discriminating you and yet you kept moving on. I think all people, not just Black men, black boys or whatever I think all types of community who are struggling need to hear that from a man like you who's been at that pinnacle.
Speaker 3:And absolutely, because if we don't tell our story, our story goes untold and often, as we are growing up and looking for mentors and idols and people to emulate, when we don't see us, then we go unseen. And one of the things as I was coming up, seen, and one of the things as I was coming up, it wasn't a large catalog of African-American leaders to keep you inspired in spite of racism, difficulties, challenges, and so often you know, you had to dig down inside ourselves to make sure that we were not quitting, not giving up. You know, staying focused, sticking to it, getting it done, like Tuskegee Airmen their mantra, because we knew that it was something bigger than us and that we had to just keep going.
Speaker 1:Got you Okay. All right, now I want to talk about your experience. What kept you inspired, being that, you said, in your area you didn't have examples like that For me. I grew up in Harlem so I always saw different. I saw teachers, people from the military. You saw everything you know, like everything you could possibly imagine Pretty much. Growing up in Harlem and then going to school in Manhattan and then going to Washington Heights, you saw like different things to keep you inspired. Some people went the bad, some people went the wrong route, some people went the right route. So you know I've seen it, but you said you didn't really see that coming up. So how did you? How were you inspired?
Speaker 3:so ours was different. I'm from Maryland, so I'm from the DC suburbs, prince George's County, maryland, black, predominantly black, african-american county, upper Marlboro. And so as we were coming up, you know, in our neighborhood, you know it was all about the neighborhood, it was all about us, and so we often pushed and inspired ourselves because we were athletes you know in my neighborhood, a lot of us and we pushed ourselves and we challenged ourselves. You know my best friend since second grade you know who's with me now. You know we said we're going to be the best and whether it was, you know, football, basketball, baseball, you know we push each other.
Speaker 3:And then we took that mentality as we were growing up Um, you know, we seen, we, we saw things coming from, you know again, prince George's County, you know, dealing with the rest of the state of Maryland and other things and we said we had to be the best. And so we started setting a standard of, you know, not selling from anything but being the best and dominating on the football field, on the basketball field, on the court, on the track, no matter what, it is the baseball field. We said we were going to be the best. You know, and that kind of drove us.
Speaker 3:You know the, the, the neighborhood, peer pressure to to excel, and those same tenants, you know kind of crossed over into the college level. You know being a state champion and track and field or winning whatever it may be. You know we had a passion through sports for me that helped us and taught us that hey look, you're competing and when you compete you don't give up. You compete and you play to win and we play to play to win. You know, and that mentality um transferred over to my 35 years of of military service, of of never giving up in spite of racism, in spite of opposition, that it's a game that you have to win, that you cannot quit.
Speaker 1:Gotcha. So what was your home life like Mom and dad. Did you have your mom and dad there?
Speaker 3:Did you grow up with?
Speaker 1:your mom and dad.
Speaker 3:So kind of sort of yes, yes and no. You know again, we grew up predominantly here in Prince George's County, maryland. My dad worked two jobs, you know he was a retired from the Air Force and then, you know, worked as a, as a police officer, at night Capitol Police and during the daytime had another job. So he was always gone. And then my mom had a job during the daytime and then commuting in the, you know, the DC, maryland, virginia area. She wasn't here during the daytime and so we were you know what they call what latchkey kids.
Speaker 3:You know from the time we were little, where you come home and you know you have to key to the house to get in, you know, ain't no supervision, you know, and so our supervision was the neighborhood, you know, and and us in the neighborhood all grew up together because our moms and dads were African-Americans working in Prince George's County successful middle class lifestyle, you know, but that left them being away. But yet us raising ourselves, you know, in the neighborhood and throughout the DC, maryland, virginia area.
Speaker 1:Ok, so how did you? Ok? So you know I always ask this, this, this question on this podcast, because this, this era, was important to me, the crack era. When you talk about DC and Maryland, those areas, when it comes to crack, that era, that 80s, that early 90s, it took New York, DC, the whole East Coast by storm. I want to know how did you avoid that, being a lashki kid?
Speaker 3:so um and and not just crack. But it was uh, pcp, it was angel dust, it was love boat.
