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WETSU: a BattleshipNJ Podcast
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Phillip Brashear: A Distinguished Military Journey
00:23:31
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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. Quarters. All hands, man your battle stations.
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B
Welcome back to wetsu, a Battleship New Jersey Podcast. I'm your host, Marshall Spivak, CEO of the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial. Today's episode is sponsored by our friends at ELEC825, the Labor Employer Cooperative of Operating Engineers Local A25, whose members helped us prepare the battleship for its move to dry dock last year. Today we're joined by someone whose journey is rooted deeply in service resilience and an incredible family legacy across military branches. Chief Warrant Officer 5 Philip Brashear is a master army aviator with more than 2600 flight hours, a veteran of humanitarian missions and deployments to Bosnia and Iraq, and a leader who wrapped up his military career as the Command Chief Warrant officer of the 80th Training Command. He began his military service in the Navy as a jet engine mechanic and helicopter crewman at Naval Air Station Norfolk. He's also the son of Master Chief Carl Bashir, the legendary Navy diver who inspired the film Men of Honor starring Cuban Gooding junior Robert De Niro. And Philip has carried that legacy around the world, sharing not only his father's story, but his own, one of grit, perseverance and leadership. Of course, you'll see by looking at my cap, I don't even think you noticed it. I know that that there is a a Navy ship named after his dad as well, the USNS Carl Bashir T AK E7, a Lewis and Clark dry cargo ship that is operated by military SEAL UP Command. And in a rare honor, the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, the Mikpon, named Philip an honorary Navy Chief, tying him directly to the Chief Petty Officer community, including the Chiefs who train right here aboard the battleship New Jersey through our Chief Petty Officer Heritage Heritage Academy, which has now been going on 17 years strong. So, Phil, for sure, we're really grateful and glad that you're here today. Welcome to the Wetsuit Podcast.
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A
Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. And by the way, this month marks the 25 year anniversary of the release of the movie Men of Honor, which was first debuted in the United States November 10, 2000.
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B
Wow, 25 years. I would not have guessed that the first question that we always start out here with is why did you join the Navy? I think maybe for you it's an easier question than most, but why did you join the Navy?
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A
Well, I wanted to join the Navy, first of all, because I had just flunked out of college and I felt kind of lost. So I was looking for some kind of structure So I figured joining the Navy would be the best thing to do. So that's what I did back in September of 1981.
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B
And then you transition, and a big transition in 89, you switched from the Naval Reserve to the Army National Guard. What sort of sparked your change to change branches and how did that shift like go for you from Navy to Army? Probably a little bit of an adjustment.
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A
Well, after, after seven years of flying on the back of Navy helicopters, I was kind of feeling like I wanted to put in for flight school, Navy flight school, but I didn't have a degree. So what happened was I was introduced to the Army Warrant Officer Program by a friend of mine and the rest just, just happened. I took the interview in Richmond at, with the Virginia Army National Guard and I was accepted. And the colonel said, if you switch from the Navy Reserve to the Army National Guard, I will send you to flight school. So I called him up on his offer and switched over to apply for army flight school.
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B
And as you mentioned, you're our first ever warrant officer on this podcast, which is obviously a unique leadership path and probably one that most people really don't have a greater understanding of. Can you tell us a little bit about the Warrant Officer program? What is a warrant officer and what that role sort of meant to you as being able to be a pilot?
- [03:47]
A
Well, a warrant officer, especially in the army or any other branch of service, is a technical expert. He's pretty much advisor to the commander on different proficiencies. He's pretty much the expert that kind of floats around and makes sure that the enlisted side is doing what they're supposed to be doing and being a liaison to the commanding and executive officers, making sure that the unit functions with a bit of cohesion in the army, especially in aviation. Most of the pilots in the army are warrant officers. We're the technical experts who do most of the flying. In army aviation, I would say 80% of the pilots flying aircraft are warrant officers.
- [04:25]
B
Well, I didn't, I would not have guessed that. Okay, that's, that's, that, that's good to know. As we said in your intro, you've deployed a few times, including to Bosnia and to Iraq. In Iraq, you deployed as a maintenance test pilot. Do you have any particular memories that stick out to you from your deployment to Iraq?
