Well I have returned from the greatest experience I have ever had in my life. Three weeks ago I set off with 20 other students from Long Island University, to travel to Africa where we would would visit Rwanda. Rwanda was where we would learn about the 1994 genocide, meet students of the Kigali Mental Health Institute and also travel a few hours away from Kigali to visit the Gakoni orphanage which housed 75 children. I was well prepared to travel to this country, however I wasn’t prepared emotionally for everything I was about to experience on this incredible journey.

As someone who served in the Armed Forces, I knew I would possibly have to go to war and be faced with the evil images of war. Though that time never came while I served, and it wasn’t until I came home and began getting involved helping others veterans that I began to hear the stories and see footage of the tragedy war has to offer. While reading up and learning more about the 1994 genocide that took place in Rwanda before my big trip, I began to realize that not only did these people deal with war face to face, but they saw tragedy that maybe not even a soldier sees on the battlefield ( not to take away from what a soldier sees on the modern day battlefield).

These thoughts all hit me when I attended the Genocide Memorial in Kigali. After seeing images and watching very few minutes of video (too gruesome to watch), I realized genocide was on a whole other level.

Genocide is defined as the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. The 1994 Genocide in Rwanda was like no other modern war, because the acts of murder by the Hutu were deliberate to wipe out the Tutsi race. Over 800,000 Tutsi lost their lives during the genocide that lasted for about 100 days, and unfortunately it took the lives of not only adult men and women, but thousands were children, ranging from infant all the way up through teenage years. Not only were these people slaughtered, but they were also raped, hacked to death by machete’s and many were even buried alive. Videos at the Kigali Genocide Memorial showed all of this, and images helped to put a face on those men, women and children who were brutally murdered.

Scriptures at the memorial spoke about these inhumane killings, as infants were thrown at brick walls, stomped on, and also hacked up by machete’s. A room at the memorial was dedicated to the thousands of children who were mutilated during the genocide. I happen to actually miss this room, but was told about it by the other students after I had existed the building. Though I did not miss the room that showcased the numerous skulls and bones of Tutsi men women and children, that had lost their lives. I walked in and froze, as I looked at the bones of so many innocent people.

It was mass murder throughout the country, neighbors killing neighbors, and even family members killing family members, all because of their race. Streets were covered with blood and dead bodies were piled up everywhere, and even a church in Murambi that I visited was also a place where mass murder took place.

Radio and Newspapers put out messages calling Tutsi to rally at the Murambi church for safety. Worst of all, the priest of the church was in on rallying Tutsi to the church, knowing and prepared to help in murdering the thousands that came seeking safety. 50,000 Tutsi lost their lives at this church and it’s surrounding hills, this I learned about by a guest speaker we had named Emanuel.

Emanuel was 1 of the 4 survivors on this hill where that same church still stands in ruins (photo below). Emanuel spoke about watching his own children die before his eyes, hearing their screams choked up Emanuel as he fought to press on and finish his story with all of us students listening. Emanuel’s last words to us after his story was “Thank you, and I’m grateful for Americans always coming out to this memorial to learn about the tragedies”. Emanuel still makes this area his home, because he feels comfortable because his whole family is buried here in Murambi.

This was an experience I will never forget, from the children of the orphanage where no running water existed, to learning first hand about the atrocious acts of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, this was a journey that showed me the worst side of mankind. This was also a journey that showed me just how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder cannot only affect the American soldier who has been to the battlefield, but how others throughout the world are also faced with trying to conquer the symptoms of PTSD after being through other types of trauma, such as genocide.

I also learned about myself, understanding that what I have in this lifetime (growing up in America) is something I cannot take for granted. I’m thankful for living in this country, being an American and having the freedoms I have. When I asked the professor (who taught at Kigali Mental Health institute and was our guide while in Rwanda) “whose to say that genocide won’t happen again in Rwanda in the coming years”? His response was “If they get the chance, they will use genocide again”. Imagine living in their shoes, wondering when the next genocide will be.

