April 23, 2021 • 37 mins
Crystal Bryant-Kearns & Lauren Kovaleski join Veterans John Verschage, Vance Zimmer and Rodney Righter as they share memories of USO experiences while describing the USO transition services now available to help Soldiers successfully move into civilian life.
Join us at the table for a casual conversation with Veterans from all branches sharing stories, experience and laughs. Refreshingly apolitical.
This podcast is a product of the Flint Hills Veterans Coalition. Visit our website, flinthillsveterans.org, for materials referenced in the podcast. Thanks for listening!
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Episode Transcript
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Crystal Bryant-Kearns (00:09):
Welcome to Vets on the Net podcast, a
product of the Flint HillsVeterans Coalition. We're
gathered around the table todayIn America's Heartland to tell
stories of the militaryexperience, share, laugh, and
just give our audience a glimpseinto our military lives. So pull
up a chair, join us for EpisodeFour USO stories supporting
(00:29):
troops for 80 years. Joining ustoday we have John Versage
,Vance Zimmer. Righterter andLauren Kovaleski uso team.
Thanks for joining us today. CanI ask each of you to introduce
yourselves? Tell us where you'refrom what branch of service and
what was your job like in themilitary? JOHN, you want to kick
(00:50):
it off?
John Versage (00:51):
Well, my name is John Versage. I'm originally
from Hinesville, Georgia, did 29years in the active army. And
I'm of my 29 years I did 22right here for Riley, Kansas. In
my 22 years in the Army I did 9,10 years as a signals
communicator. And then the next19 years I was a career
counselor.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (01:10):
Nice Vance
Vance Zimmer (01:12):
My name is Vance.
Zimmer. I'm originally fromIowa. Did 21 years in the Army,
best MLS in the world 11 Bravo,
John Versage (01:21):
whatever.
Vance Zimmer (01:23):
They do a lot of different locations. Fort
Campbell, Korea, Germany, FortBenning a couple times and ended
up here for the Kansas.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (01:32):
We're so glad you did. Rodney
Rodney Righter (01:35):
I'm Rod. I'm from originally from Montana. 21
years in the Air Force. Spent abig chunk of that on Fort Riley
enjoyed it and stayed. So
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (01:45):
what do you do in the airforce?
Rodney Righter (01:46):
Oh, I'm sorry, I was an Air Force j tech. I spent
my time hanging out with a lotof times the impeachment or the
airborne, Yahoo's or, or soforth. But it was good time.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (01:56):
Well, we won't hold the air force against
you. Well,
Rodney Righter (01:59):
I'm here to bring up the what is it the
property value? Is that what I'mdoing so you're
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (02:03):
in a tough crowd today. All right,
Lauren, you want to introduceyourself?
Lauren Kovaleski (02:10):
Yeah. Hey, everyone. I'm Lauren. I'm a
military spouse. My husband isactive duty army. We were our
first duty station was FortRiley, Kansas. We were raised
Riley right. And we are now atFort Campbell, Kentucky. And my
job is to just hold down thefort. We've gone all the time.
(02:31):
So this year hanging out.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (02:34):
We love it. We love it. Well, my name is
Crystal Kearns and I'm servingas the moderator for this
episode. I'm originally fromChattanooga, Tennessee, and I'm
married to a veteran who servedin the 82nd Airborne Division. I
currently serve as the USOtransitions manager, and I'm
located here at the firstInfantry Division, the home of
the big red one. I'd like tothank our sponsor for today, j.
(02:56):
s sign and also thank those inour studio audience who have
joined us today. If you guyshear some noises in the
background, we're going to blamethem. It's all their fault. So
Steve, keep it down over there.
Okay. Alright, so today we'regoing to talk about the USO,
also known as the Unitedservices organization. This year
marks our 80th anniversary ofour force behind the forces and
(03:20):
to celebrate the eight decadesof fearlessly following the US
troops to the frontlines. We aregoing to talk a little bit about
what the USO used to do and howwe have adapted to today's Army,
Air Force, Marines, navy andCoast Guard. We started out with
(03:41):
six organizations the USOoriginally, and we are one of
two who were still left. Do youguys know the other one? This I
saw you in a time Red Cross.
Good job foreign like that. Soyeah, the USO began six separate
(04:03):
groups, and us and the Red Crossare still standing. The uso is
always taking care of troops.
But we've also taken care offamilies, too. In fact, even
daycare started with the USOback in the day, World War Two
women were entering theworkforce, they needed a place
to drop off their kids. And loand behold, the USO stepped up
(04:23):
and started supporting militaryfamilies. So originally, we were
known mostly for ourentertainment. Can you guys name
our most favorite entertainer,
Vance Zimmer (04:35):
Bob? Heck, yeah.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (04:37):
Heck yeah. We love Bob Hope, and he
left his legacy to us. And weare so grateful. And we continue
his legacy through a Bob Hopereading program, which Have any
of you ever used that service,the Bob Hope reading program.
It's a great opportunity forservice members to read books to
their kids and interact To them,even though they're downrange,
(05:02):
so that's a great program. Butspeaking about hope did Did any
of you ever attend any showswhile you were overseas?
John Versage (05:09):
I did. In Korea 1988 back in the mid 1900s.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (05:17):
Mid 1900's,
Lauren Kovaleski (05:18):
when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
John Versage (05:22):
know when when booking flow goes both ways. It
was the back Summer Olympics inKorea, South Korea. Oh, oh, you
had a lot of here. But uh, yeah,that's why I saw him I was like
opening ceremonies type thing.
And him and Brooke Shields wereperforming and it was awesome.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (05:42):
Nice Brooke Shields in the 80s What
about you, Rodney? Oh.
Rodney Righter (05:50):
I usually didn't go to many of the shows when we
were downrange. But what I didgo to and a lot of people there
was Kid Rock put on a bigconcert. And reason why I
remember it is I was way back inthe nosebleed section. But he
had some guests. I think hebrought some ladies on stage and
they made a song and dance. Ithink some ladies ladies I know.
(06:10):
A few of them when topless Iguess they are real big hit. So
of course I was so far back. Butstill I could tell
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (06:18):
you don't strike me as the kid rock
concert type of guy.
Rodney Righter (06:20):
No, I wasn't there. Nothing else to do. Might
as well go.
Vance Zimmer (06:23):
So you have air guitar? air guitar.
Rodney Righter (06:25):
Yeah, I had to turn up the hearing aid just
like you. Yeah.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (06:31):
What about you, Vance, every
Vance Zimmer (06:32):
show I've never been to a uso show. All my
deployments, it seems like ourFord operating bases or fobs are
too far away from the biggerbasis. Now they did have our
last deployment to Afghanistan.
They had some cheerleaders,wasn't it? The dolphins
cheerleaders, dolphincheerleaders actually came to
our faab. I didn't see it. I wasgoing but it was there.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (06:56):
Nice.
Lauren, any uso shows, I guessas a spouse or events? No,
Lauren Kovaleski (07:03):
I've never I think Larry visited the base. My
husband was out when he wasdeployed. So he got to
experience that which isawesome. But now, I've never
seen uso show. I've never evenseen the show troupe perform. So
hopefully they'll start touringagain. I can catch them when
they're in my region.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (07:24):
Let's hope so for sure. I know
John Versage (07:25):
guys nice can have for well the end of the USO tag
he did performed on theairfield.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (07:31):
And so did the Charlie Daniels band. I
don't know if y'all rememberthat just few years ago,
Vance Zimmer (07:36):
was funny. I was watching flooded two channels
yesterday at home and they had athing on there about Robin
Williams. Yeah. And it showedbits and pieces of his USO show.
He's done. Yeah. So he was a big
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (07:47):
Yeah. He did a lot for the USO. What
about airports? You guys evervisited a uso in the airport?
Oh,
Vance Zimmer (07:54):
sure. Now, Dallas airport. I've been to that one a
couple times. Because we flyback my rack. That was our
layover before we fly intoKansas. So we always go to the
USO at the Dallas airport.
Rodney Righter (08:06):
comfortable seats, hotdogs, coffee.
John Versage (08:09):
It's nice. I visit them in foreign lands. Oh, far
away. Madness. Kuwait. wasn'tlucky lucky enough to go to a
Dallas airport. Wow.