Speaker 3:Um, it was whack, it was hinkley yeah, you know it was lamb's breath, it was buddha, it was all of those things that were um, just rolling through, running ruuckshar, through the community and the neighborhoods, you know. And for us, you know, and again I can't say that for all of my peers you know, and my partners you know, but for me, again, I came from an athletic family, came from an athletic family and so initially coming up, when, you know, before you pre-team and people were getting involved with all those things that we just mentioned, you know, my mindset was, man, I'm going to be a professional athlete, I'm an athlete, you know, I'm good, I'm really good, I'm the best, and I tried to stay away from those things. But it was the um, the desire to be the best, the desire to go to um, nfl, to be a state champion and track and field um, and those type things, and the dedication because we were always in practice, you know, uh, year round. You know, because we were just seasonal athletes, whether track, football, basketball, baseball, no matter what it was, we played, we played, and so that kind of helped us to stay away from those.
Speaker 3:Those in our neighborhood and the gangs that were not athletes were the ones that were getting caught up in those things you know. And then those that were athletes, not saying that they did not do it, but, um, the the passion and commitment of being an athlete helped us to, to, to stay away from those things you know or not get consumed by the drugs and the gang, um and the neighborhood and the gang and the neighborhood.
Speaker 2:Okay, so, Ron, I have a question. So and again, it's just an honor you being on the show I just really think it's amazing of all the stuff you really have done for yourself and for this country. But when we talk about moving past discrimination, you were a leader in place of so many types of men and you ran into an issue where people had issues. How can we teach our communities to move forward?
Speaker 3:like you did as a leader, even in your own company or your battalion or whatever, because of a defect of thinking. Well, it starts with the mindset and believing in yourself. If you read my bio, yes, I did 35 years of service to. You know the military, and then as a medical service corps officer with what? Three master degrees, and you know all these different things. I was the first African-American male and non-clinician to be designated the Surgeon General in the history of our nation. So you're talking over 250 years, 253, four years of the history and founding of our nation, and I was blessed to be the first administrator operator to lead as the Surgeon General.
Speaker 3:You know the Secretary of Defense, the President. You know the POTUS, the Secretary of the Army, chief of Staff of the Army. You know, when I was a two-star general said that. You know, hey, look, we want leadership and we want the best leader and they chose me, tremendously blessed, to do that. But it all went back to me setting a reputation, standards and actions that led to I'm building great teams and success that show that leadership and teamwork were paramount. You know, and that's what, at my time of going to a three star general. You know the president and the secretary of defense wanted. You know it wasn't my goal to be you know it's only but one three star general in army medicine.
Speaker 3:Three-star general in army medicine Look, I was a two-star general, it wasn't my goal. I'm like, hey, I'm good. You know I don't need to be at the top. You know I want to go down here and relax, retire, but it was the bosses that said no, what our nation needs is leadership. We're going into COVID, we were going into all these different challenges of change, and we need leadership. You know leadership, you know. And so it was that leadership requirement that just opened up at the right time. But at the same time, me, as a young African-American boy from Upper Marlboro, maryland, prince George's County, maryland, you know who, never, you know anybody would have thought, or you know, thought it was possible, possible, but yet living dreams of just being the best and building teams opened up that opportunity for me to be blessed, to be selected, as you know, the army surgeon general okay, I have a question.
Speaker 1:So how did it lead from, how did it go from sports into that? So what inspired you to get into the military?
Speaker 3:So you know true story. You know one percent of our nation serves in the military and I think that many people have the wrong impression of what military service really is, to include myself, Because, as I was coming up, you know, my dad served in the Air Force. I was born in New Mexico. We went to Japan Misawa Air Force Base when I was less than one years old and then we came to Prince George's County, forestville, maryland, when I was three years old and then I literally grew up in Maryland, prince George's County. I had no desire to come into the military. But yet what happens is that 1% of families who serve in the military, they're the ones that end up coming in the military because they lived it, they heard their parents talk about it and they follow in their footsteps.
