2021 RNG JANUARY-FEBRUARY

Every year offers a blank slate to evaluate personal readiness and set goals to chase. Whether you subscribe to the concept of New Year’s resolutions, or you choose to use the opportunity of a new calendar year for a fresh start, you are at the doorway of that decision now. What will drive you in 2021?

Let’s be honest, we are all a little gun shy after the chaos of 2020. The military teaches us how to adapt and overcome when the unexpected arises, but living through a pandemic opened our eyes to a whole other definition of “out of our control.” In fact, we learned that the only thing we are in charge of is our individual response to a crisis.

In the spirit of motivation, we are kicking off the first issue of the year with a longtime soldier who shares her own resolution story (and as you can see by the image of her flipping that tire, she succeeded). Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels, Chief of Army Reserve, stepped into her role at a time when leaders are being tested in new ways. COVID-19 put barriers in place to training, recruitment, readiness, and more — and the lasting effects to policy are still to be determined. Turn to page 10 to read priorities for her four-year term.

And if you’re looking to work on your PT performance, check out Dan Huffman’s advice on page 30. He offers tips on how to make small, meaningful changes that are sustainable.

ABOUT THE COVER

CONTRIBUTORS

Elizabeth Aslakson

Jessica Manfre

Dave Paone

Stephanie Montague

Stephen Ruiz

Andrea Downing Peck

Teal Yost

Dan Huffman

Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels, pictured here at the Pentagon, has been crashing battle assemblies to connect with soldiers in this virtual environment. Read the full interview on page 10. Photo by Trish Alegre-Smith.

CONTENTS

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Chief of Army Reserve seeks to create rewarding experience for

Graduates of Youth ChalleNGe program choose career pathways

By Elizabeth Aslakson

preparation for adulthood so they can become productive members of society.”

Gillum explained how he is fortunate to lead the military-modeled program where at-risk teens focus on personal growth, leadership, and followership, while also now gaining the tools needed to assist them in their next phase of life.

Job Challenge (JC) is an optional five-month residential program for graduates to earn job skills, credentials, certifications, or apprenticeships as they begin postgraduation planning.

“The inception of JC began as a collaboration by the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor to create a trade skill, residential program for graduates of NGYCP,” Gillum said. “Associates — the title given to students enrolled in JC — strive to continue individual growth begun at NGYCP by strengthening their knowledge in a chosen pathway … They begin to understand and harness their potential in

One of the first states implementing JC, along with South Carolina and Georgia, Michigan Youth Challenge Academy began its first class in 2016. Now, Michigan conducts two classes per year, in January and August.

“Start dates coincide with the beginning of Kellogg Community College semesters and their Regional Manufacturing Training Center — our educational partner for this program,” Gillum explained.

In addition, each class has 60 slots for graduates, with 50 available

“Things worth having are earned, not given,” Michigan State Director Michael Gillum said about a relatively new component of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program (NGYCP).

for the most recent graduates and remainder available for competitive post-graduates, he says. Other than this, the only criteria are graduates must be at least 17 years old and no older than 20 at the start of classes.

Gillum also detailed how the residential program is self-paced, allowing associates to complete certifications in as little as 15 weeks. After this, if associates complete their certifications or pathway, and have already earned their high school diploma or GED, they become eligible to decentralize and return home to search for jobs or begin working, he adds.

Specific job skills available during this 5th phase of NGYCP include resume writing, interview skills, training on diversity in the workplace and substance abuse, as well as financial literacy.

In addition, certifications they can work toward are: Gas Metal Arc Welding, Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, FANUC Robotics Programming, Forklift safety, OSHA10 (Occupational Safety Health Administration training), National Career Readiness Certification, Manufacturing Skills Standard Council (Manufacturing certification), CPR, Certified Nursing Assistant, and Food Handlers Safety.

And in terms of internships, Gillum says, “We help associates achieve apprenticeships throughout the state in conjunction with Kellogg Community College, and our placement coordinator works with local unions.”

Gillum went on to describe living conditions for students at Fort Custer Training Center in Augusta, Michigan.

“Associates have individual billeting and share a bathroom with a same gender suitemate, [with] each billet having a bed, TV, private sink/vanity and mini refrigerator. … The fort’s dining facility also provides healthy meal choices.”

In addition, in this phase, students can earn more freedoms, such as the use of cell phones and electronics.

On the other hand, “privileges may be revoked due to poor behavior, performance, or effort on school assignments, certifications, or trade pathways,” Gillum explains.

Normally, associates can leave the fort to participate in supplementary educational and social activities, such as community projects, weekend passes to go home, doctor appointments, as well as job interviews.

Despite the dampening impact of the pandemic, Gillum reiterated the importance of “not giving up on youth who are struggling.”

“These youth tend to lack boundaries and structure in their home environments leading to poor choices, relationships, and outcomes. [But], we have seen time and again … when these same youth participate in programs providing essential tools, positive staff, and safe environments, they are able to adapt, focus, and make tremendous personal strides and grow professionally.

"I have worked with at-risk youth my entire adult life and not seen a better program. NGYCP can truly change the lives of the youth we serve,” Gillum said.

Arkansas spouse helps veterans fight addiction

By Jessica Manfre

Statistics show millions of Americans battle substance abuse, with one in eight adults simultaneously struggling with both alcohol and drug use disorders.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found 19.7 million adults in the U.S. facing addiction, according to results examining substance abuse usage in 2017. Julia Bullock, a National Guard spouse who previously worked in law enforcement, has taken on the task of arming those struggling through faith-based tools.

That calling led to Bullock being

named the 2020 Armed Forces Insurance Arkansas National Guard Spouse of the Year. But before she was a military spouse, she was a police officer. Rather than concentrate on arrests, she instead focused on finding resources for those suffering from addiction.