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A
Well, Iraq was pretty, was pretty intense. Not only doing my year long tour, my father passed away midway. But I got the chance to do a variety of missions. Medical transport, quick reactionary force. I even got a chance to fly Chuck Norris around when it Came for a celebrity visit from the campsite. So I even had some VIP duty.
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B
Oh, that's cool. And you mentioned also you spent some time in Bosnia. Can you talk a little bit about that as well?
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A
Bosnia, that was amazing, too. Again, the same type of missions, troop transport, air taxi. And during that particular deployment, I got a chance to fly Arnold Schwarzenegger around. So I got a chance to do some more VIP duty flying him around as he visited the troops from site to site. It was pretty intense.
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B
That's cool that you. So it sounds like you've got a full sort of full journey in multiple deployments, multiple different kinds of flights that you're doing, people that you're taking, different missions that you were on. At what point in your life, I think, did you fully realize maybe it was during your Navy days, Maybe before, maybe after. At what point in in your life did you sort of realize the impact that your father had on the Navy and sort of how his service sort of resonated?
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A
Well, my first realization that my dad was pretty much the man was during my childhood when he would take us on base, and as his car was seen coming through the gates, I saw how the sailors kind of got together. They either got out of sight or got in line with what they're supposed to be doing. So back then, as a child, I knew that my father was pretty special. But I will tell you, when the movie came out in 2000, when I was 38 years old, there were things that happened and there was things going on with that movie that I understood that my father never talked about. And I asked him, dad, how come you never talked about those types of things? So I was 38 years old, still learning about my dad when the movie came out and how that influenced thoughts about my dad and what he went through that he never even discussed.
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B
Is there something about your father, something maybe essential to who he was that maybe didn't make it in Men of Honor that didn't make it into any of the books written about him that you wish people knew more about?
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A
Well, yeah, I wish people knew that my father had a great sense of humor. See, I'm almost 6 3. Well, I am 6 3, almost 6 4. My dad was a lot shorter than me. And when I was a teenager, I used to pick on my dad. And if you ever heard the phrase, don't poke the bear.
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B
Yeah.
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But one day I called myself picking on him, and I said, dad, how come I'm so tall and you so short? He know me, son. Before your little buck Came along, I was out to sea, so better go ask your mother. So he had his own way of putting me in place. And. And I tell you, he had a great sense of humor. When I graduated from flight school, I called myself poking the bear. And I said, dad, I must have scored higher on the ASVAB test, military test. My career goes up, not down. And he said, son, keep flying your army helicopters. Navy divers need to work. So he had a great sense of humor.
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B
I love that. That's awesome. And of course, you've built a great and extraordinary career of your own, which we started talking about. And when you look back, is there a particular moment or accomplishment that sort of makes you proud of your. In your own time in the military?
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A
Well, being a Navy air crewman was pretty intense when I first joined the Navy, and I thought that was. I was pretty proud of that. Wanting to be a pilot, the need and wanting to be a pilot was very intense. And when I graduated from flight school, man, I felt like, wow. I know my dad was pretty. An intense guy and pretty important as. And celebrity status doing what he did as a diver, but, man, I felt so proud that I was able to break away and kind of do my own thing and being a pilot. See, my dad wasn't a combat veteran, so I felt kind of proud that I was able to go off in my own direction and keep my own ego intact.
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B
And in Bosnia and Iraq, what was primarily the type of helicopter that you were piloting?
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Okay, when I was in Bosnia, I was a Black Hawk pilot in command, flying Blackhawks with the Virginia Army National Guard. When I was deployed to Iraq in 2005, I was also in the Virginia Army National Guard flying Black Hawks. It wasn't until I retired after my Iraq tour and came back into the service nine months later, where I started flying Chinooks for the Army Reserve out of Fort Eustis. So I've got Hueys, Blackhawks and Chinooks under my belt as far as being trained and flew awesome.
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C
Operating Engineers are the men and women that move mountains. And the engineers Labor Employer Cooperative ELEC puts them to work. They create opportunities for the men, women, and union signatory contractors of Local 825 repaving our roads, keeping our homes bright and warm, and even building our favorite team stadium. We understand infrastructure. That's why ELAC and Local 825 are ready to get to work.
