Episode 60: Interview with Colonel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel
On this week’s episode, WWIA Founder and CEO, John McDaniel, is proud to welcome a great American Patriot, and one of his closest lifelong friends to the podcast. We are honored to have Colonel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel join John for an engaging and timely conversation. Joel hails from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh as a Distinguished Military Graduate in 1988. He was commissioned as a 2LT in the Armor branch and went on to graduate from the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College Fellowship Program. He holds a Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of Phoenix, and during his 28+ year career in the Army, held a number of key positions to include:
• Strategic Plans Chief for Stabilization Force 11, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Operation Joint Forge).
• Joint Logistics Command Operations Officer, (CJTF 76), Afghanistan.
• Commander, 83rd Ordnance Battalion, Japan.
• (and) Chief of Logistics, 25th Infantry Division and Multi-National Division-North, Iraq.
Upon retirement from the Army, he accepted the position of Chief of Operations with the Logistics Data Analysis Center, Army Materiel Command, Redstone Arsenal, AL.
In 2020, Joel purchased 75 acres of land in Moulton, Alabama, and embarked on a journey to establish a working cattle ranch, driven by a need to build something lasting with his own two hands. His vision didn’t stop at personal fulfillment. He began to realize the profound therapeutic benefits of working the land, the grounding power of physical labor, and the sense of purpose that came from providing for oneself. It struck him that this experience could be incredibly valuable for others, especially those who had served our country and were navigating the challenges of transitioning back to civilian life. This realization led to Joe’s most meaningful venture: the establishment of Rally Point Veterans’ Ranch, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering veterans through comprehensive sustainable living skills training.
It is a high privilege to have Joel on the podcast, and we know you’re going to enjoy learning more about him and his story.
Takeaways:
- The WWIA Podcast serves to honor and support America's combat-wounded Veterans, fostering healing and connection.
- Colonel Joel T. Suenkel, a dedicated Veteran, shares his transformative journey into cattle ranching.
- The establishment of Rally Point Veterans Ranch emphasizes empowering veterans with sustainable living skills.
- The podcast highlights the challenges Veterans face during their transition to civilian life after military service.
- The conversation underscores the therapeutic benefits of engaging with the land and livestock for Veterans' mental health.
- Listeners are encouraged to support the WWIA Foundation and its mission to benefit Wounded Warriors.
Transcript
Begin.
Narrator:Hello and welcome to the WWIA Podcast. We're honored to have you join us in our mission to bring honor, connection and healing to America's combat wounded Purple Heart heroes.
If this is your first time listening to this podcast, we welcome you. If you're a returning listener. Thanks for coming back.
Please be sure to tell others about our podcast and leave us a review if you're enjoying what you're hearing on this week's episode. WWIA Founder and CEO John McDaniel is proud to welcome a great American patriot and one of his closest lifelong friends to the podcast.
nguished military graduate in:He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Armor Branch and went on to graduate from the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College Fellowship Program.
Joel holds a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of Phoenix and during his 28 year career in the army held a number of key positions to Strategic Plans Chief for stabilization force 11, Bosnia Herzegovina, operation Joint Forge, Joint Logistics Command, Operations Officer, Combined joint Task Force 76, Afghanistan, Commander 83rd Ordnance Battalion, Japan, and Chief of Logistics, 25th Infantry Division and Multinational Division North, Iraq.
Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. In:Driven by a need to build something lasting with his own two hands, his vision didn't stop at personal fulfillment.
He began to realize the profound therapeutic benefits of working the land, the grounding power of physical labor, and the sense of purpose that came from providing for oneself.
It struck him that this experience could be incredibly valuable for others, especially those who had served our country and were navig navigating the challenges of transitioning back to civilian life.
This realization led to Joel's most meaningful venture, the establishment of Raleigh Point Veterans Ranch, a non profit organization dedicated to empowering veterans through comprehensive sustainable living skills training. It's a high privilege to have Joel on the podcast and we know you're going to enjoy learning more about him and his story.
Let's jump right into the conversation with John and Joel now.
John McDaniel: geez, it's early part of July:We first met what, middle school, I think seventh grade. Seventh grade. Webster Stanley. Webster Stanley, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. So with me today is Joel Sunkel. He is a.
His military career, I think, was more illustrious than mine. He went on to serve for what, 28 years.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:28 and some change.
John McDaniel:Yeah, 28 and some change. And made it to the rank of full colonel. But here's the best part of this. You and I went to basic training together. We were privates together.
Together on Tank Hill in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in the same platoon. Basic training.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Right, Same platoon. And we were both squad leaders.
John McDaniel:Squid leaders together.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Sure were.