Special Thanks to Dr. June Smith and Long Island University for putting this amazing journey together and I’m also very honored to have been part of an amazing group of students who worked together to make this a memorable experience that have left us all hoping to someday return to Rwanda.

©2009 Transitioning Veteran Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Thinking of the word deployment, one might think I will soon be on a mission with the United States military tracking down terrorists. Though I will be on a mission when I travel to Africa (my destination), it will not be a mission that will find me back in uniform, armed and along side my fellow comrades; instead I will be conducting this mission as a college student. Working alongside other Long Island University students, our mission will be to fly into Rwanda, learn about the atrocities of the 1994 genocide and hear first hand what one may have gone through and how they still suffer today by interviewing the survivors.

One may never get an opportunity like this in their life, and I know this will be an incredible experience I cannot pass up. Since being back home from the service back in 2003, I realized I miss being able to have an opportunity to be sent overseas. Hearing about my college planning an Africa trip and taking the exact days off I had planned to take from work, I realized this was my chance to do something pretty awesome in a long time. So today I am two days away from boarding a plane that will bring me to a destination, Africa.

So as I sit here in front of my computer typing this with bags and stuff scattered about my room, I’m beginning to get that feeling like I had the night before I deployed to Saudi Arabia (PSAB). The nerves are kicking in a little, making me wish I was already done with packing and I was already there and settled in. I know when I arrive there it will be an amazing feeling, a feeling I don’t get when I visit other states here in America. Traveling overseas is just a one of a kind feeling, however what kind of feeling will I have when I am face to face listening to the voices of people who survived genocide.

My deployment to Saudi Arabia was a great experience, though I only spent one day in the city of Riyadh, to go shopping and see how the Saudi’s live. This trip will give me 10 days of experiencing how the people of Rwanda and Tanzania live and allow me to really learn about their culture and the wildlife that inhabits the land. As college students we are going there to not only learn about the tragedies of 1994, but also to donate to a local mental health facility, bring the patients of this facility some gifts from America and also to bring some school supplies and toys to local children. This I feel will make the trip, being able to put smiles on faces that have very little compared to us who live here in America.

So I have a little more packing to go and some mental preparations to prepare myself for leaving home for a couple of weeks, but mostly to prepare for what I will be faced with when I arrive at the mental health facility where I will meet and hear the stories from survivors of genocide. I’ve never experienced anything these people have, and cannot imagine the horrors they still live with on a daily basis.

While in Africa I will be taking as many pictures as possible and as much video as possible. I hope to be able to share my experience with everyone who follows Transitioning Veteran Blog and give them a better picture of what one may go through while studying for a short time abroad. With the help of the Veterans Affairs Post 9/11 GI Bill, this trip is possible. I was able to save some of this money to be able to pay for this trip and by sharing my experiences of this trip, I hope will give other Veterans yet another reason to attend school.

So Transitioning Veteran Blog will be silent for the coming weeks, though once I return I will have plenty of stuff to share with you all and hopefully give you a better understanding of what it’s like to study abroad.  -Steve

Let the Journey Begin!

©2009 Transitioning Veteran Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Watching the new film by Frontline/PBS titled “The Wounded Platoon” was an eye opener for myself. This was an incredible film, as it told the story of  Third Platoon, Charlie Company that was deployed to Iraq. The film documented soldiers from the platoon who came home after being deployed to war, and who struggled with Post traumatic Stress Disorder. Though this film also showed me how the battle to get these soldiers help, will never end.

In the film “The Wounded Platoon”, It was clear to me how the system to get soldiers who struggle with PTSD the proper help, just doesn’t work. During this filming, soldiers in Iraq spoke about how they were on several different types of medications, to help them sleep and to help them with symptoms of PTSD while in the war zone. The soldiers of Third Platoon, Charlie Company, had the opportunities to speak to counselors on their home base, and even on their deployed base, though it wasn’t enough. One thing I heard by a military therapist in the film, was the word “understaffed”. A word that comes up all too often when members of the military look for help from either the government, or outside agencies.

