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April 2015
MOAA 4-Star Chapter 2003 & 2008; MOAA 5 Star Chapter 2004-2007, 2009 - 2014
Best Newsletter 2007 & 2010; 1st Runner Up 2008, 2012 & 2013; 2nd Runner Up 2009
MARCH PROGRAM: USF-Sarasota Manatee Veterans Support Programs
by Christopher White
Our March Luncheon Program offered an informative and encouraging view into Veterans’ support programs at the University of South
Florida Sarasota-Manatee (USFSM) campus. Our speaker, Todd Hughes, a 2014 graduate of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee
(USFSM) is the Veteran’s Services Administrator at USFSM. His office currently serves about 130 veterans.
Todd specifically highlighted two programs the USFSM operates in support of veterans. The Student Veterans’ Society provides all
student veterans an opportunity to voice concerns and to access a variety of service organizations that help veterans. In fact, they are hosting a
Military Appreciation Day at the USFSM campus on April 16
th
from 1100 until 1700, followed by a free screening of the movie, American Sniper,
at 1800 in the Selby Auditorium. The event is free to the public and Todd encouraged MOAS to visit and see the dynamic USFSM veterans’
community in action.
The second program Todd presented is under development, but is surely needed: The USFSM Veterans Mentoring Program. This
program will match student veterans with experienced veteran mentors to assist with the transition from school to their first job. Mentors help
students through networking, interview and resume skills, and articulating military experience into terms understood by civilian employers. They
also provide encouragement. Todd will be looking for mentors in Fall 2015. More information may be found at https://usfmentoring.chronus.com/
p/p3/about
Todd joined the Oklahoma Army National Guard the day after his 17
th
birthday while still in high school. He went Active Duty Army as
soon as he could and spent a total of five years in the military with about two being in the National Guard and three on Active Duty. He deployed
to Iraq with the 1
st
Cavalry Division from March 2004 through March 2005. Todd left the Army after his initial enlistment. He and his wife
Jessica, whom he met in the Army, have two children, Bailey and Xavier.
Sadly, Todd and Jessica lost their home to fire about 10 days ago. Undeterred, Todd kept his commitment to present these programs to our
membership. During the luncheon, 2nd VP Linda Gould collected over $1000 to present to Todd and his family. Veterans helping Veterans is
what MOAS does best.
APRIL PROGRAM: Veterans Service Organizations
by Christopher White
Veterans Service Organizations today range from MOAA (which we all know) to the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars,
service specific organizations like the Association of the United States Army (my bias) and many more. Unfortunately, these fine organizations
do not always appeal to younger veterans, in part because older veterans who may not understand the needs and desires of the newer
generation of veterans leaving the services today dominate them.
Our April Speaker, Ryan Simonson, understands that difference. A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Ryan and his spouse
Julie are West Point graduates, OIF veterans and members of MOAS. After leaving the Army, Ryan looked for a different way to bring today’s
veterans together. Forming VeteransU, Ryan developed an organizational formula that pulls a diverse group of today’s newest veterans into an
organizational force focused on helping each other and actively supporting the community. VeteransU is
a diverse, mixed grade, under 50 veterans group that looks for community support opportunities,
mobilizes and then smothers that opportunity with shear numbers of veterans and family volunteers.
In addition to his work as an instructor at the Sarasota Military Academy, Ryan is also a
consultant to The Patterson Foundation's recent Legacy of Valor veterans project. He emphasizes that
“I'm proud of my service and I'm proud of what I did.” “Nobody wants to go to war,” he adds. “But at the
same time, imagine a doctor who goes to med school and does his residency and never sees a patient,
a surgeon that never operates, a baseball player who trains his whole life and never plays a game.
None of us wanted that stuff, but when push came to shove, it's why we were there.”
Told he had experienced a traumatic brain injury likely related to multiple explosive
concussions, and is susceptible to lapses in memory, Ryan was at West Point when the 9/11 terror
attacks unfolded, having committed himself to military service while attending Pine View High School.
“Honestly, it sounds cheesy,” recalls Ryan, whose family had no real military traditions aside
from his grandfather's role in World War II, “but I remember talking to my parents in the 10th grade and
telling them I felt like it was all of our responsibility to do something for our country.”
West Point is where Ryan met his wife of 12 years. Both were mobilized for the invasion of
Iraq after graduation from the U.S. Military Academy. Julie joined the 977
th
Military Police Company, but
never made it out of Kuwait. She was medically evacuated after suffering a debilitating reaction to the
anthrax vaccine. Be sure to join us on April 17
th
to learn more about VeteransU and this remarkable
young veteran
.
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