And it’s personal for her. From the time she was in high school, she was an advocate. She would eventually

lose her brother — a veteran — to suicide due to addictions he could no longer battle. His struggle began after returning from Afghanistan and being told not long after he’d have to go back. When he chose instead to go AWOL, he was dishonorably discharged. This led to a downward spiral of addiction. Since then, combating veteran addiction and suicide are her priorities.

“People don’t know the full responsibility that these guys take on, of taking somebody’s life,” she explained.

Her brother wouldn’t be the last

person she would lose to drug and alcohol addiction. Many friends would follow, including those who have been to prison for drugs, she says.

Her own sister got involved with a cartel, causing her to be marked.

“When the U.S. Marshalls found my sister, we were relieved. It’s sad that my mom was relieved that my sister was going to prison but we thought she might have a chance now,” Bullock said.

Despite continual losses, she continued to fight to get men and women into rehab, advocating for them in court and even in the prisons.

Bullock did this even as a police officer, finding ways to get people resources they desperately needed. It was while serving in law enforcement that she would meet her now husband, a police officer and soldier in the Army National Guard. Not only do they serve their community, which has been hard hit by the opioid and heroin epidemic, but they’ve taken it a step further and adopted children in the foster care system who’ve lost their parents to drug addiction.

Though Bullock has experienced significant trauma in her life, she credits God for leading the way.

“I tell people all the time, you are right — I’ve never been there, I don’t know what it’s like to withdraw. But I do know the hell that families are going through worrying,” she explained.

Bullock is a staunch advocate for faith-based restoration and recently co-founded a non-profit called Exiting Egypt Restoration Center. It is a one-year transformation center that is faith based for those battling drug and alcohol addiction. She and her husband are also working on their doctorate as a team through Center Arkansas Bible College.

Her message to families who are going through the struggle of watching a loved one battle addiction is simple:

There is still hope, don’t give up on them.”

Chief of Army Reserve seeks to create rewarding experience for soldiers

By Bianca Strzalkowski

The head of the Army Reserve is crashing virtual battle assemblies to get face time with soldiers.

Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels assumed her new role in the summer of 2020, making history as the first woman to lead the Army Reserve. She also stepped in as chief at a time when the pandemic was in full force, ultimately changing how soldiers recruit and train — but not how they lead. In fact, Daniels says the situation has presented opportunities to improve connectedness between soldier and leader.

“One of the really great things is, it has enabled us through some of the software to have outreach at all different times visually — that we didn’t necessarily have before — because you could do it from your own personal device. … I think we’ve become more personable, overall.” she said.

But at the same time, Daniels adds that she is “looking to get back to as much of in-person activities as we can do,

while protecting the force, while being smart about how we do it.”

Daniels’ career spans more than 36 years, including active and reserve military service that started when she decided to apply for ROTC scholarships in high school. Her father, a Vietnam veteran, spent decades in the Army but she said he was always “just dad” to her, not the “Army guy.”

She switched components to the Army Reserve after being accepted to a fully-funded, graduate-level program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Daniels completed a M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science. She describes the operational pace of leaving active duty as being “a little bit different.”

“On the reserve side, you have to manage your business, whatever you’re doing for work, or if you’re going to school as a full-time student, like I did for many years; plus, whatever you’re doing for family members and having a life … on the active-duty side, you have perhaps longer days but you probably don’t have a second job as well. So how you balance those things becomes an interesting challenge. I think on the reserve side, we get really good at time management,” Daniels said.

And leaving active duty was not the only cultural change she experienced, she says. A deployment to Kosovo ended up being one of the most impactful billets of her career and tested everything she had been taught up until that point.

MORE ABOUT LT. GEN. DANIELS

Go-to destress activity: whitewater boating in a kayak; trail running

Book: “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking

When Stakes Are High” by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler

New Year’s resolution: Three years ago, Daniels adopted a functional fitness routine and has maintained that goal. Now, she said, she is less concerned about her ACFT performance because of that commitment.

Daniels conducted physical fitness with FORSCOM leadership at the headquarters at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Javier Orona.

“I went over to Kosovo on an allexpense paid trip in the summer of ’99 and I went from intel, where you don’t tell anyone anything, to civil affairs, where you tell everyone everything. And that was sort of a whiplash between the culture I had been in and the culture that I was working in. … So that was a very different change in how I had been operating,” she said.

Now that she has been in her position for some months, Daniels is playing the long game in terms of priorities for what she plans to accomplish. Retention remains at the top of the list, which she says starts with getting soldiers “around the bend.”

“I have a four-year term and I am very much about what I’m calling getting around the bend. The Army Reserve has a unique structure because of the amount of generating force that we have. Instead of being your typical pyramid, we have this sort of diamond shape where I don’t have as many positions at the junior ranks, and then we turn the corner at captain and at sergeant, and go on up to a normal pyramid.

“My challenge is I’m not getting people around the bend, so trying to fill in that specialist to sergeant, and then sergeant to staff sergeant; and then on the officer side, getting

those lieutenants to become captains and then go on to be majors — to fill that pipeline up because right now I’ve got my mid-grades are under strength and that’s going to take four years to really push around those bends as much as possible to start filling the pipeline.”

It isn’t a feat she can finish in four years, she added, but she can make headway in improving the experience of being a junior-level leader. Among the steps she plans to take include:

1. Looking at policies and administrative processes that make jobs at the junior level harder than they need to be;

2. Removing bureaucracy, including having signature authority lower so documents don’t take so long and actions can happen sooner.

The Army Reserve has experienced many changes since Daniels first wore a uniform some three decades ago, which includes the moment she took her oath last July. In addition to technological changes, the mission also shifted from being a strategic reserve to an operational reserve “where we’re called in on a regular basis to help out with various different missions,” she says.

“[It] is a very different mindset from where we were 30-plus years ago,” Daniels said.

For those considering the military as a long-term career, she recommends two focuses.

