Archive for April, 2010

Jobs Available, Veterans Who Love The Outdoors

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Veterans Green Corps (VGC) is hiring veteran who are up for a challenge and want to continue serving their country in America’s great outdoors. Can check it out by going to http://veteransgreenjobs.org/ or you can continue reading here.

VGC conservation work is focused on protecting and preserving our public lands. Done in cooperation with national forests, national parks, the Bureau of Land Management, and state and local government agencies, these projects are an opportunity to take care of our national treasures while working alongside other vets with common goals.

Veteran crews are trained and hired to work on projects such as trail construction and maintenance, fencing, habitat improvement, hazardous fuels reduction, noxious weed removal, re-vegetation and more. Prior experience doing conservation work is not required!

Projects are described below. Get in touch immediately to apply for this rewarding opportunity – and get geared up for a chance to work with The Corps Network

Calling All Military Vets

This is tough work!

–Conservation projects are physically demanding and will often require heavy lifting and hiking with equipment and packs.

–Corps members may be required to use various hand tools for project completion.

–Crews may work and camp outside for up to 11 days at a time in front country and/or back country locations in all types of weather conditions.

–Crews prepare all their own meals and work together as a group to complete all necessary living chores.

–A typical all-veteran crew consists of 6-8 members, 2 leaders and 1-2 members serving as veteran advocates.

–VGC programs provide all necessary training.

–Living and working in the outdoors offers an incredibly rewarding experience!

Who is eligible to apply:

*        All honorably discharged veterans.

*        Veterans of all ages.

*        Veterans with a DD 214.

*        Veterans with all levels of experience.

Conservation Projects

Great Basin Institute, Nevada Conservation Corps – Las Vegas, Nevada

Throughout the summer and fall seasons, a 6-person veteran crew will complete technical trail building and maintenance on U.S. Forest Service trails in the Spring Mountains. Don’t let the nearby desert landscape fool you! The Spring Mountains are rich in forests, streams and mountain vistas. Work will include constructing trail treads, cutting fallen trees from the trail, building water diversion structures, constructing rock retaining walls and much more. Crew work begins in mid-May and continues into November.

Southwest Conservation Corps – Salida, Colorado

Two Summer Technical Trail crews, each with 8 veterans, 2 crew leaders and 6 crew members, will work in the southern Colorado Rockies based out of the Arkansas River headwaters in Salida, Colorado. Trail work will commence in the Rio Grande National Forest with an emphasis on maintenance. Crews will often camp out in the backcountry for days at a time. Work includes rock removal from trail tread, tree clearing with crosscut saws in wilderness areas, and rehabilitation of water diversion structures. One of the crews will be co-ed, with half of the veterans being women and one woman working in a crew leader role. Crew leaders will begin training April 20, crew members will train May 30, and work will be completed by August 20.

Southwest Conservation Corps – Durango, Colorado

Two Fall Saw crews, each with 8 veterans and 2 crew leaders, will conduct fire mitigation and hazardous fuel removal in the southern Colorado Rockies. This work is focused on decreasing the risk associated with wildfires, which pose great threats to intermountain communities throughout the western U.S. Crews will receive chainsaw training to safely reduce wildfire risk by cutting out weak, dead and crowded trees in overgrown forests. The project will begin in August and end in

November.

Medicine Bow – Wyoming and Colorado

Two 8-person saw crews will be formed to remove dead trees that are victims of Mountain Pine Beetle attacks. Over time, dead standing trees present a hazard as they become weak and eventually fall. Crews will be trained on safety and use of chainsaws to eliminate this risk along trail corridors and public use areas. Each crew will have 2 crew leaders and will operate throughout the Routt/Medicine Bow National Forest along

the Colorado-Wyoming border. The summer project begins in mid-June and will continue into September.

Utah Conservation Corps – Logan, Utah

The Inclusive Crew, a 4-person veteran crew, will be formed in Utah with 2 disabled veteran positions. Work will include campground assessments and other conservation work on public lands. Projects will be completed from May 10 to Aug 14.

Apply Today by going to http://veteransgreenjobs.org/green-jobs-training/veterans-green-corps

Contact Justin Clark, national outreach director for Veterans Green

Jobs: justin@veteransgreenjobs.org.

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Mission Possible

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Depending on whom you believe, Colorado has over 460,000 veterans, give or take 20,000 to 25,000. Perhaps the new census will more clearly define our veteran population.

For purpose of this article we will define a veteran as anyone who has worn a military uniform or is presently wearing the uniform. Since we have a strong military presence in

Colorado with the complex of bases in Colorado Springs our veteran number probably exceeds that 460,000 mark.

Every one of these veterans acquired that status in one of three ways. First you raised you hand and volunteered to serve, as is the case with just about everyone in uniform today. Second you received that very personal letter from Uncle Sam beginning with “Greetings” inviting you to report to an induction center for a physical and possible induction into the Army, Marines, Navy or Air Force. During Vietnam the needs of the service dictated which branch of service to which you were assigned. Third there were a few veterans who acquired that status thanks to the court system… go into service or go to jail.

No matter which method put you into uniform you served and you did it with pride. For many of us service changed our lives. Unfortunately some lost their lives in service to their country and many came back with seen and unseen injuries. Our WWI veterans recognized these facts and knew there would be a need to take care of the medical and emotional needs of these veterans so they formed The American Legion, and within 10 years convinced Congress to stand up a new government agency called the Veterans Administration.

So for the last 91 years The American Legion has been an advocate for veterans before the VA. We know service changed our lives. We know the pride we have as veterans. We know veterans don’t consider themselves heroes; we were just doing our job. And we know we cannot rest when it comes to serving the needs of our veterans and their families.

For us to continue to serve the needs of our veterans The American Legion needs a strong membership base. Over 460,000 veterans reside in Colorado but currently only about 25,000 belong to the American Legion in Colorado and 2.5 million in the country. While those numbers are impressive we could do a much better job with 40,000 members or 3 million members. It takes time, energy and money to effectively advocate for veterans issues.

That’s where you come in. If you are reading this you are probable a member. You belong because of the comradeship we provide. You belong because of the pride you have in your country. You belong because you know the American Legion can make a difference in the lives or veterans. So look around you. Look at you neighbors, look at your church members, look at your professional organizations, look at the other community-based organizations and you will find veterans everywhere you look. Your job is to convince these veterans they need to join the American Legion. When you ask them to join appeal to their sense of pride as a veteran. Tell them they may not have the time to devote to the internal workings of the American Legion but their number counts when we go to Congress to advocate for veterans, 40,000 voices, or 3 million voices make a bigger impact than 25,000 voices or 2.5 million voices.

So how do you sign up members? Easy, have your prospect go to our website www.coloradolegion.org, click on the join button and fill out the application, pay $36.00 by credit card and your prospect is a member. Or call your Post Adjutant and tell him or her that you need to sign up a friend. The Adjutant will take it from there.

As the old Mission Impossible show used to say, “this is your mission, should you agree to accept it.” We hope you accept the mission and make 40,000 members in Colorado a mission possible. Thanks for your service and your continued support of The American Legion.

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