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B
We mentioned in the intro as well, you've been named an honorary Navy chief. A rare distinction, not something you see every day. What did Receiving that honor mean to you? How did it sort of come about? Talk to us a little bit about that.
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A
Yeah. Well, okay, great. Yeah, I've always done stuff with the Navy, but when my dad passed away in 2006, since I was the only son that kind of was still in the Met, well, I was the only son still in the military. I guess the Navy kind of came around and said, well, his dad's gone, but we got Philip. He's got military ties. Let's get him to join us in a lot of our events. So I started getting tuned with the Chiefs season.
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Yeah.
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And started doing a lot of, a lot with the Chiefs during Chief season throughout different units throughout the Navy in this country. And it just, you know, from year to year, I would be involved in cheese season. And then by being my dad's son, I would give presentations to Navy commands all around the country. And it just evolved from 2007 to the present day. Now when I retired in 2022, about 2022, I guess, a lot of this information got to the mass Chief Petty Officer of the Navy and he's like, wow, this kid, even though he's Brashear's son, still gives back to the Navy by way of chief season and communications and presentations. And at my retirement, what I thought was going to be an army retirement turned into a Navy retirement, he came and gave me that designation. It was, it was a great honor to be named honorary chief by the metcon.
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B
That's, that, that's awesome. And of course, as you what you were alluding to the connection with Chief season, Chiefs Week, for those who aren't aware, and I love talking about it because it's one of my favorite weeks of the whole year on the battleship. This past year celebrated 17 years as the Battleship New Jersey's Chief Petty Officer Heritage Academy. And what that is exactly. Our chief selects those who, who are waiting to be promoted and who have been selected for promotion to the rank of Chief Petty Officer. And they come on board and they spend usually three nights on board the battleship. In the past, it's been traditionally more of a reserve type of academy, although recently we've. We've got some seagoing commands which have been nice. And for a lot of the folks in the reserve, believe it or not, their experience as a part of Chiefs Week and aboard the battleship is the first time they've ever, you know, spend a night on board a Navy ship, which is, which is unique, I think. And a lot of the chiefs that we cater to in Chiefs Week are non seagoing rates. But we this past year had, I think, 85 to 90 selects and over almost 200 chiefs. And they come and they basically take over the battleship for about a week. And you've been a part of that for the last couple years. That's how we met. And, you know, so I wanted to understand from you, sort of your experience on the battleship, why you like coming here, why you like being a part of Chiefs Week, and, you know, the importance to you to continue to teach the next generation of Navy chiefs.
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A
Well, let me be honest with you. I don't just like it. I love it. Being an honorary Navy chief and being able to put on the khaki uniform. And also since I'm retired, still being part of the military, being able to put my hands and mentor the new chiefs as they come on board into selection and just being around that military lifestyle and of course, coming aboard the ship and staying in the staterooms and all that kind of stuff, it's just a great experience, I tell you. I wish you guys could open it up to the whole Navy. I think everybody should get that. All the new chiefs that are becoming chiefs should get an opportunity to do it. It's such a great experience. We go through a lot of history, we go through a lot of chief deck plate leadership. We go through a lot of historical background and what it means to be a chief coming up in today's Navy. It's just a great experience because we go full circle and trying to make these guys better guys and gals, better chiefs for the Navy in the future.
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B
Yeah. And I think, look, we've expanded it year over year. I think we started off with like 10 selects and it was a one day, then it became a two day thing, then it became a week thing. And the fact that we've been opening it up to more than just the reserve and the specific commands that we normally get. This past year, we actually had a couple sailors, three sailors from the USS New Jersey, our sister ship Submarine New Jersey, and a couple other ships that came this time around, which was fun. But we, yeah, I mean, we, we'll, we'll take anybody from anywhere. And we're very proud to say that we are now the largest CPO heritage academy in the entire country, which we're obviously very proud of. But you come and you're part of it. When you talk to the new selects, what is one of the lessons or the, you know, the major thing that you hope that they take with them in terms of a leadership lesson or just something that you're trying to impart, that you hope that will stay with them as they advance through the ranks.