Speaker 3:Me coming up, you know, initially, as an athlete, was just the opposite. I told my dad I am not coming in the military, I am not going in the military, I ain't serving in the man's army, I ain't putting on no boots, I ain't standing in the man's army, I ain't putting on no boots, I ain't standing in no lines, I am not doing it. You know, and that was my mantra coming up, you know, um, you know, through junior high, through high school, you know, and we're a military family, you know. And, and going to college, um, I was heavily recruited, you know, uh, in football and track and field, and my dad wanted me to go to West Point. And you know he would like, and he's from White Plains, new York, and so, you know, right across the bridge from West Point. And so he was like yo, you know, be an officer, you know, it ain't too many, it's not too many African-American, you know, officers, everybody's enlisted. To be an officer is a big deal, scotty, and he always was planting that seed. That's like yo, dad, I ain't doing it. Nope, nope, nope. You know, now I'm a senior in high school, I'm being heavily recruited by all these schools across the nation, my dad's pushing West Point.
Speaker 3:The coach from Virginia Military Institute came to recruit me and this is the late 80s and they were still all male getting ready to go to co-ed. And so the coach comes to the house and he's talking to me and my dad and he's, you know, he says, hey, look, you know, scotty, you know you need to come, you'd be a great running back here. You'll fit into this, our program, you know. And I knew it was an all male school. And so, you know, I said, hey, look, coach. I said, um, hey, you got girls at your school. And he said, no, we don't. I said Nope, I am not going to the school with a whole bunch of dudes. I ain't doing it, absolutely not, you know. And I was doing it being, you know, playful and facetious because I really meant it.
Speaker 3:And then my dad had a conniption. My dad lost it. My dad lost it, man, most, most the maddest he's ever been to me in my life. And then my dad was like you, throwing away opportunity that not too many people have that are in our community and in our race, and you could be the difference. And I'm like dad, I ain't doing it, you know. And I, and I made a commitment to my father. I said, look, dad, look, I promise you, um, let me go to the school that I want to go to and I promise you I will take rotc. Even I don't want to, but since you say it's a good thing, I'll do it.
Speaker 3:And so I was going to Syracuse, at first to play football, had a knee injury, ended up going to Morgan State, you know, running track. Then I got back on the football field, had a great years there and ended up getting my commission, you know, through ROTC. But it was because of that promise to my dad that I did the Army and it wasn't my plan to go active duty. I said, man, I'm going to reserves and I'm going to go play professional football. You know, we were going to Pittsburgh and Dallas at the time, at a Morgan State, you know.
Speaker 3:But I left a year early because we had my wife and I had our oldest daughter when I was a junior in college and she was a senior and I had to do something to take care of my family. And I said, okay, you know what? You know me and coach are battling, I'm coming in the army and I'm walking away. You know, they didn't think I would do it but I did it and that started my military service as a way to take care of my family, you know, because my parents instilled that in me. Look, hey, look, you need to take care of yours, not us. You know. And that led to you know again, 35 years later, in a three star general Nice.
Speaker 2:So I got to tell you one of the things you said was I'm not going in to serve with the man. I said the same thing. You know, we were growing up in the 70s. That was it Like why would I, why would I go serve the man? Like it and my family were big on that. My dad was drafted in Vietnam but he's like don't serve for the man, don't serve for the man. And so that mantra you're talking about has always been there. And yet I said I was never serving, never going, and by default.
Speaker 2:I was discouraged about what was going on over here and I went into a recruiting office, signed up and it seemed like 100 years later there I was leaving out on airplanes and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:But I called Dr Wilson from Morgan State, the president, let him know that you were going to be on the show and I sent him a text because we became very good friends when I was out in Maryland, so I have great warm feelings about Morgan State because of the president and the vice chair and things like that. I've done some talks up there at their college and their science department. So I sent them a text and then I sent them an email and I'm kind of upset with them because he didn't come back to me right away, back to me right away. But you know, here's the thing I think some people again going back to why people are so hard to get past difficulties, what they call again back to discrimination and feeling like they can't break through. That's something we have to correct in our community, because you said a lot, a lot of things Ron has said about building community, about keeping focus. We talked about the brain part, about how to rewire your thinking, and yet and still, we have difficulty breaking through as a community together.
Speaker 3:You know, one of the things that, as you look at the history of us as a nation and us as a community, or lack thereof is that there's never been a time where we have been 100% in unison behind the same cause effort. We may get majority of time, we may get 50% of the time, 40% of the time, but there's always been divisions and divisive intentions that are designed to keep us apart. The mentors that I have, in which one is Dr Wilson, the president of Morgan State University, they have always poured into me to to live your dream. You live your dream, not the dream of others or what others may think, but live your dreams.