Rodney Righter (08:21):
I'm gonna tear up over here as good
Vance Zimmer (08:22):
as you were a career counselor to you probably
had a private flight.
John Versage (08:25):
Yeah. Well, maybe
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (08:28):
there's airborne and chair born airborne
and
John Versage (08:31):
I did get I did get from five sharada to
Atlantis before anybody elsedid. And I was the last one to
leave Toronto. I'm just saying.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (08:39):
What was your favorite reason to go to
the USO? JOHN, I've
John Versage (08:42):
heard this many a time computers, phones. Lasers
call my wife.
Vance Zimmer (08:48):
TVs
Lauren Kovaleski (08:49):
TV air conditioning,
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (08:50):
I thought it was
John Versage (08:53):
gonna get to the air conditioning. I mean, when
you got that one thing, you comehome and air conditioner feels
so good. You fall asleep,though. So you got in there
because you're gonna have 130degree heat and you still have
an air conditioner. You're justlike, power goes to sleep.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (09:11):
So Lauren, you have a unique
experiences military spouse? Canyou think of a uso experience
that really stands out to you?
Lauren Kovaleski (09:21):
Yeah, well, I became a military spouse. And
then about 30 days later, I washired as a staff member of uso.
So I didn't. I didn't reallyknow much when I joined the team
about the military at all. And,you know, I think just coming in
as a little baby, how johnreally took took me under his
(09:46):
wing and explained a lot aboutthe military lifestyle, and just
made me feel welcome as amilitary spouse, which I think
is is just what the USO is allabout. So for me, it's more
about the team. And you know,the experience of serving the
mission as a staff member. Youknow, versus like using using
(10:09):
the center's when you get to anew installation.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (10:13):
So what's unique about our group here
today is not only are all of youveterans and male spouses, but
you're also uso employees. Sothose of you in the audience
might think of how the USO hasentertained or united or
delivered. But what many of youmight not know is that the USO
also offers transition support.
And that's exactly what the teamthat is speaking today does on
(10:37):
the day to day, so what is itlike for you guys, specifically,
Vance, Ronnie john, to servethose who, you know, you used to
be a service member being servedby the USO, but now you are
serving as part of the USO?
What's that experience? Like?
Rodney Righter (10:58):
Don't just keep going. I mean, you think about
it, we, it's, it's a niceconnection from what we did in
the past to what we're actuallydoing right now. You know, we're
all in CEOs, we all took care ofpeople. So now it was an easy
transition to now being in theUSO and do the same thing.
Vance Zimmer (11:14):
Oh, for sure. I mean, it's almost like you're
still in the army, but you'renot doing PT and all the
Mandatory Fun and stupid stuffthat the army makes you do, you
know, these
Rodney Righter (11:24):
formations, they count, you
Vance Zimmer (11:26):
know, your, your clients, or your soldiers that
are under you, or that you takecare of on a day to day basis.
So you're still guiding them inthe right directions, give them
the answers that they're lookingfor, and help them out wherever
they need.
John Versage (11:40):
I agree with all that. I mean, it's no other
feeling to be able to give backand give forward to these young,
proud American sons anddaughters we have, and be able
to take care of them. You know,not everybody, not everybody's
gotten in the same business as auso. So be able to give back to
(12:02):
them and help them and and guidethem, and in some cases, mentor
them. I mean, they always askyou, how's it feel? after
retirement? Do you miss thearmy? So it's hard to miss the
army when we're dealing withsoldiers every day? You know, I
never felt like I feel like Inever left.
Crystal Bryant-Kear (12:16):
Absolutely.
So let's talk about that. Youknow, Lauren talked about her
experience joining the USO team,she was brand new to the
military brand new to the littleapple coming straight from the
Big Apple, as we like to say,how did you guys start with the
USO?
John Versage (12:36):
Well, I applied for your position. That's,
Rodney Righter (12:41):
boy, we're happy how that worked out. Right.
Lauren Kovaleski (12:43):
sure that
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (12:46):
that is, that is a true story. The day
that I got the job, they said,Now you need to hire a team
member. And I said, well, whowas going to get this job if I
didn't get this job? And theysaid, john for sage. So I called
him up and said, Hey, you wantto be my scout? He was like,
yeah, so I said, well, you needto apply for the job.
John Versage (13:09):
After you already hired me at apply for the job a
little backwards. A littleformalities.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (13:14):
You know, all the HR paperwork. Yeah.
John Versage (13:17):
I didn't know how will that worked anyway, so I
like to in the army. Hey, you'removing over to Bravo Company.
Okay. You know, so it works. Youknow,
Lauren Kovaleski (13:27):
I think it is important to note that john was
on the golf course on terminalleave, and his wife Trish was
applying for jobs for him. Oh,while he was on the golf course.
That is a true statement andthat that's a true meltdown.
Right there. Right?
She's Hey, man.
You're not gonna be hanging outwith my house. I want you know,
John Versage (13:52):
drinking beer and playing golf. My phone slitter
ringing is like thank you forapplying for was thank you for
applying for a position. I'mlike I apply for that big
position.
Lauren Kovaleski (14:02):
True mil spouse.
John Versage (14:03):
Yeah, that's true story.
Vance Zimmer (14:05):
It's funny.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (14:05):
I just want to give a quick shout out
to Chris for stage. God blessyour soul. Like, as Service
Medal. Yeah. How about you,Vance? Oh,
Vance Zimmer (14:20):
this is kind of a different story. I was at John's
house watching Alabama andsomebody won the national
championship. It's alwaysAlabama. But anyway, so we're at
John's I was watching thefootball bowtie. And prosto was
there as well. And I introducedmyself to Krystal and I heard
the position was open and forshe left I was like, don't
(14:42):
forget this face. You got tohire me. And next thing you
know, I applied and I got aninterview.
John Versage (14:48):
Think your exact words words.
Lance Zimmer, don't forget it.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (14:53):
Thats your exact words. Lance Zimmer,
Don't forget itmight have been. Well, yeah. It
worked out well.
He did great in his interview.
Thanks somebody set you up forsuccess. Maybe that guy sitting
next to you
John Versage (15:09):
told you to stare at her eyes.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (15:13):
Eye contact so important in
interviews, right? It's kind ofcreepy. Actually. No blanket got
the job. You got the job. Whatabout you, Rodney?
Rodney Righter (15:22):
Well, I've been working in the area for
Department of Commerce for quitea while and helping soldiers and
news I knew the E folks with usofor quite a few years. And and I
guess what it came down to thepoint I was trying to help
crystals asking if I knewsomeone in Peru or an opening
that was created that if I knewanybody, and I tried to hook her
(15:44):
lady from our shop, and thendawned on me, what what was I
doing? So I applied for the jobtoo. So and I was happy and, and
I also it was nice, because Iidea that the USO was still open
during COVID, which is, the lastthing I want to do is continue
to work from home. And that wasnot what I wanted. So as you
will, folks, we're dealing withpeople still in person with
(16:06):
assault as COVID stuff going on.
That was a real kicker. So yeah,I was happy to fly.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (16:11):
Yeah, I think we stayed at home for
about a month and a half. Andthen we all decided there's
Joe's still getting out, theyneed support. So let's figure
out how we can make this work.
So we set up safety precautions,and the garrison cleared us for
a certain number of peoplewithin a certain distance
wearing masks. And so we wentback to work in May, which was
great. And we've been servingever since. So for those of you
(16:34):
who don't know uso transitions,support servicemembers, and
military spouses, as well as ourgarden reserve folks in
transition, so whether they arelooking for their future
careers, their future homes,they might need a financial
readiness resource, whatevertheir needs are, we try to help
(16:55):
meet their needs, where theyare. So along those lines, let's
talk about some of theexperiences where you have put
yourself back into your boots,so to speak of when you were
young Joe, and and how thathelped you leverage the
experience of helping others.
(17:16):
Anybody want to take that one?
Vance Zimmer (17:18):
Well, I think the biggest thing that I see almost
on a daily basis is how do Ifill out a da 31? For terminal
leave? When do I submit my da31? Who's your proven authority
of my da 31? Things like that. Imean, reasonably, it seems like
I have a lot of junior in CEOsthat are part of the chain of
(17:39):
command or that transitioningservice member will call and ask
me questions. And these arequestions they should know. So
yeah, kind of put that hat backon and got him on the right
path.