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A
Well, one thing that I always try to give to the new selects as they become chiefs is the fact that to be a great leader, you have to be a great follower. Second example, always give the example of if you're walking down the passageway and there's a group of sailors down at the other end, but there's some trash on the floor and you happen to see it as a new chief or as a chief, period, don't just walk past and give the order for somebody to pick it up. Let those sailors see you pick it up, that you take the initiative, even though you're wearing the khakis, to be able to pick up some trash and throw it in the dumpster. And I'm telling you without even saying the word, I think just the sight of. Of that says a lot to those sailors. They'll see that, hey, the chief can pick up trash. So when he gives me the order to pick up trash, hey, I can go ahead and do it because he's willing to do it. And I think that's the greatest lesson you can have or to teach is to be a great leader, you should be able to be a great follower, and you're willing to do the exact same things that you're asking your sailors to do.
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B
Well, that just reminds me of a story here on the battleship which you talk about often, which is Admiral Halsey, World War II, South Pacific, with waiting in the back of the line for Thanksgiving dinner, you know, behind all the enlisted ranks, and everyone's saying, sir, Admiral, you know, go to the front, please. And he's no, I'm gonna wait in line. I'm no, I'm no better than anybody else here. And it's Thanksgiving. I'm gonna wait in line just like everybody. And I think you. You hit the nail on the head. And obviously, you know, this is outside of your. Your dad, the. In your immediate family. Your wife is in the army as well. You have children in the army, so it's a family business, starting from your dad. But, you know, coming down to you, to your family, what does it mean for you to have this legacy of service amongst your family?
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I think it means a lot. And let me just share with you this. My wife not only spent time on active duty army, she spent time in the army National Guard and eventually retired out of the Army Reserve. So she served in all three services connected to the army, active duty, National Guard and Army Reserve. And I'd like to give a shout out to my son now who's in Gitmo Bay, Cuba, serving with the army as a military police officer.
- [16:08]
B
That's great. And we certainly wish him nothing but success and safety down at Gitmo on his deployment down there. One of the things I like to do is sort of have, like, a little bit of a lightning round questions, and so I'm going to ask you a couple things. I just want you to say, you know, the first thing that comes to the top of your head.
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A
Oh, boy.
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What's one word you would used to describe your father?
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Brave.
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Favorite aircraft? Apply.
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A
Chinook.
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I think you kind of already touched on this one. But one leadership trait, every chief petty officer should live by honor. If you could have one meal with anyone here, I'm sitting in the captain's cabinet on the Battleship New Jersey. But you could have one meal with anybody in. In history and have it right here on the battleship, who would it be?
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A
Lincoln.
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Lincoln.
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A
Abraham Lincoln.
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B
Very great answer. And certainly last but not least, we end every episode and we ask the same question to everybody, and that is that. This is the Wet Zoo podcast. What does WETSU mean? WETSU means we eat this stuff up or something slightly more than that, as you can imagine.
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Yes.
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It's on our battle flag, the replica of which is behind me. And basically what it means is doing tough work, grueling work, and doing it with a smile on your face. It's a reminder that when things get tough, when you're cold, when you're tired, when you're under pressure, there's pride in sort of leaning into the challenge and doing what you're doing with a smile on your face. And that's the mindset that was brought to the crew by our last skipper, Admiral Ron Tucker, and sort of really resonated with our last crew. And it's the mindset that sort of inspired this podcast. And we like to know, is there any sort of wetsuit moments that you've had in your career, in the Navy, in the army, or anything that comes to mind just from. From your life?
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A
Let me tell you something. I've lived a full circle in the military. I've done just about everything. I've even put on the wetsuit that my dad used to wear back in the day. To ask that question would bring too many memories back, because I love every moment that I've been able to be in. So that's an impossible question for me to answer, and I'm sorry about that.
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B
But that's all right.
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A
Great experiences. Hard to just single out one.
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B
Yeah, well, I appreciate that. And then the last. I did want to ask you a little bit more about the movie. 25 year. We're celebrating 25 years. Almost just a few days later than 25 years.
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Yes.
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When the movie first came out, did you get a ch. I'm assuming your father was still alive at the time? Yes. And did you guys get a chance to go on set, see any of the filming, meet any of the actors at the time? Or was that all sort of happened after the film wrapped up?
