Blog

“Our Mission Continues fellows have been an incredible help to our team. BJ and Jon brought their passion, knowledge, and hard work to the Veterans Forward team. Thanks to their help, we were able to serve more veterans and to serve them better. I would bring a dozen Mission Continues fellows on board if I could. It’s a great program that helps veterans continue their service while supporting local nonprofits. I can’t say enough good things about this program.” – Chief Operating Officer, Bridget Altenburg.

Wow. A reflection gives the illusion of so much to talk about and yet I don’t think I have enough to say. Luckily for me, I kept notes throughout the course of my fellowship, writing some reflections as I went along.

For about the first 90-days, I really felt like I wasn’t making a difference within the veteran community or in support of the staff. I had much bigger visions and expectations of myself; I realized it really wasn’t about me, but about being of service. As a team of veterans, there were times when the laughter was uncontrollable; the Esprit de Corps powerful.

As fellows from The Mission Continues, we directly engaged with a variety of activities to support individual veteran programs and staff. Some of the projects and activities included, but were not limited to, participating in high-level interagency meetings, coordinating meetings and events with external stakeholders, communicating with governmental agencies at local and state levels, researching policy related topics, creating and managing collaborative tools, updating contact database, planning internal educational and military cultural forums, drafting blogs for internal communications outlets, developing messaging on a variety of topics, participation in special projects, utilizing program management software, assisting with developing technology best practices, and administrating front line desk duties as needed.

The experience of a non-traditional fellowship assignment was an excellent way for me to clearly determine my likes and dislikes, reveal my unique personality to people, better understand myself and my talents while building more self-confidence. Our roles at National Able Network were not specifically defined, but it provided a foundation to discover and cultivate paths for any veteran crossing the threshold. The abundance of resources fosters an environment open enough to allow veterans to feel comfortable in making a wide range of choices as they define where their talents and interests intersect with the needs of the society.

Thank you, Mrs. Grace Powers, Ms. Bridget Altenburg, and Mr. Bob Menard for the opportunity to be of service and God’s speed as The Mission Continues.

Photo (From left to right): Andrew McLaughlin, Bob Menard, Len Harris, Beatrice “BJ” Johnson, and Michelle Malone.