Unknown (17:50):
I agree.
Lauren Kovaleski (17:51):
I think the biggest thing is that the
transition is so stressful. Anda lot of it, like we said, is
the garrison aspect of clearingand what does that look like and
what does my timeline need tobe, and for a lot of them, they
can't start thinking aboutemployment or education or their
(18:12):
pa benefits until they feel likethey're good to go on the
clearing process. And that wasso interesting to to watch kind
of evolve from, you know, whenwe opened our doors to now in
navigating and being able toorganically figure out what they
(18:33):
needed, so that they could besuccessful. And it's just so
interesting to to be able tofigure out what they need, and
then pre create that process forthem and help them through it.
And then they just are able todo all these great things like
participate in training programsand get really great jobs and,
(18:53):
you know, move their familiesacross the country and feel
settled. And they wouldn't beable to do that if the team here
wasn't, you know, coaching themalong the way on those things
that seem so simple, but they'rethey're really not. They're
intense, and it's very, verystressful for them
Vance Zimmer (19:13):
is very daunting.
And john hits on this every timehe does a briefing that you're
getting out of the army. Now yougo from the team to the B team.
Nobody Nobody cares. Yeah,that's true. Now the army
because missions always first inthe army, whether it's, you
know, unit drag gunnery,rotation NTC or Fort Polk or
Europe.
Rodney Righter (19:32):
And it's funny to talk about that. You know how
many times we've been to briefsand everybody's going to
actually bring it up and I'veactually the Mall Cop thing, but
it really comes down to there'sa lot of doom and gloom. Every
time you go to these briefingsand sois you better listen to
this. You're going to be poor,you're going to be on the
street, you can be homeless,you're going to have a job. And
this Yeah, there's elements ofthat. But soldiers and service
(19:55):
members will land on their feetif they want to land on their
feet and they always do. Theyjust need to be Given the right
direction, so in a way, allwe're doing is shorten that
chain to their success. Becauseit isn't all doom and gloom.
They just need to know what theyneed to know. And once they find
this information out, which isrelevant to them, they do find,
you know, people stand in frontof them and tell them how bad
it's going to be. That's whenthat's their own personal story,
(20:16):
but more of not many of them dovery, very well.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (20:20):
They do.
Do you guys have a favoritestory? Someone that really spoke
to you someone that you helpedout? Oh, wow, I
John Versage (20:27):
got so many stories. I mean, what? We had a
cut, well, I got a couple. Oneon One soldier. I'm not gonna
say his name. But he, he was inOakland, while I was on the golf
course. Like, he called me andhe's like, hey, john, I need
some help. And I'm like, what'sgoing on? He goes, I'm going to
(20:51):
church by day crackhouse bynight, and I'm afraid to take my
shoes off because someone Istill. And this is a guy that
went down range for his country.
Now he's in the church, homelessshelter, and he's, he's stressed
about what he's going to do. Sowe reached out, actually,
Lauren, was it was your Lauren,right? ss ssvf. In the washing
(21:14):
army. Yeah, they're the one thatwe contacted wasn't even in his
region, but they reached out tothem, and got him a place to
live, got to help them get hisfirst month's rent, and they
took care of them. And then Ireached out to him a few months
later, and he was going tocollege, in California Community
College. And then I reached outagain, a few months later, just
(21:37):
to check on see how he's doing.
And he was playing, you know,college football, Division Two.
So, I mean, it was a successstory for him now. And he's
doing great things out there inthe civilian world. He's got a
house, got a fiance, and it's asuccess story coming from living
in a in a, you know, halfwayhouse, I guess, you know,
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (22:00):
he just needed a little bit of help.
John Versage (22:01):
He just need a little bit of guidance. That's
all you needed. Oh, another casewe had was a soldier came to
sauce. This is one of our veryfirst cases, he came and saw us
and he's like, you know, I'malready set up. I went to the
MBB. board. I'm already set up.
No one. I don't need no help.
But my wife is my caregiver ifshe has no clue what she's about
to get herself into. So wereached out to some air once
(22:25):
again was Lauren reached out toArizona. And she was just new on
the job. And she was likeresearch and everything. So she
found a caregiver group inArizona, that helps with
spouses. So we linked them up.
And then a few months later, Icalled him and I wouldn't get an
answer from him. And then Iemailed him still no answer. And
(22:47):
then eventually, he moneybags I,hey, john, I didn't mean to blow
you off or anything like that.
It's just that I fell off thebed, hit my head on the
nightstand. And I had a seizure,and I was in a coma. And he's
wanting to thank us because theresources we gave his spouse in
Arizona, was able to help hisspouse, make it through that
(23:08):
tough time and understandeverything. So those are kind of
stories that the chain ofcommand doesn't know. When he
suffered servicemembers get outof the army. They just they just
slide to the left and, and justkeep on driving on the mission,
like Vance said, but there's thesoldiers doing so much more
after they get out of themilitary. I'm in touch with one
(23:30):
it's in Houston, Texas all thetime. He walked into a store.
And he was in a mall. And he waswearing one ID gear. And one of
the individuals walked up to himsay, Hey, what do you have for
rally? And he was like, yeah, itwas a four rally. And he's like,
hey, my son's out there. He'shaving a rough time. So he said,
Okay, so he started talking.
Come to find out. Thisindividual calls me and says,
(23:51):
Hey, john, I met this thisgentleman at the store. His son
is stationed at Fort Riley.
Well, little Do we know that hisson was also in our program. So
I called and checked on him,kept checking on him, drove by
his house and checked on him.
And then his dad called me, andhe was worried about his son
because his son was too pridefulto ask for help. But he was
(24:13):
going through depression andeverything else that he didn't
know how to. How to ask forhelp. So I stay in touch with
him, stay in touch with him.
Right now. He's doing good. He'sstill struggling, but he's got a
job now. He does have someresources. That's all it was
just recently, just the factthat you call someone and say,
(24:34):
Hey, how you doing? You know,you don't realize how much you
know, little those little wordsmean to somebody, you know, how
are you doing? What can I do foryou? So those are just three
stories right there alone. I cango on for days. I get phone
calls all the time for peopledriving a bf truck and like
bragging about how much moneythey're making. We are one of
(24:59):
the Five that went on. He was inour program with our help with a
resume and our our employmentreadiness workshops. He landed a
job with Amazon out of KansasCity and then he moved on to
Michigan making six figuresmaking six figures from a
sergeant pay to six figures.
That's that's a big swings a bigRemember him? Yes, yes. One
Lauren Kovaleski (25:20):
of the first people we had go for the h o h.
fellowship. Yep.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (25:27):
Yeah, for Leavenworth? Yep. Yeah.
Lauren Kovaleski (25:30):
Yeah.
John Versage (25:31):
We got stories after stories. I probably forgot
half the stories. You know, it'sjust,
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (25:39):
what about you? Vance, you got some
stories? Oh, sure.
Vance Zimmer (25:42):
I think this guy was a staff sergeant. He came
back from Korea early. Becausehis wife had left. You remember
that? They had three kids, hiswife.
Lauren Kovaleski (25:51):
I remember that to0
Vance Zimmer (25:53):
something. I don't remember what exactly happened
anyway, they sent him back andthey're gonna kick him out of
the army because now he doesn'thave a family care plan. We
ended up getting a solid resumethrough hire heroes and through
abroad. He was working at Kansasworks at the time. And we ended
up getting him a job interviewat skookum on post. And he's
been there ever since. So go on.
He's pretty up there inmanagement right now. Matter of
(26:15):
fact, I ran into him a coupleweeks ago. And while amigo he's
remarried and lives in St.
Mary's, that's awesome. Allright, well,
Rodney Righter (26:25):
good. I got an individual that I've been
keeping tabs with. Senior NCOthat has struggled when he's
getting out because he's notonly battling getting out, he's
also battling cancer, he's goingthrough chemotherapy. And his
biggest worry was building aresume, what should he tell
employers about a situationwhere you shouldn't let in. So
(26:46):
honestly, what we normally do iswe try to make this nice
handoff, I walked him upstairs,introduced him to Kansas works
guy up there. And, and becauseof that, he walked him through
building a resume there any ofyou preparation, and this, this
gentleman has done very well.
