Editor’s Note: This story includes frank discussion of trauma and PTSD.
Andrew Arbogast has a continuing nightmare in which he crashes his helicopter while on military duty in Afghanistan.
“It’s usually at takeoff or landing,” he says. “The blade stops spinning and I go upside down and crash the helicopter. That never happened. Right? But it’s a recurring nightmare that, in a way, kind of reminds me that life is not guaranteed.”
A former Army Apache helicopter pilot, Arbogast, 39, was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014. “There were some very traumatic moments in combat. I have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. And I have to live with demons that, unfortunately, will never go away.”
Arbogast is owner of Arbogast Foods LLC, which includes Arbo’s Cheese Dip. Since hitting High Point Grocery May 15, 2021, the dip, which comes in original, spicy, and queso blanco, is in about 300 stores. “We’re rocking and rolling with Kroger. They’ve been ordering and selling out nonstop.”
He plans to add more products. “I don’t know if it’s because of the Army or the military or if I’m cut from a different cloth, but I’m so disappointed if I don’t have something to look forward to.”
But while Arbogast has successfully created a line of dips that are growing in popularity, an unsettling memory from his Army days continues to haunt him.
Taking Off
A native Memphian, Arbogast grew up with his dad’s spicy cheese dip, a family gathering essential.
He loved to cook and thought about going to culinary school but ended up switching his major from food service to psychology after getting an ROTC scholarship to finish his education at Northwest Missouri State University.
He then spent 10 years in the Army, which included a stint in Iraq. Instead of asking his mom to send him fresh socks, Arbogast asked her to send a George Foreman grill.
Arbogast was then deployed to Afghanistan, where he was air mission commander. Still all about food, he remembers sitting down with his soldiers and “breaking bread” with them, slicing a foot-and-a-half summer sausage and smoked Gouda cheese, while planning their mission to Afghanistan. “Food is morale,” he says.
When he got out of the service, Arbogast went to work as a category manager at International Paper. But in November 2020, he decided he wanted to do something with his dad’s cheese dip recipe.
He got thumbs-up during cheese taste-testings with friends. The dip is smooth, has character and body, but chips won’t break during dipping, Arbogast says.
A year after the business began, Arbo’s dip was in local grocery stores as well as non-grocery stores. In August 2022, the dip became available in major Texas cities. They’re sold at H-E-B Grocery Company’s Central Market stores. On October 22nd, 100 Kroger stores in Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi began carrying his dips.
Everything happened fast.
Arbogast’s cheese dip business sounds like a sweet dream. But, he says, “With as many good things that have happened, double have been failures through all of this. Which is what people don’t really see. They see success, but they don’t understand or are not privy to how much of a struggle this has been to grow this quickly and reach Texas, for example, or Kentucky. It didn’t come overnight.
“Going into this I was just so naive with, ‘Oh, all you have to do is make cheese dip and people will buy it.’”
Not so, he says. “I’m tired. I’m constantly stressed. But there is a key component that I’ve acquired from my time in service, time in combat. When things are at their worst, you have to remain resilient and positive in order to get through the day, the week, the month.”
His days include trying to meet the demands of Kroger and other retailers while striving to come up with new product ideas. “I’m still at that point where I’m managing everything as a single person. I’m managing the orders, the purchases of raw materials, bookkeeping, operation, and, most importantly, the sales. That’s one of the biggest struggles.”
Like the time an order of $25,000 worth of cheese had to be disposed of because it wasn’t put in a cooler. “I never have a day that goes as planned.
“At this point, I’m still running with it, but I need to hire someone, even if it’s an administrative assistant, to help me with some of the ordering or some of the logistics. Or a bookkeeper. It’s very hard to keep up with all of it effectively.”
Since Pancho’s Cheese Dip was bought by Minnesota-based food distributor Sabrosura Foods in 2021 and is no longer made in Memphis, Arbogast also has had to contend with competition from other local cheese dip makers.
“I’m kind of hanging on by a thread. Or, what I would refer to in the Army, when you’re task-saturated: ‘You’re hanging on to the stabilator.’ It’s the most rear part of the aircraft. You’re hanging on to the tail of the aircraft, basically.
“It’s hard not to treat every issue as an urgent priority. I’m still learning. And it feels like I have a long way to go. I’d love to sit down and just relax and take a deep breath. I haven’t figured out a way to do that. But I want to do it all, and I want to do it now.”
But, he says, “I’m afraid of losing control. I’m afraid at the end of the day.”
Then there are the nightmares. “It’s stuff unrelated to cheese dip,” he says, adding, “I don’t know if some of this stems from PTSD from the military or are just those things that continue to resurface.”