“One is, for whatever position you’re doing, do your best at that job. Work hard, learn as much as you can about it, grow yourself and enjoy it, make the most of that opportunity, whatever it is,” she said. “The other advice that I give is to look two positions ahead. So, not your next job but the one after that. Talk to leadership and mentors as to what that set of opportunities can be … and if you find something that is a little further out that could be of great interest, you may need to take a course or learn a little bit about something to be ready for that position that is two out.”

Daniels credits two mentors with pushing her to think outside the horizons she had initially set for herself. The first was an Army boss who gave her the confidence to apply for graduate school; the other was then-Brig. Gen. Richard Sherlock who put the War College on her radar. It is among the reasons she encourages current leaders to look for strengths in people rather than focus on their weaknesses — a sentiment she echoed in her initial message to the force in 2020.

“My charge to our team is this: treat one another with dignity and respect at all times. Foster a mindset of teamwork, continuous learning, and growth so our Soldiers desire to continue to serve and lead. This culture of teamwork and growth is essential to shaping our future,” the letter stated in part.

Read the full letter online at www.usar.army.mil.

Army veterans-turned-filmmakers create documentaries on The Old Guard

By Dave Paone

Ever since the baby boomers came of age in the 1960s, the youth of America has feared becoming old. “Don’t trust anyone over 30,” was the mantra of anyone under 30. The Who even sang, “I hope I die before I get old.” For them, old is bad.

Then there’s The Old Guard.

The Old Guard is pretty much what it sounds like: the Army’s oldest activeduty regiment, also known as the 3rd US Infantry Regiment, dating back to 1784.

It currently includes young soldiers who are proud to serve in a regiment that has the word “old” in its name.

Veterans-turned-filmmakers Neal Schrodetzki and Ethan Morse have produced a four-part documentary on The Old Guard, with each part focusing on one of the specialized services it provides, and to highlight

the history of the regiment.

The series — called “Honor Guard” — begins with a 60-minute episode on the caisson platoon.

Most Americans probably have heard the word “caissons” in the chorus of “The Army Song” that goes, “And those caissons go rolling along.”

But who are those caissons? Well, the documentary explains it all. The caissons were originally a platoon of horse-drawn wagons that brought ammunition to the troops on the frontlines. After unloading their payload, they returned with the

wounded and dead.

Since horses are pretty much obsolete in warfare today — although the documentary does mention horses were used in Afghanistan in 2001 — the caisson platoon is still in existence and is mostly used for pageantry at burials of fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

“Caisson” premiered on Amazon’s steaming service in December. The other three episodes, “The Regiment,” “Drill Team,” and “Full Honors,” as well as “Caisson,” will be made available on more than 50 additional streaming services throughout 2021.

In a stroke of good fortune, the filmmakers bagged actor Sam Elliott to narrate all four episodes. His

Veteran-turned-filmmaker Ethan Morse, left, interviews world champion drillmaster Andres Ryan for episode three, “Drill Team.”

Photo by Neal Schrodetzki.

baritone voice and western twang are a good match with the militarythemed series.

Schrodetzki and Morse met when both were on the same casket team at Arlington. After they were discharged, both attended film school on the GI Bill. Then both worked at KTLA News in Los Angeles.

In 2016 they made “The Unknowns,” a feature documentary about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the sentinels who protect it. It won best documentary feature at the Amsterdam Film Festival in 2017. Thus began their partnership at Time to Kill Productions.

The filmmakers needed to jump through endless hoops to get permission to make their movies. There was the US Army Entertainment Office in Los Angeles, the Pentagon’s Public Affairs Office, and even The Old Guard and Arlington each had their own public affairs offices. All of these agencies had to grant them approval before they could start shooting.

“Honor Guard” was made on a low budget, but you’d never know when looking at it.

Schrodetzki started shooting with an iPhone, thinking its quality was good enough. It wasn’t. So he purchased a Canon C300 Mark II camera with a set of lenses, which is far better equipment. Canon loaned them a second camera to use when shooting interviews.

Production value is increased with stock footage from actual battles and other visuals, such as classic paintings and illustrations.

Fortunately for the filmmakers, most of these are part of the permanent collection at the National Archives

and therefore in public domain, making them free to use. The only catch was Schrodetzki needed to go to D.C. in person to acquire them. He spent three days there researching what they needed.

The icing on the cake is the soundtrack. In yet another stroke of good fortune, Morse’s cousin, Ryan Lindveit, is a composer. He wrote the music for the series, and then using his stature in academia, was able to acquire high-end samples of orchestral instruments. (These samples were recorded by professional orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic.)

Using modern technology, Lindveit meticulously pieced together endless samples of countless instruments to give the illusion he had a full orchestra at his disposal.

While Schrodetzki is living the civilian life, Morse joined the Army National Guard after he was discharged. He did so because he feels he owes it to the combat veterans who did not spend their entire careers at Arlington, as he did.

He had joined the infantry shortly after September 11th with the purpose of fighting terrorism overseas. But he has a love for the history of Arlington and volunteered (and was chosen) to be stationed there. And that’s where he stayed.

The pair treats filmmaking as their full-time job and plans to continue making movies, although not limited to documentaries.

"We’re all in with Time to Kill Productions," Morse said, so plan on seeing more from them soon.

Sam Elliott

Sailor's cancer fight continues

We go higher, like survivors — we’re fighters.

By Jessica Manfre

These words are part of a song that Grayson Rogers wrote for his wife, Kayla, a chief petty officer in the Navy Reserve, as she battled breast cancer.

During the summer of 2019, Kayla found a lump in her breast. But when she brought it to her doctor’s attention, she was told not to worry because, after all, she was young and it wasn’t abnormal. A few months later she noticed it getting larger. Grayson pushed her to get a second opinion from another doctor and they fought to get a mammogram. The result: abnormal.

Kayla had a biopsy done and had to wait with anxiety for the results. By Oct. 10 of that year, she received news that she had hormonal-based breast cancer.

“The day that I was diagnosed I kind of went into this tunnel vision. I just said OK, I am numb right now. They tell you that you have cancer and then you have to wait three weeks to see the doctor,” she said.

