Hi everybody.

I'm Ed Leon.

Welcome to the 260 on this episode inside Northeast Indiana's combat ready front line of air defense, the 122nd Fighter Wing, the Black Pine Animal Sanctuary, Indiana's refuge for exotic animals, and the Multicultural Poetry Collective building community through spoken word and public connection.

It's all right now on the 260.

If you're out and about and happen to hear the thunder of fighter jets overhead, it's a visceral reminder that Fort Wayne is home to one of America's premier Air National Guard fighter wings.

The 122nd Fighter Wing is more than a local military base.

It's a strategic defense asset, a major, regional employer, an emergency response force, and a community partner with more than 1000 airmen serving the nation here.

To take us behind the scenes of the 122nd and explain their recent transition to the F-16 Fighting Falcon, are Executive officer, Major Aaron Pence, and medical group senior enlisted leader, Chief Master Sergeant Kurt Briner.

Welcome to the 260 guys.

Thanks for having us.

Thank you.

So talk a little bit about what your mission is here in Fort Wayne.

What are you training to do?

What is your job?

Yeah.

So we are the 122nd Fighter Wing is set up for federal missions.

If we're called on state support and local community missions, we engage in more.

More than just the Jets.

I mean, the jets, the most visible and audible.

Audible, yes.

For sure.

But all of our airmen out there can touch the community in one way or another.

So are you actually training, you know, for aerial battle out in out here every day.

Every day.

We try and fly every day.

If you hear our pilots or hear our aircraft up in the sky, we are doing active training to prepare for various missions.

Ed: How far up the chain do you are you able to to to help?

Pence: It all depends on what we're called on.

We definitely have had people that have served with NATO missions.

We've had multiple missions recently overseas to help support any of the operations that the federal government deems necessary for us.

And then we've had a lot of state missions.

I mean, going back to Covid, we had a lot of people helping out during the Covid time and.

Right.

Yeah, yeah, we're going to talk about that.

How is it how is your unit different than an enlisted unit?

Well, when you say enlisted unit, we have both commissioned officers and enlisted right.

After duty.

Air force and active duty.

Okay.

Most of our force is citizen airmen.

Upwards of 80% of our force actually have civilian jobs in the community.

And then drill with us one weekend month and then do annual training periodically throughout the year as the mission dictates.

So we have bankers that load bombs.

We have police officers that are school teachers.

So we have people that do all the things in your community.

When called to serve, they come and train and then we can mobilize and deploy.

So that's the striking difference between us and an active duty base that is a continuous full time presence.

Now you both did that right coming up.

How do you balance that in your personal lives.

Youre kind of wearing two different hats.

I mean, I did that when I was going to college and then did that a little bit in the community work and some of the, the companies here in town.

And it's just kind of funny where you you're always you always have that military mindset and always kind of keeping up on what's going on.

But when you're in the community, you're doing your thing, whether it's going to school or working.

And then when you come through the front gate, I feel like you just put the military hat on and you roll with whatever that is for the weekend.

What is daily life like at the base.

During the week?

We again, we try and fly every day.

We have a rhythm that we go through.

Some some sorties is what we call them in the morning, sorties in the afternoon.

But we function like a like a large organization.

We have 370, 380 full time employees, medical group personnel, supply, logistics, and we just day in and day out and do the mission and stand ready for... Ed: Stand ready.

Briner: to do whatever were called on Ed: So talk about the new jets, the the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

How has that how is that jet different from the one that you used to fly?

Oh, man, I'm so excited to get the F-16 back.

So we had to have F-16s earlier in the early 2000, all the way up until about 2010.

That's when we got the A-10.

That was actually the jet that that I fell in love with as a kid.

And what brought me into the military.

But getting these F-16s back, I mean, these are these are fast, lethal machines.

The A-10 had an amazing mission, as close air support, just unmatched in what it was able to do.

And that was that was needed for a lot of what was happening overseas in the war on terror and things like that.

But when we get these F-16s, they are highly capable, fast moving aircraft that just really extend our our capabilities and our mission.

Briner: It gives us the diversity to be a viable option for commanders for a lot longer time frame than the A-10 would have.

