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

We talk business, finance, news, and culture for the National Guard and Reserve.

This week:

• Tell Your Company About Friendly Forces

• Tough Thanksgiving: Guardsmen Shot

• Reservists You Should Know: Caitlin Rourk

• “How Hard is It?” - WO1 JJ Lowe Says Just Do It

• USERRA Problems at Work? Hit up Brian Lawler

• News Roundup: What Happened Last Week?

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

Tough Thanksgiving: 2 Guardsmen Shot, 1 Killed on DC Mission

As we’ve all heard by now, two National Guardsmen on the DC mission were shot last week in downtown Washington.

Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old soldier with the West Virginia National Guard was tragically killed.

Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, with the West Virginia Air National Guard remains in critical condition.

The motive for the attack is as of yet unclear, however, it has been uncovered that the shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who was shot four times and is currently in custody, worked with US Special Operations and Intelligence agencies in Afghanistan and came to the United States in September 2021 under a program for Afghans called Operation Allies Welcome.

One particularly interesting aspect to this story is that the shooter was taken down initially by a National Guard Major with only a pocket knife.

This community never ceases to impress me.

This story hit home for a few reasons:

1) It’s easy to fall into complacency on duty, especially on a mission like this one. Events like this remind us why we can’t do that.

2) I don’t think the American public generally realizes how young the majority of service members are.

3) This happened right before Thanksgiving on a mission of dubious value. My heart aches for the families of the fallen.

4) I hangout in the exact area where the shooting happened quite a bit.

Take care of each other and remember that more than 99% of Americans can’t and won’t do what you’ve signed up to do.

Reservists You Should Know: Caitlin Rourk

This is a new recurring section we will highlight Guardsmen and Reservists doing cool stuff. This will be cool because we’ve met so many awesome people still serving part-time.

Few things are cooler than running for Congress…enter Caitlin Rourk.

Caitlin Rourk is running for Congress as a Democrat in TX-31, which is home to tens of thousands of veterans, reservists, and the Great Place: Fort Hood. She’s challenging an 84-year-old incumbent and some other notable primary contenders, including Valentina Gomez and the ShamWow guy (can’t make this up). An Army officer, business leader, and working mom, Caitlin got tired of out-of-touch elected officials and decided to do what soldiers do best: step up and fix the problem. After a career spanning military service and federal service in the Texas Army National Guard and Army Reserve, public affairs work in DC, and the private sector, she’s running to bring some actual, practical leadership back to Congress. She’s not a politician (thank God), just a servant leader who shows up, does the work, and fights for things real families actually care about, like affordable healthcare, safe communities, and an economy where people can get ahead. And Caitlin’s drawing on her experience as a reservist to spotlight how the government and employers can better serve our community.

She’s stepping up, and now’s your chance to step right alongside her. Check out her website to donate, volunteer, and learn more, or send a “count me in” note directly Caitlin at [email protected].

Your Job. Your Service. Your Attorney.

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.

“How Hard Is It?”

by WO1 JJ Lowe

I've spent a lot of time online in the military sphere, from moderating the National Guard subreddit and Discord to managing TikTok and Instagram accounts. Time and time again I see people asking about basic training at Fort Jackson, BLC at Fort Carson, or any number of schools.

"What's it like? How hard is it? Is it easy?" I never want to answer these questions. If I tell you it's easy, will that change how much you prepare? If I tell you it's hard will that change anything for you? These questions are always coming from a place of anxiety, what they want to hear is, "You can do this." The fear of that unknown will never truly go away no matter how much you know and how many questions are answered.

I have seen soldiers ask questions for years over the Special Forces selection process, begging for reassurance that just doesn't come. I've been working in Special Forces support for a number of years now, and the stories of how green berets went to selection are very similar. They wanted to do it, so they did it. They didn't post on Discord, they didn't post on Reddit, or RallyPoint, or anything. They called up a recruiter, they trained for the standard, and they did it.

To this day I have people who reach out to me with extensive resumes and they will ask me if it's enough for them to go into federal law enforcement. People with years of experience, Master's degrees, sometimes even law enforcement experience already. And I always tell them that I had a furniture salesman in my class at the DEA. He met the minimum requirements. And he's a phenomenal agent.

The truth is, many people build up these schools and selections in their heads, but the qualifications are often less daunting than the self-doubt.

The longer I've been into government work the more I realize that no school or selection is nearly as tough as you think it is. Everybody builds it up in their heads. The truth is, many have made it through before and many will make it through after.

Stop outsourcing your confidence to strangers on the internet. The guys who actually do hard things just go and do it.

Have faith in yourself. Put in the work. Trust the work. Let the work put your mind at ease. 

Merch Increases Lethality

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

Counter-drone warfare at scale? Army demo shows it’s getting closer
How the US Army secretary became a key figure in Ukraine peace talks
Army shuts down foreign training brigade mission focused on Middle East and Africa
Pete Hegseth lashes out at 'kill them all' report on boat strikes
Trump says US will very soon begin stopping suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers on land
Officials instructed to pause all asylum decisions in wake of National Guard shooting
DC to put national guard on joint patrols with local police after shootings
South Bend Tribune / PressReader article

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.