Cluster of Veterans Use their Skills to Serve Housing and Dining Services

Ioana Patringenaru | November 13, 2007

James Burns Jr., business manager in Housing and Dining’s maintenance division

No one is quite sure how it happened, but at least 25 percent of maintenance employees in Housing and Dining Services are veterans of the armed forces. To James Burns, the business manager in Housing and Dining’s maintenance division, it feels a little like being back in uniform.

“I just see the esprit the corps,” he said. “I didn’t feel this for a long time, since I’ve been in the Marine Corps.”

Burns recently ran a tally of the number of staff members who have served in the armed forces and came up with fourteen, from maintenance mechanics all the way up to the division’s associate director. A majority served in the Navy. A few were in the Marines and the Air Force.

Steven Thompson is one of them. The associate director of maintenance was a captain in the Air Force and retired after 34 years of service, including 11 years on active duty. He served in Vietnam. He said he had never quite realized how many veterans his division included.

He did notice, however, that a couple of employees were particularly good at organizing resources and staff. He then found out they were petty officers in the Navy. Thompson said he believes the university benefits from the training veteran staff members received in the military.

Often, when an employee radios in for help, veterans will be the first to reply and offer to lend a hand, Thompson said. Burns echoed Thompson’s comments. These employees will get the job done, he said. “They bring a can-do attitude,” he added.