Vets Coordinator Helps Ease Soldiers' Transition to UI Student Life

Like most veterans transitioning from the military to academic life, John Mikelson, 48, does not fit the traditional mold of most college students. After taking a 25-year hiatus from college, most of which was spent on active duty in the military, Mikelson returned to the University of Iowa in 2005.

“I found out I was unemployable,” Mikelson told the Iowa Independent during an interview. “Twenty-five years of military experience doesn’t mean anything to a civilian employer. I had comparable civilian experience for jobs I was seeking, but when potential employers discovered I didn’t have a degree, they told me to come back when I had one.”

Mikelson did just that. He recently earned his Bachelor of Arts in history and is currently enrolled in a graduate program, Higher Education in Policy and Leadership Studies. Moreover, Mikelson balances his academics with his position as the UI veterans coordinator, a full-time work-study position equally funded by the UI and the VA.

“My ultimate goal is to make the veterans coordinator job a permanent paid position on this campus and every public university campus across the country,” Mikelson said. “I think there is a need for transition centers like this one at the UI. When soldiers get demobilized, the military tells them everything they need to know in three days, but all they want is to see their spouses and family waiting on the other side of the fence.

“It’s like trying to catch a sip from a fire hose,” Mikelson said, “and when they hit the campus they realize they don’t know what they are doing.”

Mikelson, along with McKinley Bailey who now serves on the veterans committee of the Iowa House of Representatives, helped start the UI Student Veterans Association in 2005. Working through this association, members procured space to start a veterans center in 2006, which helped lay the foundation for the creation of Mikelson’s coordinator position.

The UI has around 300 veterans enrolled in classes this semester, and Mikelson’s job is to reach out to this targeted population and serve their specific needs should any problems arise during a student’s academic life. These issues range from helping a student veteran find a real estate agent who understands VA loans to helping a disabled veteran find employment in the community.

“We keep our ROCH book, or Reach Out and Call for Help, updated at all times,” Mikelson said. “This is filled with everything from information regarding current GI Bill benefits to congressional contact information. The key to outreach is knowing who to call, and we’ve already reached out to several academic advisers who are veterans. Because the military has its own language, vernacular and idiosyncrasies, it’s been helpful having contacts who speak the military language.”

Student vets face unique issues

As a veterans coordinator, Mikelson deals with a plethora of issues and concerns facing students, whether it’s before, during, or after deployment. “A common question I get from students is whether they should start classes if they know they are going to be deployed before midterm,” he said. “Midterm is the cutoff where they can receive credit or a refund. They also have the option of taking an incomplete and finishing the course after they return.”

Mikelson says that it’s more common for students to find out during the semester that they are going to be deployed by semester’s end. “When this happens, we have to sit down and evaluate what’s the best course of action for each case. The main goal is that nobody should be penalized for being deployed.”

“Professors have been very accommodating,” Mikelson said. “Most problems we’ve encountered were due to ignorance on either side, whether the student didn’t explain things very well or the professor wasn’t aware of the specifics of policy.”

Transitioning back into civilian and academic life poses other concerns, both mentally and physically, that Mikelson helps student veterans address. “We have our share of traumatic brain injuries (TBI),” he said. “Thanks to improved body armor and evacuation procedures, what would have killed us in WW II or Vietnam, is simply not the case in today’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead of coming back in body bags, soldiers are returning with lasting brain injuries. It’s the equivalency of adult shaken-baby syndrome."

One major problem with treating TBI is the diagnostic phase, because a lot of soldiers fear stigmatic repercussions, Mickelson said, and won’t admit they have a problem. “They’ve been told over and over that they are supermen and women, and they just need to suck it up,” Mickelson said. “When they get to the UI, they realize it’s more than a little pain. TBI is just as much an injury as a physical one; it’s the sucking chest wound of the mind.”

Mikelson is encouraged by VA and military efforts to remove the stigma. “We have been working with the VA’s peer-to-peer counselor program, outreach coordinators, and other means that are less threatening to our veterans,” Mikelson said. “The Iowa Guard has been doing really good things with its Operation Enduring Families program. After demobilization, Guard and Reservists have 90 days before they go back to drill. During the first 30 days, they have a mandatory gathering with their spouse or next of kin to gauge any problems that may have surfaced since their return to civilian life.”