He's got interview afterinterview. And finally, he
picked up a job with theuniversity. I think this
starting pays like 80 $90,000doing really well. But it's for
(27:10):
him to sit there and say, Well,I can't do the interview. Now
I'm going through chemotherapy,I'm gonna have to catch it next
week or do this. It's just thathe had connections with people
who, you know, within thisorganization,
John Versage (27:23):
among where I remember when Lauren had, he
wanted to be an oncologist. Hewanted to be a cancer doctor,
and want to go see me oncolleges. And he was like,
what's that? And it was, we'reall like shaking our heads like,
oh, but now he's a nurse, right?
Going to nursing school.
Lauren Kovaleski (27:42):
Yes, he's gone to nursing school. I haven't
talked to him in a while. Thatwas a couple years ago. But
yeah, he got accepted to areally great two in two nursing
programs, who's going to do hisfirst two years at a community
college and then automaticallytransfer in and finish out with
his rn? But yeah, he came insaying you want to be a cancer
(28:04):
doctor to learning, oncology, orto lick in a first ID
to getting into nursing school,you know, and it's just, they're
funny, I mean, they kill me, thesoldiers espouses all ranks, all
(28:25):
backgrounds, they are funny.
People just like, but the bestthing, just like people, right,
but the best thing is just tosee them be successful in all
different ways, right? You know,we're talking about trucking to
going back to school to, youknow, working their way up into
management, and they're just sounique. And it's awesome to see
(28:47):
them go from this, like, stress,you know, their end of their
office, and they're talking amile a minute, and they have no
direction to you know, they justkind of find their way. And they
just need a little bit ofguidance. And, and Rodney, you
put it really well, right,there's a lot of negativity and
like pressure and kind of Nxdaround transition. And they just
(29:08):
need a little guidance and somesupport to know like, you're
gonna be fine. Here's the toolsthat you need. You know, you've
got a good head on yourshoulder, get them done, and
we're here to keep up with youand communicate with you. And
check in when, you know, it getstough again, because it will
that's just life. But it's justletting them know that we're
(29:30):
here to support them and, youknow, continue to guide them on
their way.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (29:36):
So what's interesting is, this program
takes you like, for example,this service member who wanted
to be a cancer doctor thatdidn't even know what an
oncologist was. What we do is wehelp them build the plan so that
they will achieve their goal nomatter what their goal is, and
then we just walk them througheach step one step at a time.
(30:00):
This is what you need to do.
This is the process you need toapply for school. Let's look at
the school. So let's find outwhat your GI Bill covers, let's
find out the difference betweenthe California School, right and
the Kentucky school, right, orwhatever it might be. And so,
you know, nobody else is reallydoing that note, nobody else is
really helping them as they arein transition as they leave the
(30:23):
service service members come in,and when we start breaking it
down for them, how much housingcosts, how much health insurance
cost, how, hey, you actuallyhave a really good opportunity
to stay in the military. Howmany of them do re enlist?
Rodney Righter (30:40):
It's cyclical, I think you're gonna see a change
back and forth a few differenttimes. But surely,
Vance Zimmer (30:45):
I mean, if you look at history, it's it's
repeating itself. Same thinghappened for Vietnam, you know,
people come back from Vietnam,or they don't know how to
operate gears and environment,you know. And then, you know, we
didn't really do much ofanything for quite a long time
until iraq started making surewe had our Grenada and things
like that. But as far as longterm war, it was the warrant
(31:07):
terrorism. So
Rodney Righter (31:10):
it was a long time ago. But back when you were
there, john, right.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (31:14):
Back in Vietnam, you know, john doe,
right
Rodney Righter (31:16):
on tablets.
Okay, that
John Versage (31:18):
sense of I'll go back to the desert storm. Okay.
All right.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (31:25):
He's old, he but he's not that old. You
know what that reminds me ofthough. Is it? Speaking of
feeling old? Do you remember thetime we were, we were accused of
being Lauren's mom and dad.
Speaking of being old, and I'mnot that much older than you,
Lauren. Dang, it.
Lauren Kovaleski (31:45):
faulted
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (31:47):
that was George good old George.
Lauren Kovaleski (31:50):
George. Yep, that was a client up. I was the
coordinator at the time. Butwhen you walked into the office
office, it was kind of me and,and john was had a private
office and crystal did as well.
And he, he just was like, youknow, are john and crystal, your
mom and dad. Like, that's howyou got this job, right? And I
was just so insulted back, thatI couldn't get the job on my own
(32:13):
merit. And then john and johnand Krystal, were insulted
because they're not that oldnurse. And my name is
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (32:28):
even though john is my work wife,
right?
Lauren Kovaleski (32:35):
Like, can we not?
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (32:38):
I know poor George. Well, you set him
straight. Lauren. That was good.
Lauren Kovaleski (32:43):
I did. I got a little like, snarky with him.
It's good. He needed to learnthat lesson.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (32:50):
Okay. So Lauren, do you have any stories
off the top of your head thatreally have stuck with you? Over
the years? No, I
Lauren Kovaleski (32:59):
mean, I mean, the story that john shared about
the caregiver, you know, thatwithin the first maybe month,
maybe, maybe even less thanthat. And that just made such an
impact on my life. And I think,you know, we do a lot of
research right in our job, andit comes so naturally to us,
(33:21):
because we know that it's makingan impact, right, just like
finding a phone number, andconnecting that individual to a
service member or a spouse and,and making sure that there's
that warm connection. Just makesall the difference. So I don't
have I don't want to repeat thestory. But you know, there's
(33:43):
hundreds on top of those thatare really meaningful and give
our jobs so much more than justa job.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (33:53):
In fact, there's about 5000 of them just
at Fort Riley since we openedour doors. Yeah. And Lauren
Lauren Kovaleski (34:00):
40,000 for the program.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (34:03):
Yep. And Lauren's at Campbell now, so she
gets to serve the Fort Campbellregion, Tennessee and Kentucky.
She sees a lot of the samestuff, but also different. I
think each installation isunique.
Lauren Kovaleski (34:20):
Definitely, I mean, the the transition for me
going from, you know, oneinstallation to the next, and
seeing all the differences.
There's a lot of similarities tothat sometimes annoy me because
I wish you know, the Army or themilitary could could change ways
sometimes.
(34:40):
Where you know, there's therewas a lot of change for me, PCs
saying and getting used to adifferent area, a different, you
know, region of the country and,you know, learning just all of
all of them The things that comewith moving. And it was nice to
(35:03):
know that I had the USO to gowith and to feel supported by.
Unknown (35:09):
So you bring up a good point, the USO is always by your
side. And as a military spouse,we serve you in all transitions.
So as we all know, as spouses,we have to recreate ourselves
each time we move. And so ourprogram is available to most
spouses anytime throughout yourjourney. And if you guys who are
(35:33):
listening are interested in ourprogram, you can always check us
out online, you can alsoregister with us online. We're
located at uso dot o RG forwardslash transition, you simply
have to click on the tab thatsays connect with the transition
specialist today, and willcontact you within a couple
(35:53):
hours of registering. So ifthere are veterans who are out
there who are less than 12months post transition, that's
really the window that wesupport service members and
veterans is 12 months pretransition all the way up to 12
months post transition. However,we've started dabbling in
supporting service membersthroughout their journey because
(36:16):
we found that they might needhelp with mentorship or with
networking. You know, I mightnot be getting out for another
five years, but I might want amentor or I might want a
financial readiness resource. Sobe sure to check us out. We're
always here to help you. Andthen also for guard and reserve.
(36:36):
We support guardand reserveanytime throughout your career
as well. All right, so I want tothank you all for coming today.
We'll meet again on Vet's on theNet very soon. If you like what
you heard today, please don'tforget to subscribe to our
podcast. I'd like to takeanother moment to thank our
podcast sponsor for today JSSigns, longtime financial
(36:59):
supporter of the Flint Hillsveterans coalition. Thank you.
