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Archives for 2012

Nov
02

From the Military to the Marketplace post #2

By | Guest Posts, H.U.A. Blog

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Following Will

Post #2 covers:

  • How the road reports happen
  • Will’s education choice
  • Introducing transition guides

Will Coulter is in the driver’s seat of his post military life story. Every two weeks we also find him in his vehicle where he reports on his personal experience in his transition from active military duty to civilian life.

Will Coulter reports in from his road to civilian work and study success

Will Coulter family man, student, business owner

He’s allowed Military Success Network to ‘shadow’ him for the past 11 weeks since our first “meeting” on the phone to talk about how this series we call FOLLOWING WILL, might help others. Will and I speak every two weeks. Our posts may slide back and forth in time depending on what we end up talking about. (Read our introductory post) [Read more…]

Nov
01

Military to Civilian Transition Timeline for Veterans

By | H.U.A. Blog

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Summary points in this post as part of Military Success Network’s Moving from the Military to the Marketplace series:

One (1) year in advance of separation from military – build networks, use social media, and review your resume and transferrable skills
Six (6) months out – begin direct and specific contact with growing network, practice interview skills
Three (3) months out – ship out resumes and cover letters, freshen contacts in real and on social media
Exit – welcome to your new work life, or retool to fill networking and skills gaps

Opportunity, it is said, is luck meeting preparedness.

Switch the order of those 3 ingredients in the formula and you still get the same thing: success. [Read more…]

Oct
18

Mason-Dixon line drawn 245 years ago

By | History

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On this day, 245 years ago, the famous Mason-Dixon Line was drawn. Two English surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed a land survey meant to end the border dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Mason Dixon Line crown stone

A “crownstone” boundary monument on the Mason-Dixon Line. These markers were originally placed at every 5th mile along the line, oriented with family coats of arms facing the state that they represented. The coat of arms of Maryland’s founding Calvert family is shown. On the other side are the arms of William Penn.(Wikipedia photo and detail)

Initially destined to settle a local dispute, the line grew into a more ominous demarcation between the pro-slavery and the ‘free’ states. The line follows the northern latitude of 39 degrees and 43 minutes and today separates four U.S. states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Delaware.

Mason and Dixon marked every mile of the chart with stones shipped from England. Every five miles the line was marked with a ‘Crown-stone.’ It consisted of the two coats of arms belonging to the adjacent colonies. Many markers survived and they can still be admired. [Read more…]

Oct
09

Healing our heroes at the Valhalla Project part 1

By | Guest Posts, H.U.A. Blog

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Gordon Cucullu is co founder of the Valhalla Project

MilSuccessNet Guest Contributor
Gordon Cucullu

Transition takes on a new face and unexpected pace with the Valhalla Project. Guest contributor Lt. Col. (Ret.) Cucullu writes about the concept first voiced by his wife, Chris Fontana. The co-founders created this project to help  active duty service members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve forces as well as some specially selected civilian war zone workers in healthy transitions. 

Participants are active in nature, community projects to maintain the unique setting and pick up skills while enjoying a respite from the individual challenges of their lives.

Genesis of the Valhalla Project

In summer of 2010, my wife and I were homeless. Not in the sense of
sleeping under the overpass in a Kenmore large appliance box, but we really didn’t have a home per se any longer. [Read more…]

Oct
04

Sputnik 1 arrives first in space 55 years ago

By | H.U.A. Blog, History

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Sputnik 1 remembered On Military Success Network

Sputnik 1 Photo via http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

It was 55 years ago today, October 4, 1957, that the last frontier for humanity was breached. Sputnik 1, the first man-made object in space, was launched in a surprise move by the Soviet Union, much to the shock of America, held at that time to be more advanced in the space race.

Five days earlier, the Soviet Union experienced a radiation contamination accident (from a nuclear fuel plant) known as Kyshtym disaster. The Russians had to evacuate thousands of people, but they kept the reason for that action a secret for 20 years.

Sputnik on the other hand was truly a remarkable achievement. Although the USA launched its own satellite, Explorer 1, less than 4 months later, the cherished first spot was lost forever.
[Read more…]

Oct
01

Home from the Iraq Odyssey part 3 of 3

By | H.U.A. Blog

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Transition is the thread that binds the last portion of Phil Nerges’s Iraq odyssey to his book, Iraq Journal–Sketches from the Contracting Life. He had made it out alive to recreate his life back home. Nerges saw no literature about the contractors and their families to aid in his own transition after his final return stateside. Within 3 years he had compiled a book to reflect their stories.

In the fall of 2011, Helena Kaufman interviewed Phil Nerges about his mission to share the life of contractors working alongside the military in Iraq. The first posts were published just before we heard President Obama’s announcement of the end of war in Iraq.

The book is based on emails home, in fast and frightening times. Nerges used his love of language and photographer’s eye to capture sights, sounds and memories made while he sorted his life and then began the transition home.

“More than military men and women are coming back,” says Nerges. Transition is the upcoming experience for tens of thousands of military personnel returning from America’s longest wars. [Read more…]

Sep
26

Where in the world is Lt. Col.(Ret)Gordon Cucullu?

By | H.U.A. Blog

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In this post we interweave the topics of:
  • Valhalla Project
  • Gordon Cucullu’s special day, book and project
  •  Military Police regiment’s 71st celebration

At last contact, he is doing a world of good, along with his writing and life partner, Chris Fontana at Valhalla, in Yellville, Arkansas.

Photo of Gordon Cucullu author of Warrior Police

Gordon Cucullu, Image credit bookperk.com

Retired Army Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu was in the Special Forces and saw combat in Vietnam and El Salvador. Now this Green Beret is seeing action as an author, columnist, and speaker, much of it in support of the Valhalla Project.

He’ll be reporting in soon with an official update to Military Success Network on what’s happening at Valhalla. It’s designed as a working and recreational retreat for post-9/11 combat soldiers and war zone civilian workers. Transition from military to civilian life is uniquely supportive at Valhalla. [Read more…]

Sep
26

Military Police Corps Regiment Celebrates 71!

By | History

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While the Military Police Corps achieved permanent status in the U.S. Army on September 26, 1941, its traditions of duty, service, and security date back to the Revolutionary War.

[Read more…]

Sep
23

Working at ground level with the military in Iraq

By | H.U.A. Blog

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Phil Nerges, contractor with the U.S. Army, imaginatively captured the alien landscape of Iraq and kept notes of its impact. Since his return he has published Iraq Journal – Sketches from the Contracting Life. Now in its second and expanded edition with 8 additional chapters and numerous blog posts, the effects and memories of his original experience evolve along with him.

Today, we revisit those first experiences working alongside America’s troops, on the ground and in Iraq.  This series of 3 articles appears with profiles of military members interviewed by Helena Kaufman on her site and first appeared on Lanterloon.com in November 2011. [Read more…]

Sep
19

Women activists secured inclusive democracy

By | History

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Since the time of primitive tribal societies – where everybody’s voice was more or less equal (determined in part, I suppose by seniority or the size of one’s club) – to modern and all inclusive democracies, man has struggled to find the ideal form of government.

The ancient Athenians made early inroads with a system that recognized the right to vote. It applied to all male citizens, 20 years of age or older. Women, immigrants and slaves didn’t count. [Read more…]

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