Q&A: Making our region the best for the military and veterans

Q: What assets does our region bring to the Air Force?

Jeff Hoagland: One asset is the missions at Wright-Patt AFB, but it’s also the people who fill those missions. Ohio is within an eight-hour drive of 60% of the population. There are also the amenities we have, and so many things like the affordability and the lack of traffic. We should take commercials out on the radio in Washington D.C. saying that “if you’re stuck in traffic, come to Dayton, Ohio where you can be home with your family.”

Cassie Barlow: We have 20 really strong colleges and universities here in our region that are continually focusing on new programming for for Air Force members, and for veterans in our region. So each of our universities has a veteran military center. Some of our major military centers in our region are the best in the country. So that focus is really important for us for fueling that next generation of workforce for Wright-Patt AFB.

Joe Zeis: One other characteristic that’s incredibly attractive to the Air Force and Department of Defense is the synergies that are here. This is the center of the nation in aerospace acquisition, research and development. You take a look at the research and development budget in the Air Force Research Lab and it dwarfs even the major aircraft manufacturers. So follow a trail of consolidation and acquisition and research and development even through BRAC 2005. It comes to the Dayton region. It comes to Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Those synergies, the ability to bring such capability together, even in a time where where we live in in this virtual world where we’re doing zoom conversations, but the ability to develop technologies and systems face to face is incredibly valuable.

Col. Miller: From the receiving side of all that, to Cassie’s point on education, in the different opportunities that are around here, from being able to support families and their college-aged children, to spouses wanting to pursue degrees. As a matter of fact, when my wife and I were here from 2003 to 2006, my wife received her master’s degree from Miami University and then worked as a speech therapist in an elementary school in the area during that tour.

There’s a fence line around the base for a reason. There’s a security purpose for that fence. But there shouldn’t be a barrier in our interaction with the community. We are working hard to try and recruit and retain local talent. Those folks that are coming here and going to school, those folks who are proud to call the greater Miami Valley region home — how do we knock down some of those barriers and get them pathways into the trades? Or our civil engineer group?

We’ve recently done a pipeline program working with some of the career tech schools and high schools and bringing them in as apprentices and then hiring them in to our workforce. Look at the relationships between our medical group the second largest hospital in the United States Air Force. There’s there’s a chance if you go in — and I don’t wish this upon anybody — but if you go for a trauma to one of our local emergency rooms outside of this installation, there’s a chance you’ve got one of our Air Force doctors serving that patient. You take your child to Dayton Children’s and we’ve got one of our doctors working down there because our hospital not only serves us, but it has a teach-train-treat mission.

You see the same thing for the 711 Human Performance Wing and the School of Aerospace Medicine. You see the same thing with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the synergies they have with Wright State and some of the other universities around us. Those partnerships are blooming all around the area. And that’s due to the commitment to growth, the commitment to development, the commitment to trying to become Digital Dayton and all of these things that the area is bringing in and recognizing that Wright Patterson Air Force Base is a part of us — how do we make it better?

Tom Owen: I would sum it up by saying — and I’ve been stationed all over the world, all over the country in senior command positions in other communities — the thing that gets me about the Dayton area is that there is no weak point.

Whether it’s the community support of the men and women that serve on the installation, whether it’s the the education available, the medical care that’s available, the athletic facilities, the community, participation for the children, the arts community, on and on.

There’s a multiplier effect for those men and women on the installation and their families. They are a part of these communities and that community spreads from way north of Dayton to south and east and even out to the west. Many of them haven’t been here before and then they end up calling it home — and there’s a reason for that.

Q: Is there anything on the horizon that could become a weak point or challenge to attracting new military missions?

Col. Miller: We’ve been working hard on things like licensure programs for spouses and K-12 education.

There’s a report that an office within Secretary the Air Force level puts out each year taking a look at those two issues, because they are family issues and if we can’t support families, they aren’t going to want to come to those locations. Senate Bill 7 worked hard to get after licensure and reciprocity between states to try and ease that process for working spouses to come in and transfer their license to be able to be employed and be part of that community that is supporting us.

On the K-12 front, House Bill 244 was recently passed and allows military families to register their kids for a school with orders in-hand. We want to try and make it easier for families to move into the community become part of the community and make Wright Patterson more appealing and marketable for for future missions. It takes a team to be able to do that with the community and the installation in sync.

Q: You’ve covered many of the current actions to help the current active duty and civilian workforce. What is Ohio and the Dayton region doing to support our veterans?

Cassie Barlow: Let me take us back to 2015 when the Secretary of the VA came to 50 cities across the United States and asked them to set up something called a “community veteran engagement board.” One of those first 50 cities was Dayton, Ohio. We took the challenge and we set up the community veteran engagement board and we called it the Greater Miami Valley MyVeteran Community. That board has been incredibly active since 2015 and now we have over 100 organizations sitting around the table all focused on improving services to veterans across the region.

We have the first VetsLink in the United States for veterans to call in 24/7 to a local number and to talk with another veteran, someone who speaks their language and can help them find the resources they need.

