They served our country faithfully. Saw things unimaginable. And now they are home. Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are home and now looking for a place in society. Thankfully the wars are coming to a close and now the re-building can begin. Re-building infrastructure in these two countries. Re-building lives and relationships placed on hold for the last decade. That is good news in and of itself.
But what will become of these men? Hopefully we have learned about the impact of war on the men and women who have served, so as to not repeat mistakes of our past. It is a life changing event, similar perhaps to the emotional and psychological changes that children growing up in war-torn regions experience. There has to be an outlet. A way to deal with the internal changes in order to make the external transitions positive. The Southwest Conservation Corps' Veterans Green Corps' program seems to have similar features to The Recreation Project in northern Uganda. Different wars. Different cultures. Different men and women. But for many, the healing process begins outside. In a team approach, together tackling an obstacle of some kind.
"It’s morning in Colorado’s backcountry and time for PT (that's soldier-speak for physical training). Under a blue sky and alongside the yawning sway of ponderosa pines, half a dozen vets move with a shared rhythm. Their mission: help prevent forest fires.
But what will become of these men? Hopefully we have learned about the impact of war on the men and women who have served, so as to not repeat mistakes of our past. It is a life changing event, similar perhaps to the emotional and psychological changes that children growing up in war-torn regions experience. There has to be an outlet. A way to deal with the internal changes in order to make the external transitions positive. The Southwest Conservation Corps' Veterans Green Corps' program seems to have similar features to The Recreation Project in northern Uganda. Different wars. Different cultures. Different men and women. But for many, the healing process begins outside. In a team approach, together tackling an obstacle of some kind.
"It’s morning in Colorado’s backcountry and time for PT (that's soldier-speak for physical training). Under a blue sky and alongside the yawning sway of ponderosa pines, half a dozen vets move with a shared rhythm. Their mission: help prevent forest fires. They are part of the nonprofit Southwest Conservation Corps’ Veterans Green Corps (VGC), an effort to fight 21 percent unemployment among veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, through environmental career transition. VGC provides opportunities that consistently make the difference for this unique group: crews of other returned soldiers sorting through similar experiences; job skills that are in demand in the conservation sector; the gritty, hard work they crave; and a chance to continue service to their country.
Military experience sometimes translates poorly onto civilian resumes. Sarah Castinada, a former Army medic, used to jump out of planes into drop zones with the 82nd Airborne. Specialist Tony Lagouranis served as an Army interrogator in Iraq. Lew Sovocool, an officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, possesses technical skills attractive to employers, but will likely never replicate the level of responsibility he had as a program manager of a $200 million Afghan Army infrastructure program.
Many vets are still dealing with the psychological effects of war—19 percent of all troops returning from Iraq and 11.3 percent coming home from Afghanistan suffer mental health problems—and some VGC corpsmembers claim the time spent outdoors among fellow veterans has helped alleviate anxiety and post traumatic stress. For most though, VGC simply speaks to the sense of valor, unity, and service that first attracted them to the military.
Amy Foss, Southwest Conservation Corps’ Director of Operations, recounts the words she hears repeatedly from these vets, “I’m not broken. I don’t need help. I need job skills.”
The work isn’t easy. For some, cutting firebreaks and sawyering ladder fuels (combustible vegetation like dead trees) is the hardest test of their endurance since basic training. VGC corpsmembers attend chainsaw training, fire behavior, and wildland firefighting courses through local forest partners to earn their “Red Cards.” With this qualification and experience, they can build toward adrenaline-rich positions on hotshot and smokejumper crews suppressing wildfires from land and air. Coupling their certifications from VGC with a veterans’ preference for employment at federal agencies, a future in wildland fire mitigation holds real promise.
The program, in collaboration with Veterans Green Jobs, has received over $1M in federal support through the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Highly replicable, it has already expanded to conservation corps in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. Working with VGC, veterans protect local residents from the threat of catastrophic fire and defend the canopy to save old-growth ponderosa pines. At the same time, they are finding green pathways to what they desire most: continued, meaningful service. “We wanted to do more than just assimilate,” explains U.S. Navy veteran Derrick Charpentier, “We wanted to bring back that warrior spirit we had from the military, and show people that we can all really make a positive difference in this world.” GOOD.is
All photos courtesy Southwest Conservation Corps
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