Kayla told her husband that night that she felt like God was telling her to be outward with her journey. “From that day forward, I tried to share every bit of the journey with people to inspire.”

Grayson was right there beside her through it all.

“There’s not many words you can say in that kind of situation to make it better or comfort someone. So, I made it a point to just be there for whatever she needed from me,” he explained. It’s something he recommends most caregivers do. “Just be there. Be an ear and walk alongside them because there aren’t a lot of things you can say.”

Kayla also had the support of her Breasty Community. Immediately after she was diagnosed, other survivors reached out and lent their support.

“That’s huge because as much as you want to lean on your friends and family, they don’t know what you are going through. Only someone that’s been there really knows,” she said, adding they also helped her husband through Kayla’s multiple surgeries.

She received a double mastectomy on her birthday. Right after her surgery, Grayson went into the studio and wrote the song “Fighters”.

“We wanted it to be an anthem for people going through anything tough in their life,” he said. “It’s been really great to see the reaction of the song and the video from other breast cancer survivors.”

One of the lines in the song is especially powerful and a testament to their love: I’m by your side and I won’t leave.

At the beginning of her journey, Kayla’s doctors told her that mindset

is everything. It’s something that stuck with her.

“If you sit there and focus on all of your symptoms or any negative stuff, it will drain your energy,” she said. “For me, no matter how hard it got — I would focus on the smallest good thing, like walking to the end of my street and back after undergoing my first surgery.”

Kayla also had to undergo chemo therapy, despite all the cancer being removed during her mastectomy. Knowing she was going to lose her hair, she decided to take control. Side by side, she and Grayson had their heads shaved while surrounded by their close friends and family.

When she started chemo, she was in the gym the day after every treatment.

“I was really reall y sick. But I would say ‘I’m going to go a little bit longer and a little bit faster’. That’s where the words to “Fighters” was really my anthem because those are the words in the bridge,” Kayla said. “I wanted to just push myself and focus on that one positive thing. That is a game changer.”

A point Kayla wants to make is that just because you are cancer free, doesn’t mean that life goes on as it did before.

“Not to go TMI [too much information], but I don’t have nipples. I have no feeling up top at all,” she said.

She shared that people have told her it must be awesome having fake implants.

“They don’t realize that these aren’t normal implants which go under your breast tissue. These aren’t under anything so there’s obvious rippling. I also have scars all over my body.”

Through all of this, Kayla was still maintaining her commitment as a Navy reservist, which was made easier because her command was completely supportive, telling her “The Navy isn’t your priority right now, your health is; we’ve got your back.”

While battling breast cancer and undergoing chemo treatments, Kayla advanced to chief petty officer. Nothing was going to stop her. Although life looks a lot different now for Kayla, she’s ready to take it on. She’s a fighter.

Iraqi citizen finds her American dream in the Army

By Stephanie Montague

Hala Kadim is a soldier living a busy, full life in the U.S. She’s using her Post-9/11 GI Bill, earned through her years of active-duty service, to pursue a master’s degree while juggling an internship and drilling with the Army Reserve.

Kadim’s situation could describe many reservists, but the story of how she got there is unique because it begins in Baghdad.

Trading academia for the U.S. government

Her journey to become an American soldier started after she had recently earned a master’s degree in physics at a university in Iraq. She pursed an advanced degree, because after completing her bachelor’s, she felt that her options were limited.

“There was nothing else for me to do,” she said. “I didn’t want to work for the school or for the government at that point. I wanted more, so I went for my master’s. Little did I know that I wasn’t

going to work in the field of physics.”

Indeed, when the head of the physics department at her university offered Kadim a job as a substitute teacher — and predicted that she could eventually succeed him as the head of the department — she declined.

Instead, she interviewed and was hired for a job as an interpreter with the Army. Her first position was with the Iraq Training and Assist Mission — Ministry of Interior (ITAM-MOI), a security forces unit that was training new Iraqi recruits at the Iraqi police academy in Baghdad. When U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq, Kadim transitioned to working as an interpreter for the U.S. Department of State.

Risking her life for her family’s future While working for the U.S. was an excellent opportunity, it came with inherent dangers.

“The fear and the anxiety were there every time [I went to work],” Kadim recalled. Rather than working in the more secure Green Zone, her position was located at Camp Shield, which was in the middle of Baghdad. When traveling to and from work, she kept a low profile, wearing a head scarf to hide her identity.

Not only was Kadim risking her own life traveling to and from work, but her job put her family in danger. They kept it secret that she was working for the U.S. At that time in Iraq, “you didn’t know who was your enemy and who was your friend,” she explained. “I was putting the safety of my whole family on the line for this job, but I was also opening a new door for the family to have hope to move to the U.S.”

Hope for a future in the United States

When Kadim accepted the position working for the Army, she received no promises or guarantees that she could obtain a visa to come to the U.S. However, she looked forward to “learning U.S. work ethic,” and she hoped that she could one day move to America.

“I just wanted better treatment and better standards,” she said. “I was passionate about women’s rights. At college, it was tough to be treated as a second-class citizen by all the men and boys.”

In contrast, the American soldiers who worked with Kadim saw her potential. Her boss, an O6, told her that she would make a great officer. His encouragement planted the seed for her interest in joining the Army, as did her respect for U.S. soldiers: “I admired the discipline, the professionalism, the strength, and the resilience.”

Kadim worked for the U.S. government for one year before she became eligible to apply for a Special Immigrant Visa. It was a lengthy process involving multiple interviews and lots of paperwork, but three years after starting work with the Army, she received her SIV. Four months later, in December 2012, she moved to the U.S.

The decision to enlist

Kadim settled in Washington, D.C., where she already had friends and contacts, and she found a job as a receptionist at a language school. But still, in the back of her mind, she wanted to join the Army. She explains, “as an Iraqi woman, I felt like I was given a second chance for life by moving to the U.S. [Joining the Army] was a way for me to serve and belong to the society in the U.S.”

