Selfridge Air Show Canceled: Whose Car Are You Looking For?

I've lived and worked in 4 other countries in manufacturing, and none of them hold a candle to what Michigan can do and what the automotive industry can do. We could do anything, anything. It's amazing.

This show is powered by others over self. Hit that subscribe button to keep training your brain. From others over self, it's Hardcore and At Ease, a show about people who are keeping their edge without going over the edge. I'm host Shelly Rood, and as you know, our world is at war. And this week, that reality landed in our own backyard. It canceled something that hundreds of thousands of people were counting on. Today, we're diving into all that a community loses when the mission calls everyone away. And my guest asks the one question that exposes exactly who you trust and who you don't. Whose car are you looking for? This is Hardcore and At Ease. When you pull into the parking lot at work in the morning, are you looking for someone's car? Not glancing around because you're distracted, but actually scanning, checking, to see if someone is there before you can allow yourself to exhale. My guest today is Jon Stoles, and he calls this his acid test for trust. If you're searching for the car, you already have the answer. And if you pull in, grab your coffee, walk through the door without a second thought because you just know that they're already there doing exactly what they said that they would do, well, that's the person that you build around. That's the standard. I personally have been on both sides of that parking lot. I know what it feels to be the one who's being searched for, and I know what it feels to be the one who's doing the searching. The difference between those two experiences is the difference between a team that moves and a team that just stalls. We're living in a moment where showing up feels optional, where yes means maybe, and maybe means probably not. And that gap between what someone promised and what they actually delivered Well, it just quietly widens while everyone looks the other way. It is so normalized that we've stopped even flinching at it. We're building buffers into our schedules for people who are chronically late. We send 3 follow-up emails because we know that the first one just disappears. We cover for people before they even ask because we've learned that they expect that gap. And every time we do these things, we're chipping away at the foundation of what every team is trying to build. My yes is yes. My no is no. And if I'm going to be there, you will not need to look for my car. That is a decision I made about being the kind of leader that I want to be, and it's the single most countercultural thing that you can do right now. Because when the world feels like it's spinning, and it is right now, the most grounding thing you can give another person is the certainty that you will be exactly where you said you'd be. This week, that got real for Southeast Michigan in a way that knocked the air out of a lot of us. Selfridge Air National Guard Base canceled its open house and air show. The 2026 show is not happening. This show is a decades-long tradition. Families like mine have been circling it on our calendars for years. It was supposed to be May 30th and 31st. The 127th Wing cited operational and readiness requirements as the reason. Now picture what that weekend looks like. Just the smell of the wonderful jet fuel in the morning air. Kids with their necks craned back looking at the F-16s ripping across the sky at 500 miles an hour. The feeling of the sound barrier breaking, hitting you in the chest a full second after that plane is already gone. The vendors are there the day before. They're there early, setting up at dawn. Families are staked out on the grass with lawn chairs and coolers. That's not what's happening this year. And the reason that it's not happening this year is that the people who were supposed to show up there are showing up somewhere harder. Friend and colleague of ours, Tina Cathay, she's a flight mechanic, she's a sergeant. And when she came home, she was told to pack a 72-hour bag. Within days, she was gone. That is what operational and readiness requirements sounds like from the inside. Someone drew a line on the map and your people are on it. John Stoltz has been on the civilian side of this relationship for years. President of the Selfridge Base Community Council, part owner of a precision machining company that makes components that go into defense vehicles and aerospace engines. They're right here in Southeast Michigan. John has never worn a military uniform, and the conversation that you're about to hear is one of the most clear-eyed takes on community trust and what it costs to build something worth showing up for that I've ever had the privilege of being in. So let's get into it.

My entire life I've been— I've worked in manufacturing and always working for other people. Some fantastic opportunities to, to make mistakes as in leadership and in manufacturing and sales. Then I got— I was, I was blessed with an opportunity to be a part owner and jumped on it. And it was, it was a great decision and it's a fantastic opportunity. But all my life I've been in manufacturing. It's all I've ever done.

And it looks like for the last 10 years maybe you've been part owner over there?

Yeah, for about the last 5 or 6 years. Prior to that, I was the general manager running them, and then we decided to become partners. And that's what's happened with the Rock Tech, with the manufacturing company that we have.

What goes into a decision like that?

