#26 Willie Hines (USN) – Farmer Veteran Coalition

Farmer Veteran Coalition is at an intersection – farmers and veterans – where mental health is extremely important.

Willie Hines is a US Navy veteran and Director of Operations for Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC), a nationally recognized non-profit focused on mobilizing veterans to feed America and transition support for military service members to a career in agriculture. This is our third interview with FVC’s leadership as we seek the highlight their work with vets in ag.

Willie’s early life growing up in a small town in the Midwest resolved him to want to get out and experience the world, so he joined the Navy and become a SEAL, specializing in communications. To hear his description of how far radio communications have come since the early 80s and what we’re able to do both in the military and ag today was fascinating, especially how they used to transmit voice message from places like Kenya back to Virginia.

This episode is filled with stories about submarine lock-outs, public sentiment for service members from Vietnam and today, challenges surrounding the future of plant genetics, and so much more; all from a man who has truly experienced a life’s worth of events in a short period of time.  

The work Willie continues to do with the veteran and ag communities at FVC is truly admirable. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.