Problems regarding educational benefits earned through the GI Bill have come up over the past few years, but Mikelson is optimistic the 21st Century GI Bill will address some of these concerns. “Last year, a number of people were told they didn’t qualify for the higher benefits, but after a long fight between the VA and the Department of Defense, it was determined veterans had 14 years after separation to utilize their enhanced benefits,” Mikelson said. “And despite the DoD’s retention concerns, a recent report indicates that retention rates have not been adversely effected.”

Two things Mikelson said he likes about the new GI Bill, which currently sits on President Bush’s desk, is that it will do away with the $1,200 buy-in stipulation. “New enlistees should not be paying this at a time in their lives when they can least afford it,” he said. “I also like that it will pay the benefits up front when the tuition is due and students need money for books.”

“The current GI bill was designed in peace time and has not kept pace with the rising costs of education,” Mikelson said. “Veterans tend to be older students and have spouses and dependents they are supporting, so it’s a challenge to make ends meet. A number of veterans are trying to balance family with full-time classes and full-time employment, not to mention they have the additional challenge of readjusting to civilian life. I think the new GI Bill benefits will help ease some of these burdens.”

UI Helps Vets Fill Gap Left Behind by GI Bill

While veterans wait for Congress to work out an updated version of the GI Bill that will survive President Bush’s veto pen, the University of Iowa has created a Veterans Grant Program to help fill the financial gap that many veterans face with existing GI Bill benefits.

John Mikelson, advisor for the UI Veterans Center, explained that while the current GI Bill covers some tuition and fees for veterans, it does not cover all costs, depending on individual situations.

"In a best-case scenario, approximately 60 percent of these educational costs are currently covered for veterans, and the UI grant will be a big help to current students," Mikelson said in a release.

UI is among the first universities in the country to offer this kind of grant to veterans, he added.

The UI will provide grants of up to $500 per semester to offset educational expenses for veterans who entered service from the state of Iowa and who served on active duty in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or other periods of hostility.

The UI has allocated $100,000 for the Veterans Grant Program, according to UI President Sally Mason.

"This grant program was created to support our veterans who have given so much to our country. It's the start of an effort to help these students who have returned to the University of Iowa to improve their lives through education," Mason said in a statement.

Larry Lockwood, assistant provost for enrollment services in the UI Office of the Registrar, said in a release: "Many of our students have had to delay their educational goals because they have been called to active duty to meet the needs of our country. The University of Iowa will give back to our veterans and eligible dependents in a small way and do what is right for this generation, as well as past generations who have served in times of conflict."

The new UI Veteran's Grant is based on need as determined by completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. Students who are eligible for benefits as a dependent of a veteran who became 100 percent disabled or died as a result of military duty may also be awarded this grant. The Veterans Grant is renewable, but cannot exceed eight semesters. To reapply, the veteran must complete the FAFSA each year and must submit an application.

Eli Painted Crow’s Spiritual Awakening in Iraq Helps Guide Her to Peace

Eli Painted Crow, a 22-year retired Army veteran, experienced a spiritual rebirth while serving in Iraq in 2004, which paved her current path to peace. “The defining moment for me, when I knew I had to get out of Iraq and the military, was when I fully realized that I was participating in the very same thing that my people had suffered and are still suffering in the United States,” Painted Crow told the Iowa Independent during an interview.

“When I got to know the Iraqi people, I found a lot of commonalities between them and native people,” said Painted Crow, a member of the Yaqui Nation. “Not only were they the same color as me, but we shared similar food dishes, prayers, the drum, sage, councils, and they have the same representation of animals as we do.”

The Iowa Independent had a chance to speak with Painted Crow last Thursday in Iowa City, where she was in town from California to speak as part of the University of Iowa Anti-War Committee’s Peace Week. During the interview, Painted Crow opened up about her experiences in Iraq, genocide, her culture, the power of language and meaning, and her latest peace-activist efforts.