A lot of thought, a lot of understanding the responsibility Understanding the responsibility, obligations to be in a relationship, to be a partner with somebody, the level of trust that you have to expect to have to be a partner is huge. It's almost like getting married because you are committing to do your part. There's a lot of prayer and a lot of deep thought, a lot of discussion, a lot of talking. What do we do if this happens? What do you do if that happens? And making sure that we have the right— that we share values and our ethics are the same, because that would be terrible, wouldn't it? If you're in a partnership with somebody and you have different values, that would just be a nightmare.

It would be. And what I'm hearing you say is that jumping from general manager into actual partnership over the entire company there's more layers there than people even realize from the outside stepping in. Was there something that surprised you when you first kind of went into partnership and your eyes were opened?

Yeah, well, part of it is how much— what you want to keep private with your partner, for example, that's not— you don't— you shouldn't really keep it private anymore. You have to be able to So you have that deep trust that it's not going to be used against you. You have to see the trust coming the other direction as well. And that is hard. That was hard for me to move into the partnership with it. Also, when you're the general manager and there's still like a board or an owner, there are people that are watching you and you can go to them for help and advice. But when you become part owner, as you know, you're, you're the, you're the, you're it. You're the, you're the one who's responsible for absolutely everything. There is no excuse for anything. Everything is your fault.

Do you still find yourself thinking like, who gave me permission, you know, or who should be making this call? Surely I can't be the one making this call.

Oh, 100%. 100%, yes. It's, what? I'm supposed to make this decision? This is crazy. But it also, I can remember back to when I was just starting out in management and I knew absolutely nothing. I know very little now, but back then I knew absolutely nothing. And all the people that I had to go to to ask for help, to say, what? For the simplest things that Now, hopefully, I know some of these things to do, right? And I can still think back to when I was my first supervisor job, when I was supervising the production department in a big food plant and all the things that happened. And I would have to go ask advice for help on every single thing. And it's amazing, the mistakes and the opportunities over the last 40 years that have caused that.

Is there anything kind of jumping out in your mind that you're like, you know what, if I could advise somebody, this is what they need to hear?

Especially if you're going into leadership, you have to surround yourself with people you can trust. And it's really quite simple. If you're— my acid test on this, if you're pulling into the parking lot at work in the morning and you find that you have to look for so-and-so's car to see if they showed up, you're not trusting that person. If you pull into the parking lot and you know Joe, my production guy, I know he's going to be here and I know he's going to be doing the right thing. I don't even have to look for his car. Those are the kind of people you need to surround yourself with at all levels in the organization. That is truly a lesson that I've had to learn the hard way, probably multiple times.

How do you address it when you trust somebody at that level and they're, they're not living up to that standard that you've set for them?

Yeah, it's, it's absolutely terrible. It's painful. A betrayal like that is, is, is could be catastrophic if you don't control it. But you cannot stop yourself from trusting them just to prevent that. You still have to take the risk. You still have to trust them. And when they betray you, if they betray you, now you know who they really are. It still hurts.

It does hurt. And it's also giving them the ability. I had a manager tell me one time, give them just enough rope to hang themselves. And, you know, it's not your fault if they don't succeed, if you've given them the path and the opportunity and you kind of tell them this is what success looks like, right?

Right. That's right. And you, you have to have the communication and establish the expectations. You know, so it's a contract. I'm— I— our contract is you're going to come to work and you're going to make the decisions in the best interest of the company. I'm going to do my best to make sure you always have a job every day. I'm going to pay you this amount and this compensation package. And you have to hope that the people, everybody and everybody, you know, a lot of leaders will say key positions, but really everything, every position is a key position and you have to have everybody that you can trust on the team. And it's, it's a challenge.

Now, John, tell me about the type of work and the type of clients that you have because you're, you're in the defense industry as well, aren't you?

Yes, we do some machining in our machine shop. We do some firearms optics, we do some defense, some aerospace, and some industrial.

You had me at firearms optics. Tell me about that.

So scopes for and sights, we do some parts like that for a local customer and they're a great partner.

You're not going to share any more details?

I don't know if I can say their name or not. I could share it with you. I know, but I'm 99% sure that they wouldn't mind, but I'm just not 100% sure.

All right. Well, for the record, your coolness points just shot way up with our listeners.