John McDaniel:What a great story that is. So our platoon, our drill sergeant was a guy by the name of Sergeant Lyle. And he was an old infantryman. He was a stray leg infantryman.
u know, wow. I mean, that was: nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel: Yep,: John McDaniel:1983. It's crazy. You know, we share stories about that all the time, you know.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah.
John McDaniel:And then we went on and became officers and, you know, served our country. I did for 20, Joel did for 28. You were, you're a professional logistician. Right. But you started out as a tanker.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Started out as a tanker for. Well, I got commissioned and my first duty assignment was in Korea. Yeah. And I was a tanker through that tour, which was about two years.
And then funny enough, talking about going to basic training, when I PCs from Korea, I went back to Fort Jackson, back to basic training as a company.
John McDaniel:Commander or as a captain.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Company XO as a training.
John McDaniel:Right back to where we started. What was your impression when you got there? Were you like, holy crap.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:So they don't keep, they don't keep soldiers on Tank Hill anymore. They keep them in these new.
John McDaniel:Yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:You know, so when we were, when.
John McDaniel:We were there, it was World War II barracks.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah, yeah. And they're still. Well, they were at that time, but they weren't being. Well, they were utilized when reservists came in for two weeks at a time.
But as far as, you know, soldiers rotating through basic training, they had new facilities at that time, but yeah. Anyway, back to tanker and logistician. So it was during that tour as a company XO that I did a branch transfer to logistics.
Well, back, back in those days, logistics had different branches within it. Now it's just logistics. So I went to be an ammunition officer.
John McDaniel:Okay.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:So I was an ammunition officer until.
John McDaniel:Beans and bullets, man.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Well, okay, so within the Ordinance Corps, there was ammunition and there was maintenance. I went the ammunition route and then I can't remember what year it was.
John McDaniel:I didn't know that.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And then at some point, whenever they combined, you know, quartermaster, ordinance, transportation into the logistics Corps, that's when I switched.
John McDaniel:But you met your lifelong bride, Young sue, when you were in Korea, right?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I did.
John McDaniel:Got married, have two boys who are now in their mid.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Well, they're one's 32, one's 34.
John McDaniel:Okay, so early 30. And Jacob is the youngest and he.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:He's currently on active duty.
John McDaniel:Yeah. As a engineer.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:He's an engineer combat.
John McDaniel:Yeah. Very, very fine officer from what I understand. Very good, Very good. Wow. Yeah. So we just got off the water, by the way. So we're in Apollo Beach.
We're in my house. We're recording this here. It's a hot July day. We got out on the water about 9 o' clock this morning. Bait was everywhere, but it was hard to catch.
And so we went out to this, I guess it's a tower, they call it a tower. It's near Apollo Beach. It's a big navigational tower and it usually holds bait.
So we got some bait there and ended up seeing big, you know, big fish on the. Getting marking big fish on the sonar.
So I put one of these big old slab thread fin herrings that we caught in the net, cast net on a jig head and ran it down and we were just drifting and all of a sudden I picked up the rod and it's doubling over. And I was like, surprised, very surprised that we had something that large. But Joel, chime in here, man. And we fought that fish.
We fought it for an hour. And at a trade off multiple times, right?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:At least five times.
John McDaniel:At least five times it was on for an hour. And I was. And as we were battling this beast, and this is all on light tackle, 20 pound test. Okay.
I had 20 pound braid, 20 pound fluorocarbon tippet material on there. And you know, a custom rod from Chippewa, custom rods. Thanks, Tommy. That rod did amazing, by the way.
And a pen slammer on there, an open face pen slammer. And we fought that fish for an hour. And I was like, I don't know what this is.
And about halfway through the battle, this giant tarpon, probably 150 pound tarpon, I'm not kidding, porpoises comes clean out of the water five feet from the boat, Right. And we looked at each other, and I thought it was the fish maybe, but you know, that. That's. That it had.
It had come up and bellied the line and porpoise right in front of the boat. Jumped right in front of the boat, but it wasn't.
And so, long story short, you know, we finally get this thing up after an hour off the bottom, and I said, I think, you know, it might be, you know, one of those sawfish. It might be.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:You put a hair up through its back.
John McDaniel:Yeah, I did. I had to. I was going to leave that part out, but now that it's. Now that it's being. But hey, it big. I reckon it was between 70 and 90 pounds. Okay.
There was no way we were going to get that. That thing aboard without some assistance, so I did bring my bow with me.
And so it's an unregulated species, and so the only way we got it in was that way. But anyway, what a giant, beautiful fish. So we had a good time. Now we came back and we're doing this podcast. But here's what I want to talk about.
