162: Rob Boudreau and Joel Searls

This week, Rob Boudreau hosts Joel Searl, who created and runs the U.S. Marine, 1st CAG, podcast "The Human Dimension," their social media and public outreach programs.

The original is located at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpdSA_Z7pAs

One CA is a product of the civil affairs association 

and brings in people who are current or former military, diplomats, development officers, and field agents to discuss their experiences on the ground with a partner nation's people and leadership.

We aim to inspire anyone interested in working in the "last three feet" of US foreign relations. 

To contact the show, email us at CApodcasting@gmail dot com

or look us up on the Civil Affairs Association website at www civilaffairsassoc.org

Special thanks to Gloria Estefan and Sony Music Media for a sample of Dingui-Li Bangui. Released 1990-09-16. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7J_DVryF-g  

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Transcript

00:00:06 Introduction
Welcome to the 1CA Podcast. This is your host, Jack Gaines. 1CA is a product of the Civil Affairs Association and brings in people who are current or former military, diplomats, development officers, and field agents to discuss their experiences on ground with the partner nation's people and leadership. Our goal is to inspire anyone interested in working the last three feet of foreign relations. To contact the show, email us at capodcasting@gmail.com. or look us up on the Civil Affairs Association website at www .civilaffairsassoc.org. I'll have those in the show notes.

00:00:42 ROB BOUDREAU
Welcome to the 1CA podcast. I'm Rob Boudreau, and today we're joined by Joel Searles, who is a podcaster in his own right. He is also a Comstratat Officer and Civil Affairs Officer in the Marine Corps Reserve. Before we get started, I'd like to just include a quick disclaimer that the views expressed today are those of participants and do not reflect the views of the federal government or any of its components. So with that, Joel, welcome to the podcast.

00:01:05 JOEL SEARLES
Hey, thanks for having me, Rob. It's a pleasure to be here.

00:01:08 ROB BOUDREAU
Absolutely. Our introduction was through Jack Gaines, who made a connection, I think, with mutual contacts of both of ours. So my understanding is that you're a podcaster, is that right?

00:01:18 JOEL SEARLES
That's correct. Yes, I've worked on and ran and created three podcasts.

00:01:24 ROB BOUDREAU
All right. So I know that you're a reservist. Are you able to provide a little information about what you do in the civilian world?

00:01:29 JOEL SEARLES
Sure. I currently run my own company. It's a small production company in the entertainment business. We focus on military and inspirational stories, sports stories, features, and television. Currently do that. I write within that company as well. I've been hired to write core screenplay based on a true story. And then also I do acting. And I've been able to act usually as a Marine or as a police officer or authority figure in some TV shows and feature films and supporting rules.

00:02:00 ROB BOUDREAU
Wow, that's terrific. That sounds like it dovetails really well with your reserve career as a Comstead officer. It does. Yeah. How have you been able to blend those things? Have you been able to use your civilian skills? How do you pair those with your military service?

00:02:15 JOEL SEARLES
Well, this all came about during the pandemic. On July 1st, I was called by my boss. I worked at a boutique entertainment firm, finance firm in Century City. And he had called me to let me know. He went out of business. His deal flow went through the basement, basically, and he wasn't able to sustain his company anymore. And he'd had some of his assets acquired. So I got that call and thought to myself, how am I going to survive this? And, you know, how am I going to find a job when nobody's running or, you know, only a few companies are. So I called my reserve unit, which was the entertainment media liaison office. And I hadn't even been to public affairs QCORS yet. I told my boss and talked to him. His name's Joe. And he's like, well, I want to help you. I know you need to work, but we're closed. But what would you want to do if you could? And I've already done a few interviews of successful Marines in Hollywood. And what can you do during the pandemic? You can make Skype and Zoom calls with people and phone calls and write interviews. And so I pitched, how about I do a series of interviews with successful Marines in Hollywood? He's like, that's a great idea. It'll help with recruiting. You know a lot of folks, so give me a list, I'll prove it, and you go talk to them. And that led to me starting a writing career, and I'd just been hired by We Are the Mighty the month before because they'd seen some of the interviews I'd done and enjoyed them. And so I was kind of dual hat, and I was writing for the Marine Corps and, you know, getting things published on Divids, and then eventually over to We Are the Mighty, and I was viewing veterans during the pandemic like Robert Duvall. And Bob Gunton, who was the warden in Shawshank Redemption, Warden Norton, who's a Vietnam vet. And Roberto Barba, who's a showrunner, TV show producer, probably done 40 or 50 now. But through the Marine Corps, I was able to interview Don Balisario, who created NCIS and Magnum PI and Airwolf and so many other great shows. Bill Broyles, who wrote Cast Away and Apollo 13. I mean, you know, Oscar -level screenwriter and Vietnam vet. And then that eventually led to me interviewing Fred Smith, who founded FedEx and finances feature films, such as The Blind Side and Sicario movies. I know those are a lot of names and a lot of references, but that's really where this all started. And I started writing, kind of got a name for myself as a writer in a good way, and then, you know, started my own small firm. focused on specific genres that I'm comfortable with and that also resonate with a lot of veterans and the American audience. So that's really where it started. From there, it just kind of branched out. That's now three and a half years ago.