That's cool. I would say it went from zero to way up. That's good.

So we've got some firearm optics. And I cut you off, but I heard you start to talk about some of the defense work that you're doing.

Then we have some defense work. So these are components that are going into one of our bigger or more higher volume products as goes into ground transportation vehicles. So some personnel carriers and some tanks underneath on the powertrain side to help out with the with the transmissions and the steering systems. And they're great parts. Love working with them. We have some aerospace parts that are really cool. We provide some components that go into single-engine aircraft and the engines, which are really nice to customers down in Alabama and quite a few other parts as well. But those are some of the highlights. Those are great parts and great customers. And a great opportunity to, to, to play a very small role, but an important role.

Yeah. Tell me about that, because I hear that one of the best things about working in the defense industry is that you don't have to wear the military uniform in order to contribute to your national defense. Is that a sense that makes it down into your workers, for instance, like the mentality on the front line? Do they know when they're creating a certain part for a certain instance Absolutely.

Those guys on the line are on the machines are so proud that the part they're making is going to go into whatever the end product is. They love that. It gives them such a huge sense of pride and workmanship. It's very huge. It's very big, very important.

Now, that's a mindset that you personally carry over because I know you as the current president of the Selfridge Air National Guard Base Community Council. How did you get involved in that?

Oh, well, I met this guy named Jonathan Vanden Bosch, and he's, uh, he and his dad have been in the base community council for a long time. And we, uh, he said, hey, you need to join, this is a great organization. This was many years ago, several years ago. So went to the meetings, joined it, And it's some great people around the Base Community Council, absolutely fantastic people. They're dedicated to our country. They're dedicated to the mission of the Base Community Council, which is to, is to improve and maintain the relationship between the base and the community. And yet it's a great opportunity to serve as well and not be in uniform, even if you can't be in uniform for whatever reason. If you want to be a part of the Base Community Council, It's a great opportunity. And one of the more interesting parts of that, one of the better benefits of being on the Base Community Council is, for example, getting to work on the open house and the air show and getting to work with all the people on the base who are a part of that. There are some absolutely amazing people on the base. Those folks have got their act together and being exposed to them and getting to support them, and even in the smallest way, is a great honor and a great privilege. Absolutely.

So you personally did not join or serve in the military, is that correct?

Correct. That is correct.

Tell me what that feels like to be a pure civilian, if you will, that gets to work alongside our military personnel in a planning capacity. You know, I guess what are some of the differences that you see, for good or for bad? Because a day working alongside our Selfridge brethren cannot feel the same as a normal day in the tech industry?

I know that the folks on the base, getting to work with them, they are committed. They are committed to their mission. They are committed to the country. And it shows every day. It shows in when you talk with them and you ask them about their work, the pride that they have in their voice and just the way they're standing, their stance when they're talking with you. It comes out with the huge amount of pride that they have doing their job. They're so proud of their job, of their unit, of the base. It's absolutely amazing. And when you're talking with people in the private sector, they're also very, very proud of their work. There seems to be maybe a deeper sense of mission when you're talking to the folks at Selfridge. They are just amazing.

I get the sense that you're a little bit humbled by their stance.

Oh, absolutely. The sacrifice that those folks make every day, every year, that their families make all the time, it's— there's no way you can look at that and be a part of that, even on the fringe like we are, and not be humbled by it and just in awe. It's intimidating and humbling at the same time. And the opportunity to work with them and to be any part of any support that we can be for them is something that we should all we should all take advantage of if we can.

Well, I see you taking it back to your company and I see you being able to carry that, that stance and that pride back into the work that you're doing. And, and I think that's such a unique benefit to being a part of something like a base council. I know there are other community councils across the country, but I think Selfridge is unique in the fact that it is so large and it's so well established.

Yeah, that's what we hear from other folks that visit us, other people that visit us, that the community support and the base community council maybe is a part of that. The community support for the base seems to be off the hook for Selfridge. And, you know, we all love to watch the planes fly overhead. We all love to run into the airmen out at the local McDonald's or whatever and talk to them. We're all so proud of the base. And that's what we hear when other people are visiting is, wow, the community support for Selfridge is just fantastic.

Did you grow up in this area?