Something else that was accomplished through that board was an annual resources and job fair where hundreds of veterans show up to find out what resources are available in the region.

Our legislature made a huge decision back in 2011 to not tax retirement pay for our veterans who are who are retired here in Ohio. That attracts a lot of veterans to our region.

We also have the Ohio war orphan scholarship. That obviously is for orphans of our veterans, but also applies to our disabled veterans.

We have the Aerospace Professional Development Center that the legislature set up a few years ago to help veterans, help military folks who are transitioning. We have 88 Veteran Service Officers and Veteran Service Commissions in Ohio. I don’t think there’s a state in the country that has that many veteran service officers that are focused on serving veterans and ensuring that they know what their benefits are.

We also have a fantastic Ohio Department of Veteran Services, who works closely with JobsOhio and Ohio Means Jobs to make sure that veterans are the first on the list when it comes to applying for jobs. We have over 6,000 veteran-friendly businesses in Ohio.

And last but not least, we’ve got the Ohio Values Veterans program, which gives our military and veterans credit for school credit for their military experience.

Joe Zeis: The veteran workforce is an incredible asset to the to the region and provides an attractant for those companies that are looking for a cleared or clearable workforce that can then act as either a contractor or work in the defense and aerospace industry. There’s nowhere else where where you have that kind of an outflow of veterans coming into a second-career workforce.

Jeff Hoagland: What we’re hearing more and more from these companies from outside of Ohio and some as we’re seeing some of this onshoring taking place is that they want veterans. These companies and these CEOs want to hire veterans. We heard it, you know, several years ago, but we’re hearing it almost tenfold now.

Col. Miller: We’ve got a great relationship between our medical center and the VA Medical Center. As a matter of fact, Mr. Murdock was here earlier today, talking about the VA pact with our medical center and the support that we’re doing as we transfer care and services between the two.

What better place for veterans to call home than the installation? They’re familiar with the business. They can fit right in. And what I love about the community is, sure you have Memorial Day you have Veterans Day each and every year. Well, that’s every day in the greater Miami Valley region. And so for our veterans out there: We appreciate you, we thank you for your service and sacrifice. You’re welcome to be a member of our team any day of the week.

Tom Owen: Much of the work is classified and unfortunately it takes quite a while to get someone through the clearance process. Veterans, whether they’re a retiree or someone who separated after six or eight years of service, most likely have an active security clearance that they can turn into a job in one of these companies.

Q: Are there are other best practices or model communities out there that your office looks to when it comes to strengthening Ohio’s position?

Joe Zeis: I think a lot of those communities in a lot of those states are now looking to Ohio as the model. The PDAC process, the engagement process of the Dayton Development Coalition with Wright-Patt, the State of Ohio’s engagement and how we are working to attract businesses and veterans — states are looking to us to model what the governor has done. I’ve heard that in several cases in several different states.

So much of what what the Dayton region has done and what Ohio has done is because of one important piece: that’s the ability to speak with a single voice.

When you see the Dayton region and Wright-Patt speak with a single voice — whether it’s when when they asked the federal delegation for requests around the growth of Wright-Patt or whether it is in support of veterans or any one of the topics we’re talking about today — when you can have a unified voice, that carries a tremendous amount of power with federal delegations and with decision-makers in the Pentagon.

It’s also profile. It’s exactly what you’re doing tonight. It’s raising the profile of Wright-Patt, of Ohio, to the rest of the world, but also to Ohio so that we know and that everyone can be an advocate for what Wright-Patt and what Dayton and what Ohio has to offer.

Q: A Facebook comment said “Thank you for the Wright Scholars high school program. It convinced my child two years ago to get an education and work as a civilian. Have you found that this program and others for students to be beneficial for your recruiting of local talent?”

Cassie Barlow: As someone who works on recruiting local talent every single day, this is one of several really successful programs. We’ve got multiple college internship programs and we also have graduate level programs with conversion rates close to 70%. You’re not going to find a number that high anywhere else in the country. And if you’re a student in this region who is interested in any career field, there are work-based learning opportunities that can help you end up working on the base and giving back to our federal government.

Co. Miller: We’re working hard to take down any of those barriers to try and find you. Hopefully, you’re trying to find us, but we’re looking for you at the Air Force Research Lab. We’ve got these energetic airmen that are getting out to your schools and sharing experiences and teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And don’t forget about the trades. We still need electricians and carpenters and plumbers. We still need cyber warriors in our Communication Squadron, intel analysts over at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center.

Recognize that we’re part of your community. There’s so much to be proud of. This is the birthplace of aviation, from Huffman Prairie Flying Field to the Wright Memorial and the relationship we have with the National Park Service, to the true treasure that is the National Museum of the United States Air Force, to the United States Air Force Marathon.

This is your brand, your community; be proud of that and be part of that. And if we can get you on the team through programs like the Wright Scholars Program, or these other pipeline programs, and relationships that we’re building with colleges and high schools and trade schools, man, we’re so we’re so much stronger because of that.