I got Joel with me here, obviously at my house, and he served our country, did an amazing job. And now you're still a contractor. I want to talk a little bit about that maybe, too.
But you bought some land a few years ago, and you told me you were going to do this. I said, what are you doing with that land? You're like, I'm going to start raising cattle. I'm going to be a cattle rancher.
I'm like, what the hell do you know about cattle ranching? You go, nothing. I don't know anything, but I'm going to learn. And you dang sure did. Didn't you tell us about that, man?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:So, yeah, it was about. It's probably been four years ago. Four years ago, I bought the land.
Now it took me a year to prepare the land to be able to receive cattle on it because I had to put watering systems in there.
John McDaniel:How'd you learn about that?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Well, number. Number one, my. My son. My oldest son Joshua is.
It works for the USDA up in Wisconsin, specifically in the nrcs, which is a natural resource conservation something. And he knows. He knows of all these programs that the NRCS will support local farmers with.
And he told me, you know, hey, you need to get with your local nrcs. They can help you get your land set up to receive cattle.
So I went down there, and I happen to have just this NRCS OPS that works in Moulton, Alabama.
John McDaniel:You're in Alabama?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I'm in Alabama. I live in Madison. The farm is in malton, which is 45 minutes drive from my home.
John McDaniel:I've been there.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:You have?
John McDaniel:It's nice property.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And so I went down to the NRCS office and said, yeah, we do cost shares on these programs. And here's the things you're going to need to get cattle on there. Number one, you need to water them because. And they discourage ponds, right?
John McDaniel:A lot of stagnant water. Yep.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:But they discourage that because it's just not good for the environment. It's not good for the cattle.
John McDaniel:No.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:They're pissing and shitting on it all day long and then drinking them. So we put in these water. Water wells.
John McDaniel:That's all defecating and urinating.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah. Is that what I said?
John McDaniel:Yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I don't know what defecating means. That's H. But yeah, they, they, they told me how to put in that.
John McDaniel:So you got to put a well in, or is this, Is this.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I, I, I'm off of meter. Off a county meter.
John McDaniel:Okay.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I put it in.
John McDaniel:You pipe in city water. But it, it's on demand when they need it or what?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:It's on demand. It's kind of like, you know, it's got a float in it that automatically feeds when.
John McDaniel:So why are you doing this? Why did you do that?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Why did I do that?
John McDaniel:I know you got an idea. We'll talk about your idea in a little bit, but why'd you do that? Yeah, why did you do that?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Well, again, I mean, because I've always, as, you know, we love the outdoors.
John McDaniel:Yes.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Just being outside.
John McDaniel:That's right.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And you also remember, well, when, When John and I were young in, say, high school.
John McDaniel:Oh, yeah. You're gonna talk.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:We went hunting at my uncle's farm.
John McDaniel:Uncle Norby.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Uncle Norbert. And Norbert always had cattle, if you remember.
John McDaniel:He did.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:He had Herefords.
John McDaniel:Mm.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And I just kind of, you know. You know, at the time, was I interested about the cattle? No. But I guess as time passes, it just.
John McDaniel:Do you, do you remember that time that he put us in the back of the. It was a combine or something. I don't know what it was. It was. He was. He was harvesting corn. Remember that?
And the corn was flying back into this bin that we were in and getting waylaid by this corn.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah.
John McDaniel:We were shooting arrow at his hay bales. I mean, we had so much fun. He had 40 acres, and we would go up there and we would hunt and.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:No, he had hundreds of acres. We hunted 40 acres.
John McDaniel:Oh, that was his 40 or. No, that was your parents 40, wasn't it?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Well, in the future. But back when we were in high school, he owned that 40 and he owned probably 300 acres surrounding.
John McDaniel:Oh, I didn't see. I didn't know that.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah. So he used to be a crop farmer.
John McDaniel:And, you know, I went to go find that place. When I go by it, I go by Westfield every time I go to camp, you know, and I. And I've drove, I've taken the off road to try to find his old farmhouse.
And I think I. I'm always thinking, I think I know that's. That's it, but I'm not sure someday we should go there. And when I drive, is it still.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:There when I go to see my son up in Wisconsin?
John McDaniel:Yeah. Is it still there?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I see the farmhouse is still there.
John McDaniel:Yeah. And that. That restaurant that we used to go to, it's still the pioneer.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And the pioneer dude still standing up.
John McDaniel:It is, it is. So. So you had this idea, you know, but you like to be outside, but cattle, I mean, you could.
I mean, you're growing mushrooms over, you know, you got all kinds of stuff going on there, man. But what are you doing with the cattle?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Okay, the cattle. So I had. I knew I wanted to do cattle because I had, you know, to be honest with you, I thought, you can ask my wife.