Speaker 3:Martin Luther King said it when he was talking to Philadelphia, about having a blueprint and a plan, you know, and then walk, and then crawling, and then running, and then you know. You know whatever you can do, fly, but just keep moving. And he talked about and then we got to keep moving towards our dreams, regardless of what they are. When it deals with, you know, success. And so, as I was coming up, you know, I had a dream, you know, to be the best. You know it was athletics, you know. And then it went into the law field and the legal field and all these different things. But then that's where you know you. You know preparation and success is not something that's luck, but it's something that's worked on all the time, you know. And so, through the good, the bad, the ugly, the hard times, the setbacks like we're experiencing now in our nation, we've been here before, you know, but it's due to those who came before us that persevered, that worked through, that kept constant, that did not give up on your dreams. Your passion you got to have. You got to have a passion first on your plan.
Speaker 3:You know, martin luther king said you got to have a blueprint or a plan, but then you got to have the passion behind it and the perseverance to not quit, the persistence that when they say that you can't, that you keep doing it and knocking on the door, you know. And the perfection to put the time in to be the best. And when you're the best at what you do, you can't be denied because of what you brought to the table. You know, and so you know my thing has always been live your dream. You know we got to live our dreams and in spite of man, I've ran into a whole bunch of crazy.
Speaker 3:You know racism and things throughout my career and my professional path, but my thing was always like OK, you know what, I'm a competitor, I see you, I hear you and I'm going to doggone, punch you right back in the face and I'm going to win and show you and not let somebody else define me, you know, or my mentality, and that's what it takes for us to be successful. Nobody defines who we are. You know, nobody but us and we got to define it. We got to define it Right.
Speaker 1:So now, you said what inspired you to get into the military was a number of things, but the main thing was your family, right, your family. So. So now. But with all of these accomplishments, right, how were you able to do all of this? Like, serving the army, stay focused, you know, and Like, how did you stay focused? Was it, was it still the inspiration from your family?
Speaker 3:you stay focused? Was it, was it still the inspiration from your family? It, it was. It was one several things that once you come into the profession and I think it, it, it, it doesn't matter what the profession is, whether military, civilian, uh, athlete when you're in a profession, it's a, it's a race to be the best, you know. And so now I'm in the profession and my mentality is that, man, I'm going to play to win, I'm going to win, I'm going to compete, you know. And so, as you're competing and you're giving your best, you know it's a competition, you know, the strong survive, you know.
Speaker 3:And so it was that drive to. I'm taking care of my family. I've made this choice, this turn, but you know what? The game is just beginning. You got to play this game to win, you know. And I played the game to win again. It was the, now the, the athletic, the athlete in me that says OK, look, it's time to compete. You know, don't quit, don't give up. You know, keep going. You know, and that's that's what I did, you know. And that just opened up doors of opportunity that led to success, by the grace of God.
Speaker 2:Were you. So the question, the question I have for, off the top of that, what Ron was saying is when did the self-awareness come? Was there like a thing that hit you over the head Because you were focused always, as he was a young boy. But when did the self-awareness come of? Being focused was something I was doing. You know what I mean, ron. You, you could do things, and then all of a sudden, you realize what you are doing is what you want to do right right, right right.
Speaker 1:He just clicked off. I guess he service went out or hit the wrong button what?
Speaker 2:what about for you, though, like your things you're doing, and then, though, like there's things you're doing and then there's self-aware of the things you're doing. That's different than just doing because you want to be at that next point.
Speaker 1:Okay, so for me personally, like I consistently constantly work, consistently constantly work, um, and it's just a drive that I have because, like he says, you know, I just want to be the best at whatever I do. Just just the, the idea of being the best is the motivation to keep going. So I don't know if that that that answers your question.
Speaker 2:No, it doesn't, because my you't, because I understand, because some people work hard, right, some people work really hard at trying to be something, whatever that is right, whatever that is, but they have no internal reason of why they're doing it besides the ethic of working hard, it besides the ethic of working hard.
Speaker 1:What I mean is when does that self-awareness come from you, where I'm like I know exactly why I'm doing it, not because I'm doing it well, to answer your question for me is like I feel like I come from this part of harlem and I don't ever want to go back right.