When discussing issues about Iraq and her native community, Painted Crow wanted to make it clear, usually with a “speaking-for-myself” attribution, that her thoughts were her own and should not be attributed to all Native Americans. “It’s been a really hard road to get people to talk about the invasion in Iraq, but the native communities are beginning to open up,” Painted Crow said. “Native peoples are still afraid to talk in a bigger context, for they fear speaking out against the government. This fear has been embedded in us our entire lives, so people are still afraid.”

That said, Painted Crow shared her views on what’s happening in Iraq. “What I saw happening there is an instant replay of what happened to our people here. We are doing the very same thing,” Painted Crow said. “This United States was founded on violence and an invasion. It took away our land and tried really hard to execute genocide against a people that was already here, because they wanted the land. They redid the history books, and despite the truth, they are not changing the history books to illustrate the truth.”

Painted Crow says a lot of her people think she is crazy for speaking out, but she can no longer, with clear conscience, remain silent. “I can choose to speak this under my breath, or I can speak up and hope that people can see that we need to change things on a much deeper level than just saying, ‘Stop the war!’,” Painted Crow said. “The war abroad and the war at home look relatively the same, but you would only know that if you live in a community that sees oppression, racism and violence on a daily basis. Most people, who don’t see this firsthand, are more concerned about the war abroad -- which really isn’t a war but genocide.”

Painted Crow knows that people do not like the word genocide and don’t want to use it to describe the invasion in Iraq. “But if you look up the eight steps of genocide, you will see that we meet every criteria in Iraq,” Painted Crow said. “Nobody wants to use that word, because then we would have to look at our history, how our nation was founded, and that means we would have to have a healing process, a conversation about race and oppression that exists to this day. And who really wants to admit that we have to do this work?”

The U.S. is in denial when it comes to Iraq, Painted Crow says, claiming the nation cannot admit it has a problem, but instead, points its fingers at Pres. George Bush and Vice Pres. Dick Cheney. “We are a mirror of what this nation has become. We are a part of it and we are accountable for it. It’s easy to point fingers and say it’s his fault, but we all are accountable and responsible and need to step up for something different.”

Moreover, Painted Crow draws similar parallels to what is happening in Iraq to her peoples’ history. “It is the very same thing in Iraq. We are going over there and it’s not a war, rather, it’s an invasion, and we need to make that distinction clear,” Painted Crow said. “We did not have a conflict with them. They did not bomb us on 9/11.

“When you defend, you’ve done something wrong, and there is a truth that is not coming out. To me the word ‘defend’ is attached to a truth that hasn’t been revealed, so in order not to reveal that truth, we use the word ‘defend,’” Painted Crow argues. “We use the words ‘protect’ and ‘defend’ so interchangeably that people don’t know the difference. For me, defending this country isn’t real because what we are defending is a lie.

“This divide-and-conquer strategy has always and still exists in our country and that’s why we have gangs,” Painted Crow said. “If Native Americans, Latinos and African Americans can kill each other, that is one less thing the government has to deal with. The same holds true in Iraq. If the Shias and Sunnis keep killing each other, that is one less thing the government has to worry about.”

Painted Crow is convinced that her native people are seeing what is going on but are not quick to stand up to the government because they don’t have much to lose. “It’s scarcity thinking,” Pained Crow said. “If you are already oppressed, why do you care about what’s happening over there. It’s not that you don’t care what’s happening in Iraq, but if you have so much oppression in your backyard to begin with, it’s too much.

“If you have only so much, you’re going to fight to keep it, because you are under a scarcity mentality that there is not enough,” Painted Crow said. “Because the government teaches us that, this is where we operate from and we are too afraid to trust that there is an out. As a native person who feels connected to the Earth and the universe, I don’t think that the universe would put us all here and tell us there is not enough.”

Painted Crow also has a theory that there are a number of prophecies starting to stand out for native peoples, so they are standing back and letting them happen. “Things have to happen for change to take place,” she said. “The government has to fall, and we need to hit the bottom so we can rise. And some native people see no need to try and stop it.”