Having an understaffed counseling department, will cause soldiers to walk away, cause inabilities to see a counselor on a regular basis and will cause soldiers to find their own ways of dealing with their difficulties, which could lead to alcohol and drug abuse. We saw this in the film, as soldiers time and time again, mentioned how they would use drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism for dealing with their symptoms of PTSD. With the growing number of military member’s finding themselves battling symptoms of PTSD, this is the time mental health facilities (government and private) need to be “OVERSTAFFED”. These men and women deserve every ounce of help, and knowing these facilities are overstaffed and not understaffed will give them even more hope that they can get the help they need in the appropriate time.

What “understaffed” mental health facilities could cause.

- Soldiers will lose hope they will overcome their illness, because of the lack of availability of staff and facilities

- Increase in hand outs of medications by medical staff without also speaking to a counselor on a regular basis

- Not enough time to really understand what a soldier may be dealing with, so a simple survey  may be used to collect the information that can cause misdiagnosis of conditions

- Workers for these facilities will be overwhelmed with larger caseloads, giving clients less time to speak to the counselor and even having a counselor who just isn’t working to their full potential because of being overworked with longer hours or larger caseloads as mentioned before

These are just a few ideas that I feel will continuously cause our soldiers to not get the proper help they need, because of understaffed medical facilities. Even in the private sector, we have seen a decrease in mental health facilities and an increase of people with psychological disorders winding up on the streets and even behind bars. Back in the Vietnam era, the lack of facilities caused many Vietnam Veterans to not get the help they needed and many wound up turning to substance abuse and on the streets of the same country that they stood up to serve for.

It sickens me to have to write my feelings about a situation as such, a situation that should have been corrected years ago. Though because we live in a world, where money rules, I feel we may continuously see our veterans not have the ability to find and get the help they need when battling an illness such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

However, where the government lacks, many Americans are stepping in to do what they can to help our veterans, past and present. Groups such as The Soldiers Project, Vets Prevail, American Widow Project, Vets 4 Vets, and other groups, that can be found on Transitioning Veteran Wiki are stepping up to use their experience to help our military men and women. From creating online resiliency training, to individual and group counseling, these organizations that were formed by incredible people, understand that these veterans need help. What they have created has helped to make a big difference for not only veterans, but also for their families.

A special thanks to all these organizations out there who are stepping up to help our Veterans and a special thanks to all such as Frontline/PBS who create incredible films that help tell the truth about what our Veterans are going through in a time of war.

Frontline/PBS  – “The Wounded Platoon”

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/woundedplatoon/view/?utm_campaign=homepage&utm_medium=proglist&utm_source=proglist

The growing list of non-profit organizations helping veterans

http://transitioningveteran.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Organizations#Health_Services

©2009 Transitioning Veteran Blog. All Rights Reserved.

One of the greatest moments I had while serving in the military, was when I would get deployed to different places. Living in Alaska, training in Texas and Las Vegas were great experiences, but being overseas before war time was even a more memorable moment when I took a tour of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. One thing about me is that I love to travel and see the world and the different people that inhabit it. Seeing new places, meeting people and seeing how they live differently, is always a great experience to me. I will soon be on a new experience, an experience I feel will be the experience of a life time, because not only do I see a new place, but it’s a place I thought I would never get the opportunity to see. That place is AFRICA.

In July, I will be taking a trip with my fellow classmates who are in the counseling program with me at Long Island University. We will make our way to Africa and journey through Tanzania and Rwanda, where we will experience how the people live, see the wild life, but most importantly, we will meet and work with survivors of genocide at a local hospital. Never in a million years would I think I would be talking about actually taking a trip to Africa, though it’s always been a place I wanted to go and it soon will be a reality.