I talked about when I retire, I want to raise cattle. I don't know why you said that.
John McDaniel:For a long time.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I said it for a long time.
John McDaniel:You like. You like steak?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I like steak. So I guess I want to raise cattle. So.
John McDaniel:That's funny.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:So I got out, I retired, I bought that land. You know, not as quick as I just said that.
John McDaniel:Right.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I mean, it took a little time. Yeah, yeah. So then I had to decide, do I want to go into a cow calf operation or feeder cattle operation and a cow.
John McDaniel:What's the difference?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Well, cow calf operation is where you have your, you know, your base set of cows.
John McDaniel:Yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Female.
John McDaniel:They're just producing calves and they produce calves.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And you either one, grow those calves to butcher them when they get big enough.
John McDaniel:About 350 or 400, 500.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:No, I try to get them between a thousand and twelve.
John McDaniel:Oh, you got them that big?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Thousand to twelve hundred pounds before they go to the butcher.
John McDaniel:Okay. But a lot of guys are buying them at 250, 300, and then sell them at a thousand and they're probably.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Going to feeder lots.
John McDaniel:Yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel: them on feed and grow them to: John McDaniel:Right.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And that's the, that's the other half that I was going to tell you. So I'm the cow calf guy.
John McDaniel:Yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel: calves, they'll grow them to: John McDaniel:So you, and your, your land has got deer on it and turkey. I mean, it's, it's prime Alabama country for deer and wild game and whatnot.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I mean, it's, it's, you know, you don't see the deer there that you see in northern Wisconsin up at Camp Hackett, but you see deer as you can.
John McDaniel:Oh, yeah. Well, you let me and Dylan. Dylan, my oldest son, shot his first, you know, deer on your property. And I'm, you know, completely honored by them.
It was a very, I mean, one of the greatest experiences of my life, you know, certainly as a dad. And to do that on your property, I mean, that was, that was very cool. I really appreciate it. And Dylan certainly talks about that all the time.
But anyhow, so you have this idea that you've shared with me that we've been chatting about over the last, I don't know, some time, but certainly this weekend we spent a lot of time talking about it where you want to give back. And we know that veterans in general can struggle.
Some of them do struggle a lot with this transition from the service, whether they were in for three years or 30 years. It's an identity issue. A lot of them don't know who they should be once they get out, what should I do?
And especially after a combat experience, I think that idea is certainly more, you know, it's intensified. Who am I? What do I want to do? Who should I be? You know, all these really, you know, very basic questions.
But you have this idea that you want to help them transition. You want to talk about that a little bit? I think it's great. You're considering starting a charity, Right. You have Rally Point Ranch.
That's what you call it, right? Rally Point. So tell us about that, Joel.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:So how I, I mean, to be honest with you, how I got the idea was from you. You know, we, we probably.
You have, you have mentioned that to me for, I mean, well, I followed your foundation for years, of course, and you've been doing this for years. But you, you said to me, I don't know if it's two, three Four years ago, you know, you should, you should think about, I mean, it was.
I don't know if it's your idea, but you had the idea that, you know, you could, you could do some type of charity with this ranch and Yeah, I, I always nodded my head and say, you're right. And I never did anything with it because to be honest with you, I mean, I.
So right now I'm still working full time for the army, not as a soldier, but as a civilian and also trying to maintain that ranch.
John McDaniel:It's a lot of work.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I didn't have the bandwidth to put the effort into it. But now my son who is in the army, decided that he wants to take a different route in life, so he's going to be transitioning.
And he, you know, him and I were talking and I said, did you ever think about doing something with a ranch? And he says, yeah, that's exactly what I want to do, but I didn't want to ask you and impose on you.
John McDaniel:What a wonderful son. Yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And I said, well, no, I'd love it. So. So he's going to be going through the transition too. Right. All he's done his adult life has been in the army.
John McDaniel:So he's a leader. Yeah, he's command. He commanded as a company commander, as.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:An engineer, two commands, command. And then, you know, the hhc, which.
John McDaniel:They don't give that to, that's the second command.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Right.
John McDaniel:They give that to the best guys. They get that. Yeah, that's good. That's good.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:So he said, yeah, we do. So we decided, you know, what is it that we want to do? And actually, this was his idea. He goes, I want to help. I want to help people.
I want to help soldiers who are getting out of the army that don't know what to do with their lives and help them in transition. And you know what a. Not everyone's going to get out of the army and become ranchers, you know, cattle farmers. It's not easy, to be honest with you.