After she made the decision to enlist (she could not become an officer because she was not yet a U.S. citizen) the process took nearly nine months, but in April 2015, she was sworn into the Army.

Adjusting to new culture

In the beginning, life as a soldier was very challenging. First and foremost, there were the significant cultural differences. Kadim went from living with completely different social rules in Iraq — where women were expected to be “shy and timid,” avoiding eye contact with men — to an infantry unit, where she was one of only eight females and expected to pull her weight amongst all the soldiers.

Army life was also a lot different than she expected.

“I walked in with my Iraqi standards of what success in a professional environment is, and then I was faced with starting from the bottom with many other soldiers,” she said.

She realized that success in the Army is “not just about the amount of information I bring or my background, but it’s also about physical fitness and being mentally strong and emotionally strong.”

Fortunately, Kadim was a quick study and figured it out. Her experience in the Army changed her for the better.

“Eventually it molded me to become a stronger woman. When I got the hang of it, I really succeeded in my Army career.”

Transitioning to the Army Reserve

Her active-duty career spanned nearly four years and included a nine-month deployment to Kosovo. But when her first enlistment was over, she made the difficult decision to transition from active duty to

the reserve component. While she could have easily seen herself in an Army career, she missed her family and “stability.” By that time, Kadim’s parents and younger brother had obtained their visas and moved to the U.S. She wanted to live close to them, building her own community and a base of friends.

Joining the Army Reserve has proved to be a good compromise. She is still a soldier, proudly wearing the uniform, but she is pursuing other dreams, including a degree in a field that she enjoys. Kadim is now using her Post-9/11 GI Bill to obtain a master’s in counseling psychology, and she plans to become a marriage and family therapist.

A personal transformation

It has been a long road since Kadim first started working for the Army, and moving to the U.S. was not easy. As she explains, “I had to find my identity all over again. I had one identity in Iraq: the collectivistic, Eastern Islamic culture that molded me as an Arab woman. [Then I moved to] the individualistic, Western, Christian society that has a completely different set of values and expectations of women. So, I had to pick the best of both worlds and find my new identity as an Iraqi American woman living in Western society. I feel like I finally found myself, but the whole experience of immigrating and finding my new self was very challenging.”

With all that she has achieved, she is most proud of the fact that she was able to move her family to the U.S.

“I see them thrive and do so well, and it’s rewarding to me,” she said. Her biggest personal accomplishment?

Joining the U.S. Army and serving America: “It transformed me as a woman, and I feel like I’ve become a better person because of it.”

Solutions ENTREPRENEURS CREATE EMPLOYMENT

By

On June 4, 2012, Naviere Walkewicz opened the doors to her fitness studio in Nebraska for the first time, unsure of what waited on the other side.

Ever since she attended her first jazzercise class in the seventh grade, Walkewicz, 43, wanted to work in group fitness. Fitssentials was her big chance, but would her hard work actually bring in customers?

“Whenever you put yourself out there in that vulnerable state, you just hope, ‘Will people come?’’’ Walkewicz said. “When people started coming, it just reinforced what I thought was important.’’

Walkewicz, a lieutenant colonel who has been a reservist since graduating from the Air Force Academy in 1999, credited a large part of her company’s success to her military training.

So did Jerry Flanagan.

Flanagan, a specialist while serving in the Army from 1987-89 and the National Guard from 1991-93, started JDog Brands in 2011. The junk removal company launched with one location near Philadelphia, added a carpet cleaning service and went national in 2014. JDog Brands now has 235 veteran-owned franchises and employs more than a thousand vets, Flanagan said.

“You need to be willing to give up just about everything,’’ said Flanagan, 53. “Being an entrepreneur is a sevenday-a-week job. You need to be the first person to answer the phone in the morning, and the phone doesn’t get shut off until you close your eyes at night to go to bed.’’

A self-described lazy student who did not apply himself in school, Flanagan said the Army made him driven, punctual, and accountable. As he laid wire in the military, he adjusted to functioning without much sleep.

“When I went to the civilian world to work, I was always there an hour before my shift,’’ Flanagan said. “I was always the first one in. I was always the last one to leave. I volunteered for every crappy shift there was, looking to improve myself.’’

While Walkewicz always had an entrepreneurial spirit, Flanagan did not. Neither did Anne Madden, whose husband is a lieutenant colonel in the Idaho National Guard. Bryan Madden is also the director of the Mission43 initiative, which supports military families in the state through educational and other opportunities.

Stephen Ruiz

Naviere Walkewicz

Jerry Flanagan

Anne Madden, a mother of three young children, registered for an entrepreneurial program through Mission43. In 2017, she started Proximity Schools, which provides physical and speech therapy through telehealth to four rural charter schools in Idaho.

“It took me a while to consider myself a businessperson, because I’ve always been someone who has been working directly with patients,’’ said Madden, a 40-year-old physical therapist. “It wasn’t really until this year that I got to that pinchmyself point where, ‘We’re serving 150 students a week. I have five employees. This is really a business.’’’

Sometimes the path to a successful business is no golden brick road. Flanagan and his wife, Tracy, owned a retail company that went bankrupt after the economy tanked in 2008.

Seeking his next move, Flanagan typed “recession-proof businesses’’ into Google. The search produced four responses, and Flanagan chose the only one — junk removal — for which he was qualified. He owned a Jeep, acquired a landscape trailer, and got his hands dirty.

“The level that my wife and I work [at] the company hasn’t changed,’’ Flanagan said. “Since Day 1, we’ve been hands-on, working it nonstop. We still do to this day, where I’m the CEO and she’s the senior vice president. As co-owners, we realize once in a while and we’ll go, ‘You know, we’re one of the largest junk removal franchises in the world.’’’

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected their businesses, but Walkewicz, Flanagan, and Madden have seen potential for growth as well.

