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I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in September 2000, one year prior to 9/11 and was honorably discharged in September of 2008. My deployments overseas include Iraq, Haiti, Djibouti, Albania, and Liberia. Upon transitioning from the Marines, he worked as a contractor for the Department of Defense until 2011 when he began his assignment with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Center program.

The Vet Centers were created by Congress in 1979 out of response to the Vietnam War. Vet Centers are community-based counseling centers that provide a wide range of social and psychological services, including professional readjustment counseling to eligible Veterans, active duty service members, including National Guard and Reserve components, and their families. Individual, group, marriage and family, bereavement, and military sexual trauma counseling are all offered at the Vet Centers.

He is working as a Veteran Outreach Specialist for the Vet Center’s since 2011, helping Veterans navigate the VA while transitioning from the military to civilian life.

He also serves on the executive committee for the Havre de Grace American Legion as the post service officer. He’s also a board member for Liberty Launch, a non-profit therapeutic sailing program for Veterans. He holds a bachelors degree in Criminal Justice from Steven University in Baltimore, MD and a masters degree in Leadership and Management from Notre Dame of Maryland. He enjoys water sports, competing in triathlons, and engaging in community events, and attending church at the Perry Point VA hospital.

She is a first-generation military service member, college student, and a proud daughter of Honduran and Guatemalan immigrants. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts and was encouraged to enlist out of high school by her mother who wanted her to serve her country and obtain educational opportunities and life experiences.

Pam served in the U.S. Air Force for over a decade as an operations and anti-terrorism intelligence analyst and an aircrew intelligence trainer, She served in Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of Pam’s military job entailed working with pilots, aircrews, military police, law enforcement, and wing commanders. Very early in her career she was recognized for her exceptional skills and stood out as a top performer within her units.

Now Pam is an impactful strategist and organizer focused on international peace and security, justice, and defeating hate at home and abroad.

As an independent trainer and consultant, she has been internationally recognized for her leadership and is a trusted, transformative force diversifying and building military veterans’ civic voice and power to win real change.

Currently Pam advises national leaders and many organizations, where she expertly bridges grassroots and grass top worlds, and brings foreign policy and issues of security to life through organizing people and social movements.

She began her career in the immigrant rights movement, served as a gubernatorial appointee in Oregon, and as a consultant to international NGO’s and social impact ventures. She was named a “Top 40 Latinos in Foreign Policy” by Huffington Post and a 2018 Champion of Change by the UN.

Pam holds an MPA in International Policy & Management from NYU, is a Defense Council member of the Truman National Security Project, an Advisory Board member of Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security (WCAPS), and a member of the Women’s March Steering Committee.

I’ve lived in New York almost my entire life. Graduated from Hempstead High School in 1967 and shortly after visited the Draft Board to secure my Draft Card. The Vietnam war was well in stride and the draft was equally in stride. One of my brothers was serving in the Army in Vietnam and I chose to enter college. I was an awful student and I didn’t like school except for math and science. I attended Farmingdale College for engineering and science. What a great time I had and bonded with a great group of classmates in the same situation.

In 1968 I left college and secured a job with the Long Island Lighting Company, which supplied electricity and natural gas to Long Island. Awesome! Next, I purchased a 1965 Dodge Coronet convertible at an auction for $515.00. Life is GOOD! Then the Draft Notice arrived. It never comes at a wanted moment. The wind in my sail decreased. A bit of urgency set in. Now what! My initial thought was to join the Navy. As a boy, when my friends were in the Boy Scouts, my brother and I were in the Sea Cadets. The Navy seemed like the right choice. It turned out that the Air Force was available for enlistment immediately and the Navy was not. I have no regrets that it turned out that way.

I entered the U.S.A.F. and was shipped out to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. It was myfirst plane ride. Wow, what a great experience. OK, Here comes the part where I loved my Air Force experience:

1. We had air conditioned barracks with a built-in chow hall. Having come from a large family, we had no a/c and no heat in our upstairs bedrooms.
2. The fried shrimp was great!