Speaker 2:so that was the drive, but when was the awareness of this is just who I am? You see what I'm saying after, after, there, after you have like that focus point, right, that, like someone wanting to lose weight, I want to look like this, I want to, I want to get into this, or I want to look like this, they have a picture or whatever vision they have. Or they want to run a company and they like when I get to be, you know, making sixty thousand dollars a month, I really made it. So those are focus points. But then there's a time I know me, when I realized exactly who I was, even in the journey of what I was doing.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay.
Speaker 2:Like I understand the drumbeat. My mom, my mother's, saying was what's next, what's next? So the action of what's next. Thanks, sir, you're back. So the action of what's next. Thanks back, sir, you're back. So the question I ask you is when did you realize you were self-aware of what you were doing, was part of who? You were Right, you knew you had a drive. You always had that drive. But then there comes a time when you like this is exactly who I want to be, this is exactly who I am. That self-awareness combined with the drive, it makes a total. To me, it makes a total difference of where you end up 100%, I, you know.
Speaker 3:And so, um, as, as you had mentioned, as you had brought that question up before, you know again, my, you know, we got cut off. Um, my, my mind automatically reflected back to um, the, the phrase of birds of a feather flock together. I literally got you know again. I kidnapped him with me, my best friend from since I was in the second grade, the second grade, you know, I'm 60, he's 61 now and so, you know, we've been best friends for like 55 years. And so our relationship, going back to second grade and playing on the playground, playing tetherball and kickball, and us coming up together, the bond, the friendship, the characteristics, the drive, the passion, all those things were developed from our friendship. We came up in the neighborhood, you had the big gang and then we were the little ones coming up from the gang on the block, on the block, you know. But we were friends, you know, in our age group. That influenced each other and our influence we pushed each other, from the time we were doggone, five years old, that, yo, we're going to be the best. Hey, look, do it this way. Do it this way, tom, do it this way, scotty. Okay, we're going to do this, we're going to do this, we're going to dominate this. We started talking that from the time we were five and six years old, never stopped coming up, whether if it was in the band and music or basketball team, football team, track team, it it didn't matter, it was still us flocking together and pushing each other, and so the characteristic was instilled there in the neighborhood, you know. But? And? And then, once it once, we started, uh, becoming you know on the varsity basketball team from junior high and high school and state champions and track and field, and we started winning.
Speaker 3:The realization is that yo, look what we say and define ourselves, is it? All of us weren't state champions, but a few of us were that had that gift. But yet you could not tell us anything when we walked in, whether it was going to school or to a party, whatever it may be, that we wasn't the best thing that was gonna walk into through these doors, you know, and that we were going to succeed, you know. And so it started to back to answer the question. It started from the time I was little, with my best friend, Tom Wilson, aaron Harris and and the Little Ridge, the little gang that was growing up in Upper Marlboro, maryland. The Little Ridge, the little gang that was growing up in Upper Marlboro, maryland, you know, that was not necessarily following the same pattern of of older gang members of the neighborhood, you know. But yet we defined it and we said this is it. And that led to that self-realization that you talk about, when we said, you know, can this? You know, let's be the best.
Speaker 3:And it just went from one level to another. You know, a few of us went to college because we had that athletic talent, you know, and and we went there and excelled, and it just led one thing to another. And so then for me, you know, I'm, I'm like the only one that went in the army or the military, and it was that same mentality. And everyone says like man, you know, general Dingell, you're just a different leader, I'm not a different leader, I'm leading the same way that I, that I grew up with, with a team mentality. You know, it ain't big, I little you, but it's we. And then I've always instilled that and that has what led to my path to success, you know, regardless of you know race, gender, you know color, you know nationality. Look, I'm going to build the best team with the best talent and we're going to take over and be the best thing out here, and that was the mentality, okay.
Speaker 2:You know, I like what you said because it's that we, that people, have a hard time gathering. But then you said something. It was who was also around you that developed that. I'm going to say a good we, because there are people who go to other groups that do bad things, and that's a bad we, but they go for the same reason. That's what's troubling. They go for the same reason, just different results. So sometimes when we're talking to people who says I never, I wish I had a Tom, I wish I wish I had a Scott, I wish I had a Ron, I wish I had a Dr Paul to be around, I didn't. I had these. So it's tough for me to separate from that, and yet that's why I'm stuck in this struggle right now.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent, a hundred percent agree. Yeah, yeah, 100 percent, 100 percent agree. You know, because you know we're a product of our environment, but yet we make the decision on if we comply or acquiesce to our environmental surroundings. I was the youngest, you know, in our crew and so they left beyond me and then, when their influence left, it was still up to me to make a decision to go left or right. You know, and and and my moral compass, you know again, in spite of being in, you know all black, you know community, you know everything was there. You know that was a negative influence, but yet it was my moral compass that said you know what I don't want to do that you know, I want to do this. You know.