- [18:44]
A
No, no, no, no. I've got. I got a chance to be on the set three separate times during the film within a movie. And it's not. It's not as exciting as you would think because it takes all day to set up one scene and then the actors coming out to the end, last hour of filming to do the scene, and it takes all day. So it's not as exciting as you would think. But I did get a chance to be on set three separate occasions and I loved it. I even enjoyed the Hollywood premiere. I'll probably never go to another Hollywood premiere, but to get out that limousine behind my dad with the cameras flashing was a great experience. And to have all the celebrities that were there at that Hollywood premiere in Hollywood, California, and the fact that those big celebrities, big time people we see on TV all the time, knew who my father was because the movie was about him, man, that was a great experience. And the fact, like I said before, At 38 years old, I'm looking at a movie about my father learning more things about him that I never knew. So. So it was an enlightening, enlightening experience the whole way around.
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B
Yeah. Well, it's funny you said, I was just in my own personal life reflecting recently on my grandfather's service in World War II, and he died about 20 years ago. But I never, as a kid, as a teenager, really asked him about his experience in World War II. And frankly, it wasn't only until a couple weeks ago and I knew he was in Europe, he was a little bit younger, so he didn't get over until towards the end of the war. But I didn't realize even till just a month or so ago that he actually saw combat in Germany on the front lines, that he, you know, was on the front lines and, you know, had friends who were killed next to him and almost got killed himself. The things that you learn later on in life about family members, but still, you know, things that, you know, make you proud and that certainly resonate with you. Better late than never is what I like to say about those types of situations. I'm curious, do you remember how much time like Cuba Gooding Jr. Spent with your dad or anything, if at all, in trying to understand sort of who he was as a person trying to emulate him on the screen?
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A
Of course, to answer your question, Cuba did spend some time with my father. In fact, a lot of time my father. So did Robert De Niro. It wasn't publicized, but they did spend time together. Cuba got to learn some of my dad's mannerhythms and whatnot. And man, he portrayed him great in the movie. So those guys really did their research. The director came to my dad's house many times to kind of interview him before the movie process even got started. So I really got to give it up to those folks that really got into it before the movie movie even started to do their homework to make sure they were given the audience a great picture of who this person was.
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B
Anyone you still keep in touch with from, from the movie?
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A
I just had a conversation with the producer and director a couple of days ago. And listen, they're so busy in their lives, they didn't even realize it was a 25 year anniversary. So when I reminded them, they said, oh my God, Philip, thank you for calling. So, yeah, I still get a chance to, to stay in contact with them.
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B
That's great. And of course, as we mentioned at the onset here, I'm wearing my hat. You've got the Navy ship that's named after your dad, the USNS ship from Military Sealift Command. That's a refueling, a resupply ship. You keep in touch with any of the crew or the captain? I know it's Military Seal of Command, so it's not exactly the Navy specifically, but do you keep any sort of ties at all or keep up with what's going on with that ship?
- [22:01]
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I sure do. And as soon as things quiet down, I'm going to make another phone call because as it stands, there's a stateroom waiting for me. And I've done it before, take a ride to wherever they are, but I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to do that yet. But I'm going to carve out some time and get on that ship again to cruise with it wherever it goes. And it's based out of San Diego, so man, the Philippines, Hawaii, Japan, it's. It's wide open territory for me to travel to.
- [22:26]
B
That's great. Just be careful they might try to reenlist you again. Philip Brashear this has been an awesome conversation. Thank you so much for sharing your story, sharing a little bit about your father's legacy, your service across generations. We really appreciate you joining us today on wetsu and to everyone else who's listening or watching us, thank you very much for joining us. Please be sure to like share and subscribe and share Wetsu, a Battleship New Jersey podcast. Thank you very much for listening and Philip, thanks very much for being here.
- [22:59]
A
Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Take care.
- [23:01]
C
Operating engineers are the men and women that move mountains and the engineers labor employer Cooperative ELEC puts them to work. They create opportunities for the men, women and union signatory contractors of Local 825 repaving our roads, keeping our homes bright and warm and even building our favorite team stadium. We understand infrastructure. That's why Elac and Local 825 are ready to get to work.