Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed TN-5 congressional candidate Jeff Beierlein in-studio to discuss his background in leadership and managing people, and what separates him from the rest of his opponents.
Leahy: In-studio, Roger Simon, all-star panelist, and Jeff Beierlein, candidate for the GOP nomination in the 5th Congressional District.
The election is two weeks from today. Jeff, you’re a West Point grad, a combat veteran. What’s the top issue on your agenda?
Beierlein: I would say by far, Michael, for me, it’s the economy. It’s the pocketbook issues that are impacting all Americans, regardless of your socioeconomic status or location, et cetera.
This is a result of the Biden administration deliberately inflicting pain to drive their leftist agenda. That’s a big motivator for me. And as a businessman, I think I’ve got tremendous relevance.
I’ve run businesses in seven or eight different states, in health care. I’ve been doing that for the better part of the past 15 years. And I will say a lot of the challenges that we deal with are self-inflicted by our government, including the COVID mandate and a lot of the other restrictions they put on us.
Leahy: Your background is operational?
Beierlein: Absolutely.
Leahy: You’ve run businesses for 15 years in the Army. You were in the Army how long?
Beierlein: For 11 years.
Leahy: For 11 years. But you were an operational guy, right?
Beierlein: Absolutely. I led units, I led teams in a myriad of missions across various countries in the field. Absolutely.
Leahy: And combat in Iraq?
Beierlein: Combat in Iraq. I did two tours in Iraq. I was there in 2003 and went back to Baghdad in 2004. Prior to that, for two years in Central America, we ran teams across most of the countries in Central America doing humanitarian relief, counter-drug missions, et cetera.
Simon: So your enemy in this race …
Leahy: Opponent. Because we’re all Americans. (Laughter)
Simon: … General Winstead, brigadier general …
Leahy: Tennessee National Guard … JAG officer – justice advocate officer …
Simon: … yes. How would you contrast his experience and your experience?
Beierlein: Well, first of all, I think that the general and his family should be very proud of his service. America should as well. He put on the uniform, went over and served.
But I can say his role as a JAG officer, essentially an army attorney, is to prosecute soldiers, defend soldiers, and work through wills, et cetera, on the administrative side. But by no means what I say my experience parallels that.
I led units, led teams, we were assigned missions and had to figure out how to accomplish them, and take people in sometimes very dangerous situations to pull that off.
Leahy: So if an army attorney says that they’ve got experience doing things other than writing wills, you would be somewhat skeptical.
Beierlein: Well, they’re doing things administratively, from an office, and we’re out in the field leading.
Simon: You flew Black Hawks, right?
Beierlein: I did.
Leahy: What’s it like flying a Black Hawk?
Beierlein: It’s very, very exciting. I think 99.9 percent, my takeoff-to-landing ratio is successful. I did have one miss.
Simon: Well, you’re here.
Beierlein: Exactly. Any crash you can walk away from …
Simon: What was the mishap?
Beierlein: It was down in Central America at the end of a long, long day down in Honduras after a hurricane … And this was 1998. We were over gross; essentially, our weight was too high for the altitude we were on.
And we could take off, but we couldn’t land. There’s a phenomenon called transitional lift where it takes less power to actually take off once you make forward momentum.
Almost like a plane: The heavier they are, the longer the runway they need to take off and land. So helicopters are very similar, but everyone walked away.
Leahy: Did you crash the helicopter?
Beierlein: Oh, yeah, we crashed, crashed hard.
Leahy: What’s it like crashing in a helicopter?
Beierlein: Well, you pray as fast as you can. You close your eyes. You know it’s over. And when we came to, and did accountability for the six guys in my aircraft, we realized, okay, we all made it, and we execute those same procedures. We practice again and again and again.
But this was a relief mission. We had thousands and thousands of pounds of food and goods on board. And there was a whole village of people, hundreds and hundreds of people.
I think we counted about 600 people coming after us. But they weren’t hostile in any way. They just wanted what we had because they knew we were coming up there via the radio. And then we had to organize that.
So after the crash, the real work just began. We had to establish a security perimeter. I couldn’t get contact on the radio to call higher headquarters to tell them what happened. It was getting dark, and I felt like Indiana Jones out there for a while, Michael. It was unbelievable.
But then again, at the same time, I felt I was prepared as a leader to handle this, because there are too many lives at stake, and my responsibilities kicked in.
Simon: When they talk about baptism by fire, that’s baptism by fire.
Leahy: So you had all the supplies in the helicopter that crashed?
Beierlein: I did, from floor to ceiling.
Leahy: And were they usable after the crash?
Beierlein: Absolutely.
Leahy: So you set up the perimeter?
Beierlein: We set up a perimeter and established a line. And of the hundreds of people, we were yelling – I did have one Spanish translator with me to try to get the mayor of the village or leader, or the village leader, to establish some control and help them and help us establish a line to get the goods out while I’m trying to contact headquarters.
But the aircraft wasn’t on fire. It was smoking. But I could get one radio up and I got one radio call out. And so they were able to come get us under goggles at night. But it was a harrowing day, Michael.
Leahy: And you survived it, of course.
Beierlein: Everyone survived. That’s what’s most important.
Leahy: Absolutely. Well, that’s quite a dramatic story of serving our country.
Simon: I’ll say!
Leahy: Now, tell us a little bit, when you campaign, what do you hear from folks? What are they telling you? And do you enjoy that interaction with potential constituents and voters?
Beierlein: I thrive on that, first and foremost. The interaction is incredible. I think in many ways, when people talk to me, they feel like I give them a voice. And that’s not being heard right now.
We have so many of the status quo folks both representing us, who don’t share the challenges of the rank and file Americans here in Tennessee. That could be the economic challenge.
That could be what they’re seeing, putting our country at risk. The challenges we have with drugs, and their concerns fall silent by the representatives, and it’s unacceptable.
Leahy: For the listeners, say they haven’t made up their mind. The early voting is going on. It will continue till July 30, and then Election Day is August 4th.
And they look at it, I like this Jeff Beierlein guy, but he doesn’t have a chance. And all the money is being spent on Kurt Winstead and Beth Harwell and Andy Ogles. Why should I waste my vote on Jeff Beierlein?
Beierlein: That’s an excellent question. And I can tell you if I get in front of people and talk to people, and they know more about me, I think I become more and more of a viable alternative to the status quo.
There are alternatives in this selection for folks to review and select. At the end of the day, if they want somebody who’s an entrenched politician, they want a lobbyist like Kurt Winstead, or Andy Ogles, they can choose that path.
I think I’m an alternative to what they’ve seen before, because I’ve served our country for many, many years. I’ve ran businesses much larger, tens and tens of millions of dollars, ran teams of hundreds of people. And that’s different from what they see out there in most elections.
Simon: It’s an interesting case, what you’re saying, because I think it’s a situation that many people have met across the country in many elections, which is whether to vote your heart or vote strategically. Most of us have voted strategically most of our lives. Maybe it’s time to reconsider that.
Listen to the interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Jeff Beierlein” by Jeff Beierlein.Â