Now, moving on to my first assignment after Tech school. I filled out a Dream Sheet. New York, New Jersey, Delaware were my choices. The Air Force sent me to Daegu, Korea. In Korea I met some amazing soldiers and locals while assigned to the Fifth Air Force Fire Protection Department. We monitored the landing and taking off of a great many aircraft on the flight line runways. The most hair raising was a Harrier vertical landing jet. No one in our department had seen one before and all emergency vehicles were deployed for rescue, only to meet a safely landed and somewhat smiling pilot! (Lesson Learned) My next assignment was also in firefighting in Homestead Air Force Base in Florida. The sunny, warm weather was welcome and I enjoyed serving in the U.S.A.

New orders sent me to Gwangju, Korea. Probably my fault for requesting New York, New Jersey and Delaware! There I changed from Fire Protection to Medical Tech. Being in a somewhat remote location, there were no hospitals or schools. So I was trained on the job. What an incredible experience. I was blessed with tutors in X-ray, Lab, Pharmacy, E.R. and Minor Surgery.

My last assignment was in Montana, Big Sky is an understatement. It was 1972 and I was at Malmstrom A.F.B. in Great Falls. I was sent to school there, treated really special and offered a re-enlistment bonus. I declined. I knew I had a great opportunity back home at L.I.L.Co. for a career that lasted 35 years. My time in the Air Force prepared me for so many of life’s challenges as nothing else could. Thank you Uncle Sam.

I joined the Navy to do my part for my country, and to see the world. I wanted to go to college, but I needed time. I didn’t know what I wanted to major in. I had also just returned from a graduation trip to England with my Grandmother, and I knew that I wanted to see more. The Navy seemed the perfect branch of service to me.

I enlisted under the buddy system, with a great friend from High School whom I recruited to join me in the Navy. We went to boot camp together in Orlando, FL. When I signed up, I got stationed in California. Lemoore, California to be exact, right in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley! Miles of cotton fields in every direction, with no ocean in sight!

My goal was to become an Air Traffic Controller. I passed all the tests, but I just couldn’t stand the extensive eye examinations. I was advised that the testing would have to be completed every year and at that point, I decided Air Traffic control was not for me. So, I changed my designation and had to strike for another one.

The only plus for me at that time, was that the buddy system was still holding strong, and my friend wwas stationed with me. We were not in the same squadron, but we were on the same base. I was attached to VFA-125 the training squadron the F/A-18 Hornet. VFA-125 was unique because it was a combined Navy and Marine Corp Squadron commissioned to train pilots for both branches of service. We even trained the Blue Angels. I spent my entire 4 years of active duty at NAS Lemoore with VFA-125, my squadron was my family.

My initial assignment was Maintenance Control, it is the center of the Squadron. I loved it! I became an Aviation Administrationman (AZ). I specialized in aircraft weight and balance, logs and records, technical manuals, and data analysis. While I was on active duty, I attended college part time and completed an Associates in Liberal Arts from College of the Sequoias.

After my four years on active duty, I transitioned  to the Active Naval Reserves and continued to drill at Lemoore until I enrolled in Penn State. While there, I drilled at the Valley Forge Reserve Center. I would fly out of Buffalo, NY to Valley Forge once a month.

During summer break, I would do active duty in Washington DC as the Captain’s Aid. After graduation with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, I moved back to California and joined Cisco Systems, doing Marketing Communications and later rolling out a technical training program for the North American sales force as Operations Manager for US Channel Sales, I continued to drill, this time, at Moffitt Field. I was very fortunate to attend more Navy Training schools during this time in Memphis, TN, and Miramar, CA.

I drilled at Moffitt Field until they closed the base. The military was downsizing and I was offered the chance to drill at Whidbey Island in Washington State in a lower grade billet. I chose to get out of the Navy and concentrate on having a family and my career at Cisco Systems. The Navy was a big part of my life and I loved being part of it.

I worked at Cisco until I had my second child. Then I left to be a stay at home Mom. We moved back east to Pennsylvania, bought a horse farm and operated a horse boarding facility in Butler, PA. We moved to Elkton, MD to be closer to my Mother.

I worked at Union Hospital before coming to work at the Elkton Vet Center as the Office Manager. As the Office Manager, I ensure that the Vet Center has lights and heat etc. I also make sure that it is a welcoming place where Veterans can come heal. I love supporting Veterans!