So it just gives us more diversity.

We're a little bit more useful in a dynamic environment.

Ed: And being based in Fort Wayne, do you?

Are you strategically important across the Midwest?

Absolutely.

We will we will support alert missions as needed, be able to go out and do those type of things.

But yeah, we're definitely where we're at.

I mean, with large cities like Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, all being in this area, we can help support and defend them as needed.

How many F-16s are here in Fort Wayne, or can you tell me that?

I think we have 21 assigned, but occasionally, I mean, we have aircraft going out to Utah to get major refurbishment.

We have aircraft on assignment, you know, for other areas.

So it really fluctuates.

How many jets are actually in Fort Wayne at any time but 21 assigned.

You talked a little bit about the missions that are related to civilian emergencies projects here in Indiana.

Talk a little bit about what you've done.

You want to talk about the Covid.

The Covid response was obviously one where we really started from the ground up and tested our what we call Dom ops or domestic operations standpoint.

So we had medics.

We had folks in, you know, corrective correctional facilities here.

We currently have members that are on, you know, immigration, customs and enforcement missions right now.

And we also deploy during winter weather when there's snow.

We've actually the Indiana National Guard has taken dialysis patients to and from hospital when other vehicles and emergency vehicles can't get there.

So we share that responsibility with our Army counterparts.

But there's always something to do in the community, and you'll always see National Guard members out doing something.

What do you want the community to understand about the work that you do?

One that we provide a huge impact to the community.

We we have an annual contribution to the community, what, over $100 million on average a year that we produce into the community through contracts and employment and those kind of things.

We we benefit the community and with the community support, we can be here to stay.

But as a National Guard facility, we are community support is critical to us.

It's vital to our survival.

It's our lifeblood.

And without the community knowing and supporting what we do, it becomes a lot harder for us to exist.

Yeah.

Go ahead.

I was going to say I, I feel like sometimes we're the best kept secret in town.

Yeah.

Even though we hear you.

You know, being part of the Black Snake family, we're known as the Black Snakes.

And being part of the Black snake family is just an incredible thing.

I see it when our young folks come in, when they first get in there, and they realize that they're part of something bigger and something better.

And it's just it's amazing to see the propensity to serve from from our community and the people that want to come out and do that.

And then they stay.

I mean, our retention rates are well over 90% because once they get in there, they enjoy it.

We, you know, we continue.

To serve and they can learn about those opportunities on your website.

Absolutely.

And you mentioned a black snake for those of us who are not in the military.

What is the black snake group.

So that actually comes from General Mad Anthony Wayne.

He was actually called the Black Snakes by the Native Americans because when you would when he was moving troops through battlegrounds, the supply lines that he had looked like, they weaved like snakes through the, through the battleground.

By the way, is it is it rare or or common to have a base like this right close to an urban center?

It's actually fairly common for National Guard Air National Guard facilities.

We usually share airports.

That way we can offset costs and we can benefit each other.

So a lot of National Guard aircraft units are associated with civilian areas.

That makes a lot of sense.

Thank you both for being here and thank you for your service.

Thanks for having us.

Thank you.

All right.

To learn more about the activities of the 122nd Fighter Wing, go to their website at 122fw.ang.af.mil Albion, Indiana is home to one of the state's most unique and inspiring animal welfare organizations.

It's a refuge for exotic animals that weren't born in the wild.

Many were former pets, performers or animals seized from unsafe situations.

But now they have a forever home at Black Pine Animal Sanctuary, where they receive lifelong care and serve as ambassadors for animal welfare and conservation.

Here to discuss this remarkable mission is Jess Hughes, education coordinator of Black Pine Animal Sanctuary.

Jess, welcome to the 260.

Happy to be here.

What kinds of animals are here?

Talk to me about the spectrum of animals that you have.

Yeah.

So we're the only multi-species, accredited sanctuary in the Midwest.

We take care of approximately 40 different species for about 85 residents.

So our staff has to know a little bit of everything about a lot of different animals.

And what kind of situations do these animals come from?

A lot of them are surrendered pets.

It's important to keep in mind that as a sanctuary, we do not have the authority to confiscate them.

