Interview with Richard Kaufman; What is the Power of We?
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Grab your $.99 copy of \\u201cA Hero\\u2019s Journey: From Darkness to Light,\\u201d by Richard Kaufman
Join Richard and I for a quick chat as we discuss the power of \\u201cwe\\u201d, choices, and rebounding.
Richard Kaufman\'s first couple of years in the military were so turbulent that he fell into a spiral of alcoholism and drug use, earning him a one-way trip out of the Army after just two years on active duty. \\xa0Ultimately though he retired from the National Guard after a 24-year career.
Drinking heavily isn\\u2019t exactly unheard of in the Army, but Kaufman took it to another level. He\'s an alcoholic. He also took a liking to lysergic acid diethylamide, also known as acid or LSD.\\xa0
Kaufman, 50, first enlisted in the Army in 1986 and signed up to be a tanker, but shortly reclassified to a cavalry scout. Kaufman says he began drinking at 12-years-old, but it was at Fort Hood, Texas, his first duty station, where he says he "learned to drink professionally" and "get\\xa0hooked on acid.\\u201d\\xa0
Today, it might seem absolutely insane for soldiers to casually drop acid a few times a month, but it was a problem of the times. A 1985 Defense Department\\xa0survey of health-related behavior among the military\\xa0found that about 9 percent of all service members had used an illegal drug in the past 30 days.\\xa0
\\u201cPretty much every other weekend, if I wasn\\u2019t in the field, I was either drinking or drugging,\\u201d says Kaufman. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he was chaptered out of the Army in 1988, receiving an Other Than Honorable discharge for \\u201cnon-conforming to military standards.\\u201d\\xa0
Little did he know that essentially being told he wasn\\u2019t cut out for the Army would set him on a path to recovery and healing, but not before a run-in with the law.\\xa0
His first job after getting out of the Army was at a bar in New Jersey that his friend owned. After just a few months on the job, he was asked to work on New Year\\u2019s Eve, easily one of the most lucrative nights of the year for any establishment selling booze. Kaufman jumped at the opportunity to get a big payday, but as an active alcoholic, he was drinking on the job. A lot.\\xa0
So much, in fact, that instead of depositing the $5,000 in cash at the bank, he stole it. \\u201cI was just so drunk that I took all of the money,\\u201d he says. The bar owner, who was also a police officer, by the way, gave him an ultimatum: either go to jail or start going to meetings.
Kaufman opted for the ladder, and attended 90 meetings in 90 days, enough to make anyone\\u2019s head spin. And it worked\\u2014he hasn\\u2019t had a drink or taken any illegal drugs since.\\xa0
By the early \\u201990s, he had been sober for a few years and had his life on track. That\\u2019s when he decided that he didn\\u2019t get enough of what the Army had to offer and enlisted as an infantryman, this time in the National Guard.\\xa0
He served in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina state Guards until 2012 when a freak accident ended his military career for good. Kaufman was helping one of his friends park an up-armored Humvee as a ground guide, a task nearly every soldier performs.
But in this case, the driver thought he was stepping on the breaks when he actually slammed his foot on the gas, running over Kaufman\\u2019s entire right side of his body. The accident left him blind in his left eye, but he survived, a detail Kaufman says was possible because he was wearing a Kevlar helmet.\\xa0
\\u201cThe Army said, if you can\\u2019t shoot a gun, we can\\u2019t keep you,\\u201d adds Kaufman. \\u201cI would have done 30 years if I didn\\u2019t get hurt.\\u201d\\xa0
So, in 2012 he left the Army for good.\\xa0
Fitness has always a big part of Kaufman\\u2019s life, even when he was struggling with addiction. Today, he manages a GNC store in New Jersey where he\\xa0helps other veterans who either want to get back in shape or battling those same demons he was able to fight off.\\xa0
And he does it primarily on social media. Kaufman is a proud member of\\xa0Vetrepreneur Tribe, a Facebook group that bills itself as, \\u201cthe World\\u2019s Largest Community of Military Veteran Entrepreneurs to EVER exist!\\u201d\\xa0
Kaufman goes on Facebook live every Friday, sometimes from the GNC if it\'s slow, for what he calls \\u201cFitness Fridays\\u201d where he touches on everything from diabetes, to nutrition, to weightlifting, and yes, even mental health care. And the results speak for themselves, he\'s helped several of his veteran friends, including one who Kaufman helped shed more than 40 pounds.
\\u201cI just want to get veterans healthy again, in any way possible,\\u201d says Kaufman. \\u201cEspecially guys that are dealing with (post-traumatic-stress and traumatic brain injury), and any kind of addiction issues,\\u201d something he is intimately familiar with.\\xa0
It\\u2019s gotten to the point where when any of the nearly 14,000-strong Facebook group members post anything about addiction, recovery, weight loss, or other wellness, the Tribe will tag him in it, asking for Kaufman to weigh in with his expertise. Andrew O\'Brien, founder of Vetrepreneur Tribe, says, "Richard is the most involved Tribe member we have."\\xa0
"He is always coming in and providing advice and value to the other members."\\xa0
But Kaufman stresses that he isn\\u2019t seeking a profit, but instead just wants to help his brothers and sisters in arms. \\u201cI just wanted to pay it forward ever since I got clean,\\u201d says Kaufman.\\xa0
Connect with Richard:
Website:\\xa0https://www.facebook.com/richardkaufmanVeteran/
Facebook Group:\\xa0https://www.facebook.com/richardkaufmanVeteran/
Book Link:\\xa0https://www.facebook.com/1826412050/posts/10210486203991152/
#thecomebackcoach\\xa0
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Instagram:\\xa0https://www.instagram.com/nowheretogobutupnow/
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Podcast Page:\\xa0http://www.nowheretogobutupnow.libsyn.com/
YouTube Channel:\\xa0https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpit4jnGTbhgLt2UFs0efyA
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