Walkewicz recently started Naviere Life, a virtual community where she posts workouts and various challenges.

During the pandemic’s early days, Flanagan’s JDog Brands launched a no-contact program where customers put items in their driveway and paid by phone. He said sales suffered last spring but have rebounded. Flanagan’s business has signed more than 80 franchise agreements in 2020, the most ever and about double for a normal year, he said.

“The margins are very, very good in both companies [junk removal and carpet cleaning],’’ Flanagan said. “We’re getting a lot of people who either lost their jobs, or they could

tell they’re on the chopping block because of cutbacks. They’re taking their savings or 401ks or they’re getting small business loans, and they’re buying our franchises.’’

Madden’s Proximity Schools adjusted better to changes caused by the pandemic because of its reliance on telehealth.

“We typically see a student at their school, so a teacher would bring the student to their computer and they would connect for their session,’’ Madden said. “Now for a bunch of our schools, their parent would bring them to the computer. That created a new service that we had to do.

“We’re talking to parents [and] other people more, and it has increased our business, because everyone is trying to figure out how to do things in a virtual world. That was something we already knew how to do well.’’

Walkewicz, the 2019 Miss Veteran America, knows about fitness.

She transformed herself from an overweight adolescent into a young woman who began an aerobics program at Air Force in the late 1990s. Now, like Flanagan and Madden, she is a business owner focused on the road ahead.

“You think you’re doing the right thing, and you put all this money into it. Is it really going to pay out?’’ Walkewicz said. “It was pleasant to know that when you listen to what people want, there’s a need and you meet that need, you can do incredible things.’’

Anne Madden

Former linebacker chosen for Space Force

By Stephen Ruiz

WHEN FORMER AIR FORCE linebacker Kyle Johnson answered the phone last spring, a four-star general was waiting on the other end of the line. Gen. John “Jay’’ Raymond is the chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force, which was established in late 2019. Raymond informed Johnson that he earned a spot in the Space Force’s inaugural class. He also told the 2019-20 Mountain West Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year that he was good to pursue a master’s in public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

“Getting a call from my boss’ boss’ boss was pretty incredible,’’ Johnson said.

Johnson always was infatuated with the military, especially the Army. His father, Brian, was part of the first unit to fly Apache helicopters, and his uncle, David, was a Green Beret. One of the first expressions that Johnson learned to say was “Go Army, Beat Navy.’’ A life-size cutout of the Army Black Knight hung above his bed.

“David and I both had very rewarding experiences in the military — David much longer,’’ said Brian Johnson, who joined the ROTC at Stanford and left the service as a first lieutenant. “We were allowed to innovate, try new things. We were trying to solve interesting problems, and that’s something that Kyle’s drawn to.’’

The younger Johnson knew he wanted to attend a service academy but realized he could not get in without football. He chose Air Force — Johnson grew up in Colorado before his family moved to Florida for his high school years — and the decision paid off.

Johnson placed second on the Falcons in tackles during his junior and senior seasons, but what he did off the field was more impressive. On his way to earning a bachelor’s degree in management, Johnson participated in a language immersion program in Chile, did survival training one summer and worked at a think tank in Washington, D.C. When he heard Class of 2020 graduates could be commissioned directly into the Space Force, Johnson applied.

“We knew that when they asked for volunteers, they were going to select really high performers for the people they wanted to make up this small, little team,’’ Johnson said.

Eighty-six Air Force graduates received their diplomas in April and moved on to the ranks of the Space Force. Johnson, whose Twitter handle is @SpaceCowboy_KJ, is fascinated by the prospects.

“It was extremely exciting when I first found out, and it still is,’’ said Johnson, an intelligence officer in the Space Force. “I was super excited about what it meant for me personally but also what it means for the Air Force … and also what it means for the nation and how we as citizens can really understand now and appreciate the importance of the [role] space plays in our prosperity.’’

Johnson recalled fond memories of going on student field trips to observatories and gazing at the stars. He wondered, “Can I ever get out there?’’

“Space provides a lot of big questions, and part of this is that we have the opportunity to answer some of those big questions,’’ Johnson said.

Johnson said he won’t know his next role with the Space Force until he graduates and officially completes intelligence training.

In the meantime, Johnson continues learning and accepting new challenges. Much has changed since the day that he first arrived on Air Force’s campus in 2016 — including Johnson.

“I’m absolutely more confident in who I am,’’ he said. “I might have had a false sense of confidence, an arrogance almost going into [college]. Coming out of it, I know who I am and what really my mission is here on Earth and what potentially my mission is up in space.’’

SOLDIERS ADVOCATE FOR

of other service members

By Andrea Downing Peck

For non-citizen service members, military service historically has provided a path to U.S. citizenship. But during the past four years, that expedited route to naturalization has been littered with speed bumps.

Army Reserve Spc. Cesar Vargas, 37, has hit many of them. Vargas grew up in New York City as an undocumented immigrant. As a teenager, he wanted to join the military but was told he could not enlist because of his citizenship status.

“Being told I couldn’t join the military because I was undocumented was demoralizing, especially because I always thought I could be anything when I was a child,” Vargas said in

an email interview while on predeployment training. “It was even harder after the 9/11 attacks as I wanted to show I was willing to serve the country that had given my family an opportunity to have a better life.”

Despite being unable to enlist, Vargas continued his pursuit of the American dream. He graduated college and received a law degree from City University of New York in 2011. But after passing the New York State bar exam, his application to practice law was rejected based on his lack of legal status. After a multi-year court battle, Vargas won a precedent-setting victory and was admitted to the state bar.

His barrier to joining the military fell in 2019 when Vargas gained permanent residency status through marriage. Vargas enlisted the day after receiving his “green card.” He was the distinguished honor graduate of his recruit training class and has served honorably ever since as a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear specialist. Though he has completed all steps for expedited naturalization, Vargas has yet to receive his citizenship.