Speaker 3:You know my, my, my idol wasn't, you know, the kingpin, you know the pimp, the drug dealer, that wasn't me, that's not what I wanted to be. The drug dealer, that wasn't me, that's not what I wanted to be. You know, in spite of me may not having a role model of what a general officer may be, or a CEO of a fortune 500. We know none about that, we, we, we didn't know nothing, but yet the thing was um, you know, uh, live your dream. I didn't know what my dream was, but I knew that it wasn't going to be mediocrity. I knew that it wasn't just going to be staying in the neighborhood. We call it.
Speaker 3:You know, in us, you know we say like yo, man, we got some still stuck in the time zone. You know, back in the day, you know, uh, that just can't leave that, that window. They're frozen there. I wasn't going to be that, that one, you know. So it comes with again that personal passion and drive, in spite of what you have around you, and to think it helps when you got mentors, examples and people who said I've done it, I was able to get out. But when you don't have that, you know, that's when you got to set your own sights. You know, and live that dream and, like I tell folks, like, look well, look, set your mark and set it high. Don't go low, go big, go big. Or go home and then go get it. And as you go along that path, it's going to show you different opportunities that are out there in life. And that's what happened to us and me.
Speaker 1:All right, I want to ask a question. Your first career in the military was, it says, General of us army medical command but not my first, not my first, so my first as a second lieutenant.
Speaker 3:My first year in the military was as a platoon leader, um in fort knox, kentucky, of a medical platoon. As a second lieutenant, my first assignment as a general officer was commanding general of Regional Health Command, atlantic.
Speaker 1:And what does that entail? What are your duties?
Speaker 3:So as a second lieutenant, as a brand new officer just coming in the military, having done rltc I went through rltc at morgan state. I'm now in charge of a, a platoon. So as a, a 22 year old, brand new second lieutenant, a butter bar bar, you have your platoon, that group of about 32, you know, to 40 individual soldiers who execute the mission under your leadership as a one-star general. The other job, you know, that's your first job as a platoon leader. Second lieutenant, as the one-star general over Regional Health Command Atlantic that you mentioned.
Speaker 3:That is me now as a one star general, responsible for all the medical professionals doctors, nurses, dentists, physician assistants, physician assistants, veterinarians, everything medical, medical that was in my region. So I had roughly about 50,000, 60,000 people about soldiers, civilians, contractors that were under my responsibility. So hospitals, clinics, medical units, ambulances, everything in the Army belonged to me as a one-star responsible for a region and that was the East Coast. As the Surgeon General, now at the top of the pyramid, I was responsible for over 122, two thousand soldiers, civilians, medical professionals that work for me. You know, over one hundred and twenty hospitals, twenty two point one billion dollar budget. Everything now falls under me as the leader, as the commander, as the surgeon general, as the CEO, as the boss, and then I was responsible for everything policy, discipline, training, leadership. It all fell, you know, under me.
Speaker 1:How did you handle pressure like that?
Speaker 3:There's not easy, because it was a tremendous amount of pressure and whether being in Congress or on C-SPAN or in the Pentagon press room or in congressional hearings or White House press conferences, there's a tremendous amount of pressure and responsibility that goes with it. How do I? How did I handle it? It's, it's. It was very tough. In in a TED Talk that I did, I talk about leadership through chaos, crisis, you know, and competition, but the main issue in how you handle it is taking care of yourself first. You handle it is taking care of yourself first. You know. I tell a story about.
Speaker 3:You know, the toughest time I had during COVID was right after a White House press conference and I made a mistake of saying something that I wasn't supposed to say in the press conferences on live national TV, in the press conferences on live national TV, and I was just floored that I said it and I just knew that I was going to be roasted, you know, in the press and on the evening news. And I was so under a ton of stress and duress that, as I walked back to my Pentagon office with my staff, I couldn't handle it. And I went back to my office in the Pentagon, I shut the door and I went in. I shut the door in my office and my heart started palpating. I got dizzy because I wasn't eating. We had gone like about 24, 48 hours with no sleep and I almost passed out. And it was at that point it hit me about.
