The Jerks Breachin Nekkid Team
The nutters who make this madhouse go.
James
The Real Number 2 -
James is one of them old 12Bs. He has a bad back and crap knees to prove it.
After the Army, he went to culinary school so thanks to James, we have the
kitchen cred too. Imagine that! A food business with an actual food person who studied it!
A great friend and partner to have skirting the law or starting new businesses. He will tell it to you straight and will carry a friendly conversation until
whenever you both start zoning off.
He's Number 2 because someone must be ready to stand in the breach just in case that Phil guy has his 3rd stroke.
James thinks he is a great chef, so we all have a little friendly competition to see whose recipe will reign supreme (suck it Colonel Mustard)!!
Melissa
Innovation and Safety Officer -
Doc is serious about her safety, quality, and tastes. She is also married to another member of our little adventure, but we are not sure which one.
She grew up in the Northeast, saying funny words and having the odd accent that makes most people ask, "Where are you from?"
Melissa was a Combat Medic, but to us, she is our Doc. We would be broken engineers without our Doc! All the explosive concussions must have weirded her out because she swears, she had the best of times with her brothers - Brothers for life (us! brothers in arms, not the other.. what are you thinking!? why?...)!
She still shows alot love for us by pulling double duty. She is a
full-time RN in her day job and babysits us yahoos with quality, safety, taste testing, and perfecting our unique recipes whenever she has the time.
It is awesome to have a caring grown up around.
Alika
So Good No Job Title Needed-
Alika came to the team from the great state of Hawaii. Unlike the other 12Bs in the team, he is actually motivated and went to some cool guy Engineer schools (not over the top super hoah, but still more than regular hoah).
Like everyone on the JBN team, he enjoys kickass food, friends, and good times. He is our personable cool guy, which is a great asset for such a small
team.
Fun fact: man can skateboard too (ask him about the old school videos!).
We are going to kick ass with such a renaissance person (don't take my word for it, look at the combat ukulele he's rocking in the pic). He can ollie, cook good stuff, and put on his NCO hat to lead whenever he has to (he also takes great care of people around him with or without that NCO hat).
AND.. and.. and we also needed his youthful age to bring down our team's average to better align with the younger demographics (most of us are old
as dirt).
Vixai
Community Outreach / Restauranteur -
Vixai (middle) brings the civilian flavor to the team. He was born in Laos but now calls Washington home.
He and Phil met way back when both attended Hazen High School during the 90s. He and his family introduced Phil to awesome Lao food. The depth of
flavors still influences Phil’s tastes and cooking to this day.
In addition to being an integral part of the JBN team, Vixai is managing his own Sap Sap Lao Deli and Café in White Center (see, not an Engineer, but half
way to a Sapper!).
This will allow JBN jerky not only to be ordered online and delivered, but customers can now pick up in White Center with Lao cooking as another foodie option while they are there.
Phil
Dehydrator In Chief Head -
1 L and 2 P's at the end. He was originally a 12F way back when, but the Army decided to kill the MOS and He became a 12B.
He was an E1 twice, E4 twice, and medically retired as a 12B NCO (only once) from the WA National Guard.
He enlisted straight out of high school, had too much fun in Germany, became a civilian again and spent 20+ years in tech supply chain and logistics operations.
Then in 2019, he reenlisted in the WA National Guard so he could blow things up again and met some great folks while serving his state.
In 2022, he had 2 wee little ischemic strokes and suddenly wanted to make people around him more content in life eating fresher, great tasting, dried beef.