“It’s another example how our immigration system is broken,” said Vargas, who is legislative director to the chair of the Committee on Immigration at the New York City Council. “I already submitted my citizenship application and have even done the civic and language exams. The last step is the swearing ceremony. However, under this [Trump] administration, immigrants have been subject to layers of (unnecessary) scrutiny.”

The Immigration and Nationality Act grants non-citizen service members who serve honorably in the U.S. military during wartime the right to an expedited naturalization process.

Since 9/11, more than 100,000 non-citizen service members have taken this route to citizenship. But the Trump administration mandated non-citizens on active duty must serve for six months or a year if in the reserves before applying for the expedited process. Since then, the number of foreign-born service members receiving citizenship through naturalization has dropped nearly 60%, from 8,885 in 2016 to 3,760 in 2019.

As a soldier and immigration attorney, Vargas shares a uniform and commitment to immigration advocacy with his wife, Yesenia Mata, a member of the Army Reserve military police. Mata, 31, is executive director of Staten Island communityjob center La Colmena, which serves day laborers, domestic workers, and other low-wage earners. Mata’s work with deported veterans has given her firsthand knowledge of the injustices the current military immigration process can inflict on those who are among the most willing to answer the country’s call to duty.

“I would ask them, would you serve again?” Mata said. “And despite what had happened, many would respond,

‘Yes, I would serve again given the opportunity because I love this country.’”

Since her marriage, Mata’s efforts on behalf of non-citizen service members have taken on even greater meaning.

“My husband’s an attorney. I have seen how hard it has been for him while he’s been waiting for his citizenship. How hard it has been since these new laws have been implemented,” she said. “On a personal level, it hurts.”

Vargas has been subject to ongoing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) background investigations despite already passing the required background checks for his green card and military enlistment. “I could literally become a citizen tomorrow but for these delays,” he states.

For service members, citizenship takes on added importance. It brings not only the right to vote, to sponsor non-citizen family members, and to travel with a U.S. passport, but it also provides military members stationed overseas with access to consular

services and protections. In addition, non-U.S. citizens cannot obtain a security clearance, making them ineligible for the officer corps and many enlisted military jobs.

When the Trump administration removed USCIS naturalization centers at three Army recruit training centers in 2017, Mata argues immigrant enlistees lost access to valuable resources on the naturalization process. Revisions also were made to the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program, which began in 2009 and offered immigrant healthcare workers and those with specialized language skills a fast track to citizenship. While the Obama administration had stopped taking MAVNI applications due to security concerns, the Trump administration tightened the vetting process for those already accepted, leaving many applicants in legal limbo.

Mata maintains the military needs to do a better job educating foreignborn enlistees and military members in general about the paths to citizenship for foreign-born enlistees.

“My husband is able to understand the process, but many who enlist are very young. They don’t have that legal education,” she said. “Even sometimes within the military, the sergeants themselves don’t know [the naturalization regulations for non-citizen service members].”

The daughter of immigrants, Mata completed her master’s degree in business before following in her brother’s footsteps and joining the Army Reserve alongside her husband in 2019.

“My mother and father always believed it was important for us to give back to our community and for us to serve our country. Those

were the values I grew up with,” said Mata, who credits military service with advancing her veteran advocacy work.

Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Iraq War combat veteran who has made her mark as a staunch advocate for veterans, remains hardpressed to understand the continued roadblocks facing foreign-born service members.

“We as a nation are missing out on a skillset, on a group of people who could really help our military become stronger and more able to interact on a global scale and help strengthen our position as a global leader in security and defense,” Duckworth said during a November panel discussion sponsored by the University of Chicago’s Office for Military-Affiliated Communities. “It boggles the mind that we wouldn’t welcome immigrants into the military and provide them with citizenship.”

Duckworth repeatedly has introduced legislation that would strengthen VA healthcare services for non-citizen veterans and prohibit the deportation of veterans who have served honorably and are non-violent offenders. She is confident the incoming Biden administration will green light many of her proposals, which to date have failed to garner bipartisan support in Congress.

“There’s a whole basket of pieces of legislation that I’ve introduced that all could be executive orders by the president,” said Duckworth, who maintains immigrant service members should receive permanent resident status after completing basic training and be fast-tracked to citizenship after honorably completing an initial tour of duty. “I know they are seriously looking at all of those because there are some great folks on the transition team advising the president-elect.”

But Duckworth argues individual citizens have the most power to bring change.

“Advocate for these causes with your local elected,” she said. “Make this an issue they have to talk about and make it real. You can see in this latest election the rise in particular of the Latinx community. You saw what happened in Florida and Texas and Arizona and New Mexico, so there is additional power within the community … Understand the political environment we are in and understand there is power to be had in that political environment.”

Vargas, meanwhile, is confident his work on behalf of immigrant service members has only begun.

“I love this country and I am proud to serve in uniform,” he said. “But we can do better and must do better to support our service members and their families, not just in words but in concrete policies. And once I become a citizen, I hope to realize another dream of finally becoming an officer in the Judge Advocate General Corps, so I can help immigrants in our military and ensure they have a voice. Also, I would like to tell my story of an immigrant that started as a private and became an officer.”

pursues lifelong passion as PRO GOLFER Navy reservist

By Teal Yost

When it comes to professional athletes who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, David Robinson, Roger Staubach, and Joe Bellino might come to mind. More recently, Keenan Reynolds, Joe Cardona, and Billy Hurley have made it in the NFL and PGA too.

Add Laurel Gill to that list. The 2011 USNA grad served six years active duty, continues to serve in the Navy Reserve, and now competes as a professional golfer.

Gill developed a passion for golf at an early age.

“ I started golfing when I was about eight. My parents signed me up for lessons and sent me to golf camps,” she said.

After all, when you grow up in San Diego, you’ve got ideal golfing weather nearly every day of the year.

“ I love golf for the camaraderie, its competitive nature and the fact that it’s a lifelong sport. You can play golf no matter your age or ability, thanks to the handicap system,” Gill added.