Please be sure to visit ourwebsite at
FlintHillsveterans.org. For moreinformation about today's topic,
and to share your very own usostory we love to hear. While
you're there, check out ourmonthly meeting times. We'd love
to have you join us if you'reever in the Flint Hills from the
(37:19):
Flint Hills veterans coalition.
Thanks for listening. We lookforward to seeing you
Welcome to Vets on the Net podcast, a
product of the Flint HillsVeterans Coalition. We're
gathered around the table todayIn America's Heartland to tell
stories of the militaryexperience, share, laugh, and
just give our audience a glimpseinto our military lives. So pull
up a chair, join us for EpisodeFour USO stories supporting
(00:29):
troops for 80 years. Joining ustoday we have John Versage
,Vance Zimmer. Righterter andLauren Kovaleski uso team.
Thanks for joining us today. CanI ask each of you to introduce
yourselves? Tell us where you'refrom what branch of service and
what was your job like in themilitary? JOHN, you want to kick
(00:50):
it off?
John Versage (00:51):
Well, my name is John Versage. I'm originally
from Hinesville, Georgia, did 29years in the active army. And
I'm of my 29 years I did 22right here for Riley, Kansas. In
my 22 years in the Army I did 9,10 years as a signals
communicator. And then the next19 years I was a career
counselor.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (01:10):
Nice Vance
Vance Zimmer (01:12):
My name is Vance.
Zimmer. I'm originally fromIowa. Did 21 years in the Army,
best MLS in the world 11 Bravo,
John Versage (01:21):
whatever.
Vance Zimmer (01:23):
They do a lot of different locations. Fort
Campbell, Korea, Germany, FortBenning a couple times and ended
up here for the Kansas.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (01:32):
We're so glad you did. Rodney
Rodney Righter (01:35):
I'm Rod. I'm from originally from Montana. 21
years in the Air Force. Spent abig chunk of that on Fort Riley
enjoyed it and stayed. So
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (01:45):
what do you do in the airforce?
Rodney Righter (01:46):
Oh, I'm sorry, I was an Air Force j tech. I spent
my time hanging out with a lotof times the impeachment or the
airborne, Yahoo's or, or soforth. But it was good time.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (01:56):
Well, we won't hold the air force against
you. Well,
Rodney Righter (01:59):
I'm here to bring up the what is it the
property value? Is that what I'mdoing so you're
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (02:03):
in a tough crowd today. All right,
Lauren, you want to introduceyourself?
Lauren Kovaleski (02:10):
Yeah. Hey, everyone. I'm Lauren. I'm a
military spouse. My husband isactive duty army. We were our
first duty station was FortRiley, Kansas. We were raised
Riley right. And we are now atFort Campbell, Kentucky. And my
job is to just hold down thefort. We've gone all the time.
(02:31):
So this year hanging out.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (02:34):
We love it. We love it. Well, my name is
Crystal Kearns and I'm servingas the moderator for this
episode. I'm originally fromChattanooga, Tennessee, and I'm
married to a veteran who servedin the 82nd Airborne Division. I
currently serve as the USOtransitions manager, and I'm
located here at the firstInfantry Division, the home of
the big red one. I'd like tothank our sponsor for today, j.
(02:56):
s sign and also thank those inour studio audience who have
joined us today. If you guyshear some noises in the
background, we're going to blamethem. It's all their fault. So
Steve, keep it down over there.
Okay. Alright, so today we'regoing to talk about the USO,
also known as the Unitedservices organization. This year
marks our 80th anniversary ofour force behind the forces and
(03:20):
to celebrate the eight decadesof fearlessly following the US
troops to the frontlines. We aregoing to talk a little bit about
what the USO used to do and howwe have adapted to today's Army,
Air Force, Marines, navy andCoast Guard. We started out with
(03:41):
six organizations the USOoriginally, and we are one of
two who were still left. Do youguys know the other one? This I
saw you in a time Red Cross.
Good job foreign like that. Soyeah, the USO began six separate
(04:03):
groups, and us and the Red Crossare still standing. The uso is
always taking care of troops.
But we've also taken care offamilies, too. In fact, even
daycare started with the USOback in the day, World War Two
women were entering theworkforce, they needed a place
to drop off their kids. And loand behold, the USO stepped up
(04:23):
and started supporting militaryfamilies. So originally, we were
known mostly for ourentertainment. Can you guys name
our most favorite entertainer,
Vance Zimmer (04:35):
Bob? Heck, yeah.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (04:37):
Heck yeah. We love Bob Hope, and he
left his legacy to us. And weare so grateful. And we continue
his legacy through a Bob Hopereading program, which Have any
of you ever used that service,the Bob Hope reading program.
It's a great opportunity forservice members to read books to
their kids and interact To them,even though they're downrange,
(05:02):
so that's a great program. Butspeaking about hope did Did any
of you ever attend any showswhile you were overseas?
John Versage (05:09):
I did. In Korea 1988 back in the mid 1900s.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (05:17):
Mid 1900's,
Lauren Kovaleski (05:18):
when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
John Versage (05:22):
know when when booking flow goes both ways. It
was the back Summer Olympics inKorea, South Korea. Oh, oh, you
had a lot of here. But uh, yeah,that's why I saw him I was like
opening ceremonies type thing.
And him and Brooke Shields wereperforming and it was awesome.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (05:42):
Nice Brooke Shields in the 80s What
about you, Rodney? Oh.
Rodney Righter (05:50):
I usually didn't go to many of the shows when we
were downrange. But what I didgo to and a lot of people there
was Kid Rock put on a bigconcert. And reason why I
remember it is I was way back inthe nosebleed section. But he
had some guests. I think hebrought some ladies on stage and
they made a song and dance. Ithink some ladies ladies I know.
(06:10):
A few of them when topless Iguess they are real big hit. So
of course I was so far back. Butstill I could tell
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (06:18):
you don't strike me as the kid rock
concert type of guy.
Rodney Righter (06:20):
No, I wasn't there. Nothing else to do. Might
as well go.
Vance Zimmer (06:23):
So you have air guitar? air guitar.
Rodney Righter (06:25):
Yeah, I had to turn up the hearing aid just
like you. Yeah.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (06:31):
What about you, Vance, every
Vance Zimmer (06:32):
show I've never been to a uso show. All my
deployments, it seems like ourFord operating bases or fobs are
too far away from the biggerbasis. Now they did have our
last deployment to Afghanistan.
They had some cheerleaders,wasn't it? The dolphins
cheerleaders, dolphincheerleaders actually came to
our faab. I didn't see it. I wasgoing but it was there.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (06:56):
Nice.
Lauren, any uso shows, I guessas a spouse or events? No,
Lauren Kovaleski (07:03):
I've never I think Larry visited the base. My
husband was out when he wasdeployed. So he got to
experience that which isawesome. But now, I've never
seen uso show. I've never evenseen the show troupe perform. So
hopefully they'll start touringagain. I can catch them when
they're in my region.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (07:24):
Let's hope so for sure. I know
John Versage (07:25):
guys nice can have for well the end of the USO tag
he did performed on theairfield.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (07:31):
And so did the Charlie Daniels band. I
don't know if y'all rememberthat just few years ago,
Vance Zimmer (07:36):
was funny. I was watching flooded two channels
yesterday at home and they had athing on there about Robin
Williams. Yeah. And it showedbits and pieces of his USO show.
He's done. Yeah. So he was a big
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (07:47):
Yeah. He did a lot for the USO. What
about airports? You guys evervisited a uso in the airport?
Oh,
Vance Zimmer (07:54):
sure. Now, Dallas airport. I've been to that one a
couple times. Because we flyback my rack. That was our
layover before we fly intoKansas. So we always go to the
USO at the Dallas airport.
Rodney Righter (08:06):
comfortable seats, hotdogs, coffee.
John Versage (08:09):
It's nice. I visit them in foreign lands. Oh, far
away. Madness. Kuwait. wasn'tlucky lucky enough to go to a
Dallas airport. Wow.
Rodney Righter (08:21):
I'm gonna tear up over here as good
Vance Zimmer (08:22):
as you were a career counselor to you probably
had a private flight.