In my college program, I’m studying to be a school guidance counselor, but a big part of this program is learning how to work with others in a counseling type of setting. Our program gives us the ability to learn the mental health side of counseling as well as the school counseling side, which I will be using in a school someday to work with students. Though I feel pretty well prepared to help someone out using the counseling steps I have been taught, I’m not really sure what to expect when I will be face to face with a survivor of genocide that has been through so much tragedy.

Genocide is something that is unheard of in the states, and it is one of the most atrocious acts humans can do on one another. Genocide is defined as the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or a cultural group. Rwanda is known for its instability in the past and the year 1994 is well known as one of the worst acts of genocide to have ever taken place in Africa. Mass killings left well over 500,000 Rwandan people dead, men, women and children.

Although my whole trip to Africa will not be just be about genocide, I know this will be the most emotional moment of my trip. My trip to Africa will also lead me to places such as Tanzania, where my classmates and I will be site seeing and learning about the Tanzanian culture. We will also be given an opportunity to enjoy a safari trip, where we will find ourselves in Tanzania watching the great migration take place.

I’m now working on completing what must be done to prepare for my trip to Africa, and I also began to look online to find what I can about the places I’m traveling to. Without ever realizing it, our military forces actually are serving overseas in Africa, working on numerous missions. The U.S. military presence falls under the title “Africa Command” and has been created to not only help American forces with tracking down terrorists, but also to help African forces maintain security, stability and peace throughout the country.

This shout out goes out to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who are serving overseas in Africa.

My journey will begin soon in a couple of months, and currently my classmates and I are beginning to reach out to anyone for any cash donations that we will be giving to help sponsor a mental health clinic to be established in the capital city Kigali. If you’re interested in donating you can click on the link below, any amount will be gratefully appreciated from the people of Kigali.

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/672980904

For the first time I have applied for my passport, and I realized what a way to begin my travels around the world by making my 1st journey, AFRICA.

Learn about the Rwanda Genocide

http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm -  Human Rights Council

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/ -   Frontline / PBS

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1288230.stm -  BBC News article

http://www.kigalimemorialcentre.org/old/index.html -  Kigali Memorial Centre

U.S. Africa Command

http://www.usaraf.army.mil/ –    Check out the documentary about the mission

http://www.africom.mil/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/usarmyafrica/sets/72157622637541002/ -  website provided by Africa Command Facebook

©2009 Transitioning Veteran Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I had mentioned in my previous blog about keeping everyone updated on what I am working on in my Master’s program. Well it’s been a total of 58 hrs into my school guidance counseling observation, which 100 total hours is needed to complete this in the current semester. I love every minute of what I’m learning about, because this will be my new life once I receive this degree.

So my days have been really great as I interact with the students and parents, who come into the office to speak to one of the counselor’s who I’m doing my internship with. I’m working on stuff to help prepare seniors for graduation and applying for college and 10th and 11th graders with their grades and schedules for the following years. It’s been an incredible moment in my life, because for the past 8 yrs of my life I have been working in a career field that I knew wasn’t for me for the rest of my life.

Many times we sit back and we watch others on TV, or hear from others about how happy they are about what they do, yet we never think we can get there ourselves. We may dream more than actually work towards being happy at a job, or a career field that where we feel we belong in. It took me some time before I realized there was another career field for me that could give me those feelings of happiness and a feeling of belonging. Today I’m down to just one more year of college and then I will be granted a Master’s degree in School Guidance Counseling, the field I know I belong in.

At my internship the one day, a student and his father walked in for a meeting with the counselor I had been working with, to talk about college and his last year as a high school student. We all got to talking when the father mentioned that he will be able to pass some education benefits to his son, because he is in the military.

This was a pretty cool moment, because after the meeting I spoke to the father and mentioned how I’m a veteran as well and I run my website Transitioning Veteran.com. I spoke to him for a little bit about how there are more scholarship monies out there for his son, through organizations setup for military children. So I gave him my card and he thanked me and went on his way. I thought to myself, this is where I belong, not only can I help prepare students for college, but I also can help prepare them for the military as well if this is what they choose to do after High School.