John McDaniel:Yeah, you got to have some capital to get some land and cows aren't free.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:But there are, there are quite a few people who would be interested because there's nothing more calming than working out there with your cattle. You're just out there with your cat.
John McDaniel:That's right.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I mean, there's a sense of calmness about it and satisfaction.
John McDaniel:Right.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:When you're taking care of your cows, you're watching calves be burnt, etc. Etc.
John McDaniel:Yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:So, I mean, that's. So why not, why not bring in veterans and kind of, you know, our focus would be.
Our focus would be primarily, you know, showing them how to ranch cattle, to be honest with you.
John McDaniel:Well, you know, I gotta. I gotta tell you, you know, I was thinking about that, man, and I was thinking, you know, Alabama, first off, I love Alabama. Alabama is just a great.
There are great people in Alabama, and we've got a couple. We've got a mission in Alabama now, and I've got a lot of good friends. Matt Brandon and who? His crew. Yeah, you did. You did meet him. Yeah.
And they're just tremendous folk.
And I would imagine that when people start hearing or when people hear that there's a charity out there that's going to help veterans in their transition, and you're going to do that.
The stepping stone for that is teaching them or making them aware of this idea of ranching the land, because it doesn't just have to be cattle, but that's what you do. And you've got so many people that'll, I think, eventually get behind you to help veterans.
There's a lot of people actually already kind of doing that, this agricultural piece, transition with veterans.
I know my phone's going to start ringing off the hook as soon as we launch this podcast, but we have people in our network, I think, that are going to want to help you, and I think you're going to end up with a lot of help, and I think that's great. And you can. Obviously, one of the hooks there can be, you can fish and hunt with them on your land mostly.
Probably hunt, because I don't think you have a pond. But this idea of getting veterans together, this connecting them with each other and giving them a path. Teach a man to.
The old proverb, teach a man to fish. Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime. And that's kind of the basic idea.
But I don't think you're going to be short at all on people wanting to help you and veterans interested in getting into your program. I think it's going to be wildly successful, especially with somebody like you and your son running it.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I would hope so. And as you know, of course, I couldn't just. I mean, we do more than just, you know, ranch cattle, too.
I mean, if you ask, you know, a cattle farmer, you know, what kind of farmer is it? What kind of farmer are you? Normally they say a grass farmer.
John McDaniel:Really?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Your grass is one of your most important. I mean, you gotta take care of.
John McDaniel:Your grass because that's what they eat, you know, up in Wisconsin. You know what's funny is you probably realize this. They take those fields and they cut them. They call it hay. It's grass. It's native grass.
And then they bail it up and they put it in, like, wrap it in cellophane or whatever. They wrap it in plastic so that in the wintertime they can feed their cattle.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah, I do that.
John McDaniel:You do that. Why would you do that? When your grass goes year round in Alabama, I don't get.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Goes dormant.
John McDaniel:It does. Your grass in Alabama goes dormant.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah, I have to feed. I have to feed hay. Not at the length that they do in Wisconsin, but from usually mid November to the end of March, I'm feeding hay.
John McDaniel:Really? But that's what you call it hay.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah.
John McDaniel:That you've. You've caught and bailed.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah.
John McDaniel:Do you got a baler?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:My neighbor does.
John McDaniel:You use his baler?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I. I have a. I have a hay cutter. I have a rake. You need three things. You need a. Yeah, you need a mower.
John McDaniel:Yeah. You use your brush hog to mow it.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:No, you need a hay mower really.
John McDaniel:Just to cut grass just cuts it up too much.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:It's just gonna pulverize it. You need a nice clean. That cuts it clean.
John McDaniel:How much do you let it grow before you cut it?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:You let it. You let it get up to about knee high. And then there's different philosophies out there, too. At what time do you cut it?
Do you cut it when it's all green or do you let the. Do you let it seed out, let the seeds fall onto the ground for next year?
John McDaniel:Right.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And then cut it. My neighbor, who I've learned everything from, my neighbor's name is Tommy and he's a cattle farmer and has been his entire life. He's.
John McDaniel:Is this the electrician dude?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah. He's roughly 70 years old. So everything I know about raising cattle is from him. So his philosophy is you let the grass seed out and then.
And then you cut it.
John McDaniel:So.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:In fact, when I get back from next week, when I get back from visiting you, I'm going to be cutting hay, cutting my grass and making bales. But for the.
John McDaniel:For November through what? Yeah, January or something like that. February before it started. I can't believe I didn't know that the grass goes dormant.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I thought it's brown. It was brown when you were there.
John McDaniel:Yeah, I guess you're right. I didn't think about it. I just thought you were a bad grass farmer.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:No, actually, I Spend quite. I spend a lot of time on my grass.
