Staying Fit
If you would have told retired Sgt. Scotty Hasting three years ago that he would be a singer-songwriter signed to a Nashville record label, he would have laughed at you.
The infantryman’s transition from the battlefield to the recording studio was a journey that he never thought he’d be on. When he first enlisted in the Army, he expected to make a career out of the military.
“Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out as planned,” he said.
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While leading his platoon on patrol in Afghanistan in 2011, Hasting was shot five times in the shoulder, four times in the hip and once in the thigh.
“I’ve got bullet fragments all over my body. I had a collapsed lung. I’m missing a whole chunk out of my hip. For the longest time, I didn’t want to accept that it happened,” he said.
As time passed, Hasting found that the more he talked about his injuries, the more it helped him understand that he needed to find a new purpose in life. Eventually, he gravitated toward playing the guitar and found his escape.
“When you have depression or PTSD, you suffer and it’s kind of very black and white,” he said. “You see everything exactly how it was. Whereas with songwriting, I was able to be creative and use my imagination. I was able to bring color back into my life.”
After his first performance at an open mic night, he knew he needed to be onstage. He began searching to find an organization that supported veterans in their music and found Operation Encore.
The beginnings of Operation Encore
Created by two Air Force service members, the nonprofit uses the power of music to bridge the gap between civilians and military personnel by offering active military and veteran musicians support, opportunities and mentorship.
The cofounders, retired Col. Rob Raymond and Reserve Col. Erik Brine, met in the Air Force ROTC at Boston University and remained roommates during their first assignment at Andrews Air Force Base. Fast-forward 10 years, and the two found themselves working in Washington, D.C., becoming familiar with the laws around military and veteran issues. To their surprise, they discovered that most people were unaware of what a true veteran is. The friends started Operation Encore to fix that.
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