San Diego is also where Gill developed her interest in attending the Naval Academy.

“ Being from a big Navy town, that ’ s what got me interested. When you grow up in an environment like that, surrounded by ships and aircraft, it instills a sense of patriotism. I wanted to serve my country,” Gill said.

So in 2007, she headed off to Annapolis.

At that time, the USNA didn’t have a women ’ s golf team, Division I, or club, for that matter.

“ No matter the field you work in, having a background in golf is

important as a working professional. Etiquette is an important aspect of golf, it ’ s a sport that requires discipline, it ’ s a sport that provides networking opportunities. Those are skills and lessons that are just as important to women as they are to men,” Gill said.

She and a few of her company-mates took the initiative to start women ’ s golf at the Naval Academy.

Their first year, they practiced after dinner and on weekends as an approved extracurricular activity but didn’t benefit from any school funding. Thanks to the group’s persistence, women’s golf became a club sport the following year, and the Mids began playing matches against other teams.

The year after Gill graduated, the Naval Academy announced women ’ s golf was being elevated to a Division I sport. The team began play in the Patriot League the following spring.

“ They hired a coach and really started investing in these female athletes.”

And while she would have loved golfing as a D-I athlete representing

the academy during her time in Annapolis, Gill says, “It’s amazing to see that what we started on our own time has had such a positive impact on these ladies’ futures.”

Gill served six years on active duty, primarily as a meteorology and oceanography officer, making sure to keep up her golf game no matter where she was stationed.

When she left active duty, she shifted her focus to golfing full-time and as a professional, but the military moves kept coming. Her husband, who she met at the Naval Academy, is an aviator, flying F-18 Growlers.

“I’m lucky because the military moves haven’t impacted my career as a professional golfer. I can do what I love from anywhere. Everywhere we go, there are golf courses, so I’m hoping to continue down this path wherever the Navy takes us,” Gill said.

While she practices her drives, chips, and putts from Oceana in Virginia Beach for the time being, tournaments take her all over the country and even the world.

Gill was able to represent the United

States in the Military World Games in China. She helped the U.S. team to a second-place finish in the event.

In addition to tournaments, she has endorsement deals with golf equipment and apparel brands.

“ I work with Mizuno Golf as well as Bolder Athletic Wear, an Americanmade apparel company owned by a Navy veteran.”

Like most things, 2020 did throw a wrench in some of Gill’s golf plans.

“ I was hoping to go to the LPGA qualifying school, but it was canceled due to COVID-19. Fingers crossed for next year. My goal is to make it on the LPGA.”

She also hopes to see more women, especially women within the military community, take up golf, even if it’s just socially.

“I’ve hosted some clinics for military spouses hoping to spark that interest. I’d love to see more ladies golfing. I think for spouses who move so frequently, golf can be a great way to connect and socialize while being physically active and getting outside.”

HOW TO TURN FITNESS RESOLUTIONS INTO REALITY

By Dan Huffman

In 2020, the Army Combat Fitness Test was named the force’s physical fitness test of record. The ACFT 2.0 maintains six events including the 3-repetition maximum dead-lift, standing power throw, hand release pushups, leg tuck, 2-mile run, and sprint, drag, carry, according to the Army Reserve website, but it also evolved to include the option to substitute a two-minute plank, once a soldier has attempted the leg tuck. With your personal fitness and career progression in mind, now is a good time to align your resolutions for 2021 with the ACFT in mind.

If you’re like me, you’ve already told yourself some version of, ‘in 2021 I’ll get in shape for the ACFT. I’ll drop that weight,’ and so on. But will we?

Research by Strava, the popular fitness tracking app, has coined Jan. 19 as “Quitter’s Day” because that’s the day that most people begin quitting on their resolutions. And it gets worse! Other research has found that by February, 80% of people have totally dropped their pack on resolutions.

The odds are high that by the time you read this article, you’re either already completely off-track or

sliding off that cliff of inconsistency.

Resolutions don’t work because we overestimate their power. We falsely hope that setting a big, aggressive goal that requires strict behavioral changes to achieve it is just the thing we need to better ourselves. For a week, it might work.

But it’s difficult to implement multiple, big changes all at once in life and stick to them. We get off-track a little and then life just steamrolls back to normal. We revert back to being who we’ve always been.

I encourage you to embrace training for the ACFT as an opportunity to mold yourself into a fitter, healthier version of you. Change the version of you that you revert back to.

How?

Analyze those who have achieved what you want to achieve, in fitness and in life.

Break down what they do and how you can do it too. Emulate those things in small ways every day. Start with one or two easy additions or subtractions to your normal routine. Make sure that what you do repeatedly will lead to the positive

changes you want to see.

You are changing your systems which naturally leads to different results, according to James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits”.

Harness the power of consistent, small changes over time and become who you want to become in 2021.

Here are some ideas for a fitter, healthier, and higher-scoring 2021:

1. All fitness plans begin with nutrition. Eat at least two healthy meals every day and keep healthy snacks on hand. But do allow yourself to splurge eating out, snacking, and having dessert somewhat regularly. This helps keep cravings in check. Don’t try rigid or fad diets. Just eat healthily and you’ll lose weight. Losing weight will help many soldiers improve their ACFT scores, especially the leg tucks!

2. Aim to workout at least three days every week. Track this. Consistency is the key to success.

3. Follow a program appropriate for your current fitness and experience levels. Programs have progressive overload built into them but going to the gym to “workout” doesn’t. You can’t progress randomness.

4. If you’re struggling to get the form down or are working through pain, work with an MFT or PT to help you improve your technique.

Dan Huffman is a husband, father, Army officer, and physical therapist passionate about helping his fellow soldiers effectively and safely train for the ACFT. Prior to the Army, he was an athletic trainer for two NCAA Division I athletics programs helping athletes rehab, condition, and return to their sport.