00:04:54 ROB BOUDREAU
Wow, that's fantastic. So you live in the information space. How did you get into civil affairs?

00:05:00 JOEL SEARLES
So I was doing some research. I looked at civil affairs even seven, eight years ago and recognized a couple of things. My initial MOS was air defense and a LAD, Stinger missiles. That MOS has now since kind of restarted and gained some steam. But, you know, eight years ago, there was really talk about it all. If you wanted to have a continued career in the reserves, you needed to find an MOS that was more applicable and relevant. And so I looked at civil affairs, saw it was only secondary. I didn't know how that would allow me to continue. And so I held on it. Went to the entertainment office after making about four or five different inquiries about coming to the office on an MLS waiver. And they let me in based on my industry experience because I worked at a talent agency, actually for probably the only Marine talent agent left in Hollywood and packaged the film while I was there. But I digress. So after completing the time there at the entertainment office, I looked at civil affairs and knew some people in the unit. Got some intel and information about people who enjoyed it. And I decided to join the unit myself back in August of 2022. That's great. And you're with First Civil Affairs Group out of San Diego.

00:06:17 ROB BOUDREAU
First Civil Affairs Group out of San Diego. Is that right? Camp Pendleton. Camp Pendleton.

00:06:23 JOEL SEARLES
Pendleton.

00:06:24 ROB BOUDREAU
All right. Close enough. But either way, you're living the Hollywood Marine dream as a civil affairs officer. I like that. Well, the way our intro came about as a result of a podcast that you launched with First CAG. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

00:06:38 JOEL SEARLES
Absolutely, yes. Our CO and XO, and OPSO at the time, brought me into the unit, and they wanted to maximize not only the Hollywood style, being able to translate the narrative into action, but also some of my creative skills that I've been blessed with probably since childhood. I guess they kept that part of me alive and always maintained curiosity. So they initially wanted me to do a social media revamp. which allowed me to kind of structure and align our social media, develop a system that was accessible, and allowed the CO's voice and the Marine's voice to be heard and seen. And so I wrote an SOP, spent a good amount of time developing that, and got a lot of references and insights and help from people. So I'm grateful for that. And got the SOP signed and put it out into action. And then that's since led to an increase in our recruiting and efforts there as a unit. We've had people come in from all over the base. and even off base on the other side of the country. And they've seen some of the posts and they've seen what's going on with the unit. And they're like, yeah, I'd like to check this out. I'd like to join. So the CEO was happy about that. The hire, Marfor Rez, was happy about her social media impact and imprint. And that led to them being open to, hey, can I do a podcast? That's great. Yeah, you can highlight things within the unit, what we've done or what we're going to go do. You know, I have an OPSEC manager who comes in and makes sure what we've talked about is kosher. And I briefed the maroons beforehand to keep it on the unclassed side and things that are out in the ether are ready. So we're keeping our cards close to our chest. And I share it with the CO and usually the INI to get their opinions on it as well. And then I post it. And that's helped generate some interest, obviously, even from yourself. We're grateful for that. And you put in one of our podcasts on your page and sharing it. And that it led to... us doing an internal command messaging program called the CMP, not the Combat Marksmanship Program, but the Command Messaging Program. And we've put up displays inside the command to highlight what the Marines are doing so they can see current messages inside of our unit. You know, we've got stuff from the Gulf War, stuff from Mogadishu. We have things from OIF like 2 and 3. So everything on the walls, for the most part, is either 10 to 30 years old, older than a lot of the junior Marines that are there at times. And even some of the officers like myself, like I remember the Gulf War as a kid and watching it on CNN and PBS. But, you know, I certainly wasn't in the service. And I mean, I know people that served in that war, but that's a long time ago. So the CO wanted to be relevant. We've repainted the walls. We're doing some stenciling. updating everything. We've got a really engaged first sergeant. We've got some other engaged Marine sergeants and even up to company and field grade officers that really want to see this turn out well. And so it's looking good. We've got the electronic displays up and it's crossed into the 2020 plus decade and years to engage the Marines to know that what they're doing is relevant. And here's photos from a lot of different Marines of the unit and what they're doing.