So even if we know of animals in a tough situation, law enforcement has to get involved or people have to... Ed: So how do they come to you?

Jess: Most of the time they are surrendered.

People will call us or send us an email.

I have a fox.

I have a reptile that I can no longer take care of.

And then sometimes law enforcement does get involved and will be contacted through the USDA and they will hook us up.

Ed: Are these, you know, you say people give these up.

Are many of these animals are not really suitable as pets?

Right?

How do people end up with these animals?

Unfortunately, the state of Indiana does not have a lot of laws concerning the exotic animals, so you can buy them online, or you can even go to swap meets.

And garden shows are selling a lot of exotic animals.

These days.

Like what?

Like you can't get a tiger at a garden show, right?

No.

The the big cats and the bears are some of the only animals that are closely regulated.

But you can buy a baby alligator at a pet store, and they do grow.

They do get bigger.

Yes they do.

So they become unmanageable.

Exactly.

So talk to me about.

I mean, I know you have.

How many species do you have there?

We have about 43, I think.

Okay.

Talk to me about a few a few stories, because these all all these animals have a story with them, right?

Absolutely.

So we just talked about the alligator.

We have one alligator.

His name is Gus.

And he was growing up in a bathtub in a frat house at IU Bloomington.

So we don't know exactly.

Ed: I'm sorry for laughing.

That's not funny.

Right?

That's not a good situation for for Gus.

Jess: Yeah.

There are a lot of bathtub alligators in the state, though.

we don't know exactly where he came from originally, but the state doesn't regulate those alligators until they're five feet long.

So selling them as babies is completely unregulated.

And it's very easy for people to get one and get in over their heads.

Right.

You have tigers there, too.

Some special tigers.

Tell me about those guys.

Some very special tigers.

So we have four tigers in total, three of which were confiscated from Joe Exotic.

Joseph Maldonado, the Tiger King.

Right.

Ed: Right, the famous Tiger King?

Jess: Absolutely.

And he is currently in federal prison for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

How he was treating those animals was inhumane to the point that it was illegal.

Ed: So you say confiscated.

So did you go down there and take those tigers?

Did.

Does the call go out for like we have tigers?

What?

What sanctuary can take them?

Is there like a a system?

Jess: Yeah.

Ed: Matches these things.

Jess: There's a few different networks that all work together.

We are members of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, which is global.

So there's about 200 places across the globe that work together for calls like that.

And then we also are part of the big Cat Sanctuary Alliance.

And the big Cat Sanctuary Alliance was a lot of the connections that relocated Joe Exotic Tigers.

So it's a lot of the Fish and Wildlife Service or the USDA has a list.

They know who they can call.

All right.

What else?

You mentioned you had some foxes that that are that were recently recent residents.

Jess: We were able to take in six foxes that were rescued from the Ashtabula County, Ohio fur farm that was shut down early last year.

It made headlines across the country because the conditions were so horrific, and there were hundreds of animals that were in need of help.

Some of them, unfortunately, had to be euthanized because they were not able to be rehabilitated.

So thanks to our partnership with Humane World for animals, we were able to take in six foxes to brand new homes with us.

But hundreds went to other sanctuaries across the country.

Ed: And they'll stay with you until their entire life span?

Absolutely.

That's part of being the sanctuary.

We do not breed, buy, sell or trade.

One of the only reasons they will leave us is if there's a place that can take better care of them than us, which is pretty hard to find.

Okay.

Are you a zoo?

You're not a zoo.

What's the difference between a zoo and a sanctuary?

There's a lot of them.

A lot of it is our accrediting body.

We're a member of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.

Zoos are the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, but it's a lot of the principles.

Many zoos will breed animals even if they never go to the wild, their breeding them for conservation so that that species is still around somewhere.

We will not do that.

Most of our exotic animals can be found in zoos, but many zoos will also not rescue animals from situations like fur farms because of just the risks, the health risks that they come with their medically prone for the rest of their lives.

Ed: Right.

Do you... What's the experience like for visitors to come, to come to the sanctuary?

Yeah.

So there's pretty much two general choices.

