Military to Management Episode 5 — Robert Darling and Eamon Graziano

In one of our most intense episodes, we sit down with Colonel Robert Darling, USMC (Ret.), an attack helicopter pilot who served in Desert Storm, Somalia, and was later selected to fly with HMX-1 (Marine One).

Bob shares his incredible, firsthand account of being in the White House President's Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) bunker on 9/11, reporting directly to Vice President Cheney and witnessing the critical decisions made to secure the nation.

He translates these high-stakes experiences into essential lessons for transitioning veterans and civilian leaders:

The Power of Compartmentalization: How military training prepares you to "eliminate the noise and focus on the mission" during chaos.

The Transition Reality Check: Bob discusses the culture shock of his first post-military jobs and the path that led him to find his purpose as an entrepreneur.

Finding Your Purpose: Why you must find a mission that gets you up for PT, even in civilian life.

The Entrepreneurial Pivot: The evolution from a defense subcontractor (Quantitative Analytics) to a public speaker (RJD Press) and the founder of Flash Emergency Management.

The Insurance Flywheel: How Bob created a genius business model by partnering with insurance companies to make crisis planning affordable for small and medium-sized businesses.

Embrace the Suck (AI & Change): His advice on dealing with industry disruption—bend it to your will and use it for opportunity.

This is a powerful episode on courageous leadership, finding mission in Chapter 2, and the critical importance of resilience.

🔗 Connect with the Host:

Eamon Graziano — LinkedIn | bneconsulting.ai