00:09:52 ROB BOUDREAU
That's amazing stuff. You made reference there to we had the privilege of rebroadcasting one of your introductory shows over the holidays, so we appreciate the opportunity to synergize there. Getting off the ground, you had a lot of resources and folks you're able to lean on. Is it fair to say that this is a fairly siloed effort by First CAG? And what I'm getting at is the social media stuff. That's not really being driven by hire, is it?

00:10:17 JOEL SEARLES
No, the CEO wanted it, and I wanted it too as a comms right officer. I've done that. sweet social media managers course, which is really tough. I went and did that and paid for it on my own dime to get better even before I came to the unit. Once I came, I was able to put it into use right away. So it is an internal CAG, internal generation, and an internal purpose and drive that is making positive ripples and waves far out from our unit.

00:10:47 ROB BOUDREAU
That's great. And obviously, outside of yours truly, Have there been other folks from the Marine Corps or units that have looked into what you guys have been able to generate and ask you any questions or anything like that?

00:11:00 JOEL SEARLES
Yes. To my knowledge, the SOP I wrote was shared with Hire because they asked for it. I believe it was FHG asked for it because they wanted to know what we were up to because they were seeing a lot of activity and they were hearing positive things.

00:11:14 ROB BOUDREAU
Yeah, absolutely. And it sounds like your reach, beyond the substance of that, you've also been able to provide. additional influence, if you will, in the recruiting lanes and other things that I think are outside the traditional mission, at least as we ordinarily think of it. So that's really awesome. Thank you. I'm blessed with some strong support and good Marines.

00:11:30 JOEL SEARLES
Thank you. I'm blessed with some strong support and good Marines. For sure. And sailors. Absolutely.

00:11:36 ROB BOUDREAU
Can't forget our Navy brethren. Right. We've got,

00:11:37 JOEL SEARLES
We've got, I believe, our corpsman and then our logistics chief. And then I think the first sergeant, they were out doing woodwork to put up stuff and hold the displays we hang on the walls now. with the laptops and the electronic displays. So even the Navy's jumped in and done some carpentry and some staining to bring, I guess, an old core sense of work ethic of just getting it done and making it look new and fresh and taking responsibility for our structure and engaging younger Marines and the younger audience, the Marines and sailors and their families and the general public.

00:12:13 ROB BOUDREAU
Wow, that's awesome. That's quite a concerted effort. Thank you. Leading up to the launch of the podcast, did you stand up an operational planning team or conduct any kind of formal planning for what it was going to look like?

00:12:25 JOEL SEARLES
That was just left to me. You know, I conversed with higher and I conversed with my wife's counsel on how to exactly do it. And then, you know, registered the website with the YouTube page with headquarters Marine Corps and discussed it with the INI and the CO and the XO. But there really wasn't OPT. Kind of like, just go out and make it happen. You know, do it, you don't. And there was planning that went into it. It was just, you know, more focused on what it was going to look like, but it was internal and external. And probably the best way to answer that is just the planning involved very specific key points of wisdom within the Marine Corps at the unit and higher.

00:13:08 ROB BOUDREAU
Can you talk a little bit about the process of getting any sort of internal approvals? Were there restrictions that you had to work through to get launched?

00:13:16 JOEL SEARLES
I had to meet the OPSEC manager's guidelines. It had to fall in line with the I &I wanted and the CEO wanted. You know, they like to collaborate and be on the same page. And then it also had to be staffed within the unit. Overall, it was well -received. And again, I was given some really good templates and some advice and insight from some people who've been doing this for a long time. It's actually one lieutenant. He was prior MARSOC. He gave me some good insights and his team did. So there was a lot of minds working on it.

00:13:49 ROB BOUDREAU
Good stuff. So looking at the shows that you've been able to post to date, I don't want to use the phrase target audience because that's like a loaded phrase, but who are you looking to reach with your podcast?