I did not. I grew up in Arkansas and went to school there, got to go to the University of Arkansas. I grew up on a farm, left there A long time ago when I was probably about 28 or so. I've moved around and lived a lot of different places since then. We've been here in Michigan now for about 10 years in Southeast Michigan.

Do you think this is your forever home?

You know what, the people here are fantastic, Shelly. When we moved over here, moved here from Shanghai, China, and we moved over here And our neighbors just instantly adopted us. They just took us in and they invite us to their homes for the holidays, for everything, for weekends. And then the people that I get to work with are such hardworking people and honest. It's the people here in Southeast Michigan are what makes us want to stay here.

What were you doing in Shanghai?

I was working for a German automotive company, so I worked for them for about 20 years, I don't know, 18 years. And during the time I worked, I lived and worked in Kentucky, Germany, Korea, and then 5 years in China.

All right, for a minute there I thought you were going to say you're an underground black market gambler or human tissue donor.

Something, something, something that would be way more cool than a supply chain guy for automotive industry, for sure.

You know, though, to be honest, John, though, I mean, that, that position that you're in now of being supply chain for automotive is exceedingly important.

Oh, well, thank you. It's, it's extremely complex. If you If any one person could ever understand the automotive supply chain, how one small factory outside of Shanghai, China could go down for 6 weeks, the impact that would have around the world. It's amazing that it all works. And a lot of it comes back here to Southeast Michigan, the home of the automotive industry, right? Setting up all the industry, the supply chain, how to mass-produce vehicles with excellent quality, with excellent design, at a good price, at the best price possible. That's really the home of industrialization and the Industrial Revolution as far as I'm concerned.

How do you feel about maritime and the manufacturing of submarines now coming into Southeast Michigan?

I think this is an excellent opportunity for Southeast Michigan or for Michigan and also for the maritime industry. The manufacturing excellence that Michigan has is world-class. And like we just talked about, I've lived and worked in 4 other countries in manufacturing, and none of them hold a candle to what Michigan can do and what the automotive industry can do. We could do anything, anything. It's amazing. And so to bring a maritime industry or the defense industry or the aerospace industry, to bring them into the area, it's mutually beneficial to the manufacturers here, to the engineers here, and as well to the industry that we'd be servicing. It's a great opportunity.

I'm just captivated by your breadth of experience here. Can you share with me a product or a project that you have worked on where you just thought, man, it is such a great day to wake up and work on this today?

Sure. Let me think. So I was given an opportunity to go to Korea. There was a manufacturing plant that needed some help to get turned around. And the company that I was working for had just purchased it. And it wasn't performing at all. And I got to go over as a part of a team, 3 other guys, and to run the company and to turn it around. And the camaraderie, the partnership that the 4 of us had in running that company, the— oh my gosh, the millions of mistakes that we made in the different culture and the environment and dealing with people. But at the end of 2 years, being successful and making a profit and and securing jobs for those people, those hundreds of people working in that company. That was an amazing experience. It really was.

I had the opportunity to serve in South Korea. Which area did you live in?

Well, I lived in Busan. And then you probably know Busan.

I do. All the way at the bottom, right? The bottom of the peninsula. I went to the fish market in Busan.

Exactly. Yeah. See, I lived there for 2 years. During one of the years that I was there, there was a big hurricane that came in and wiped out a big part of the shops and stuff along the front there. But it was a great opportunity, great people there in Korea as well. And it's probably one of the first places that I learned you don't have to be a micromanager to be successful because I could not be a micromanager. There was no way because 99% of the documents of the meetings were in a language that I couldn't understand. So this old John that used to work 14 hours to micromanage everything was totally ineffective. And I learned that I had to surround myself with 2 or 3 people that I could trust to tell me the truth, that I could trust their opinions, that I could trust their evaluations and their decisions and their input. And then we were able to accomplish so much. That was probably one of my first lessons right there, learning how to not micromanage, not try to micro-control everything. Surround yourself with a few people you can trust and then get out of their way.

Did you do any sightseeing while you were over there?