John McDaniel:That's interesting.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Fertilizing, weed killing.
John McDaniel:Yeah. And then now. But you're also selling. I mean you're butchering some of your cattle now and selling it, right?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:The heifer calves, the female calves. I will usually I'll keep them for six months till they're weaned off their mom.
John McDaniel:Yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And then I'll, I'll take them to auction. And right now cattle prices are incredibly high. I mean you could sell.
, $: John McDaniel:Well, there's a shortage right now.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:That's how steep beef prices are.
John McDaniel:Yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Now the bulls, the bulls I'll grow out, I'll put them on, I separate them, keep them separate and grow them out to a thousand twelve hundred pounds and then I'll butcher them and I sell, I usually sell a quarter, a quarter steer, so you know, I cut them up into fours and I sell it. And to be honest with you, I never have had to advertise. I mean, I'm having one butchered the day after I get back from here.
That steer has been sold for months now. People have bought the quarters.
John McDaniel:How do they know about it? How do they find out about that right there locally, it's going to get some assimilators going to consume it for child, for their family.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:People are grass. I wouldn't say grass. You see in the grocery store it says grass fed beef, right? Well, yeah, every cow is grass fed. I mean every single one.
So it means nothing.
John McDaniel:Right.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:But the point is people are turning more and more to local farmers for their beef because it's not injected with byproducts, hormones and all that other, you know, where it's coming from. Every calf, every, every bull I sell for me has been born and raised on my ranch.
And I can, I can guarantee you there's never been a single shot put into one of those. The only.
John McDaniel:It's organic, Right. And we can call it organic, right?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah. You know, I don't know all the rules of organic, you know, but it's.
John McDaniel:Sounds pretty organic to me. Interesting. Well, that's great, man.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Because they use fertilizer. I'm like, they're eating fertilizer? I don't know, I don't know. But the point being.
The point being this is that the beef sold from local farmers and myself is so much higher quality than what you get in a grocery store.
John McDaniel:I'm sure that is.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:It's not as. You know, it doesn't look as pretty because they put food. They put dyes in that red meat in the grocery store to make it.
John McDaniel:Look appetizing nice and red.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Put it under special lighting so it makes it look even more red.
John McDaniel:Well, I'm impressed by what you've done in such a short period of time, Joel. It's really quite incredible. And. And like you said, you're still working full time.
You did 28 years in active duty, and then you got out and started, went back to the army and working as a contractor. How long have you been doing that?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Well, I'm not a contractor.
John McDaniel:I beg your pardon. Yeah, but people don't know what that means. That means you work for the army as a civilian, but you're a GS14, which is the equivalent of a what?
Colonel.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Lieutenant colonel.
John McDaniel:Lieutenant colonel. And the next level is GS15. And then it goes SES after that, which is like a general officer equivalent.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And I mean, I have.
John McDaniel:You're not doing that. Yeah, I understand.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I don't have time. Yeah, I'm pretty comfortable.
John McDaniel:Well, let's switch gears and talk about. This is a curveball for you. Go back to. How about your favorite. Your favorite. Oh, man, I don't even want to say favorite John McDaniel story.
That's no good. That's probably not. We probably don't want to go there, but favorite story that involved both basic training or something else.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I'm sorry. You put me on the spot. Now let me think.
John McDaniel:I got one for you. Okay. Okay. All right. I got.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Always spin offs.
John McDaniel:Of course. Yeah. So I've got one. This one happened when we were in basic training. We were both privates. You got selected squad leader right off the bat.
And I did not. And I noted it. Trust me, I noted it. You know, I was like, all right, you know, his squad leader. What was there, three squads?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I think four.
John McDaniel:Four squad leaders was senior squad leader Morgan.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Oh, yeah, Morgan.
John McDaniel:So he didn't do anything besides be big in himself. But anyway, so there was three actual squad leaders and then the senior squad leader, Morgan. So that's how that worked.
But I remember you got selected early, and I was like, okay, you know, I wonder when I'm going to get my head nod, you know? And so finally, eventually, he fired somebody else and then put me in as squad Leader. I'm like, okay, now the world is right again.
Joel and I are leading. Each leading a squad right as it should be, you know? And so I remember Sergeant Lyle one day, pulled us, the two of us, maybe you'll remember.
We had just got out of the field. We were doing something, and he sat on the old steps of the cement steps of the World War II barracks. And I always had a rubber band.
I have one in my hand right now. It's funny, but he always had a rubber band, and he was always twisting it between his fingers, you know?
