In 2004, shortly after the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a Humvee driven by Army combat engineer Joel Hunt was hit by a roadside bomb in the city of Tikrit. The blast rattled Hunt and caused a brain injury that has left lingering effects, such as speech impairment, double vision and numbness in his left leg.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s struggled at times to regain his footing and find his place in society.<\/p>\n
For that reason, Hunt is reaching out to other Veterans who are also confronting health-related challenges, namely PTSD and traumatic brain injury. He\u2019s the executive director of Military Broadcast Radio (MBR)<\/a>, a podcast-hosting web platform that specializes in \u201cgiving Veterans a voice\u201d by allowing them to host talk and music shows.<\/p>\n In Hunt\u2019s view, the shows serve as form of therapy for the Veterans who play music and lead conversations on topics of interest to the Veteran community. Nearly 13 shows now air on MBR, including two produced by Hunt: \u201cThe Revel Experience\u201d and \u201cThe Blaque Surga Show.\u201d These podcasts provide their audiences with music of different genres, the latest world and entertainment news and helpful tips on the everyday life of Veterans, active-duty personnel and civilians.<\/p>\n \u201cThe truth is the only way you\u2019re going to stop suicide is if you bring Veterans to Veterans to talk to each other, because some of the guys that we battled and deployed with don\u2019t have families,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cMaybe their mom passed away, maybe their dad passed away. Unfortunately, not everybody likes to post their whole life on Facebook. So if you don\u2019t get to know the Veteran, and you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on in their life, and they commit suicide, it\u2019s because we didn\u2019t do enough to reach out before we got to that point. I believe that with a microphone and sharing their stories and talking to other Veterans and being inspired by stories, I honestly think this is the best rehabilitation.\u201d<\/p>\n Brandon Stokley, who played 15 seasons in the NFL for five teams as a wide receiver, is a spokesperson for Military Broadcast Radio.<\/p>\n \u201cI support the ultimate vision of putting our military Veterans to work from home as a DJ,\u201d he said on MBR\u2019s website. \u201cMusic is very therapeutic and can be healing. Having one DJ will give them a purpose for others and themselves. I am proud to be a spokesperson for a station, such as MBR, that is `Giving Veterans a Voice.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Jim Butler first launched Military Broadcast Radio in 2015 while serving in the Air Force. After returning from the paralympics in 2015, he met up with Butler, inquired about hosting his own podcast and received the go-ahead. He had graduated with honors from the Colorado Media School in Denver and was familiar with the broadcasting industry.<\/p>\n Hunt took over the station in 2018 and established it as a non-profit organization. He\u2019s now the executive director of Military Broadcast Radio.<\/p>\n \u201cI said if I\u2019m going to take it over, I\u2019m going to create it as a non-profit,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cI don\u2019t just want to be a radio station. I want to create a program that helps Veterans buy the equipment so they can be DJs and host talk shows from the comfort of their house. I gave [MBR] the tagline `Giving Veterans a Voice\u2019 because I believe that those who fought for this country should be those that get that voice. There are so many programs out there that want to help Veterans. MBR does its part to get the word out there even more. I have future visions for this nonprofit.\u201d <\/p>\n Hunt and his staff teach the hosts how to use the equipment, such as the live webinar platform StreamYard, and explain how to run a show from their desktop, iPhone and mixer. After a few months of training, Veterans are ready to host their own podcast. Military Broadcast Radio has a studio in downtown Denver that the hosts can also access to broadcast their shows if they prefer.<\/p>\n Marine Veteran Travis Partington hosts \u201cOscar Mike Radio<\/a>,\u201d which airs on MBR and focuses on real-life stories of active-duty military and Veterans. He has nothing but praise for how Hunt manages the station.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best thing about Military Broadcast Radio is a host can be new or experienced and have a place on the network,\u201d Partington said. \u201cJoel can get you started easily. If you have more experience like me, he lets me be me and will make suggestions from time to time to improve.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I have learned from Joel being on Military Broadcast Radio is how much effort it takes to manage multiple hosts and systems all at the same time,\u201d he added. \u201cAs a host, I only have my show to worry about. But Joel has to make sure everyone\u2019s show is set and aligns to that standard he has for Military Broadcast Radio. This has opened my eyes to a whole different side of things, and I have looked for ways for Oscar Mike Radio better to not make more work for Joel. All in all, it has been a positive experience, and I would encourage anyone to check out MBR\u2019s amazing list of Veteran hosts and shows!\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to MBR\u2019s web site<\/a>, the shows air on social media, including Facebook<\/a> and Twitter (X)<\/a>. Military Broadcast Radio also has a phone app so listeners can follow the stream. Hunt instructs his hosts to air at least one of the public service announcements (PSAs) produced by VA\u2019s radio outreach<\/a> program during their show. Those PSAs are aimed at educating Veterans on important programs, services and benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of Veterans are out there who we don\u2019t think might want to do a podcast,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cThey\u2019re homeless or they live in a low-budget apartment and can hear the person in the other room. It\u2019s like cardboard walls. So I\u2019m just trying to give every Veteran that opportunity to be heard because you never know. They could be that one Veteran who really speaks to people.