I did. Well, I got to see most of South Korea and a lot of Asia. One of my favorite vacations was went to Australia for Christmas. It was just a straight shot overnight south. And, uh, oh my goodness, Fraser Island off the coast of Australia was, uh, it's a national park, I think. Stayed there during the Christmas break, and they closed the park. So, and it was an island, they closed it so you couldn't get on or off, and you just lived in a little cabin out in the woods. And I remember my son waking up on Christmas Day, and there was this big lizard, 6-foot lizard out on the front porch of the cabin. And he still talks about that to this day. And he's 32 years old. And that was, that was a great— something like that just rocks your world, doesn't it?

It does. It absolutely does. You take me to Hawaii and seeing the giant dish-sized spider on the screen door, waking up one morning, slightly different. Equally memorable, memorable.

Equally exciting, right? You don't see those here in Southeast Michigan very often.

No, thank goodness. But it does, it takes world travel to be able to not only open your eyes to different experiences, but to learn the hard way. I think it's just fascinating that one of the biggest leadership lessons that you had came out of a trial by fire scenario.

Well, thank you. Yeah, it was a huge lesson for me and it's helped me tremendously. And it's one of the key elements that I try to live by. And even in my private life, I have a very small inner circle. And if I can't trust you, you're not going to be a part of my inner circle.

Now you mentioned your son. Is he the only child?

No, I have two boys. Out the— going on 32. He's living down south in Atlanta, living his dream. I'm very, very proud of him. He's doing it. He's got it going on. He's got it together. He's got it together. And then the other son is 11, living with us here in Macomb. And he's also living his dream, as you should if you're—

I was going to say, I'm so proud you said that he was 11, because I was thinking, oh, Lord, is he going to compare his two sons? One's living the dream and one's in jail. What is happening?

That's a good Stop, John, stop. All right.

Well, he's 11. He's living out his 11-year-old boy dreams. That's excellent.

He is. He is. He's doing great. He's doing great.

Now, John, you and I were able to talk with the commander for the air show, and he was sharing with us part of his, you know, battle right now of trying to get some of these headliner acts in, one of which caught my attention. He mentioned the Bombers. And then he specifically said the bombers are a little bit busy right now, so none of them can come to the air show. And then albeit, you know, within the weekend that came, we had the strike in Iran coming out publicly. And it was just such, such an amazing opportunity for somebody like us who's not military anymore, from behind the scenes to, to kind of getting that glimpse into what daily life is. For the military personnel, right? So if you're like part of a bomber team, you might actually be doing this military mission or you might go be at the air show. It just kind of depends on, you know, what your commander has planned for you.

Yeah, it's amazing disparity there, right? The extreme— what you could be doing for that weekend. And yeah, he's the director for the air show. He's a fantastic guy. He's got a lot on his plate. Huge amount of responsibility. And then on top of that, he's doing the air show. So a ton of respect and props out to Lieutenant Colonel Alex, for sure.

Do you remember he said it takes how many years to plan, to plan a 3-day air show? Was it 2.5 years, 3 years?

So we like to get started about 3 years in advance. And if you want to get some of the major demo teams in, you have to get that request in about 2 to 2.5 years in advance. And then you start working on it after that and you build the rest of the acts around the headliner demo team. It's because everybody wants them. They're in demand and there's several hundred air shows every year. Us doing our air show every other year gives us a little bit of a challenge because we don't always have the same people in place. For this air show that were here for the last air show. So it's important to have a continuity book. It's important to have a really good handoff. And it's important to be planning, to be planning at least 2.5 years ahead for the air show.

It is. And you have to have both the military side of it, you know, in our case, and you have to have the civilian side of it because there is those military rotation in their positions. And it is the Selfridge Base Community Council that really provides that consistency from one year into the next.

Well, it's a great opportunity for the community to work with the base and put the open house and the air show together. There are things that the base can do that we can't do and vice versa. And it's a great example of working together and with a common mission and accomplishing something that you can be proud of at the end of the day.

John, what was your favorite part of the last air show?

When my younger son tells his friends that his dad was a part of the air show. That's the best part for me.

Yeah.

My son is proud of me. Get to put that together. It was a huge success. The overall goal is not to make money, obviously, because we're not charging anything for it. So if we don't lose money, it's a pretty successful air show. The community engagement that we had in the STEAM events was beyond, was 10 times what we thought it would be. It was fantastic. The engagement every time we went to a school and said, hey, you know, we're doing this. Did you have some science department, engineering department, whatever that wants to be a part of this? Every single time was yes. And then getting to visit some of the schools and seeing what they do and the amazing work they do was wonderful. And then on the day of the, the days of the air show, the days leading right up to the air show and things are getting tight, you know, people are starting to panic a little bit. Here's this, here's that, all the little bit. The folks on the base were so calm and they just had it. They had it under control. You think, oh my gosh, we got to get this moved over to here. And they're done. They got it done. It was amazing getting to work with all the folks on the base. It really was. That's probably my favorite part of it.

