Veterans: The college walks the walk

Women in the military were celebrated at Clatsop Community College Wednesday, with some prominent female veterans from the college in attendance.

by Arnaldo Rodgers

Erin Holt, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and mother of three, said she’s grateful for the Montgomery G.I. Bill that helps her study medical assisting at Clatsop Community College.

“It opened my eyes to different cultures, races,” said Holt of her military service. She joined the Air Force after graduating from Warrenton High School. She worked in intelligence for the Air Force and was stationed in Aviano, Italy, and at the headquarters in Langley, Va.

CCC honored women in the military Wednesday in Towler Hall as part of Veterans Day. Holt, U.S. Navy veteran and CCC graduate Carolyn Elizarde, and Air Force Reserve veteran and college Vice President Donna Larson spoke of their experiences,

Elizarde, already a young mother of two from Hood River, entered the Navy in 1992, joining one of the first integrated units in basic training, working security detail in Pensacola, Fla., and eventually working as an administrative associate at NATO headquarters. “I was very broken at that time, both mentally and physically,” she said, adding that she entered the military to find herself.

The service of women in the military, added Elizarde, stretches back 3,000 years from women warriors to women cross-dressing so they could fight in the Civil War.

Women have often served as nurses to soldiers, said Larson. She is a former hospital administrator in the medical service corps for the Air Force Reserve who reached the rank of captain.

“You live and grow constantly in the military,” she said, adding that the military trains people to be leaders.

Retired Capt. Doug Kaup, former commander of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Sector Columbia River, asked people to imagine working a job that involves leaving your family for long periods of time, fighting for your country and against an often unseen enemy.

In the mid-1970s, he said, veterans made up about 70 percent of the U.S. Congress, compared to about 19 percent now. Congress needs to be reminded to take care of warriors returning home, he said.

“The college walks the walk,” said Kaup of CCC, which was named to the 2014 list of Military Friendly Schools by Victory Media.

Patrick Preston, a local veterans employment specialist, unveiled the Jobs for Veterans State Grant Performance Incentive Award Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Labor granted the award for a partnership between the college, the Oregon Employment Department and the Coast Guard.

The partnership was for a Transitional Assistance Program (TAP), a mandatory, several-day training event for outgoing service members and spouses aimed at helping them ready for the labor market and access benefits through the Veterans Administration.

TAP was first offered for college credit at CCC in April. Forty enlisted members and spouses participated in the five-day training, earning 957 college credits. CCC became the first college in the nation to award transferable credit for completion of a TAP curriculum.

Larson recently reported to the CCC Board of Directors that as soon as winter term, she hopes to start a veteran’s service center on campus where they can meet and receive help from Preston and VA representatives.

“It’s just like TAP, trying to get them ready for the job market,” said Preston, who seeks out veterans trying to help them adjust to civilian life.

CCC is becoming well known for its service to veterans, said board member Paul Gillum, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. Gillum’s son James, a U.S. Army veteran of the Iraq war, had trouble finding a job upon his return, eventually becoming a long-haul truck driver. Now his son has resigned from his job and is coming to CCC winter term to use his G.I. Bill and train to become a firefighter.