\u201d<\/p>\n Those interested in hosting a show on Military Broadcast Radio can contact the station<\/a> or email Joel Hunt directly at manager@mbradio.us<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 2004, shortly after the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a Humvee driven by Army combat engineer Joel Hunt was hit by a roadside bomb in the city of Tikrit. The blast rattled Hunt and caused a brain injury that has left lingering effects, such as speech impairment, double vision and numbness in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":103654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,944,945,946,703,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vetresources","category-brandon-stokley","category-military-broadcast-radio","category-nfl","category-veterans-in-the-news","category-vets-experience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=103652"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103657,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103652\/revisions\/103657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/103654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=103652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=103652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=103652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}`This is the best rehabilitation\u2019<\/h2>\n
Veterans are trained to host their own podcasts\u00a0<\/h2>\n
![<\/a>Brandon Stokely<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nJim Butler first launched Military Broadcast Radio in 2015 while serving in the Air Force. After returning from the paralympics in 2015, he met up with Butler, inquired about hosting his own podcast and received the go-ahead. He had graduated with honors from the Colorado Media School in Denver and was familiar with the broadcasting industry.<\/p>\nHunt took over the station in 2018 and established it as a non-profit organization. He\u2019s now the executive director of Military Broadcast Radio.<\/p>\n\u201cI said if I\u2019m going to take it over, I\u2019m going to create it as a non-profit,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cI don\u2019t just want to be a radio station. I want to create a program that helps Veterans buy the equipment so they can be DJs and host talk shows from the comfort of their house. I gave [MBR] the tagline `Giving Veterans a Voice\u2019 because I believe that those who fought for this country should be those that get that voice. There are so many programs out there that want to help Veterans. MBR does its part to get the word out there even more. I have future visions for this nonprofit.\u201d <\/p>\nVeterans are trained to host their own podcasts\u00a0<\/h2>\nHunt and his staff teach the hosts how to use the equipment, such as the live webinar platform StreamYard, and explain how to run a show from their desktop, iPhone and mixer. After a few months of training, Veterans are ready to host their own podcast. Military Broadcast Radio has a studio in downtown Denver that the hosts can also access to broadcast their shows if they prefer.<\/p>\nMarine Veteran Travis Partington hosts \u201cOscar Mike Radio<\/a>,\u201d which airs on MBR and focuses on real-life stories of active-duty military and Veterans. He has nothing but praise for how Hunt manages the station.<\/p>\n\u201cThe best thing about Military Broadcast Radio is a host can be new or experienced and have a place on the network,\u201d Partington said. \u201cJoel can get you started easily. If you have more experience like me, he lets me be me and will make suggestions from time to time to improve.<\/p>\n\u201cWhat I have learned from Joel being on Military Broadcast Radio is how much effort it takes to manage multiple hosts and systems all at the same time,\u201d he added. \u201cAs a host, I only have my show to worry about. But Joel has to make sure everyone\u2019s show is set and aligns to that standard he has for Military Broadcast Radio. This has opened my eyes to a whole different side of things, and I have looked for ways for Oscar Mike Radio better to not make more work for Joel. All in all, it has been a positive experience, and I would encourage anyone to check out MBR\u2019s amazing list of Veteran hosts and shows!\u201d<\/p>\nIn addition to MBR\u2019s web site<\/a>, the shows air on social media, including Facebook<\/a> and Twitter (X)<\/a>. Military Broadcast Radio also has a phone app so listeners can follow the stream. Hunt instructs his hosts to air at least one of the public service announcements (PSAs) produced by VA\u2019s radio outreach<\/a> program during their show. Those PSAs are aimed at educating Veterans on important programs, services and benefits.<\/p>\n\u201cA lot of Veterans are out there who we don\u2019t think might want to do a podcast,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cThey\u2019re homeless or they live in a low-budget apartment and can hear the person in the other room. It\u2019s like cardboard walls. So I\u2019m just trying to give every Veteran that opportunity to be heard because you never know. They could be that one Veteran who really speaks to people.\u201d<\/p>\nThose interested in hosting a show on Military Broadcast Radio can contact the station<\/a> or email Joel Hunt directly at manager@mbradio.us<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2004, shortly after the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a Humvee driven by Army combat engineer Joel Hunt was hit by a roadside bomb in the city of Tikrit. The blast rattled Hunt and caused a brain injury that has left lingering effects, such as speech impairment, double vision and numbness in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":103654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,944,945,946,703,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vetresources","category-brandon-stokley","category-military-broadcast-radio","category-nfl","category-veterans-in-the-news","category-vets-experience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=103652"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103657,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103652\/revisions\/103657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/103654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=103652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=103652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=103652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/BRANDON-STOKLEY.jpg\"){kind=link}