Category Archives: Veterans

Veterans in the 21CSC : Great Basin Institute – Nevada Conservation Corps

Veterans Conservation Corps Begins Works in Nevada’s Sloan Canyon NCA

On September 26th in Henderson, NV, five AmeriCorps members with Nevada Conservation Corps’ Veterans Conservation Corps program were joined by community volunteers, Congresswoman Dina Titus, Councilwoman Debra March, NV Energy Vice President for Government and Community Relations Judy Stokey and representatives from partnering organizations to launch the “From Military Service to Green Service” partnership at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area. The event was covered by KTNV Channel 13 News.

One of the veterans, Ryan Richards of Reno, NV, left the Marine Corps after four years of service and decided to become involved with environmental service through Nevada Conservation Corps’ Veterans program. The program provides young military veterans opportunities to work outdoors building trails, improving habitats and protecting Native American cultural resources at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area.

“This is a great opportunity for newly separated military veterans to gain work experience and training in a new career field,” said Richards. “I am happy and thankful for all of the participating organizations that are sponsoring this partnership.”

The partnership is supported by NV Energy Foundation, which provided the Conservation Lands Foundation a $75,000 grant in support of the Veterans Conservation Corps. Additional partners include the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), City of Henderson, Nevada Conservation Corps, and volunteers with Friends of Sloan Canyon. The veterans are also AmeriCorps members and will receive AmeriCorps Education Awards at the completion of their terms of service.

“Our support of the Veterans Conservation Corps is an extension of our commitment to honor the men and women who have served our country,” said Paul Caudill, NV Energy President and Chief Executive Officer. Caudill is also Chair of the NV Energy Foundation. “Not only will this program provide employment to local veterans, it will make a positive lasting impact on Sloan Canyon and the benefits it provides to the local community.”

Veterans in the 21CSC: Kris Pedings – Southwest Conservation Corps

From Southwest Conservation Corps, Durango, CO

As a kid, Kris remembers wanting to be a soldier, or a cowboy or a firefighter; always wanting to do something challenging and rewarding. He worked construction for a number of years in order to put himself through school in criminal justice. After finishing school he took time to see the world by serving in the Peace Corps in an agricultural program in Ecuador, and teaching English in China for several months. After returning to the United States, Kris started looking into the military and wanted to try his hand at the Special Forces; he felt drawn to how elite it felt, and how hard it would be to become successful. After more than a year of strenuous training, he was placed as a Special Forces engineer Sergeant with the 5^th group at Fort Campbell, KY.

After three years and a couple of deployments, things started to slow down and deployments started to get cancelled. This led him start thinking about a career with a Hotshot Fire crew or as a Smokejumper, someone who parachutes into a remote region to fight wildfires. Kris started contacting supervisors to get some insight. During this time, Kris worked on getting all of the necessary certifications to serve on a fire crew, but he found it difficult to finalize many of the certifications without the required field days. His search led him to phone calls with a couple of Fire Management Officers who highly recommended the Veterans Fire Corps (VFC) program, an AmeriCorps program of Southwest Conservation Corps.

Kris ended up applying to the VFC program and started just two days after getting his terminal leave and finishing up with the military. He found the VFC program to be just what he needed to pursue a career in wildland firefighting. The certifications, work experience and networking would help set him up for success within the federal land management agencies. Kris is currently sending out resumes to several Hotshot crews that are stationed with Smokejumping units. He is about to start a month-long Emergency Medical Technician course that will prepare him even further for a job in wildland firefighting.

Veterans and the 21CSC: Matt West – Mt. Adams Institute

Provided by the Mt. Adams Institute

Matt West is a U.S. Navy veteran in his second full-time term with VetsWork: Environment, an AmeriCorps program through the Mt. Adams Institute that supports career development for veterans seeking a civilian career in natural resource and public lands management.

Matt serves with the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA), where he engages other veterans in service opportunities that restore the natural environment of the South Puget Sound and Joint Base Lewis McCord area. Matt designed an internship program for veterans with a community partner, the Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM), that has helped over 25 veterans develop job skills in the environmental restoration sector. This program has doubled in size in its second year.

Matt is passionate about helping other veterans connect with the natural world. He believes there is a mutual benefit when veterans work on environmental restoration projects: the land benefits from attention, and – equally important for Matt – are the personal and potentially therapeutic affects of this work for Corpsmembers. Matt says, “By offering veterans a chance to heal the Earth, I have witnessed incredible transitions of incredible people doing incredible work.”

Matt’s civic engagement was also demonstrated through his personal Community Action Project. He worked closely with local organizations to secure donated materials, equipment and land, to create an edible garden for the community. The garden is situated in an urban neighborhood where children from 60 percent of the households receive free or reduced cost school lunches. Matt’s objectives were multi-dimensional: he sought to engage veterans in the project to engage their ethic for community service; he wanted to provide access to healthy food options for this low-income community; and he wanted to demonstrate to local residents the value of growing local, healthy food. The garden has been installed and the community is actively engaged in its maintenance. It was an incredible project with clear community impacts.

Through all of Matt’s experiences with VetsWork, he came to realize something: he loves service. Although he has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and thought he would continue looking for a career in that field, Matt has discovered that he finds value and purpose in helping others.

Over the course of his 18 months in the program, Matt has developed a place for himself and his family in the national service world. He was even recently asked to share his thoughts about his experience to an audience of 200 supporters, including Washington State representatives and Veterans Affairs officials.

As a result of his hard work at his site and in his community, Matt was recently offered an employment contract with his sponsoring organization to support the internship program he developed as a VetsWork AmeriCorps member. He will begin this position at the end of his term of service.

Veterans Turn Firefighters in California Program, Part of 21st Century Conservation Service Corps