00:14:00 JOEL SEARLES
We'd love to reach the Marines, potential Marines to join the unit and the general public, you know, to let them know the relevancy. We want one MEF to check it out as well. We tag them when we do a social media post with a link to an updated podcast that's been uploaded. We tag them. We're trying to get their attention because, you know, we're about early integration into OneMath and developing a posture and a reassurance and preparation for Indo -PACOM. That's where we're focused. And then, you know, we're maintaining that relevancy with Marines and their families and the general public. So there's kind of a three -pronged approach. that we're going for with this and audiences and lines of effort.

00:14:42 ROB BOUDREAU
That's awesome. Now, I know in the podcast that we were able to rebroadcast, you had Marines on talking about their experiences with Exercise Bright Star. Yep. Can you give us a little bit more info on the type of content that you're looking to put out? Sure.

00:14:59 JOEL SEARLES
Really, any Marines officer unless they go and do an exercise, we want to capture that as much as we can. and within, you know, our battle rhythm, and be able to share that with the public, again, to maintain that relevancy and show that we're a valuable asset to one MEF and the entire Marine Corps, and to also give those Marines a voice and a chance to speak about what they've seen and done and better their lives, change their lives, give them a new perspective. Well, vignettes, really vignettes, and it's a great way to teach people. It's a great way to... fire people and keep young blood coming into the unit.

00:15:39 ROB BOUDREAU
That's all really great. And of course, we wish you continued success. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. As you keep that moving along. Well, one of the challenges we face reserve Marine Corps officers is that we have to switch units. So it's not a formal PCS, but it might as well be because we have to find new homes every couple of years. So it sounds like a lot of what you've been able to accomplish has been driven by your individual actions and then working with an engaged team down there at First CAG. Thinking about continuity and maintaining the social media presence, continuing the podcast, what sorts of things are you looking at to ensure that this will have some longevity?

00:16:16 JOEL SEARLES
So we've already been developing that. There's discussions of the CO and the XO and using the G9 because I operate officially as the deputy G9. And we're developing a team now. Since we've got it off and we're moving forward, we've really been pressing it since probably last May, as far as once we really stood it up. When we started, you know, firing on little cylinders, we've been looking for the right team to complement and supplement me, but also once I do depart in the future, you know, plan on staying for a while and transition into more leadership opportunities within the unit, the team will be ready. And it's not like that I'm going to totally disappear. If there's questions they have, I'm happy to answer them. However, I've done my very best to set up a pretty foolproof system that we can get things in and out in an efficient manner and a secure manner. And then also, you know, it's simple to follow. Simple instructions. We all got that at boot camp and OCS. At least we should have.

00:17:19 ROB BOUDREAU
Well, that's terrific. And I'm glad you've already been having those thoughts about the future and how to... maintained a really high standard that you've already set, carrying the Marine Corps' message out to the community, both in the military and beyond. So I really appreciate that. Yeah. The name of your podcast is the Human Dimension podcast. Where can folks find that if they're looking to listen in?

00:17:41 JOEL SEARLES
You can search it, First Civil Affairs Group, First TAG, that'll come up. It'll be the Human Dimension. We have two episodes up now. Also, Google search should come up under that as well. And then you can follow us on Instagram under First TAG. You can follow us on Facebook. We have a First CAG page. And then we also have an X account for First CAG. So there's three places you can follow us or four technically with the YouTube channel if you want to subscribe. And we look forward to hearing from you if you have any requests or insights or comments about the civil affairs group. Fantastic.

00:18:15 ROB BOUDREAU
Well, every good Marine Corps conversation has to end with an opportunity for saved rounds. So any saved rounds, Joel?

00:18:22 JOEL SEARLES
I hit on that. I hit on our three lines of effort.

00:18:22 ROB BOUDREAU
that. I hit on

00:18:24 JOEL SEARLES
early integration with one nest, posture, preparation and deterrence and reassurance for endopaycom, and then communicate the relevancy and value of first CAG. So I touched on those earlier. I can't think of anything else.

00:18:37 ROB BOUDREAU
Oh, we appreciate it. Thanks for joining the show today, Joel Semper Fi. Great. Thanks.

00:18:43 CLOSE
Thanks for listening. If you get a chance, please like and subscribe and rate the show on your favorite podcast platform. Also, if you're interested in coming on the show or hosting an episode, Email us at capodcasting@gmail.com. And now, most importantly, to those currently out in the field working with a partner nation's people or leadership to forward U .S. relations, thank you all for what you're doing. This is Jack, your host. Stay tuned for more great episodes. One CA Podcast.