And so he had this rubber band in his hand, and he called us both. He goes, squid Leader, come here. Come here, you two. He's called the Squid Leaders. Not squad leader. Squid leader. Come here, Squid Leader.
And he pulls us over, and he's sitting on the steps, and we're standing there at probably parade rest, and he puts us at ease. And then he says, I want to tell you guys something right now. I've never had two squad leaders make it all the way through. Get out of here.
And we left. That was all he wanted to tell us. He pulled me and you.
Not the senior squad leader, not the other squad leader, whoever that was, but just the two of us. Fricking Frack called us over and told us that he'd never had two squad leaders make it all the way through basic training. And we did it.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Well, I'll tell you. Okay, here's an example of that, of why that was.
John McDaniel:Yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Do you remember this? We're. We're probably. We're. I mean, I don't. We were probably in the marksmanship phase, and we were probably just got done with a.
With a rock march back from the range to the Bears. And for some, maybe, maybe not. Maybe we came back early, but I think it was lunchtime.
Anyway, the point being, everybody in the tune to include the drill sergeants. You know, their boot. You know what your boots look like.
John McDaniel:After you've been marching through. They're covered in.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:They're just covered in dirt.
John McDaniel:Yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And we got back and, you know, it was lunchtime, and, you know, everyone goes to lunch. And if I remember correctly, you had.
John McDaniel:Whatever, 10, 15, smoke after lunch, smoke break time, something like that.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Sit back on the bleachers and shoot the.
John McDaniel:Right.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:You went into the barracks and we brush shined our boots. You remember that?
John McDaniel:I do.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And they were shiny. And then they called us to formation. And we're the only. Everyone in that formation had dusty boots except you and me had shiny boots on.
I remember Senator Miles. So damn proud of us. He called. Do you remember? He called.
John McDaniel:That might be when he called us over.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:He called. He called the other drill sergeants over. Look at those two.
John McDaniel:I don't remember that, but that's cool. Do you remember that one senior drill sergeant, the guy that was the Vietnam, he had a cib. Scary. Scary. I don't remember, but he was scary looking.
And he. Yeah, I thought, let me tell you this story. I'll tell a story because I don't think I've ever told it before, maybe, but I don't recall.
Anyway, so we were standing in formation and it was early in basic training, like week one or two. And we went there in the summer. So we're in South Carolina, Port Jackson in the summer. It's August, it's July, August. It's brutal, right?
And all of a sudden, Sir Lyle tone dance. And we snapped. And he goes, you know, the big, big smokey, the brown hair, the drill di hat. Morning, sir.
And he cocks his head a little bit and kicks out a really nice salute. And I was like, what just happened? And I'm looking out of the corner of my eye, not moving because we're still at attention, you know. And then he.
And he gives us that ease and I kind of. I turn around and I look and here's this young snot nosed cadet who was a cadet, wasn't even a lieutenant. He had a shiny little pip on his.
I swear to God, on his hat and on his lapel. And I just remember thinking to myself, sergeant Lyle just called all of us to attention and saluted that dude that looks like a punk, you know?
He did. He just looked like a little snot nosed punk. And I just thought to myself, what's that all about?
I honestly, I didn't even know the difference between an officer and enlisted. I had no clue. Right.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:You always did fail the flashcard.
John McDaniel:Yeah, I did. Yeah. I failed the flashcard test. Do you remember those little. Those bags we had to carry?
Remember those bags squad leaders had to carry These little army green bags that had had all the training material in it for hip pocket training flashcards and whatnot. Yeah. Anyway, remember the. Also we had two canteens as squad leaders. Salt. Salt water. How about that? We used to.
That was real good for you, the salt water. And you were to give. It wasn't. It was for your guys. Is anybody passed out on you?
Which guys did all the time back then, you know, started to get woozy from heat stroke. You just give him salt water. That's a good idea. Let's give him some salt water. True story, right?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah.
John McDaniel:Yeah, true.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I hope that's a recommended course of action.
John McDaniel:I don't believe it is. Just pour salt in the canteen, put add water. Some dudes passed out on the side of the road. Just pour it in his mouth. It'll be all right.
That's just too funny, man. I swear. But I think, honest to God, because after we graduated basic training and went back to college, I joined the rotc. That got me out of.
I joined the ROTC as a junior. I mean, I didn't have to go to freshman sophomore year. Rotc, joined as a junior.
And so now you're ahead of your peer group by quite a bit because basic training was awesome to learn about the army and the cadets that go to rotc. They, you know, they don't. You know, they have to learn.
You know, I mean, they might go to basic camp or something, but they're not going to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, Tank Hill. Yeah. Interesting. Well, Joel, I appreciate you very, very much, buddy. I always have admired you and your service to this nation.
