Adam Jones
Founder, Kingdom Operatives
Podcast Episode Release Date: 08 December
Beyond the Article: Hear the full exclusive interview with Adam Jones, Founder of Kingdom Operatives and author of the book “Weapons of Mass Deception: Detect and Defeat the Four Weapons Destroying Your Peace, Purpose, and Power.”
Unmasking The Weapons of Mass Deception: Kingdom Operative’s Founder’s Guide to Healing and Growth
What We Suppress Spreads
Achieving a Childhood Dream… and Then Stepping Away from It
From the age of five, Adam Jones dreamed of becoming a pilot. He pursued this goal relentlessly, learning to fly in the Civil Air Patrol at age 12, and later achieving his childhood dream by becoming a UH-60 Blackhawk pilot in the U.S. Army. As a high-performer, Adam quickly rose through the ranks and within a decade was promoted to company commander in the Colorado Army National Guard. However, as his career advanced and he gained more responsibilities, the weight of his commitments to his family simultaneously became heavier and more important.
Around the same time Adam was promoted to company commander, he also became a new father. The combined responsibilities of taking care of his family and his unit took a toll on Adam’s mental health.
“I felt like, ‘man, I am not really doing well here,’” Adam said, reflecting on his dual responsibilities. "I felt that would solve everything... if I made myself more available to my family, a lot of these issues and maybe even my stress and tension and those things that were in me would start to go away because I was no longer around that type of environment.”
With his family as his top priority, Adam made the decision to leave the military and his childhood dream behind so that he could focus on his responsibilities at home. Yet, he would discover there was still more work to do before he could be the father that he dreamed of being.
Finding himself after leaving the military
After getting out of the military, Adam describes the feeling like being in a haze; able to provide exact details of moments yet still stuck in a fog. It was on one of these days, Adam recalls his wife addressing the situation directly…
“Where are you right now?” his wife asked.
“What do you mean?” He replied.
“You're not here. You're never here. I don't know where you are, but it's not here,” she said and then finished, “And I don't think you want to be here.”
Adam realized, in this moment, that being physically present at home did not mean he was truly present with his family. He was still carrying much of the stress and emotions from his military service with him even after leaving the military.
“What I had to learn was that availability does not equal presence,” Adam told VCEO. “My biggest struggle with my transition is I didn't know how to reset, to let it go, to figure out who I was without all the other things attached to me. And without even recognizing it, the same struggle that I was going through in uniform got worse when I got out.”
What We Suppress Spreads: Defining the Weapons of Mass Deception
"What we suppress spreads." Adam uses this phrase to describe the challenges of military transition. The stress and suppressed emotions he carried from his service persisted and even intensified after he left, and, left unresolved, these feelings began to affect his relationships and well-being.
This emphasizes the importance of open communication within families during transition. By having open conversations to address the drift, acknowledge it without excuse, and assess the situation (Adam's three-step approach), Veterans are better able to identify what he calls the weapons of mass deception. These "weapons" include hidden insecurities, mixed motives, and the pressure to perform, which can lead to stress, marital issues, anger, and anxiety. He noted that trauma, transition, and military training that encourages suppression are key origins of these struggles.
Adam encourages creating a culture where family members feel comfortable pointing out when a Veteran is “drifting.” Managing expectations is also crucial; expecting a smooth, immediate transition is unrealistic. “Expecting drift during transition is normal and healthier than expecting a smooth, immediate improvement,” he said.
Calling out “The Drift”
Adam described a military mission to illustrate the phenomenon he calls “the drift”: a disconnection between intentions and outcomes. During a nighttime operation, his team was conducting a medical hoist operation. Missions like these require extra attention to detail because of all the additional challenges to normal cruise operations. Hovering a helicopter is widely considered one of the hardest things to do. Adam was performing this maneuver while wearing NVGs with limited field of view, just above the treetops, and at the same time trying to prevent the rescue stretcher from going into a spin.
While he was focused on keeping the aircraft stable, the helicopter started to drift. The crew chief immediately called it out over the radio:
“Hey, Sir, drifting left.”
No response.
Adam notes that in these situations, callouts and acknowledgements are vital to preventing accidents. A non-acknowledgement means just as much as a response. In this case, Adam was so worried about messing up, he became more focused on what he was doing and started blocking things out.
Over the radio, his crew chief called out again.
“SIR! You are drifting left!”
“Oh, Roger, got it. Sorry.”
Adam then tried to explain the details of why the drift was happening based on the current flying condition, when the crew chief sharply interrupted:
“Sir, no one cares, just fix it.”
After the mission, his crew chief approached him to talk about what had happened.
“Hey what was that?”
“I just didn’t catch it, I’m sorry. I’m going to make the adjustments next time.”
“No, not that. What was with all the explanations? We don't care that the aircraft moved out of position. What we care about is that your ego got in the way and you wouldn't acknowledge the fact that it was actually drifting. You made the situation worse because with each passing second, we became closer to a crash.”
This moment is one Adam calls out as vital for transitioning service members. Just as in flying, when they get hyper-focused on one thing in life, ignoring the drift only makes the situation worse.
He advises a three-step approach: announce the drift, acknowledge it without excuses, and assess the situation. This honesty allows others to help correct the course.
Correcting the Course: Final Advice for Veterans in Transition
Adam advised Veterans to detach their current struggles from their inherent value, viewing challenges as opportunities for growth. He shared his own experience of overcommitting after leaving the military, which prevented him from finding his true self outside of his military identity. “Give yourself grace and recognize that you may need to adjust more than the civilian world,” Adam says.
Adam highlighted key indicators of the “weapons of mass deception,” such as feeling Frustrated, Anxious, Stressed, Tense, Exhausted, or Run down. These feelings form the acronym FASTER, which can help Veterans and their families identify when these struggles are present.
Referencing the high rate of Veteran suicides compared to combat casualties, Adam believes identifying these weapons of mass deception is far more significant than any battlefield challenge. Adam encourages Veterans to seek resources, including his book and the frameworks available at kingdomoperatives.com and breakthepact.org.
Adam encourages Veterans to allow themselves to change and grow beyond their military roles. He stresses the very act of calling out the drift is the first, vital step toward healing and a successful transition.