If there was a single inspiration that launched Phil Briggs’s long radio broadcasting career, it was the antics of the military DJ in the movie “Good Morning, Vietnam.”
“I thought that was just the best style of radio—the comedy bits, the fake phone calls, the prank phone calls. It just looked like so much fun. I thought, ‘That’s it. If that’s a paying job, I want to do it!’” Briggs recalled.
Briggs was still in high school when that film starring actor Robin Williams came out in 1987, but it set in motion a dynamic career trajectory. Today the Navy veteran hosts the CBS “Eye on Veterans” program and podcasts, through which he interviews veterans on all kinds of issues, from the silly to the somber, and advocates for changes that will improve their lives.
Briggs is also a champion of the military-focused work of University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC). He will serve as the keynote speaker on April 23, as the university hosts its MilVetNet career and networking event for military-connected students. The event highlights national, regional, and local support services available to military servicemembers, veterans and their families. Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), nonprofits, and a select number of employers will be available to speak with attendees. There is no cost to attend the event.
To register, click HERE.
“I love working with UMGC and doing ‘CBS Eye on Veterans’ every week,’” Briggs said, noting that people who can’t find the program on their radio can always tap into the related podcast. “It’s telling the stories that need to be told, brother. That’s exactly what it is.”
Helping former servicemembers find jobs is important to him, he said, because combat veterans often have trouble transferring their military skills to the workaday world.
“I found that veteran entrepreneurs really are incredible examples of thriving after service,” he said. “You take an idea and you create a small business around it and you're no longer worried about how you fit into today’s workplace culture. You’re more than just a cog in a wheel.”
Briggs is also proud of his work focused on getting Congress and Veterans Affairs (VA) to understand the damage done to troops exposed to burn pits in Iraq. The U.S. military has used burn pits at bases in the Middle East to dispose of waste, including munitions and chemicals. The American Cancer Society says there is extensive evidence that burn pits expose servicemembers to levels of toxic air pollution linked to cancer, heart disease, asthma and other lung disease.
Briggs’s advocacy helped bring change. In 2022, President Joe Biden signed a burn pit exposure health bill into law.
“[After] the social media scuffles I kind of got in with senators and congressmen and others about failure to support that legislation, seeing that bill finally get passed felt like a big accomplishment,” Briggs said. “Most of the people behind that issue were on our show, and we did some deep dives into the problem. It was nice to be part of something that made real change.”
Briggs is now focused on an even bigger problem: the traumatic brain injuries and chronic pain that too lead to veterans’ suicides. He has become a champion of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), which he said has proven results but is not approved for brain injuries or chronic pain by the VA.
“HBOT is something I am really proud to have focused on,” he said. “We have done multiple interviews. It is the way of the future—and not just for the warfighter, but for anyone who has suffered brain trauma, which can be from impact or just a traumatic experience … That’s something millions of people can identify with.”
In 2019, Briggs wrote and produced the podcast “To War and Back,” which shared the emotional stories of three Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. Kirstie Ennis, Boone Cutler and Scott Huesing talked about combat, coming home, addiction, suicide and how their work today inspires veterans and civilians alike. The podcast was nominated for an Associated Press award.
Briggs has come a long way in radio since he set out to be a DJ. At Arizona State University, he immersed himself in the college radio station.
“I learned the ins and outs and just got to experiment. It was all music and the stories from fraternity row. It was a blast, and I got the bug,” he recalled.
Instead of finishing his degree, he started applying to radio stations, ending up on the overnight shift at a station in Rapid City, South Dakota.
“It was the early days or the ‘90s. I was 20 years old and playing Janet Jackson, Madonna, Prince and Pearl Jam, taking crazy phone calls and sharing listener stories. I would host events at bars, barbeques and car dealership remotes. I had so much fun!” Briggs said. “I eventually got fired for missing a commercial recording, which is ironic as I would later go on to become a production director for stations in much larger markets.”
That’s when he joined the Navy, which sent him to the Defense Information School to become a broadcast journalist. He ended up as a photojournalist on the brand-new aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) and deployed on assignments in the Caribbean and North Atlantic. It was a time of peace for the United States. The closest Briggs came to combat was watching aircraft conduct training runs and bombing at Vieques Island off the coast of Puerto Rico.
“It was like all the Top Gun visuals without the drama of real war,” he said, referring to the 1986 movie starring Tom Cruise as a fighter pilot on an aircraft carrier. “And being a journalist was great because I got a chance do stories on every aspect of it.”
But, after four years, he left the Navy and returned to radio work, where he would eventually interview rock bands, from Aerosmith to ZZ Top. Working as a successful morning show host was the height of radio, but Briggs was working during the last good years before the industry entered a steep decline and many jobs disappeared. After “some philosophical differences about my show’s humor,” Briggs was again looking for work.
He was eventually approached by CBS Radio, which recognized his on-air personality, to host the nationally syndicated radio program “CBS Eye on Veterans.” Initially, he elevated the stories of those involved in the global war on terrorism, thinking that his own military service was not significant.
“But I came to learn that we all raised our hands, made the commitment and would give our all when asked,” Briggs said. “It’s really just an honor to be part of this community, the tribe of incredible American military vets. It’s something I’ll always be proud of because it gave me my start.”
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