John Versage (08:25):
Yeah. Well, maybe
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (08:28):
there's airborne and chair born airborne
and
John Versage (08:31):
I did get I did get from five sharada to
Atlantis before anybody elsedid. And I was the last one to
leave Toronto. I'm just saying.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (08:39):
What was your favorite reason to go to
the USO? JOHN, I've
John Versage (08:42):
heard this many a time computers, phones. Lasers
call my wife.
Vance Zimmer (08:48):
TVs
Lauren Kovaleski (08:49):
TV air conditioning,
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (08:50):
I thought it was
John Versage (08:53):
gonna get to the air conditioning. I mean, when
you got that one thing, you comehome and air conditioner feels
so good. You fall asleep,though. So you got in there
because you're gonna have 130degree heat and you still have
an air conditioner. You're justlike, power goes to sleep.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (09:11):
So Lauren, you have a unique
experiences military spouse? Canyou think of a uso experience
that really stands out to you?
Lauren Kovaleski (09:21):
Yeah, well, I became a military spouse. And
then about 30 days later, I washired as a staff member of uso.
So I didn't. I didn't reallyknow much when I joined the team
about the military at all. And,you know, I think just coming in
as a little baby, how johnreally took took me under his
(09:46):
wing and explained a lot aboutthe military lifestyle, and just
made me feel welcome as amilitary spouse, which I think
is is just what the USO is allabout. So for me, it's more
about the team. And you know,the experience of serving the
mission as a staff member. Youknow, versus like using using
(10:09):
the center's when you get to anew installation.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (10:13):
So what's unique about our group here
today is not only are all of youveterans and male spouses, but
you're also uso employees. Sothose of you in the audience
might think of how the USO hasentertained or united or
delivered. But what many of youmight not know is that the USO
also offers transition support.
And that's exactly what the teamthat is speaking today does on
(10:37):
the day to day, so what is itlike for you guys, specifically,
Vance, Ronnie john, to servethose who, you know, you used to
be a service member being servedby the USO, but now you are
serving as part of the USO?
What's that experience? Like?
Rodney Righter (10:58):
Don't just keep going. I mean, you think about
it, we, it's, it's a niceconnection from what we did in
the past to what we're actuallydoing right now. You know, we're
all in CEOs, we all took care ofpeople. So now it was an easy
transition to now being in theUSO and do the same thing.
Vance Zimmer (11:14):
Oh, for sure. I mean, it's almost like you're
still in the army, but you'renot doing PT and all the
Mandatory Fun and stupid stuffthat the army makes you do, you
know, these
Rodney Righter (11:24):
formations, they count, you
Vance Zimmer (11:26):
know, your, your clients, or your soldiers that
are under you, or that you takecare of on a day to day basis.
So you're still guiding them inthe right directions, give them
the answers that they're lookingfor, and help them out wherever
they need.
John Versage (11:40):
I agree with all that. I mean, it's no other
feeling to be able to give backand give forward to these young,
proud American sons anddaughters we have, and be able
to take care of them. You know,not everybody, not everybody's
gotten in the same business as auso. So be able to give back to
(12:02):
them and help them and and guidethem, and in some cases, mentor
them. I mean, they always askyou, how's it feel? after
retirement? Do you miss thearmy? So it's hard to miss the
army when we're dealing withsoldiers every day? You know, I
never felt like I feel like Inever left.
Crystal Bryant-Kear (12:16):
Absolutely.
So let's talk about that. Youknow, Lauren talked about her
experience joining the USO team,she was brand new to the
military brand new to the littleapple coming straight from the
Big Apple, as we like to say,how did you guys start with the
USO?
John Versage (12:36):
Well, I applied for your position. That's,
Rodney Righter (12:41):
boy, we're happy how that worked out. Right.
Lauren Kovaleski (12:43):
sure that
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (12:46):
that is, that is a true story. The day
that I got the job, they said,Now you need to hire a team
member. And I said, well, whowas going to get this job if I
didn't get this job? And theysaid, john for sage. So I called
him up and said, Hey, you wantto be my scout? He was like,
yeah, so I said, well, you needto apply for the job.
John Versage (13:09):
After you already hired me at apply for the job a
little backwards. A littleformalities.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (13:14):
You know, all the HR paperwork. Yeah.
John Versage (13:17):
I didn't know how will that worked anyway, so I
like to in the army. Hey, you'removing over to Bravo Company.
Okay. You know, so it works. Youknow,
Lauren Kovaleski (13:27):
I think it is important to note that john was
on the golf course on terminalleave, and his wife Trish was
applying for jobs for him. Oh,while he was on the golf course.
That is a true statement andthat that's a true meltdown.
Right there. Right?
She's Hey, man.
You're not gonna be hanging outwith my house. I want you know,
John Versage (13:52):
drinking beer and playing golf. My phone slitter
ringing is like thank you forapplying for was thank you for
applying for a position. I'mlike I apply for that big
position.
Lauren Kovaleski (14:02):
True mil spouse.
John Versage (14:03):
Yeah, that's true story.
Vance Zimmer (14:05):
It's funny.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (14:05):
I just want to give a quick shout out
to Chris for stage. God blessyour soul. Like, as Service
Medal. Yeah. How about you,Vance? Oh,
Vance Zimmer (14:20):
this is kind of a different story. I was at John's
house watching Alabama andsomebody won the national
championship. It's alwaysAlabama. But anyway, so we're at
John's I was watching thefootball bowtie. And prosto was
there as well. And I introducedmyself to Krystal and I heard
the position was open and forshe left I was like, don't
(14:42):
forget this face. You got tohire me. And next thing you
know, I applied and I got aninterview.
John Versage (14:48):
Think your exact words words.
Lance Zimmer, don't forget it.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (14:53):
Thats your exact words. Lance Zimmer,
Don't forget itmight have been. Well, yeah. It
worked out well.
He did great in his interview.
Thanks somebody set you up forsuccess. Maybe that guy sitting
next to you
John Versage (15:09):
told you to stare at her eyes.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (15:13):
Eye contact so important in
interviews, right? It's kind ofcreepy. Actually. No blanket got
the job. You got the job. Whatabout you, Rodney?
Rodney Righter (15:22):
Well, I've been working in the area for
Department of Commerce for quitea while and helping soldiers and
news I knew the E folks with usofor quite a few years. And and I
guess what it came down to thepoint I was trying to help
crystals asking if I knewsomeone in Peru or an opening
that was created that if I knewanybody, and I tried to hook her
(15:44):
lady from our shop, and thendawned on me, what what was I
doing? So I applied for the jobtoo. So and I was happy and, and
I also it was nice, because Iidea that the USO was still open
during COVID, which is, the lastthing I want to do is continue
to work from home. And that wasnot what I wanted. So as you
will, folks, we're dealing withpeople still in person with
(16:06):
assault as COVID stuff going on.
That was a real kicker. So yeah,I was happy to fly.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (16:11):
Yeah, I think we stayed at home for
about a month and a half. Andthen we all decided there's
Joe's still getting out, theyneed support. So let's figure
out how we can make this work.
So we set up safety precautions,and the garrison cleared us for
a certain number of peoplewithin a certain distance
wearing masks. And so we wentback to work in May, which was
great. And we've been servingever since. So for those of you
(16:34):
who don't know uso transitions,support servicemembers, and
military spouses, as well as ourgarden reserve folks in
transition, so whether they arelooking for their future
careers, their future homes,they might need a financial
readiness resource, whatevertheir needs are, we try to help
(16:55):
meet their needs, where theyare. So along those lines, let's
talk about some of theexperiences where you have put
yourself back into your boots,so to speak of when you were
young Joe, and and how thathelped you leverage the
experience of helping others.
(17:16):
Anybody want to take that one?
Vance Zimmer (17:18):
Well, I think the biggest thing that I see almost
on a daily basis is how do Ifill out a da 31? For terminal
leave? When do I submit my da31? Who's your proven authority
of my da 31? Things like that. Imean, reasonably, it seems like
I have a lot of junior in CEOsthat are part of the chain of
(17:39):
command or that transitioningservice member will call and ask
me questions. And these arequestions they should know. So
yeah, kind of put that hat backon and got him on the right
path.
Unknown (17:50):
I agree.
