AmeriCorps Members and Veterans Serve Again

How AmeriCorps works for Veterans  is a cross post from - http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,243603,00.html

Nine years ago last week, Task Force Falcon Brigade Combat Team marched through Southern Iraq on the way to the Battle of Samawah.   On Monday, March 19th, 2012, President Obama issued the first Presidential Proclamation of a “National Day of Honor” for Iraq Veterans marking the nine year anniversary of our military presence in Iraq.

For me, the date marked the beginning of the war, and would be the last of two deployments to combat zones before I left the military. I consider myself lucky.  Since that time, two, three, or even four or five tours is not unheard of… what is  a unique and untold, are stories of those that come back from repeated deployments, leave the military and then decide to serve again – as community volunteers, and as National Service leaders.

Many are faced with challenges, but National Service and volunteerism is one place where they can find a renewed sense of mission and esprit de corps.  Paul Rieckhoff, the founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America remarked that he would like to see people talking about Veterans as the Calvary – a part of the solution, not the problem.  He needs look no further than these men and women … patriots among patriots:

What many people don’t realize is that according to the 2012 Military Lifestyle Survey by Blue Star Families, Military Spouses volunteer at three times the national average.   One military spouse has done that, and much more.

Six years ago, Roberta “Bobbie” Davis answered the door to the scene that every military wife fears.  A Chaplain stood at her doorstep to announce that her husband, Sgt. David Davis, had been killed in Iraq. Bobbie was also a Veteran, spending six years as a combat medic.

Bobbie moved home and in 2009, was sworn in as an AmeriCorps VISTA member and is an American Legion Auxiliary Call to Service Corps Alumni, helping veterans receive the benefits they have earned though their service and sacrifice.  She still works today as a dedicated National Service advocate.

Shortly after the disaster in Katrina, Iraq War Veteran, Alan Petz saw the devastation in Katrina, and marched to the epicenter.

Alan served alongside hundreds of AmeriCorps members, FEMA, and thousands of volunteers as a member of the CNCS empowered  Hands On Network, now a part of Points of Light Institute.




Alan Petz volunteered alonside AmeriCorps members for months
after Hurricaine Katrina, and volunteered with HandsOnNetwork,
an organizations empowered by http://www.cns.gov/


For his dedication and many months on the ground volunteering and organizing response and recovery efforts, Alan was awarded a service medal in person by former President George W. Bush at Keesler Air Force Base.  Alan went on to marry an AmeriCorps NCCC member, has a successful career, and continues to encourage other veterans to engage in national service and volunteer opportunities like AmeriCorps.

Timm Lovitt is a U.S. Army Veteran, who served two combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.   Timm returned to the Seattle area after his deployment and committed himself to helping his brothers and sisters fight the ‘invisible wounds of war’ once they return home.

In 2010, Timm volunteered to help lead the Washington State Veterans Corps project that helps Veterans make the transition from military service to the college environment, and educates Veterans and their family members about these injuries and the benefits.  In just one year, the program reported that more than 3,000 veterans were empowered to utilize earned benefits.

Today, the Washington State Veterans Corps testified before Senator Patty Murray, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.  The hearing was titled:  “Washington Veterans: Helping the Newest Generation Transition Home.”  The Director of the Washington State Veterans Corps testified about National Service as a unique solution for many transitioning service members and veterans.
This year, Iraq War Veteran, Mike Bremer told his story in his own words to hundreds of national service advocates In Washington DC after being honored as a Corps Network Corps member of the year for volunteering with fellow veterans.

Mike’s sentiment about being on an all Veteran AmeriCorps fire team:  “We were veterans who served in combat and shared a common experience that bonded us.  I had their six, and they had mine.  That fact did not change when we came home.”

Mike told me that when he  returned from Iraq with the Army Infantry, he “felt like I lost all meaning and purpose in life and I had trouble finding meaningful work … my Corps experience gave me new purpose and a valuable new skill set. I received incredible training and experience alongside other veterans who had similar experiences – we were all looking for a new life after war.”



Mike Bremer, AmeriCorps Member and Iraq Veteran working
 fire trails for the Southwest Conservation Corps.

Mike, and every single member of his all Veteran AmeriCorps fire team from Colorado found that new life, are now gainfully employed with the skills they learned from the Southwest Conservation Corps.

I have had the honor of meeting and speaking with each of these fellow Iraq Veterans and military spouses, and am proud to call them brothers and sisters in continuing service.  They are not alone.

• Since 2009, and the passage of the Serve America Act, the Corporation on National and Community Service (CNCS) has expanded investments in serving veterans and military families of all eras to unprecedented numbers.