You can take a tour, which is what we always recommend.

You'll have a staff member who is trained on all the animal stories and the issues, and they'll take you around.

We do also offer general admission, which would be closer to the traditional zoo experience where you walk by yourself.

See what they're doing, read the signs and it's all by yourself.

Ed: You also told me about some monkeys that that are that that that you have there.

Seems like you have a lot of monkey monkeys.

Jess: We have we have quite a few primates.

It's one of the most popular things in the exotic pet market right now.

And Indiana, the state unfortunately, does not regulate private ownership of primates.

So we have a few very upsetting stories with our primates.

Our most recent primate rescue, his name is Miles, and he was owned privately in the state of Indiana by a man that didn't tell anyone he had gotten a pet primate.

So when that man passed away, no one came to get Miles.

Unfortunately, he was tied up to a bookshelf with a collar and a leash in the home.

And he lived like that for several days before anyone even knew he was there.

Ed: Good thing they found him.

And then they they just know about you.

And they brought him to the sanctuary.

Yeah, that was a kind of a chain reaction from searching to discovery to what they needed to do with him.

He actually went through a partnership with a zoo, which sometimes does happen, but the zoo doesn't necessarily want them to stay forever.

What message do you want people to take away from visiting the sanctuary or from hearing these stories?

Definitely.

The exotic animals are not pets.

Even things you can buy at a pet store like birds and reptiles.

They don't need us.

You can get a domesticated animal.

You can have a pig in your house if you really want to, but a bird, a reptile, a fox, a monkey.

They don't need our care.

They should be left alone.

Ed: Yeah, well, this is an incredible work that you're doing.

And we thank you for, for for exposing it here on the 260.

And, and I hope that, you know, there's less need for, for your services for these animals.

And what you're doing to take care of them forever is fantastic, folks.

For information on visiting the Black Pine Animal Sanctuary in Albion, go to their website at BPSanctuary.org Thank you so much for being on the 260.

All right.

I've been looking forward to this.

Let's talk about something authentically grassroots for our region: Poetz Portal, a young, multicultural Fort Wayne poetry collective building community through spoken word, vulnerability, healing, and public connection.

I'm joined by three of the six founding members.

TehilaYah Ysrayl Jessica Sorya and Breanna C. Johnson.

Welcome to the 260.

Thank you.

Hi, ladies.

There's so much imagery in the name of your collective.

How did it all come to be?

Tell me about it.

So I'll start.

So it actually was a just a meeting and it was a whole lot of people.

Right?

And after a certain certain time, it just started being, you know, smaller and smaller and K-2, one of our members.

He actually started it and we started at Bipoca here in Fort Wayne.

And after it just started getting smaller and smaller, there were those that were dedicated and committed, and that's us.

Ed: That's right.

But, you know, poetry seems, you know, from the outside to be kind of a solitary thing to do, is it?

And but you guys, it's a group effort.

Talk about the collective.

What's the dynamic in there.

Breanna: Yeah.

So our poetry collective, we're a woman led collective that is dedicated to liberating consciousness and galvanizing a human shift to the power of poetry.

So we bring people together.

We want them to get out of their minds and back into their bodies and feeling, because people focus so much on.

Oh, I think I think are what's going on in their head.

And we want them to get back into, okay, how do you feel?

How are you moving through the world?

How are you connected to other people?

That's our main focus.

Ed: Okay, that's pretty heavy stuff.

So how do you how do you bring that into the everyday?

How do you do that.

Jessica: So well, What we like to do is we like to bring poet.

We like to bring poetry to the community and provide spaces for poets within the community to come and be heard and have their voices.

Ed: Okay, you've done that in the park?

Yes, yes.

Talk about that.

Yeah.

We did an event for WBOI called “Save Our WBOI” they were losing some funding.

Yeah I know that.

We know that situation well here.

So we decided to gather together and collaborate with local musicians and artists and poets and raise funds to help them stay afloat and to help them still keep their voice in our community.

What are some of the other ways that you've been bringing poetry to the community?

Because community connections are really important theme for you guys, right?

Yes, we did partner with Fox Island, where we had seasonal events last year and that was amazing.