Lauren Kovaleski (17:51):
I think the biggest thing is that the
transition is so stressful. Anda lot of it, like we said, is
the garrison aspect of clearingand what does that look like and
what does my timeline need tobe, and for a lot of them, they
can't start thinking aboutemployment or education or their
(18:12):
pa benefits until they feel likethey're good to go on the
clearing process. And that wasso interesting to to watch kind
of evolve from, you know, whenwe opened our doors to now in
navigating and being able toorganically figure out what they
(18:33):
needed, so that they could besuccessful. And it's just so
interesting to to be able tofigure out what they need, and
then pre create that process forthem and help them through it.
And then they just are able todo all these great things like
participate in training programsand get really great jobs and,
(18:53):
you know, move their familiesacross the country and feel
settled. And they wouldn't beable to do that if the team here
wasn't, you know, coaching themalong the way on those things
that seem so simple, but they'rethey're really not. They're
intense, and it's very, verystressful for them
Vance Zimmer (19:13):
is very daunting.
And john hits on this every timehe does a briefing that you're
getting out of the army. Now yougo from the team to the B team.
Nobody Nobody cares. Yeah,that's true. Now the army
because missions always first inthe army, whether it's, you
know, unit drag gunnery,rotation NTC or Fort Polk or
Europe.
Rodney Righter (19:32):
And it's funny to talk about that. You know how
many times we've been to briefsand everybody's going to
actually bring it up and I'veactually the Mall Cop thing, but
it really comes down to there'sa lot of doom and gloom. Every
time you go to these briefingsand sois you better listen to
this. You're going to be poor,you're going to be on the
street, you can be homeless,you're going to have a job. And
this Yeah, there's elements ofthat. But soldiers and service
(19:55):
members will land on their feetif they want to land on their
feet and they always do. Theyjust need to be Given the right
direction, so in a way, allwe're doing is shorten that
chain to their success. Becauseit isn't all doom and gloom.
They just need to know what theyneed to know. And once they find
this information out, which isrelevant to them, they do find,
you know, people stand in frontof them and tell them how bad
it's going to be. That's whenthat's their own personal story,
(20:16):
but more of not many of them dovery, very well.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (20:20):
They do.
Do you guys have a favoritestory? Someone that really spoke
to you someone that you helpedout? Oh, wow, I
John Versage (20:27):
got so many stories. I mean, what? We had a
cut, well, I got a couple. Oneon One soldier. I'm not gonna
say his name. But he, he was inOakland, while I was on the golf
course. Like, he called me andhe's like, hey, john, I need
some help. And I'm like, what'sgoing on? He goes, I'm going to
(20:51):
church by day crackhouse bynight, and I'm afraid to take my
shoes off because someone Istill. And this is a guy that
went down range for his country.
Now he's in the church, homelessshelter, and he's, he's stressed
about what he's going to do. Sowe reached out, actually,
Lauren, was it was your Lauren,right? ss ssvf. In the washing
(21:14):
army. Yeah, they're the one thatwe contacted wasn't even in his
region, but they reached out tothem, and got him a place to
live, got to help them get hisfirst month's rent, and they
took care of them. And then Ireached out to him a few months
later, and he was going tocollege, in California Community
College. And then I reached outagain, a few months later, just
(21:37):
to check on see how he's doing.
And he was playing, you know,college football, Division Two.
So, I mean, it was a successstory for him now. And he's
doing great things out there inthe civilian world. He's got a
house, got a fiance, and it's asuccess story coming from living
in a in a, you know, halfwayhouse, I guess, you know,
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (22:00):
he just needed a little bit of help.
John Versage (22:01):
He just need a little bit of guidance. That's
all you needed. Oh, another casewe had was a soldier came to
sauce. This is one of our veryfirst cases, he came and saw us
and he's like, you know, I'malready set up. I went to the
MBB. board. I'm already set up.
No one. I don't need no help.
But my wife is my caregiver ifshe has no clue what she's about
to get herself into. So wereached out to some air once
(22:25):
again was Lauren reached out toArizona. And she was just new on
the job. And she was likeresearch and everything. So she
found a caregiver group inArizona, that helps with
spouses. So we linked them up.
And then a few months later, Icalled him and I wouldn't get an
answer from him. And then Iemailed him still no answer. And
(22:47):
then eventually, he moneybags I,hey, john, I didn't mean to blow
you off or anything like that.
It's just that I fell off thebed, hit my head on the
nightstand. And I had a seizure,and I was in a coma. And he's
wanting to thank us because theresources we gave his spouse in
Arizona, was able to help hisspouse, make it through that
(23:08):
tough time and understandeverything. So those are kind of
stories that the chain ofcommand doesn't know. When he
suffered servicemembers get outof the army. They just they just
slide to the left and, and justkeep on driving on the mission,
like Vance said, but there's thesoldiers doing so much more
after they get out of themilitary. I'm in touch with one
(23:30):
it's in Houston, Texas all thetime. He walked into a store.
And he was in a mall. And he waswearing one ID gear. And one of
the individuals walked up to himsay, Hey, what do you have for
rally? And he was like, yeah, itwas a four rally. And he's like,
hey, my son's out there. He'shaving a rough time. So he said,
Okay, so he started talking.
Come to find out. Thisindividual calls me and says,
(23:51):
Hey, john, I met this thisgentleman at the store. His son
is stationed at Fort Riley.
Well, little Do we know that hisson was also in our program. So
I called and checked on him,kept checking on him, drove by
his house and checked on him.
And then his dad called me, andhe was worried about his son
because his son was too pridefulto ask for help. But he was
(24:13):
going through depression andeverything else that he didn't
know how to. How to ask forhelp. So I stay in touch with
him, stay in touch with him.
Right now. He's doing good. He'sstill struggling, but he's got a
job now. He does have someresources. That's all it was
just recently, just the factthat you call someone and say,
(24:34):
Hey, how you doing? You know,you don't realize how much you
know, little those little wordsmean to somebody, you know, how
are you doing? What can I do foryou? So those are just three
stories right there alone. I cango on for days. I get phone
calls all the time for peopledriving a bf truck and like
bragging about how much moneythey're making. We are one of
(24:59):
the Five that went on. He was inour program with our help with a
resume and our our employmentreadiness workshops. He landed a
job with Amazon out of KansasCity and then he moved on to
Michigan making six figuresmaking six figures from a
sergeant pay to six figures.
That's that's a big swings a bigRemember him? Yes, yes. One
Lauren Kovaleski (25:20):
of the first people we had go for the h o h.
fellowship. Yep.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (25:27):
Yeah, for Leavenworth? Yep. Yeah.
Lauren Kovaleski (25:30):
Yeah.
John Versage (25:31):
We got stories after stories. I probably forgot
half the stories. You know, it'sjust,
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (25:39):
what about you? Vance, you got some
stories? Oh, sure.
Vance Zimmer (25:42):
I think this guy was a staff sergeant. He came
back from Korea early. Becausehis wife had left. You remember
that? They had three kids, hiswife.
Lauren Kovaleski (25:51):
I remember that to0
Vance Zimmer (25:53):
something. I don't remember what exactly happened
anyway, they sent him back andthey're gonna kick him out of
the army because now he doesn'thave a family care plan. We
ended up getting a solid resumethrough hire heroes and through
abroad. He was working at Kansasworks at the time. And we ended
up getting him a job interviewat skookum on post. And he's
been there ever since. So go on.
He's pretty up there inmanagement right now. Matter of
(26:15):
fact, I ran into him a coupleweeks ago. And while amigo he's
remarried and lives in St.
Mary's, that's awesome. Allright, well,
Rodney Righter (26:25):
good. I got an individual that I've been
keeping tabs with. Senior NCOthat has struggled when he's
getting out because he's notonly battling getting out, he's
also battling cancer, he's goingthrough chemotherapy. And his
biggest worry was building aresume, what should he tell
employers about a situationwhere you shouldn't let in. So
(26:46):
honestly, what we normally do iswe try to make this nice
handoff, I walked him upstairs,introduced him to Kansas works
guy up there. And, and becauseof that, he walked him through
building a resume there any ofyou preparation, and this, this
gentleman has done very well.
