What is the one piece of advice that an Apache helicopter pilot has for you? FIND OUT on C-Level: Guest Lucas Rice

The Chris DeBlasio Podcast

What is the one piece of advice that an Apache helicopter pilot has for you? FIND OUT on C-Level: Guest Lucas Rice

- So Lucas tell me, if you were to give one piece of advice to somebody in leadership what would it be?
- Well I'll tell ya I got a great piece of advice a long long time ago from one of the greatest people in the world, my mother. And a that advice was what's the worst thing can happen, they're gonna say no. And so have the courage to go out and ask. Have the to go out and fight. Cause what's the worst thing they're gonna say? No.
- No. _ On this episode of C LEVEL, I meet help with Lieutenant Colonel Lucas Rice Executive Vice President and COO of LDX solutions.
- So Lucas tell me a little bit about your story. How'd you get started? Where you're from?
- Sure yeah, I originally from Cleveland, Ohio. Grew up there playing soccer.
- Indians fan? Of course.
- There you go.
- Indians and Browns.
- Right okay. In reality is I'm just happy when they win anything.
- Right, right, right? We're on a roll right now so it's good.
- Yeah well my Giants aren't doing to well.
- Well that's good. Cause we've had plenty of our own you know loses.
- Yeah.
- But born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio all my family and friends are still there. Grew up playing soccer was fortunate enough to be on a club team. That I got to travel the world playing soccer. And so it exposed exposed me to more than just Cleveland.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- And so I realized and wanting to go to college I wanted to go something a little bit further than right next door. So I ended up actually at the United States Military Academy at West Point. I was recruited to play soccer there. And not your normal school.
- [Inteviewer] Yeah. It wasn't exactly the party atmosphere that you see here.
- Was soccer with what you wanted, you wanted to be a pro soccer player one day? Or what is it?
- No I enjoyed playing. I still play till this day
- [Inteviewer] Yeah. in an old man soccer league.
- [Inteviewer] Yeah.
- But no I love the game. I guess I got pretty good at it. And so when it came, when West Point came to me it really turned the tide for me. That it became a sport I could continue to play, but I was going to West Point because of the leadership. The leadership model, the leadership experience that really is. You know folks talk about masters, talk about what their degrees are in. I've got an Aerospace Engineering Degree, but I went to school for leadership.
- [Interviewer] Yeah. It really is a leadership laboratory. And so that's what truly drew me to it.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- It was going to the leadership side. So following that of course I had a military obligation. So I did 10 years active duty service.
- [Interviewer] Yep.
- As a helicopter pilot, I was fortunate enough to pick up Aviation. So I was H64 Apache Helicopter Pilot.
- Wow. Spent several rotations through the states. Fort Rucker, Alabama where we training on Aviation. Fort Campbell, Kentucky was there with 101st Aviation. And then over seas so two years in Korea. And then came back to Fort Rucker and realized it at some point need to start a family. My wife's a West Point graduate also.