I’m proud to say that my life is centered around helping veterans reconnect to their community. When I retired from the Army just 18 months ago, I had no understanding of civilian life or how my family and I would reintegrate into a civilian community or connect to our chosen home of Alexandria. Having enlisted in the Army when I was 18 years old, and now 30-plus years of military service later, joining a civilian community wasn’t dissimilar from deploying to foreign countries like Iraq, Afghanistan or Kosovo. Just as I prepared for those tours, I did research, met community leaders and learned about this “civilian world” that would become my new life. At the same time, I was hired for the perfect position at the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) where I help transitioning military like me learn how to navigate the job market. I would often tell transitioning vets to get involved in their community, but wasn’t sure exactly how to do that.
A few months ago, an Alexandria Army veteran and mentor of mine asked me to help manage his campaign for City Council. I was an unlikely choice as I knew nothing about politics or running a campaign, we are of different political parties and I don’t live in the City of Alexandria so I can’t even vote for him. What I did know was the intellect and quality of the man. Combined with my belief that Alexandria is too small for partisanship and to important not to have the best leaders, I agreed.
What has completely surprised me, and what I now believe is the secret weapon in veteran reintegration, is that by becoming involved in your community through committees, neighborhood associations or supporting the democratic process, veterans can more quickly and effectively reintegrate into civilian life. In the past two months, I’ve learned more about local issues affecting citizens and met more welcoming people than I had met in the past two years of living in Alexandria. I also feel I am making a meaningful difference in “my” community, which gives me an important sense of purpose. The message is that the process of getting involved in local issues, whether neighborhood, precinct, city or regional is the perfect way for veterans to reintegrate.
Where the challenge remains is that involvement in the democratic process (some say “politics”) is unnatural for most veterans. Our military culture is to be nonpartisan and outside the body politic. Ironically, while our military serve in our nation’s cloth to protect the freedoms of democracy, veterans involvement often doesn’t go much beyond voting. What I’ve learned is that it’s not about party or politics, but about policies and issues that affect people’s lives.
To change the cultures that create separation between veterans and citizens will take time. It will also take leaders like my Army mentor and many of you to invite veterans to get involved. Though I remain underqualified for my task to help in his campaign, I am grateful to be given the secret weapon of involvement to help me reintegrate into Alexandria.