For the almost 40% of the US military with real jobs.

We talk business, finance, news, and culture for the part-time military.

This week:

• Friendly Forces does a LinkedIn Live on Monday

• Friendly Forces Was Robbed

• USERRA Attorney Extraordinaire Brian Lawler

• What We’re Running: OTB Boots

• Merch Up with The Fratty Guard

• PART⚡TIME News: What Happened Last Week

Interested in becoming a featured newsletter sponsor? Reach out to [email protected]

Friendly Forces Does a LinkedIn Live This Monday

Friendly Forces leader Eric Evans will be joining ClearedJobs.Net tomorrow, Monday the 3^rd at 12PM EST live on LinkedIn to talk about Reservists in the workforce.

Sign up here to here to tune in.

Friendly Forces was Robbed

As the poet Dwayne Carter Jr. once said, “real Gs move in silence like lasagna.”

That’s the Friendly Forces way.

To illustrate: there are a few upcoming award galas from Hiring Our Heroes and Forces in Business (whatever that is) that snubbed us.

From Hiring Our Heroes:

Awards are presented to companies and individuals that have developed and applied best practices for addressing the employment challenges faced by America’s veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses.

From the Forces in Business Awards:

The Forces in Business Awards is the flagship global platform for celebrating the achievements of veterans in the wider workforce and promoting the strong synergies between military values and business excellence.

You won’t find Friendly Forces on any of those nominee lists.

Why not?

Because, if you didn’t already know, most awards like these are self-nominated or reserved for those who cut a nice sponsorship check to the host organization.

(For the record, someone from Forces in Business did reach out once—but we assumed it was spam and ignored it. Oops.)

The truth is, most of these awards are performative. Friendly Forces is not.

We deliver real, measurable impact to service members, families, and U.S. military readiness by helping employers strengthen and modernize their military leave policies.

We’d bet our after-hours work moves the needle more than the initiatives being toasted at those galas. But we’ll take progress over plaques any day.

So while the champagne flows elsewhere, we’ll stay focused on the mission.

If you’re looking for #ReservistFriendly employers, check out the Friendly Forces Friendlies List.

If your employer belongs on it—reach out and we’ll add them.
If they don’t—reach out anyway. Maybe we can help fix that.

USERRA Attorney Extraordinaire Brian Lawler

Boss giving you grief about your military commitments? Call Brian Lawler.

If you’re running into problems with your employer due to your military service, contact Brian Lawler.

Brian’s a former Marine pilot, reservist, and one of the top USERRA attorneys in the country. He knows the law better than your HR department, and he’s made a career out of holding employers accountable.

Free consult. No win, no fee.
If your job’s on the line, Brian’s the guy you want in the fight.

Set up a meeting here.

What We’re Running: M-FLEX 8s by OTB Boots

When we first started the PTH newsletter, we had a section called “What We’re Running” where we would highlight a product or kit item we liked.

We’re bringing it back this week because OTB Boots was generous enough to send us some gear to try out after CPT Chadwick threatened requested them.

Rule #1: Always look cool.

Rule #2: Don’t get lost.

Rule #3: If you do get lost, refer to rule #1.

We haven’t gotten to run them during any HVT raids yet, but so far they are pretty cool. Super light weight, durable, supportive, and comfortable. Pretty stoked about them quite honestly.

We got the M-Flex 8s, but also have our eye on the M-Carbon 8s which are carbon-plated. I don’t know why this is better but it sounds cool and I need them.

If you’re in the market for some new boots, these are pretty money. Use our affiliate link and we’ll make 8 cents.

Links for both here:

M-FLEX 8: https://otbboots.co/products/flex-8?bg_ref=V9yifVcXaP&utm_source=Steele%20Chadwick&utm_medium=Affiliates&utm_campaign=OTB%20Military%20Affiliates

M-CARBON 8: https://otbboots.co/products/carbon-8?bg_ref=V9yifVcXaP&utm_source=Steele%20Chadwick&utm_medium=Affiliates&utm_campaign=OTB%20Military%20Affiliates

Stay lethal.

The Army Built Its Own ChatGPT

Yeah, you read that right — the Army has its own AI tool. It’s called the Army Enterprise LLM Workspace, and it lives safely inside the Army’s secure cloud (CAC login only).

If you’re doing Army stuff on the network, use it. It’s pretty awesome.

It basically pulls from all the other AI LLMs you’re familiar with but is approved for Army use for non classified stuff.

Give it a try one of these days. It’s free for 30 days and then you have to ask for more tokens.

If you’re using it for something cool that helps your unit work better or become more efficient or lethal, the Army probably would be interested to hear about it. That’s the goal—find ways to cut down on bullshit so we can do more of our actual jobs.

It only works on the DoD network I believe.

Merch Up with The Fratty Guard you POG

If you want to make baller ass unit gear repping our logo suite, check out The Fratty Guard Unit Collab Store.

Or for the GOAT classics, check out The Fratty Guard Store.

PART⚡TIME News: What Happened Last week

National Guardsman Arrested and Charged with Export Violation

GOP Senator Proposes Commission to Study VA Disability Ratings System

National Guard Told to Create “Quick Reaction Forces’ for Civil Unrest

Meet the White House Pick to Conquer the ‘Valley of Death’

These National Guard Members Vow to Defy Trump Orders to Deploy in Chicago

Two National Guardsmen Allegedly Murder Their CEO

Police, National Guard clear Halloween Crowd Gathered in Washington’s Navy Yard Neighborhood

Support the Fight

If you support the work that Friendly Forces does, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help keep the lights on. Every bit helps. Turns out stuff is expensive and we put countless man hours into the work.

That’s it for this week.

Absolutely massive things coming.