Not Just a Dream
The helicopter nightmare harkens back to a real incident that involved Arbogast on March 6, 2014. “I was responsible and at the trigger of what we call a blue on green attack. What that means is ‘blue’ being the United States, the Army, our military, against the ‘green,’ allied forces or Afghan forces. Where we have mistaken them for the enemy.
“I took the lives of our allies. I think about it every day. And I still don’t know if I will be forgiven on judgment day.”
Recounting that incident, Arbogast says, “We were cleared to do what we were supposed to do in order to prevent loss of American lives. The guys were just at the wrong place at the wrong time and weren’t wearing uniforms. We had cleared it through our headquarters that these were supposed to be enemy bases where they were and where they were positioned. What we perceived as the enemy position was on a small ridge line. At the top of the ridge line was a heavy machine gun, a DShK, which is a threat to our aircraft.”
Arbogast later found out the “enemy” they were looking at was actually “an Afghan army.” But, he says, “They were out of uniform and their location was not plotted on a map that was current.
“Because of that we were cleared to engage because we saw that as an immediate threat. Once we had expended every bit of ammunition from our Apaches, we went back to re-arm.”
Then, he says, “There was a call over the radio that an Afghan army was being attacked at that location.”
This took place at night. “They didn’t know what was going on when they were being destroyed.”
Arbogast hasn’t forgotten the slightest details. “I remember everything vividly from that night. What I had for dinner: It was cold pork chops, carrots, and peas. We went out to just do our jobs.
“I don’t know how the other guys feel. It’s not something we talk about. Morally, I think it’s easier for some of them to believe that they were truly Taliban.”
A technical investigation took place, and Arbogast and the other soldiers were cleared. But in the report, one of the Afghan soldiers said they radioed into their headquarters and said, “We are being attacked. But we are not in fear. The Apaches are here to save us.”
Those words still haunt Arbogast. “Half a dozen were killed or maimed when they were trying to fight for their country. And I have to live with that.
“You push it down and you go on about your day. What do you do? Until it bubbles to the surface. No matter how many pills you take, how many hours of therapy or group sessions, it’s something that will continue to haunt you.
“What would have been the alternative? If our helicopter were shot down? As hard as it is to live like this, that would be even worse to imagine.
“War is hell. People don’t come back the same. And what you do with yourself will define you.”
A Positive Turn
Arbogast didn’t tell the story to his wife, Erin, for four years. “I didn’t see the good in discussing it. It’s just something you suppress. I don’t want anyone to worry about me. I just have to have a way to overcome it. So, talking about it or even just doing something that makes me happy will continue to bring progress. So, cheese dip it is.
“I turned all that moral injury, anger, and aggression toward something positive. The cheese dip. It’s almost one of those things that if I didn’t experience anything like that, would I have the courage to start this business?”
At one point, Arbogast thought he might retire and “live a boring life.”
But, he says, “You have nothing else to live for if you’re not continuing to hustle.
“This is the biggest thing I have ever done in my life. Even my time in the service, 10 years. This feels bigger than that. This is something where I put the onus on me to be successful for my family, and for my community. I don’t want to let myself down. And I don’t want to let others down. Because what I have is a good thing. And it would be a terrible waste to let this go at this stage.”
Arbo’s dips are a popular item at Grind City Brewing Co., says event director Ian Betti: “We sell a ton of it. It’s one of those snack-y, communal types of meals that work out really well.”
And, Betti says, Arbo’s dips are also a great way to support Arbogast. “He’s a casual, down-to-earth, genuine person. But also knowing he is a former Army aviator is super important to us, too, because we love supporting vets.
“We work with Folds of Honor, the organization that supports and raises funds to hand out to the family and children of fallen and wounded soldiers. He’s part of that.”
Arbogast is a newly appointed Folds of Honor board member. A portion of Arbo’s Cheese Dip sales proceeds go to the organization. “I can continue to serve outside of the uniform,” Arbogast says. “The mission has a direct impact on the families of service members that made the ultimate sacrifice. It’s better for me to devote my life to making sure the families of those that didn’t make it back are not forgotten.”
Arbogast wants to add more dips, salsa, and maybe Arbo’s seasoned pretzels to his business.
“One day I do have a dream of selling this brand. It’s not just the money I’ll earn, but it’s going to allow me to do something else with this short speck of time that we have. I feel like this is just one chapter and I have more chapters and I will continue to build.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get content in this life. When I do, it’s time to hang up the helmet and gloves. That’s what one of my flight instructors would tell me. The minute you think you’ve got it all figured out and you don’t need to learn and develop, it’s time to hang up the helmet and gloves. Because you’re done.”
