Not Quite Finished: Meet Phillip

Las Vegas, NV | @pwashtx702

Twenty years in the Air Force. Two national championships. One world championship. And a mindset that can be summed up in three words: We. All. Good.

Meet Phillip.

Originally from a small town outside Dallas, Texas, Phillip joined the Air Force in 1998 and spent the next two decades traveling the world, including time in Honduras, Germany, and Iraq. After retiring in 2018, he settled in Las Vegas, where he continues working as an Air Force contractor and serving as a firefighter.

You'd think after 20 years of military service, figuring out what comes next would be the easy part. Yeah, not quite.

Leaving the military meant leaving behind the structure, routine, and identity he'd known for most of his adult life. It was a transition that challenged him in ways he hadn't anticipated and forced him to figure out who he was outside of the uniform.

Fast forward to 2023. Life was getting heavy, and Phillip was at a point where he was seriously questioning what came next. Then what do you know... an email showed up.

The Firefighter Challenge League announced a schedule change and an upcoming visit to Las Vegas. After nearly ten years away from competition, Phillip decided it was time to get back in the game. And apparently, he wasn't coming back to play.

With the right coach and team behind him, Phillip went to work. He started setting personal records, competing faster than he had in his 30s, breaking regional records, and taking home TWO national championships and a WORLD championship.

But here's the part we like most, honestly. He didn't stop at winning there.

After finding his way back through the sport, Phillip made it a priority to help younger competitors develop, becoming the kind of mentor he wished he'd had when he was starting out. 

These days, his routine is pretty straightforward: work, family, gym, Firefighter Challenge training, and time at the range. No need to make it complicated. His priorities are family, faith, freedom, fitness, personal growth, and living with integrity.

And his favorite Guts & Grit design is All Good. Not because it looks good (although, obviously), but because the message is pretty much how he approaches life:

No matter what the fuck is going on, we're gonna be all good. We got this.

We'll definitely take that reminder.

Phillip is building his next chapter with his beautiful wife and family, still pushing himself and competing, but also making sure the people coming up behind him have someone in their corner.

His advice to the Guts & Grit community is...

"No matter how fucked things get, we all good!"

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.