@Aaron Stroman Yes and I wish I could figure out a way to prevent that.

It snuck up on me too. I'm thankful to have found you and this group!

@Scott Batchelor I will take a look at that. My son is 25 and on the spectrum. Thank you for sharing that.

@Scott Batchelor Nice to meet you as well.

@Aaron Stroman haha yea I guess that is where the veteran reference was.

Hello everyone, I'm Ryan Veldhuizen, Program Director for the We Defy Foundation. I'm a veteran and love giving back. The We Defy Foundation is a non profit that provides qualifying combat veterans coping with military connected disabilities a long term means to overcome their challenges through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and fitness training. Once I heard of WDF I had to help out. I started out as a volunteer 20 January 2020 and enjoyed it so much that I kept taking on more and more. At that time I was employed by the Gov. I was working in Foreign Military sale, selling munitions to our allies. The deeper I got in We Defy I realized I wanted to help people, not add to destruction. In April 2025 I was at a WDF event in Minnesota when they announced that they were going to have their first two paid positions. One of those positions was the Program Director and I was already the Program Coordinator. When I went back to work on Monday they announced DRP2 and that this time FMS was eligible to take it. DRP was the Delayed Resignation Program Trump and Elon put out earlier in the year. I was terrified to leave the gov. After 21 years loading bombs on F-16s and then as a civilian in munitions I thought that was all I knew and all I could do. My wife was the one that pushed me to jump. I'm 48 and had been in the government since I left for the military in 1996. Well here I am, No longer gov and happier than I have ever been. I look forward to learning from you all and networking.