 October 2024
 Greetings WDVA Employees!
Like the changing fall colors up at our Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery, we are changing our employee newsletter format in hopes of bringing you more frequent updates. Look for those changes in the next edition of the newsletter.
We are grateful for the work all of you do to serve and honor Wisconsin veterans and families!
Yours in Service,
James Bond, Secretary-designee
*Photo credit to NWVMC's Cemetery Director, Joel Clapero and Operations Program Associate, Kristy Harty, for sending us these photos.
 In August, Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs Secretary-designee James Bond reached an important milestone—in just over a year, he traveled to every one of Wisconsin’s 72 counties and 11 tribes to personally consult with each of the state’s 83 County and Tribal Veteran Service Offices. CVSOs and TVSOs are crucial in advocating for veterans in their communities and connecting veterans and their families with federal and state benefits.
Read the full press release here. To find your CVSO or TVSO, visit the CTVSOA of Wisconsin website.
To see photos from the visits, check out WDVA’s Flickr page.
Calling the EAP: What to Expect?
By Wendy Copus, Human Resources Director
Have you been putting off calling the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) because you’re not sure how the process works? Making the first call for some may be difficult, but we will guide you through the steps. If someone you know is struggling, you might even offer to assist them with the call. You can make initial introductions, place them on the line, and then step away and our trained staff will take it from there.
Rest assured that confidentiality is the cornerstone of what we do. The information that you provide us is never shared with your employer or anyone without your written consent. Below is an outline of what to expect from calling the EAP to setting up services.
Calling the EAP: Dial 1-833-539-7285 and choose the option to speak with an EAP Consultant.
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Please Welcome Our New WDVA Employees!
The Bureau of Programs and Services within the Division of Veterans Benefits is very pleased to announce that Ryan Ruck joined the VBRC (Veterans Benefit Resource Center) team in July of this year.
Ryan came from the private sector where he worked as a Truck Driver for Brakebush Brothers Inc. Ryan retired from the United States Navy after 20 years of service serving on a nuclear submarine. At the beginning of his career, Ryan also served as a recruiter for the Navy. Ryan enjoys spending time with his family along with many outdoor activities, such as hunting and fishing.
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Please welcome our new claims officer Johnny Rosario! Johnny served honorably in the United States Army as an 11B Infantry man with 25 years of active duty. Johnny deployed to Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1990 - 1991, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) 1 in 2003 -2004, and then OIF 4 in 2005 – 2006.
Prior to joining WDVA he was a claims officer with American Legion. His finds personal satisfaction in assisting other veterans and helping them attain their well-deserved benefits. In his free time, he is a sports fanatic and enjoys spending quality time with this family. Please welcome Johnny to our WDVA team!
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Hello WDVA! My name is Suzy Rockafellow and I’m happy to be joining the Payroll and Benefits Team supporting DVA. I’ve transferred from ETF where I started out as a Trust Fund Specialist and counseled members who are preparing to retire from state service. The last year I was there, I was in an Advanced Trust Fund Specialist role as a Lead Worker. I am excited to jump into the Payroll and Benefits Program here at DOA! I’m always willing to share my experience on the ETF side of things as I have some inside knowledge of how things work there.
I live with my wife, Karen, and our two very spoiled dogs, Gladys and Fern on the North Side of Madison. In our spare time, we enjoy getting outdoors to camp in the summer and fall. We also enjoy spending time with our family and friends and often have extra folks staying with us for a long weekend or get away. I look forward to getting to know and working with everyone at WDVA!
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Please welcome our new claims officer, Melissa Vargas!
Melissa is a veteran who served four years active duty during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) as a launch and recovery specialist. She transitioned to a reserve component as an engineer while being cross trained as military police. Melissa then deployed in 2016 and 2017 to Asia to help with active-duty loss and security task force. Melissa finished her 14 years in the Navy with her last duty station in Great Lakes as active personnel in the ACU-1(Assault craft unit 1).
Melissa has two Associate of Science degrees in Marketing Management and Social Media Marketing. She brings a wealth of experience in the field of human service and previous experience in VA benefits. In her free time, she spends time with her friends and her dogs. Welcome Melissa!
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WDVA's VORP staff participated in a Point-In-Time Count (PIT) during the first week of August. This PIT count is designed to get an accurate count of unsheltered Wisconsin residents in the state of Wisconsin. The VORP team partnered with local agencies to assist in the county. The VORP team was stationed in both rural and urban areas around the state.
Why is a PIT Count important? It counts sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night. HUD requires annual counts of people experiencing homelessness who are sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Safe Havens on a single night. These counts help governmental agencies, social workers, and other support organizations. Thank you to our dedicated VORP team for their efforts in the recent PIT count! *Pictured above: VORP's Philip Olsen conducting a search in a wooded area for homeless individuals in August 2024.