So we saw so every event was tied around a specific season, a specific time frame, and we ask the people to come out.

We actually had paintings for every season, and we had them at the end of the poetry go up and right on that painting.

And so the community actually created these.

It wasn't us.

And how do you get the word out that that, hey, come on down to Fox Island and do some poetry?

Is it is it just like a pipeline of poets.

A lot through word of mouth, a lot through social media.

Yeah, fliers.

It's a lot spoken word.

Our faces on media, letting the community know.

So you're all creators in your own right?

Right?

Yes, yes.

And what... You know, what's your why for doing something like this.

Oh, I would say for me, poetry is the lifeblood of liberation.

So if you want to be free, if you want to be liberated from the constraints of everyday life, you have to find your authentic voice and not be afraid to speak it.

And I feel like that echoes within our collective as well.

Ed: That you know, that you talk about there's so much noise in our culture, how any advice for people on how to do that?

how to find that, how to how to tap into that inner voice because there's so much pounding on us, you know, all the time.

Jessica: It's really, Yeah, it's a devotion to quiet the noise.

It's more about presence.

We have, like our anthology portal to the poet.

Ed: I want to talk about that.

Jessica: The part, the whole vision around that is that we believe that there is a poet inside of everyone.

And so to be present enough to tap into that poetic consciousness within is how poetry is made.

It's how we give meaning to our experience.

So you brought up the anthology, which is your self-published work.

Talk about that.

How did that come into being?

Ysrayl: So we all sat down and it was just an idea.

It was just an idea.

It was like, hey, let's do an anthology.

And we all were just sitting there.

We're like, yeah, let's just let's just do it right.

And so we all decided, okay, okay, who's going to do this part?

Who's going to do the editing, who's going to do the book cover?

Who's going to do that.

And so we all just kind of gel together.

It just really just came together with our energy and how we deal with one another.

Like it just it was amazing.

Now you've also done some work with the Peace Academy.

I want to hear about that, because I think what they're doing is such fabulous work.

Right.

With the with the high school kids.

Yes.

We gathered with them at Snyder High School.

It's an after school program.

So they we all collected there with Heather Essex, I believe her name is.

And we were really surprised at the participation from the students and their willingness to, to write and to reflect immediately.

So why do you think young people resonate to poetry and spoken words so much?

I think it's because they have a voice.

A lot of times children may be silenced and they can't say what they want to say, but through poetry they can.

And for me, it is really big and within my heart that children have the ability to actually have a voice and speak and know that what they speak is theirs.

It's their truth, and no one can take it from them.

Right.

How is hip hop affected poetry in these last couple of decades?

Any thoughts on that?

I think hip hop is poetry, too.

It is.

It's it's the artist speaking their truth over music and beats and just the extra accompaniment that comes with it.

It just it is them being their authentic self and saying things that they cannot say in everyday life or other jobs or whatever.

Yeah.

So you guys have started this and it's and you're moving it forward.

What is it that you're hoping to to achieve in the, in the months and years to come with the collective.

Just bringing community together?

We're so splintered in a lot of areas, and we really focused on just bringing people together.

Even within our collective, we are not all the same.

We have different ideas, we believe different things, but we still have a common chord of poetry and allowing ourselves to be authentic, and that we want everyone to have a taste or be able to come into the portal and experience.

Exactly.

Ed: And the portal is an important thematic thing.

Explain the portal when your in your words.

What is the portal?

Yeah, a portal to to me is a it's a doorway.

It's a place to enter.

And so we really want to make the portal an opportunity for all of the poet, local poets, artists, musicians to be heard, to get their voice out there.

All right, well, as we wrap this up, is there any final words that could take us either into the portal or out of the portal?

We always start our sessions with grounding.

Yes, yes, that's really important.

That's one of the ways that you can get yourself ready to enter into the portal is to breathe, take a few moments, feel the presence of other people around you, and that will set the stage for you to be able to enter into the portal.

All right, well.

Thank you.

Poetz portal, thank you so much for being here on the 260 we'll be right back.

That's all the time we have for this episode.

I'll see you next time on the 260.