• More than 16,000 veterans have served in AmeriCorps since its inception, helping other veterans and military families access benefits and services; obtain job training and conduct job searching; provide safe and affordable housing; and mentor and tutor children of service members.

• Today, there are nearly 5000 National Service members and volunteers providing services to wounded warriors, veterans and military families.

The Corporation is now Joining Forces to engage veterans and military families by partnering with over 200 State and Non-Profit entities in all fifty states.

AmeriCorps members, including AmeriCorps NCCC and  AmeriCorps VISTA; Senior Corps volunteers; non-profits; and State Service Commissions are also joining community forces by enhancing  local solutions to the challenges faced by our veteran and military family members.  In 2012, we will work  in well over 100 cities, and the efforts in AmeriCorps alone will directly impact over 100,000 lives.

We are expanding our partnerships with the National Guard Bureau with initiatives like the 27 State CADCA VetCorps, and leveraging their national foot print to empower communities from coast to coast with community capacity building expertise.

Last week, Robert Velasco, the Acting CEO for CNCS announced a historic new partnership with the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to strengthen national disaster service network, and I would not be surprised to see Iraq Veterans swell the leadership ranks with peerless commitment and vision.


There are many stories of Iraq Veterans, military spouses and survivors who have been empowered by AmeriCorps, and have also left AmeriCorps better for their continued service.  As our President marked an end to war abroad, it is fitting that a month later, he also declared April 10-16 as National Volunteer Week.

So for all of our Iraq Veterans on this new day of honor announced by the President, and as we look forward to the upcoming National Volunteer Week, I want you to know that there is a life for you after war, it can be mission oriented and meaningful, and it can begin with National Service and volunteer leadership opportunities.  On this day of honor, on this week of volunteerism, and on every day here at home, your service can continue.  Learn more by visiting http://www.nationalservice.gov/.

A New Dawn - A New Day of Honor

The greatest military victories of my generation were achieved though the empowerment of freedom loving people. Last week, President Obama announced a National Day of Honor for my fellow Iraq Veterans -- we have our leadership and our military to thank for this and for the real mission accomplishment and the New Dawn in Iraq.

It was also nearly nine years ago that I remember an ill timed victorious proclamation from another national leader. I was sleeping in a make shift tent from a poncho in the middle of Iraq, and I knew that he was wrong. It would not be us to declare victory, but the Iraqi people. Victory would not come that day, or that year -- we would be lucky if it occurred that decade.

Most importantly, it was not up to us alone to declare victory in Iraq– in situations like the ones we found ourselves in May of 2003, it rarely ever is. Often times the best we can do is sow the seeds of victory, and then dodge the flying shoes while freedom takes root.

As a brief example, in 2008, the world listened as a nation at war within fought for free and fair elections in Iran. The Iranian people laid the foundation for leveraging the power of free speech and the Internet in ways that the world had not seen before. An enemy who vowed the destruction of another free nation was brought to its knees from within by the unchained power of youth in revolt, armed only with cell phones, computers and a Facebook page – empowered from within.

Fast forward three years, and Lybia is harvesting those lithium seeds of freedom, and Syria is looking across the Gulf to her sister in Africa and asking what about me? Democracy by the people cannot be denied.

And as Syria looks across the Gulf at her sister in Africa, we are reminded that this is a continent to continue it’s fight for new energy victory and natural resource independence. We saw Nigera reap the rewards of their own investments in natural resources, leveraging the entire continent to do so with the Organization of African Unity that was supported and championed by President Carter so many years ago. He sowed those seeds over thirty years ago.

I imagine that no one can dictate the future of Iran, nor the future of Egypt or of Lybia or Syria… but America has always supported the struggles for freedom loving people … whether the chains echo in long and dark hallways of oppression, or in the dimly lit streets of dictatorship.

It was, ultimately this approach that allowed over 100,000 troops to return from the belly of Babel in Iraq and into the arms of their waiting loved ones here at home. It was the relentless dedication to the mission of empowering the Iraqi people that allowed the Iraqi people to hold free and fair elections. When all seemed lost, it was General Petraeus who reminded us all that we needed only meet the Iraqi people at their doorsteps, and they would take their own countrymen across the threshold.

So on this declared National Day of Honor, and so many years from a fateful speech on victory, we must say thank you and honor those who secured the real victory – the one that has brought us this far. Thank you to Secretary Gates -- he was, by many measures, the greatest Secretary of Defense of our generation. Thank you to General Petraeus, we are lucky to have him. Thank you to our Commander in Chief, President Obama and Mrs. Obama, who have brought renewed focus to those whom have given the most – our military families.

Above all, thank you to the men and women who brought Iraq to her New Dawn – mission accomplished -- that is truly a day of honor.