Similar to a number of people from native communities, Painted Crow joined the military for economic reasons. When she enlisted in 1981 at the age of twenty, Painted Crow was a single mother of two boys, living on welfare, had only a GED, had no support from her family and saw the military as her only escape from poverty.

“Although as I got older, I became more patriotic in my service, because I was being recognized by my people, the Yaqui Nation, which is trying to instill the pride of being a warrior that exists in native communities,” Pained Crow said. “We have this understanding of warriors and how warriors in our history have protected our country or our families or our land, however, not so much in the U.S. This has translated into being soldiers, because our native people have equated being a soldier to being a warrior of our native past.”

Having experienced 22 years of the military, Painted Crow says this is not entirely true but admits it is the closest thing her native people have to becoming warriors for the country. “We don’t understand that as warriors of our past, we protected our families, whereas U.S. soldiers are charged with defending our country, which are two different things,” she said. “To me, when you defend, it is because you know you’ve done something wrong and you know you have to protect it. You have to put these walls up. On the other hand, when you are protecting something, you are not out looking for trouble, rather, you’re protecting your families and holding this space for your community to grow.”

While serving in Iraq in 2004 (from April to September), Painted Crow experienced and witnessed a number of discriminatory, racist, and sexist incidents, which she recounts during a talk at the 2006 Veterans for Peace Conference (see video below).



Although Painted Crow experienced a mental and spiritual awakening that told her she needed to shift direction and follow the pathway to peace, it was a physical problem that brought her home from Iraq, six months into her tour. Shortly before she was expected to deploy to Iraq, painted Crow was diagnosed with endometriosis, a painful condition in which uterine tissue grows into other parts of the body. Her commanding officer assumed she was making it up, so she was shipped over to Iraq anyhow. A military assessment of her health condition was not enough to prevent her from being shipped to Iraq.

While in Iraq, Painted Crow says she felt excruciating pain related to her endometriosis on a daily basis, and the closest gynecologist was four hours away “I wasn’t about to travel that far, facing IEDs [improvised explosive devices] on the way, just to see the doctor every time I needed help with my condition.” A female first sergeant told her to get a hysterectomy, and she took her first sergeant’s advice and had the operation at a VA hospital while on a 10-day leave.

Meanwhile, her commander in Iraq marked her as AWOL, even though she was recovering from surgery in a military hospital. Painted Crow thinks her commander was out to get her and wanted her back in Iraq. “I think she wanted to keep me under her control because of all the in-your-face racist things she said that I called her out on.”

Thanks to the help of a military friend who was able to pull some strings, Painted Crow was kept from being marked AWOL. However, her stay at the VA hospital was extended to eight weeks after the surgery was not successful and caused her to have a prolapse of the fallopian tube.

Painted Crow never returned to Iraq and retired from the military upon hitting her 22-year mark and received her discharge papers on Nov. 1, 2006. “Ironically, I was discharged on the Day of the Dead,” she said.

However, this did spur her spiritual rebirth in the peace movement. Painted Crow is committed to advocating for peace. “You cannot fight for peace, you have to be it. If you can be at peace, you can connect to people and that is my focus.”

Currently, she is involved with Turtle Women Rising, “an organization of women committed to making a difference in the world by bringing the heartbeat of the drum in response to our Mother’s cry,” her web site states. The group is in the process of organizing a Heartbeat for Peace in Washington, D.C. Oct. 10-12.

“The drum gathering will be led by women, but we need men to hold space for us to be the protectors, and we need children there to understand the power of the drum,” she said. “If we speak drum, we might come to an understanding without having a difference. No peace, anti-war signs, and don’t come representing an organization. Just bring yourself and your drum -- the heartbeat.”

Painted Crow is also involved with Services Women’s Action Network (SWAN), a leading voice of military women and veterans. Her focus with SWAN is to help women in the military and inform women who are considering joining what they will be dealing with, if and when they sign up. “The military system is not designed to help women, so it’s important they get the fact from someone who is not trying to enlist them,” she said.