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WDVA’s Jodi Barnett Joins NASWVC Leadership Team
Please join WDVA in congratulating our Women Veteran Coordinator, Jodi Barnett, as she becomes the first woman veteran from Wisconsin to serve on the National Association of State Women Veterans Coordinators (NASWVC)! In addition to her WDVA role, she will voluntarily serve as NASWVC’s Junior Vice President for a three-year term.
NASWVC's mission is to advocate for women veterans through partnerships, training, and legislative outreach and to ensure that women veterans receive and are knowledgeable about all the benefits they’ve earned through their military service.
The Junior Vice President is a key member of the NASWVC leadership team and helps to ensure that the organization is meeting its goals. Jodi is an 11-year veteran of the US Navy and has been with WDVA for the past three years. She leads the Department’s women veterans outreach programs while raising the visibility of women veterans' needs and their important contributions to our state and nation.
Jodi will join the NASWVC leadership team with other women veteran coordinators from Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, and Kentucky. Congratulations Jodi!
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Meet Nathan Gear – VORP Spotlight
This month we spotlight our colleague Nathan Gear from our Veteran Outreach and Recovery Program (VORP). Nathan joined WDVA’s VORP team as an Outreach and Recovery Regional Coordinator (ORRC) in April 2024. He provides case management to veterans in Adams, Dodge, Columbia, Green Lake, Marquette, and Waushara counties. A big part of Nathan's job is connecting veterans to proper mental and behavioral health services, substance use treatments, housing and employment, claims and benefits. Like all our VORP team members, he works with local community agencies, non-profit organizations, government offices, and other support programs.
Nathan is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army and Army National Guard with over 26 years of honorable service with deployments to the Middle East, Africa, and multiple state activations.
“Since the beginning of my military career, taking care of soldiers was always one of my main priorities. Now 30 years later, I am blessed to continue helping veterans and their families,” says Gear.
He finds personal satisfaction in helping fellow veterans by seeing them succeed. “I’m motivated by making a difference in their quality of life. Being on the front lines of veteran issues is not an easy responsibility, however, working together, we get results. One team. One fight.”
In his free time, Nathan enjoys quality time with family and friends, various outdoor activities, and some ‘wind therapy’ on his motorcycle when time allows.
Nathan can be contacted by calling 608-590-6137 or Nathan.gear@dva.wisconsin.gov.
More information on VORP can be found at here.
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King Employee Spotlight - Tammy Servatius
For this employee newsletter, we are shining the spotlight on Tammy Servatius, our Commandant at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King!
Tammy and her seven siblings grew up on a farm in rural Wisconsin. The work ethic required of a life on a farm taught her the value of a job well done and is something she carried into her professional life. Tammy started her professional life in the skilled nursing field as a licensed Nursing Home Administrator of a small nursing home with 59 residents in Menominee, Michigan, and later spent the following 14 years in private-sector healthcare as a Regional Operations Director. In August 2014, she started as the Executive Director at the Veterans Home in King, and after four years, she was promoted to Deputy Commandant. In August 2019, she was finally promoted to her current role as Commandant.
See the rest of her story here on King's Facebook page!
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SWVMC Administration Building Construction and Columbarium Project Update
Our team at Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery (SWVMC) provided a few photos showing the now finalized update to our columbarium and construction progress on the administration building. Questions about temporary changes relating to burial and funeral services during the construction timeline can be found here.
(Top photo) Construction to expand the administration building began on July 15 and is expected to last through the end of 2025.
(Bottom photo) The phase 6 expansion project to our columbarium has been completed.
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The artifacts of one of Wisconsin’s legendary World War II heroes, James Megellas, have been added to the permanent exhibits at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. On September 17, the museum opened a new display featuring objects of James "Maggie" Megellas, a Fond du Lac native who is considered the most-highly decorated officer in the 82nd Airborne.
A 1942 ROTC graduate of Ripon College, Megellas became a paratrooper in World War II, earning two Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, and the Distinguished Service Cross while seeing action in Italy, Holland, Belgium, and Germany. His exploits in Holland during Operation Market Garden were perhaps most famous.
“To military historians, ‘Maggie’ Megellas is a larger-than-life character, the epitome of a tough-as-nails soldier, and are well aware of his contributions,” said Wisconsin Veterans Museum Curator Kevin Hampton.
The Megellas Family chose to donate James Megellas’ artifacts and archives to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum to preserve the national and international story of service of a Wisconsin son.
Stop by the Wisconsin Veterans Museum today to see the collection for yourself and learn more about the important contributions by one of Wisconsin's most decorated veterans. *Pictured above: James Megellas, 82nd Airborne veteran, during WWII. Read the official press release here.
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