Success story helps Soldiers transition at Stewart

By Patrick YoungJune 24, 2019

Success story helps Soldiers transition at Stewart
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Contributing authors Amanda Reichert, Pat Young

Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield

The Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield Soldier for Life-Transition Assistance Program offers several ways to help Service Members as they consider the next step in their lives; whether continuing their military career, continuing their education, starting a new job or starting their own business.

Tyler Brock was one such individual who made this transition in 2015. As a former staff sergeant who served at Fort Stewart in 2015, he left the service and accepted a job with the Department of Justice as an Analyst with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

He completed his bachelor degree while continuing to work for ATF. He later decided to make a career change and began searching for opportunities within the environmental field. He enrolled in an Executive Masters of Natural Resources program at Virginia Polytechnic and State University. The program allowed Tyler to utilize the remainder of this Post 9/11 GI Bill through the Yellow Ribbon Program. For 12 months he attended classes and lectures several days a month in Washington, DC, at a leadership symposium during his graduate degree.

He finished with a degree in Environmental Science and chose to pursue an opportunity with the Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch. He now spends his time in a 60/40 split of office/field work verifying wetland delineations and providing oversight to both internal and external customers regarding permitting actions associated with development projects within wetlands in Coastal Georgia.

"His story was compelling and grabbed the attention of the class of 34 here at Hunter this morning," said Jeffrey Lee, Soldier for Life - Transition Assistance Program coordinator at Hunter Army Air Field. "Often, at the start of the day, people have difficulty getting the classes (especially the junior classes) up for the conversation. I gave him a brief introduction beforehand, but once he took the floor, their attention was focused on him."

The next day, Brock also spoke to a class of 75 soldiers at Fort Stewart.

"He highlighted the importance of readiness in advance of entering the civilian workforce -from maximizing the GI Bill, being financially prepared for the unexpected, to networking and being flexible to other opportunities for continuous self-improvement," said Amanda Reichert, Soldier for Life - Transition Assistance Program coordinator at Fort Stewart.

"Just because you are doing what you are doing now does not mean you have to that forever," said Brock.

The message he really got across was that service members should not expect to be handed a future just because they wore a uniform at one point. Veterans need to go out and put forth the effort and endeavor to pursue what they want to do, Lee said. "It really resonated with the class."

Visit the SFL-TAP website for class information, internships and job trainings at https://home.army.mil/stewart, search Soldier for Life. You can also Visit SFL-TAP at buildings 621 and 526 or call 767-2234 or 767-0052.