Every Marine Asks Where You Deployed. He Hated the Answer. / JMach & Tommy Nutz

About this story

Before After the Uniform, Tommy Nutzmann (@after_the_uniform_) did twenty years in the Navy, made Chief, and retired in 2022 with a daughter on the way and no idea who he was. He wasn't booked for this episode. He walked up to the booth, sat down, and stayed.

In this Vegas Veteran Voices episode, JMach (@jmachpodcast), the Marine combat engineer behind the JMach Podcast, sits down with host Ronnie Long at the Military Influencer Conference 2026 in Tampa. JMach explains how a kid from a one-stoplight town lost 70 pounds to join the Marine Corps at 23, why four years without a deployment made him feel like a failure, how a Lyft ride ended with him marrying the bartender, and how a dirt bike wreck killed the police career and started the podcast. Halfway through, Tommy pulls up a chair. He talks about joining the Navy the day after 9/11 when the real reason was waiting at home, the VA appointments that went virtual when he needed a person, and the Take Care of America's Veterans Act he fought in Congress. Then the three of them go where most podcasts don't: losing a son after eighteen days, road rage in front of your kid, cussing at God, and the night Ronnie got on his knees in the backyard and said "I quit."

Nobody heals by pretending the hard part didn't happen. They heal by saying it out loud to someone who's been there and letting the next guy turn it into a joke. The thing that matters most long after the uniform comes off is who's still at the table when the mic turns off.

Veteran in crisis? Dial 988, press 1.

Follow JMach: @jmachpodcast on Instagram, Threads and YouTube.
Follow Tommy: @after_the_uniform_ on Instagram.
Host: Ronnie Long. Produced by Vegas Veteran Voices, a Nevada 501(c)(3) nonprofit Veteran media organization.

GLOSSARY
1371: Marine combat engineer
CAR: Combat Action Ribbon
Chief: Chief Petty Officer, Navy E-7
TACAVA: Take Care of America's Veterans Act, pulled from the House floor in July 2026
Section 108: the TACAVA provision that would have changed ratings for future tinnitus and sleep apnea claims
In Waves and War: Netflix documentary on Navy SEALs and psychedelic treatment

SPONSOR:
Booth sponsor for this activation was VBG

Marine Corps podcast, Navy Veteran podcast, Veteran mental health, TACAVA, military transition, Veteran advocacy, Military Influencer Conference.

In their words

“I’m not alone. I actually have people who understand what I’m going through.”

“I joined the Navy at 17 years old. I left at 37 and I didn’t know who I was.”

“You fall into isolation without even recognizing you fall into it.”

Chapters

1. 00:00 Navy at 17, out at 37
2. 00:46 Welcome to MIC 2026
3. 02:50 One stoplight town
4. 03:40 70 pounds in three months
5. 04:58 The taped grenade
6. 06:38 "I felt like a failure"
7. 07:50 The war back home
8. 10:42 First Lyft ride, met his wife

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9. 11:36 The cop dream dies
10. 13:19 Six years podcasting, four and a half of therapy
11. 15:06 Cat-sitting for Vegas performers
12. 19:37 She returned shoes while he was in surgery
13. 22:21 "Suck it up, Marine"
14. 23:12 The Pringles condition
15. 25:46 "I'm not a coddler"
16. 28:42 97% never go to combat
17. 30:50 "I didn't believe in myself"
18. 32:42 Tommy Nutz walks in
19. 35:24 Breaking point: his daughter was born
20. 36:42 "I need somebody to talk to in person"
21. 38:22 In Waves and War
22. 39:39 "The connection wasn't service, it's childhood"
23. 40:46 VA CLAIMS SEGMENT: TACAVA and Section 108
24. 43:34 Is your content therapy?
25. 45:21 Eighteen days: losing his son
26. 47:34 "You're always on yours"
27. 50:56 Road rage in front of his son
28. 51:42 Prayer and the Bible
29. 54:23 "If I'm pissed off at God, I cuss at Him"
30. 56:01 "A blessing covered in shit"
31. 58:17 "I quit": the backyard prayer
32. 60:25 "If you took a breath, you still have purpose"