I absolutely love what I’m learning with my internship and my next semester will give me more hours to gain more experience in the new field I have chosen to go into. My military years have given me this opportunity, it has helped me to pay for most of my education and like I will always say throughout my life “using my military education benefits to attend college was the greatest decision I have ever made in my life”.

http://transitioningveteran.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Military_kids

http://www.military.com/education/money-for-school

http://www.collegeboard.com/ -  system the students & parents use at my internship

http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings.aspx -   Princeton Review

©2009 Transitioning Veteran Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I’m one step closer to reaching my educational goal, a goal I have been working so hard to accomplish. I had began my educational studies after taking a much needed break after separating from the military and today I continue to study.The only difference is that what I’m studying today is allowing me to specialize in the field I would enjoy to work in for the rest of my life.

When I served in the military I decided to choose  Security Forces (military police) as my career of choice, after I was told by the recruiter at MEPS, that Fire Fighting had no more openings. Security Forces had it’s ups and downs like any job, ups when we were being called on a serious incident (bar fights at the Enlisted Club were fun) and downs when I would sit there monitoring an alarm system for hours.

Though if I hadn’t experienced that career field I may not have been where I am today, which is working on a Master’s degree to become a school guidance counselor. I had just finished my 1st semester and it went better than ever, straight A’s. As a student back in High School, grades really had no meaning to me, other than I needed them to graduate and homework, “whatever I’ll do it tomorrow”.

Today at a ripe age of 28 and having a set goal to accomplish, I take school very seriously and really enjoy what I’m learning now, since this is more specialized classes strictly pertaining to school guidance counseling. My 2nd semester in my Master’s program will now place me in a High School setting, where I will be observing a school guidance counselor for 100 semester hours.My 3rd and 4th semesters is when I will be interning (actually now doing the job with a supervisor) for 300 hours for both semesters.

It was a great feeling walking into the school where I will be observing, knowing eventually this will be my everyday job in the future. It has been a bit of a tough road these past years, because while working towards switching my career field in the civilian world and having to go through college to accomplish that, I see my friends who I grew up with having to just work and make good money allowing them to move on with their lives.

However one thing is for sure, What I have they don’t have. Almost all of my college tuition has been paid for, and this has been the greatest help to me and I know for all Veteran’s. Numerous times my friends have stated to me, if I didn’t put that GI money to use, they would do awful things to me (Jokingly), because some of my friends had to pay for all of their schooling and now have big school loans to pay back.

I realized one other thing when I separated; I had a chance to change my career field and do something different, something more geared to the person that I am and so I took advantage of that, while putting my life a little bit on hold so I can focus on school.

And so I say to all military and Veterans who read this and are thinking whether or not to go to school to make a change in the career field they are currently in, though you may have to hold off on some plans you had in life, you have an opportunity with the education benefits we are given today to make a change and later on in life not have to say the words of “I should have done in back then”.

Though my college years still have a year and a half to go, I feel great about what I have accomplished and what I’m about to accomplish in the future. So if your thinking also about changing your career field, now that you are out of the military, I say give it a chance and prepare to work hard, but be rewarded in the end when you receive that degree in your hand because it is such a great achievement.

I’ll be updating all about my last 3 semesters, in the hopes to help others get a glimpse of what it may be like changing career fields. I’m going from a person who wore a uniform carrying a weapon performing security, to now molding into a person who will be wearing casual clothes and speaking to students about their education and life goals.

-Steve

Check out this video below of Cameron Baker, a Veteran attending Columbia University and who also is coping with PTSD. Don’t let PTSD deter you from school, he’s not.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/01/09/nyregion/veteran-columbia/index.html?ref=nyregion

©2009 Transitioning Veteran Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The holidays are upon us once again, and though I will be in a warm house enjoying the days with family and friends, I take a moment to step back in time. I recall the days serving in the military when I couldn’t make it home for the holidays and I couldn’t be with the family and friends I began my life with for the first 18 years. Though my friends who I served with became my new family; my second family who I would celebrate the holidays with when I couldn’t come back home to New York.