He's got interview afterinterview. And finally, he
picked up a job with theuniversity. I think this
starting pays like 80 $90,000doing really well. But it's for
(27:10):
him to sit there and say, Well,I can't do the interview. Now
I'm going through chemotherapy,I'm gonna have to catch it next
week or do this. It's just thathe had connections with people
who, you know, within thisorganization,
John Versage (27:23):
among where I remember when Lauren had, he
wanted to be an oncologist. Hewanted to be a cancer doctor,
and want to go see me oncolleges. And he was like,
what's that? And it was, we'reall like shaking our heads like,
oh, but now he's a nurse, right?
Going to nursing school.
Lauren Kovaleski (27:42):
Yes, he's gone to nursing school. I haven't
talked to him in a while. Thatwas a couple years ago. But
yeah, he got accepted to areally great two in two nursing
programs, who's going to do hisfirst two years at a community
college and then automaticallytransfer in and finish out with
his rn? But yeah, he came insaying you want to be a cancer
(28:04):
doctor to learning, oncology, orto lick in a first ID
to getting into nursing school,you know, and it's just, they're
funny, I mean, they kill me, thesoldiers espouses all ranks, all
(28:25):
backgrounds, they are funny.
People just like, but the bestthing, just like people, right,
but the best thing is just tosee them be successful in all
different ways, right? You know,we're talking about trucking to
going back to school to, youknow, working their way up into
management, and they're just sounique. And it's awesome to see
(28:47):
them go from this, like, stress,you know, their end of their
office, and they're talking amile a minute, and they have no
direction to you know, they justkind of find their way. And they
just need a little bit ofguidance. And, and Rodney, you
put it really well, right,there's a lot of negativity and
like pressure and kind of Nxdaround transition. And they just
(29:08):
need a little guidance and somesupport to know like, you're
gonna be fine. Here's the toolsthat you need. You know, you've
got a good head on yourshoulder, get them done, and
we're here to keep up with youand communicate with you. And
check in when, you know, it getstough again, because it will
that's just life. But it's justletting them know that we're
(29:30):
here to support them and, youknow, continue to guide them on
their way.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (29:36):
So what's interesting is, this program
takes you like, for example,this service member who wanted
to be a cancer doctor thatdidn't even know what an
oncologist was. What we do is wehelp them build the plan so that
they will achieve their goal nomatter what their goal is, and
then we just walk them througheach step one step at a time.
(30:00):
This is what you need to do.
This is the process you need toapply for school. Let's look at
the school. So let's find outwhat your GI Bill covers, let's
find out the difference betweenthe California School, right and
the Kentucky school, right, orwhatever it might be. And so,
you know, nobody else is reallydoing that note, nobody else is
really helping them as they arein transition as they leave the
(30:23):
service service members come in,and when we start breaking it
down for them, how much housingcosts, how much health insurance
cost, how, hey, you actuallyhave a really good opportunity
to stay in the military. Howmany of them do re enlist?
Rodney Righter (30:40):
It's cyclical, I think you're gonna see a change
back and forth a few differenttimes. But surely,
Vance Zimmer (30:45):
I mean, if you look at history, it's it's
repeating itself. Same thinghappened for Vietnam, you know,
people come back from Vietnam,or they don't know how to
operate gears and environment,you know. And then, you know, we
didn't really do much ofanything for quite a long time
until iraq started making surewe had our Grenada and things
like that. But as far as longterm war, it was the warrant
(31:07):
terrorism. So
Rodney Righter (31:10):
it was a long time ago. But back when you were
there, john, right.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (31:14):
Back in Vietnam, you know, john doe,
right
Rodney Righter (31:16):
on tablets.
Okay, that
John Versage (31:18):
sense of I'll go back to the desert storm. Okay.
All right.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (31:25):
He's old, he but he's not that old. You
know what that reminds me ofthough. Is it? Speaking of
feeling old? Do you remember thetime we were, we were accused of
being Lauren's mom and dad.
Speaking of being old, and I'mnot that much older than you,
Lauren. Dang, it.
Lauren Kovaleski (31:45):
faulted
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (31:47):
that was George good old George.
Lauren Kovaleski (31:50):
George. Yep, that was a client up. I was the
coordinator at the time. Butwhen you walked into the office
office, it was kind of me and,and john was had a private
office and crystal did as well.
And he, he just was like, youknow, are john and crystal, your
mom and dad. Like, that's howyou got this job, right? And I
was just so insulted back, thatI couldn't get the job on my own
(32:13):
merit. And then john and johnand Krystal, were insulted
because they're not that oldnurse. And my name is
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (32:28):
even though john is my work wife,
right?
Lauren Kovaleski (32:35):
Like, can we not?
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (32:38):
I know poor George. Well, you set him
straight. Lauren. That was good.
Lauren Kovaleski (32:43):
I did. I got a little like, snarky with him.
It's good. He needed to learnthat lesson.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (32:50):
Okay. So Lauren, do you have any stories
off the top of your head thatreally have stuck with you? Over
the years? No, I
Lauren Kovaleski (32:59):
mean, I mean, the story that john shared about
the caregiver, you know, thatwithin the first maybe month,
maybe, maybe even less thanthat. And that just made such an
impact on my life. And I think,you know, we do a lot of
research right in our job, andit comes so naturally to us,
(33:21):
because we know that it's makingan impact, right, just like
finding a phone number, andconnecting that individual to a
service member or a spouse and,and making sure that there's
that warm connection. Just makesall the difference. So I don't
have I don't want to repeat thestory. But you know, there's
(33:43):
hundreds on top of those thatare really meaningful and give
our jobs so much more than justa job.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (33:53):
In fact, there's about 5000 of them just
at Fort Riley since we openedour doors. Yeah. And Lauren
Lauren Kovaleski (34:00):
40,000 for the program.
Crystal Bryant-Kearns (34:03):
Yep. And Lauren's at Campbell now, so she
gets to serve the Fort Campbellregion, Tennessee and Kentucky.
She sees a lot of the samestuff, but also different. I
think each installation isunique.
Lauren Kovaleski (34:20):
Definitely, I mean, the the transition for me
going from, you know, oneinstallation to the next, and
seeing all the differences.
There's a lot of similarities tothat sometimes annoy me because
I wish you know, the Army or themilitary could could change ways
sometimes.
(34:40):
Where you know, there's therewas a lot of change for me, PCs
saying and getting used to adifferent area, a different, you
know, region of the country and,you know, learning just all of
all of them The things that comewith moving. And it was nice to
(35:03):
know that I had the USO to gowith and to feel supported by.
Unknown (35:09):
So you bring up a good point, the USO is always by your
side. And as a military spouse,we serve you in all transitions.
So as we all know, as spouses,we have to recreate ourselves
each time we move. And so ourprogram is available to most
spouses anytime throughout yourjourney. And if you guys who are
(35:33):
listening are interested in ourprogram, you can always check us
out online, you can alsoregister with us online. We're
located at uso dot o RG forwardslash transition, you simply
have to click on the tab thatsays connect with the transition
specialist today, and willcontact you within a couple
(35:53):
hours of registering. So ifthere are veterans who are out
there who are less than 12months post transition, that's
really the window that wesupport service members and
veterans is 12 months pretransition all the way up to 12
months post transition. However,we've started dabbling in
supporting service membersthroughout their journey because
(36:16):
we found that they might needhelp with mentorship or with
networking. You know, I mightnot be getting out for another
five years, but I might want amentor or I might want a
financial readiness resource. Sobe sure to check us out. We're
always here to help you. Andthen also for guard and reserve.
(36:36):
We support guardand reserveanytime throughout your career
as well. All right, so I want tothank you all for coming today.
We'll meet again on Vet's on theNet very soon. If you like what
you heard today, please don'tforget to subscribe to our
podcast. I'd like to takeanother moment to thank our
podcast sponsor for today JSSigns, longtime financial
(36:59):
supporter of the Flint Hillsveterans coalition. Thank you.
Please be sure to visit ourwebsite at
FlintHillsveterans.org. For moreinformation about today's topic,
and to share your very own usostory we love to hear. While
you're there, check out ourmonthly meeting times. We'd love
to have you join us if you'reever in the Flint Hills from the
(37:19):
Flint Hills veterans coalition.
Thanks for listening. We lookforward to seeing you
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