Speaker 3:You know. You know, scotty, if you don't practice what you're preaching taking care of yourself so that you can take care of other people under the stress and duress of COVID crisis and chaos, you know, and you pass out. You know you're not doing anybody any good. You're going to just be replaced with another general. And so my wake up call after that press conference was I got to have balance in in my leadership. It's going to be tough, it's going to be long, but I got to find my equilibrium or my balance on life.
Speaker 3:You know, uh, professional and family. You know that that work life balance of taking care of myself so that I can take care of others and just not going knees and elbows through the wall where you don't get those little things that mean so much to your family. And so that's when I kind of made a big turn in my professional leadership at the senior level to make sure that I'm taking care of myself and that's always been my, uh, my, my watch word and my, my, my alerts. And then I got a tremendous wife who keeps me humble, keeps me humble and she will tell me in a minute like, okay, scotty, pump the brakes, it's time for us to go to Cancun and get away and do the cruise, you know so she helps also to keep me balanced and, you know, my, my feet on the ground.
Speaker 1:That's. That's a great, great, great explanation, inspiring. That's something that I've discovered recently about myself, because I like to go, go, go, go, go, go go. And then I found myself getting sick every now and again and I never used to get sick and I'm like you know what. Let me focus more on my own health because I am a fitness professional, massage therapist and all these things. I'm telling people to eat clean and, you know, get enough rest and all this, and I wasn't doing it. I wasn't doing that. So so you know, and I started getting sick and dizzy, like you and things like that. And you know, you know, I had to fix that, that part about myself. So, yeah, um, another thing. Uh, dr paul dyer, you were talking about what was the click in my mind? The self-awareness part was that I understood my purpose. At that point, I understood what my purpose was. Once I said okay, this is my purpose, this is what I'm here to do. That was the click.
Speaker 2:Just to go back to that question, you know, I really do wish, because, let me ask you this, from where you sat in those rooms, the Pentagon and the office and hearing all the verbiage and the words come out of people's mouths. The words come out of people's mouths as a country, can we do this? Can we pull ourselves together from just your thinking, your personal self? And if we can't pull this together as a country without getting yourself on the evening news again and CNN, what do you think that we can do then?
Speaker 3:You know, I was very fortunate that the leadership that I had as COVID kicked off 2019, then going through 2019 to 2024, the leadership within the Pentagon, from the Secretary of Defense down. I had a tremendous relationship with them and your ability to lead through crisis chaos depends on the support structure from the leadership that you have. And so for me, when I had the support of my leaders, of my four stars, of the chief of staff of the army, of this secretary of defense, of the president of the United States, you know they just turned it loose. Okay, scotty, make it happen. Whatever you do, you do. We got your back.
Speaker 3:I had tremendous support and that kind of offsets, that tremendous stress level, responsibility to deploy medical professionals around the world to mitigate the millions of deaths that were happening. From COVID that helped mitigate the speed to create a vaccine, you know, or a prophylaxis to help stop the deaths, you know. But you had the support you know of the leadership and that synergy of support makes it easier. You know, if I didn't have that support, it know of the leadership and that synergy of support makes it easier. You know, if I didn't have that support, it would have been that much more difficult and we would not have the success that we had. But when everybody was aligned and synergized behind your effort, that makes it easier and there's no politics behind it. I was just tremendously fortunate and blessed at a time to lead where all the stars lined up and they got behind me. And so working through the stress and the duress, you know, it was easier. But if, if I didn't have that alignment and support, oh my gosh, it would have been crazy. It would have been crazy.
Speaker 1:Right, got you Makes sense, makes sense. So support is key Support is key Relationships matter. You said relationships.
Speaker 3:Relationships matter. Yeah, relationships matter. Regardless of your profession, your desire, your direction, relationships matter.
Speaker 1:On that note, thank you for coming out, general Scott Dingell, I really appreciate you. Thank you, dr Paul Dyer, for bringing General Scott Dingell. I really appreciate you. Thank you, dr Paul Dyer, for bringing General Scott Dingell up. Thank you for the viewers checking us out and we are out of here. Peace, peace, thanks for watching.