Every holiday season I seem to have a flash back at some point, a flash back of celebrating the holiday’s with my friends who I served with and with my Friends who became my second family to me. I could remember having to work and perform my entry control duties on gate 4 on Arctic Warrior Dr. ( just up the road from our favorite Ski and Benny pizza) on Elmendorf AFB, and how other military members coming onto base would constantly drop off trays of food for us while we worked. I remember how us younger Airman would volunteer to work Christmas eve and day, so the older NCO’s could spend the holidays with their kids and so we could have New Year’s Eve off to party.

Though on this new holiday season, I have once again come to realize that so many families will be without a loved one, because he or she is serving far away oversees. A spouse may be home alone, children may wonder when dad or mom will be back from their deployment to help put up the tree or to unwrap gifts with them Christmas morning and a soldier will be going on through the day like a normal work day thinking about his family back home. I can’t complain what I have today, it would be completely selfish for me to whine about something this holiday season, so I want to put the word out there to everyone who may read this. Just for a moment, forget about yourself and just think about what others may be going through this holiday season who not only are serving in the military, but all those people out there who try to make good in this world, yet who continue to struggle to get by.

Merry Christmas to all out there, to the men and women of the Armed Forces, to the soldier’s who are oversees, to their families back home waiting for their return and to all the good people out there through out the world who are struggling to get by and to the many who now call the streets, their home.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

-Steve

I leave you now with  “A Soldier’s Christmas Poem”

©2009 Transitioning Veteran Blog. All Rights Reserved.

When approached by a good friend of mine who is a teacher, and ask to take part in coming into her class to speak to her 1st grade students about what it is to be a Veteran of the military, I couldn’t turn it down. While on my usual search throughout the internet searching for resources and information for us Veterans of past, present and future, I stumbled upon The History Channel’s website. Their website had a special page dedicated to honoring the men and women of the Armed Forces and also dedicated to a new program called “Take a Veteran to School Day“, which would bring military Veterans into the classroom to speak to students about what it is to be a Veteran.

So I began the planning process of how I can really make this a great experience for the students and for myself. Speaking to 1st graders is a first for me, especially when it came to speaking to them about what I went through serving in the military. I filled my N.Y. National Guard back pack with pictures, my old uniforms (including my father’s Vietnam uniform) and my medals to bring to life my time in the service. The kids loved it, asking me questions, answering questions I had for them, looking through all the pictures, and some even shared with me and their classmates stories about how their grandparents and parents served or are serving in the military.

The 1st grade class at St. Patrick’s Parochial school gave me a better perspective of what we’re really fighting for. We fight so our future generations can continue to grow up in a safe world, a world where they don’t have to be in fear of attacks by the most evil individuals who blow themselves up killing women and children as well. Though it saddens me to think that the children overseas in places especially like the Middle East, see war everyday and even are raised to hate other people in the world at such a young age. It is the children that suffer the most through all the fighting; it is the children that seek adults to raise them in a safe and well being environment.

Veterans day will be tomorrow; a day I will always look forward too and a day I will always celebrate by thinking about my friends and everyone else who continue to serve. Today going into the classroom and speaking to these students was such a great experience and already I have been requested to come back next Veterans Day, which I have already agreed too.

A Special Thank You to the 1st grade class of St. Patrick’s Parochial School.

- Your Veteran Friend, Steve

©2009 Transitioning Veteran Blog. All Rights Reserved.

There I was in uniform, guarding a high level priority aircraft on Elmendorf AFB in Alaska. I was down to my last couple of hours on shift performing my duties as a Security Forces member, when I received several phone calls from my buddies who were also on shift with me. They told me to quickly put on the radio, there is talk about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center buildings. Thinking It wouldn’t be much of anything, I slowly got up off my seat and stopped what I was doing to turn on the radio. Within seconds I realized this was something serious.