You went on and made the rank of colonel right below general. I mean, that's an amazing accomplishment. You've got a beautiful family, and you and I have been best of buds forever.
And I do appreciate you sharing your story with us. And I want to wish you all the best of luck out there, you know, doing your thing with Rally Point Ranch. And, you know, we're here for you.
I got an amazing network of people that'll, I'm sure, have got their wheels turning already on how, you know, we can, you know, get behind you and help you if you choose to go down that road in earnest. You know, I think it's a great idea you've got and appreciate your time today. I'll give you the last whack at the pinata there, Bunny.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Well, I guess my. My last. What I'm kind of excited to get into. And I appreciate you. You know, I don't think John said. But the. Certainly not.
The sole purpose of the strip down to see John was to talk about nonprofit. But that was, you know, the driving thing because I'm starting to get serious about it now.
I come to see anyway because it's fun to hang out, but, yeah, I'm looking forward to, you know, getting involved in it, helping people transition. I mean, I do, you know, I've seen. I've seen the great things that wounded warriors in action have done.
And, you know, I guess I'd like to be part of it. And here's something for. Here's something for the people. Listen to this. It's incredible the amount of things.
You and I have done the same in our lives.
John McDaniel:Oh, yeah.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I mean, when we were kids, what you did, I did what I did.
John McDaniel:You did all of it. We wrestled, baseball, football, baseball, Went to college, joined ROTC.
Well, went to basic training, then joined ROTC, became commissioned, served our country for, in my case, 20 years. You for 28. And our big time sportsman. We used to hunt, fish. We just did everything together, man. We each have two boys.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Yeah, we each have two boys. I'm always like a step behind you. And some people may look at that as you know, that's not true.
You're more of a risk taker, a leader, but it's not really like you. You went into ROTC probably a year before I did. And that's because really, look at this. Look at this guy. You know, he ain't gonna beat me.
So I went into rotc and then both in the army, our careers. And he retired as a lieutenant colonel. I said, watch this, watch this.
John McDaniel:Yeah, I figured you were. I figured you were.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And so now. And then you started your Wounded warriors of Action.
And now I'm coming in behind, but back to back, some people may say, well, John's really kind of guy, but it's not. I. I let you do go first. So I see.
John McDaniel:So where I screw up and then make it better, it's a mistake. Then there you go. There you go. Well, I certainly. My perspective is different than your perspective on a lot of that, but.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:And I'd also like to. One last thing.
John McDaniel:There's no time limit. This is our show.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I don't remember what you said about. John was talking about our fishing trip this morning. Some of what he said was true. We were out fishing and.
And we did hook onto a very large stingray. But I remember hooking them and I remember for real. I remember handing John the bowl just so he could see what it felt like.
But the majority of the time I was fighting it. And John was sitting there watching.
John McDaniel:What?
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:Okay, that's how I remember.
John McDaniel:That's. Well, you know, history is best remembered by those who write or talk about it. But if that's the story you want to go with, we'll go with that. Joel.
That works for me. But, you know, I'll tell you, for the longest part, I'm just being honest.
You know, that when we hooked into that thing and he made his first couple of runs I had no idea what that was. And that was a giant. That was a giant stingray. It really was. Just. Because normally if it's a big stingray, you can get it up.
You can get it up off the bottom of the ocean. And this one was just not doing that. And it was making runs for us. So it was. I wasn't exactly sure.
I thought maybe, like I said, it was a, you know, one of those, you know, sawtooth sharks or something like that big skate. I don't know. Anyway, lots of experience.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I mean, I. Yeah, it's like I have never.
John McDaniel:We won.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:I've never fought a fish.
John McDaniel:Yeah. Yeah. And we returned him safely to the water. He had a little mark on him, but he was good to go. Just. Yeah. Well, he's got a story now, too.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:He does. Well, from what I understand, you know, the female stingrays think that's pretty cool.
John McDaniel:He's a wounded stingray. He's a veteran now. Awesome. Well, hey, listen, Joel, you're going to do great things. Honored to have you here.
It was a great day to day and thanks for being on the program, buddy. We genuinely appreciate it.
nel (Retired) Joel T. Suenkel:All right, thanks, John. Appreciate it.
Narrator:Thank you for listening to the WWIA podcast.
To learn more about the Wounded warriors in Action foundation and how you can get involved, please visit our website@wwiaf.org or follow us on Media Social social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you'd like to comment or offer feedback about our podcast or if you have a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at podcast@wwiaf.org
Narrator:Thank you for your support and for helping us honor, connect and heal our combat wounded Purple Heart heroes through the power of the great outdoors.