Originally posted on "Iowa Independent"

Veterans' Events Hit Eastern Iowa with a Flourish

In the wake of the five-year anniversary marking the war in Iraq, a number of veterans-related events are scheduled this week in eastern Iowa, primarily Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.

"Doonesbury’s" Garry Trudeau: As part of the 2008 Coe College Contemporary Issues Forum, Garry Trudeau will be speaking at the Contemporary Issues Forum in Cedar Rapids at 7:30 tonight. The event was originally scheduled in February, but was rescheduled because of inclement weather.

For the past 37 years, Trudeau has communicated primarily through his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic strip, "Doonesbury." However, the war in Iraq has indirectly prompted him to speak out on related issues, bringing the war home to readers through the experiences and perspective of B.D., a veteran of Gulf War I and the wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

For many "Doonesbury" readers, the war in Iraq hit home in April 2003, when Trudeau decided to blow up B.D's leg while B.D. was serving in Iraq. B.D.'s leg had to be amputated, and his injury, coupled with the psychological effects of his experiences, helped inspire more than 220 strips. It also resulted in two books: "The Long Road Home" chronicles B.D.'s journey home and transition into the civilian world, while "The War Within" captures B.D.'s internal struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.

In addition to bringing the war home through "Doonesbury," Trudeau has helped capture the day-to-day experiences of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan through his milblog (military-blog), "The Sandbox." Lightly edited by longtime editor David Stanford, "The Sandbox" features dispatches from milbloggers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, who share their observations, comments and anecdotes with readers at home.

Read an exclusive Iowa Independent interview with Trudeau here.

Tickets for the event, at $10 for the general public and $5 for students and seniors, can be reserved by calling the Coe Box Office at 319-399-8600.

“Iowa Stories: The Vietnam Experience”: In 1989 University of Northern Iowa professor Marilyn Shaw, 57, of Cedar Falls wanted to preserve Vietnam war memories through the oral tradition, which she adapted into an oral-interpretive play, "Iowa Stories: The Vietnam Experience." The play will be performed for the fifth time at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Englert in Iowa City. Tickets are $12.50.

Drawing from 28 interviews with Vietnam veterans from Iowa, Shaw interweaves their stories into nine character archetypes for her play. As one of the vets told Shaw, “You can hate the war, but don’t hate the warrior, because the warrior is doing what he [or she] was trained to do.”

University of Iowa Anti-War Committee’s Peace Week: As part of its Peace Week, the University of Iowa Anti-War Committee is sponsoring a number of veterans’ events designed to bring discussions about war and peace into the community and the classrooms.

Andy Duffy and Jason Munford will be part of a panel discussion at the South Room in the UI’s Iowa memorial Union at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Duffy, an Iowa National Guard medic who served at Abu Ghraib prison in 2005-06, founded the Iowa City chapter of the Iraq Veterans Against the War and recently testified at the Winter Soldier hearings in Washington, D.C.

Munford, an Air Force veteran, will share his experiences as a conscientious objector after he was ordered to deploy to Iraq.

Thursday night will feature Eli Painted Crow, a retired Army veteran of 22 years, who will share her recent experiences during a recent deployment to Iraq and explain why she’s speaking out against the war. A Native American from the Yaqui Nation, she is a grandmother of eight and mother of two sons who both served in the military. She will be speaking in the Iowa Room at the IMU at 7 p.m.

During the 2006 Veterans for Peace Conference, she spoke out about a barrage of injustices she said were committed by members of her unit during her deployment to Iraq. She said she witnessed and faced several incidents of discrimination, racism, sexual harassment and sexual abuse/assault committed by her fellow soldiers, prompting her to leave the service upon her return.

Eli Painted Crow Speaks at 2006 Veterans for Peace Conference



Moreover, in conjunction with the Peace Week’s events, the UI Veterans’ Association will host a forum on veterans’ benefits, health care and homelessness. Guest speakers will include Mike Hull, post commander of American Legion Post #17, Iowa City; Stephanie Linn, President of UI Veterans Association; and Tom Kelly, co-founder of Vets Helping Vets. The forum will take place at 7 p.m. Friday in the Illinois Room at the IMU.

Originally posted on "Iowa Independent"