After listening a few minutes to understand what was all going on back in New York City, the new crew from the facility I was guarding began filtering in for the beginning of their shift.  Though most of the crew members looked like they were ready to prepare the jets and deploy in a moments notice, some members had no idea about what was going on. After listening to the radio for some time to make sure what I was hearing was true,  one family member came to mind, my Godmother.

My Godmother works right around the vicinity of the World Trade Center, so I quickly grabbed the phone ignoring any calls on my hand held radio to call back home and find out if she was OK. I got in reach with my parents back on Long Island and they told me they got word from my Godmother that she was OK, though she along with thousands of other New Yorkers were walking over the Brooklyn bridge, because everything was shut down. I could hear in my mother’s voice that she didn’t know what to think right now, the news was awful and on the other hand here I am serving in the Air Force far from home believing we have just been attacked.

I reassured my mother that I was fine and not to worry about me, but do what you can for my Godmother if she needs anything. Though I knew in my mind, the possibility of seeing war was the closest it’s ever been in my military career, and that moment I knew the people I worked with and myself were ready to be called upon to do what we must, since by this time the news was claiming this was looking more like a terrorist attack.

I was already working a 12 hour shift that night, but as soon as my flight got relieved from duty, that 12 hour shift turned into close to a 16 hour shift. We were briefed on any intelligence about the situation and we were told directly from our flight chief that when we get back to our living quarters, to be ready to work longer shifts, and understand deployment is very possible at this time. I had just gotten back from a 4 month deployment in Saudi Arabia that ended in June 2001 and though it was great to be back in the states, I knew if I was called upon, I was more than willing and ready to go back to the Middle East. Though that day never came and it wasn’t till some time after I separated from the service that my Squadron began to deploy to Iraq.

As the months went by after 9/11, I was given a chance to return home for a week and a half. It was something I was looking forward too, seeing my family and friends again and checking on my Godmother who had been working in the city that day. When I returned home and was on the ride back from the airport, I remember seeing just about every single home displaying an American Flag. I thought to myself “I never saw this before”, yet it was a great site to see. Flags lined the streets all through out Long Island N.Y. and though today the flag my father put out still waves in the wind, other Americans have put their flags away.

When speaking to people on my vacation, you quickly see just how many innocent people died in the World Trade Center attack. Everyone just about knew someone who had lost their life in those buildings, and during the time I was home I went with my parents down to the World Trade Center. I had an empty feeling standing there in front of a wall that was blocking the entrance to the WTC work site. Thousands of letters and flowers covered the wall from thousands of people, from letters to a father a child lost, to letters from strangers from other countries giving their condolences, it was another reminder of just how many innocent people lost their lives that day.

Though September 11, 2001 is a day that came and went for many Americans, it’s a day that has never really ended for those who have lost loved ones. New Yorker’s will never forget the sacrifices our men and women of FDNY, NYPD and all other emergency responders who have lost their lives, trying to save others.

Today the war on terror also continues; 8 years later and our men and women of the Armed Forces continue to need our support.

©2009 Transitioning Veteran Blog. All Rights Reserved.

When I walked into Sgt .Coyles recruiting office back in 1999  for the 5th time, I finally decided on the career I wanted to begin in the Air Force. It was a tough decision, because there were so many jobs I would have liked to have done, though in the end after being told my first choice (Fire Fighter) had no openings, I decided to go with Security Forces (MP). The Security Forces career field was a great first step for me, to see if it was a job I would want to do for the rest of my life, even after the military. Though when I returned home and had the choice to attend school, that’s when I saw an opportunity to do something new, something I felt maybe I was cut out to do in this life time in the first place.

By September 2004 after returning home from serving in the Air Force, I began to put the GI BILL to great use, focused on achieving something I truly never thought of. When I joined the military in 1999 I didn’t even think about asking or looking for information about attending college, because for once  in my younger years I was set on doing something,  entering the military and following in my father’s footsteps.