You know, I hear you leaning into the family side of it, and it can be so easy to just say that and blow it off like, oh yeah, it's a great event for the family. But you know what, John? I have a picture of my son and I when he was 13, and he was working for our company, and he was doing setup and teardown for our chalet. And I have a picture of he and I wearing our company shirts, and he's got his arm around my shoulders because he's taller than I am, you know, and we just, we both have this huge smile on our faces and the air shows going on in the background. And I will forever cherish that moment, as cheesy as that sounds. And just to know that you're a part of that and that you're bringing that to other families in the area, gosh, that is so valuable and so worth your time. Thank you for doing that.

Thank you for your words. It's a great event. It's a great opportunity to spend time with your family. And it's free. Just come and sit on the grass and watch the airplanes, walk around, look at the airplanes, talk to all the pilots, all the airmen. It's a great day. It's a great day. A great time to spend with your family. It really is.

It is. You know, John, you know one of my coworkers, Tina Cathay. She is now, she's a sergeant, but she's a flight mechanic over on the base there, and she just came up on deployment orders. So just within the last week or two. So she has— she's been mobilized, still in the country, but as of last night, they were actually heading out to head overseas. So I just wanted to share that with you and to kind of let our listeners understand that when we say come out and support our local military, I mean really come out and say thank you because some of them, I mean, Tina got within, you know, she, she came home and they were told pack your 72-hour bag. And sure enough, within a week she's gone. And that's just how it is for a lot of our Reserve and National Guard soldiers and airmen. And when they see all of the people coming in support of an open house and an air show, it really does mean a lot to their hearts and it helps the families continue to be a part, right? So Tina's gone, but I know that her husband will be on site and I know that her child will be on site and they'll be there thinking about her and wishing that she was a part of them and it helps them feel close.

Ah, it's a, it's a great thought. And wish your friend all the, all the best luck in the world and, and a safe return. And you, like you said, it's a great opportunity to meet the airmen on the base. And they're doing, they're the tip of the spear and they're working hard. They're making sacrifices being away from their family. I've been away from my family on a weekend, on a Christmas and New Year's and Thanksgiving and all that, and still in a very nice environment. And even then it's still very rough. So I can't even imagine what our servicemen and women go through, and it just— you have to respect them and admire them and love them for it and wish them the best and pray for them.

It helps a lot when you have a good community to come home to. So John Soltz, thank you so much for being one of our amazing community leaders over here in Southeast Michigan. Before we close out, is there anything else that you want to add for our listener?

If anybody's interested in the base community council, I think Shelly knows how to to help out with that. And Shelly, thank you so much for all you do for the community, for the base, for the Base Community Council. I personally really respect you and appreciate you and what you do. So thank you for this opportunity. Thank you very much.

Even without a military uniform, John Stoltz has just given us one of the clearest definitions of community identity I've ever heard. You build it one kept promise at a time. And even when the event gets canceled, when the plan changes on you, when the mission calls everyone home, what you built, it doesn't disappear. It just shows its real shape. And that's where we are right now. The 2026 Air Show is gone. Tina Cafe is still wheels up. And the people of Southeast Michigan are doing what communities built on trust actually do. We hold the line without being asked. This week, make your yes count because someone else is counting on it. Now, next week we're going to go deep into the caretaking wilderness. It's the second in our wilderness series, and it's some of the most specific terrain that we've covered yet. So I will see you for that this coming Tuesday. And if today's episode landed for you, then come find us at join.othersoverself.com. That's where the conversation continues. Well, it's been a pleasure today. I'm host Shelly Rood. Thank you for bringing me into your world. This show is Hardcore and At Ease, and just like every week, I'll see you back next Tuesday. Until then, I want you to stay hardcore, be at ease, and trust the process.

You're listening to Hardcore and At Ease. Keep the conversation going at join.othersoverself.com.