Operation Veterans Promise

Camaraderie, friendship, fellowship, and most importantly Espirit de Corps are the founding principles of any military unit or successful cooperative venture. Whether it be a military movement or a soup kitchen, kindness and caring are two elements inherent to any successfully enduring operation. A shining example is Frank Woodruff Buckles (born Wood Buckles, February 1, 1901 – February 27, 2011), the last surviving American veteran of World War I. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1917 and served with a detachment from Fort Riley. After the war, he settled down and got married in West Virginia. A widower at 98, he worked on his farm until he was a 105. During his final years, he was honorary chairman of the World War 1 Memorial Foundation and advocated that other memorials be established in Washington D.C. To the end of his days he did not forget his Fallen Comrades and the ultimate sacrifices many of them paid. Any medal awarded, achievement accomplished, and recognition given to a service member does not belong to the individual, but rather to the ones not there to receive it, like a cross one bears because it is the right thing to do.

 

The right thing to do and the hard thing to do are often one and the same. No one wants to leave their family, community, and friendships thousands of miles behind them; however, this is the initial sacrifice every serviceman entering the Armed Forces must be willing to make, cognitively and whole heartedly, even before the trials and tribulations of combat. It is loyalty that binds us together and camaraderie that eases the pain of separation, trusting one another’s skills and dedication that each and every one of us will, should the time arise, make the ultimate sacrifice so the mission and the team succeed. An old African proverb goes as follows: “If you want to travel fast, go alone, if you want to travel far, go together.” An Army phrase we use in training goes: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”   While seemingly unrelated, to those in the armed forces they are one in the same. Due to proper planning, actively assessing risks, and the trust inherent in camaraderie, we arrive, engage, and achieve victory together. Given the proper tools and resources, it is said there is nothing we can’t accomplish. The training we receive on behalf of the American people fortifies us individually to function as a group to achieve a collective purpose. We don’t try, we simply do. To quote Margret Meade, ““Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”  This rings true in the heart and soul of every Veteran.

 

Everything is multi-faceted.  We speak of community, leadership, respect, duty, selflessness, honor, integrity, and personal courage (LRDSHIP the military values) yet we all live within a world that is, in large, partly guided by the hand of self-interest- that which is relevant is only relative if it relates to “me”. There are an estimated 21 million Americans, who are serving, have served or are family members and loved ones of service members, out a population of over 300 million. Veterans are a small, but proud, percentage of this country’s population that is trained and conditioned for victory in the most difficult of circumstances. Veterans are characterized by selfless service and a duty to one’s country and ones comrades. These strengths in service can be many a veterans’ weakness after they transition into the civilian community. According to some estimates, on any given night, there are as many as 86,000+ veterans living on the streets in the United States. Veterans are twice as likely as other Americas to become chronically homeless. The number of homeless Vietnam-era veterans, is higher than the number of soldiers that died during the war. Between 529,000 and 840,000 veterans are homeless sometime during the year. These situations lead veterans to take their own life at a rate of 1 every 80 minutes, so the need for a structured system is obvious. That is why we created OVP, to embark on a new mission that is in many ways a continuation of our service.  These statistics, while alarming, are by us seen as a challenge, rather than a reason for despair. First and foremost, we at OVP reached an understanding that the why is not important. Second, an approach must be found that can offer aid, support, and access to available resources establishing the foundations of self-sustainability while maintaining their pride and dignity. Third, as everyone knows for any ongoing operation to have any impact, financial resources must be available and ongoing. Just like on a plane, we are advised to secure our own oxygen mask before helping others. In this same fashion, we all have basic requirements that must be satisfied before anyone can help anyone else. So we at OVP are fostering an atmosphere and environment by which ones livelihood is directly associated with helping our fellow brothers and sisters in arms.

 

When entering basic military training, we are broken down to be rebuilt as soldiers, marines, airman, and sailors. At first, this transformation goes unnoticed. That reality becomes much more apparent when we leave our selected branch of service. In the civilian world, in particular America-the land of opportunity, an individual’s reestablishment occurs and time we must guide our own development. At first, this freedom, while liberating, also tends to be unstructured and therefore unpredictable and prone to instability. This new and, in many ways, now alien environment requires a new set of skills and methods to combat the existing situation. Everything done while in the service is earned, from rank to awards. However, there is a helping hand or team and support structure that will guide, assist and recognize you along your path to success. While we individually earn our achievements, the odds of success go up exponentially with strong leadership and team structures behind you. We are Operation Veterans Promise- the civilian equivalent of that guiding hand and supplemental support structure. We will benefit from helping veterans rebuilding a team we enjoy working with. Knowing we are providing self-sufficient opportunities, the ultimate reward is to pay it forward to others. We believe by helping our veterans, their Espirit de Corps will inspire the nation so everyone in this country can benefit from the leadership qualities taught and trained into every veteran. This is only possible because the American people themselves sacrifice every day for it to be so.

 

Communication, Community, Camaraderie (C3); Service members are familiar with G2, which is an operational divider for levels of intelligence/information/communication, organized and disseminated based on ‘need to know’ for a successful operation. Our motto C3 would be familiar to most veterans, in the same spirit that we wish to make relevant information, tools, and resources readily available to veterans that need it. However our approach is ‘open-source’ or ‘unrestricted’ and actually thriving on open networks. Since our inception, we have established contact with supportive employers and fellow veterans’ organizations, individual vets and other companies to bridge the communication gap and begin building a community. We initially reached out for donations when we began in September of 2012. We would still consider them today, however, as we travelled the country to meet with interested parties and individuals in hopes of propelling our operation, we quickly realized the difficult economic times have taken their toll on everyone. We concluded in order to maintain our momentum, we needed to change our avenue of approach, but the mission remained the same. We have incorporated a Veteran run business plan in renewable energy of which the proceeds will keep OVP running, while the excess profits will be donated to Veterans outreach organizations.  Our initiative is to embrace the ambitions and attributes of other organizations nationwide with differing approaches to tackle the existing situation. Through a selection process, OVP will underwrite some, launch others and provide perpetual assistance for yet other Veterans Outreach Initiatives. By incorporating their networks with ours, we can greatly enhance the effectiveness of both. The enemy we are fighting now hides in plain sight much like the homeless Veterans which appear to have become an accepted part of the landscape in every major city. There is no singular motive, conscience, or individual that this can be attributed to, to demand a solution from. Therefore we must take it upon ourselves to take on the responsibility. Should the drums of war pound in front of our doors, we know that Veterans were those who once raised their hand and carried that burden.

 

In conclusion, the number of returning service men and women will continue to rise as the current security concerns persist. The present situation will not change without dedicated and committed people with the proper resources to facilitate progress. Hard-work and discipline was my unit’s motto and we at OVP adhere to its’ simple but effective guidelines.