It’s funny when people ask me what do I want to do as a career, because honestly there are so many jobs I would love to learn about and do. After completing my Associates degree in general studies, I decided I wanted to work towards a Bachelors degree that had something to do with psychology and sociology. I’m very outgoing and enjoy speaking to people, a little something I picked up from my mother who is a social butterfly and who has also inspired me watching her work as a teacher. I enjoyed many aspects of being a military police officer, but the greatest aspect besides shooting the heavy weapons, was being able to take a situation and work towards finding a way to resolve it. I found that I enjoyed my job the most when I had to work with someone in trouble, but someone who was more than willing to get help and make a change for the better in life so they wouldn’t be back in the situation that got us MP’s involved in the first place.

So when I separated from the service and completed my Associates degree I had taken up a bachelors degree in  Human Relations, a degree that would allow me to go further into the psychology and sociology fields. I began to see that this is was more interesting, and that would put me in a better position to work with others who are looking for help. Learning about how brains works, what makes up our brains, how we think and behave as humans, caught my attention and I realized this is what I want to do as a career.

Four years later and I have completed my bachelors in Human Relations, a degree that brought me to a new world, a world that even taught me what I’m all about. I learned so much about myself completing psychological tests the teachers would have us conduct, on top of learning so much about how we think as humans and why we make the choices we make in life. The whole time I was attending classes I was still working for the government in the security field, though it was for another agency It was what motivated me to work hard in school, because I knew this was my ticket out of the security career field.

Having accomplished an Associates and Bachelors degree was such a great feeling, the long hours of studying, writing papers and working hard on a thirty page thesis finally came to an end in December of 2008. Though what I didn’t know and wasn’t prepared for was an economic crisis that would cause hundreds of thousands of Americans to find themselves without a job. After graduating I thought I was set, I had my military experience, my bachelors degree and thought for sure I will be able to continue onward working for the government in the new career field I had chosen to go to school for. Though I soon realized this would not be the case, and finding a job now would be harder than ever.

After eight months of being out of school and having exhausted all of my GI BILL, I heard about the new Post 9/11 GI BILL. Hearing how much it could help veterans who have served after 9/11 I began to look into it and once the Veterans Affairs spoke about a time frame to apply I knew I had to act. I didn’t waste time and I realized once again my country is looking to help me and other veterans out in a huge way and I wasn’t about to pass up this incredible opportunity. I knew this was my opportunity to head back to school, only this time to begin my Master’s degree in Counseling and continue on the path to a new career.

Today I’m preparing myself to once again be back in the classroom, though I have mixed thoughts, I am looking forward to being back in a great environment where I will be along side others who are also looking to specialize in the  new career field I have chosen. Though I would have liked to have been working in my new career field by now, I know it’ll take a bit more time to find that job as now so many Americans are also looking to find a job as well. Completing all the paper work for the new Post 9/11 GI BILL and now just waiting to begin receiving payments, I know this will be another great decision in my life and when the economy starts coming around for the better, jobs will open up and I will be in a better position than before.

One thing that will be different than the other degree programs I have taken, is that this time around I will have to do an internship, something I could have done with with my bachelors, but something I did not do. Not the best move on my part, but now I know if you plan on changing career fields, either an internship or volunteer work that pertains to the field your looking to change into will make your resume look more appealing to companies and you will even get college credit for this. Where as back then when a Bachelors was good enough, today a Bachelors with Experience is what many companies and agencies want to see on a resume.

So in about a week I will be back in the classroom, only this time working towards my Master’s degree. Take it from me, when looking to come out of the military and make a career change, school is the only option. Also be sure to look into an internship or volunteer work as soon as possible; It’ll  help when building your new resume and help you stand out from others who might just have school, but no experience.  In a time like this with a bad economy, it makes even more sense to get back in school and use the Post 9/11 GI BILL, it will only benefit you and give you more options if you should ever decide to switch career fields.

A special Thank You to all who have worked and are working so hard to give us this Post 9/11 GI BILL, I cannot Thank You enough for what you have given me.

- STEVE

©2009 Transitioning Veteran Blog. All Rights Reserved.