Operation Warfighter: A Great Match for a Vet and the FWS
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| Photo Caption: President Obama shakes hands with veteran Adam Conger of the Patuxent Research Refuge. Credit: Tami A Heilemann / DOI |
Adam Conger of the Patuxent Research Refuge wasn’t working in the outdoors he loves today. Instead the veteran of the Iraq war was representing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior as part of an event to showcase President Obama’s Plan to Put Veterans Back to Work.
Part of the President’s plan is to a Veterans Job Corps conservation program that will put up to 20,000 veterans back to work over the next five years protecting and rebuilding America.
Veterans are perfect for the job, President Obama said at Friday’s event: “They’ve already risked their lives defending America. They should have the opportunity to rebuild America.”
The President is building on other efforts to get returning veterans into the workforce. The Service has also made a strong commitment to those efforts, joining programs like Operation Warfighter (OWF), sponsored by the Department of Defense.
Operation Warfighter helped Conger get where he is today, and it has been a great match.
Conger says, “You do what you like to do,” and it is clear he has found something that he likes.
It wasn’t always like that.
When he went to Walter Reed Medical Center in July 2009, after a second deployment in Iraq, Conger was unsure of his future. He was uncertain whether he would be able to work again much less find a place to work. Through Operation Warfighter, Conger found answers to his uncertainty at the Patuxent refuge in Laurel, Maryland.
Operation Warfighter provides internships for wounded, ill and injured military Service members who are being treated at military hospitals across the United States, like Walter Reed.
Wanting to explore his next career move, Conger attended a job fair where he not only learned about the Service, but was introduced to the OWF Program by Julia Bumbaca, Service Disability Program Manager, Office of Diversity and Inclusive Workforce Management. Conger immediately submitted a resume for the program.
Refuge Manager Brad Knudsen also learned of the OWF program through the Regional and Washington Offices of Diversity and Civil Rights. When the time came, Conger, with his military experience and work with trucks, was the first OWF Knudsen called, knowing he was a good match. Knudsen recalls Conger saying, “I want a job where I can be outside most of the time.” He got his wish when he started interning in the facilities department at the refuge.
While completing rehabilitation at Walter Reed, Conger continued his internship at Patuxent. Near the completion of his rehabilitation in July 2011, a facilities position was opening at the refuge. With Conger’s skills, knowledge and experience, Knudsen knew he was the right person for the job and began the process of hiring him. Knudsen boasts, “Adam brings enthusiasm and a wealth of expertise to the refuge. He has a willing spirit and seems genuinely happy to be an employee of the National Wildlife Refuge System.” Knudsen also extends accolades to Conger’s supervisor, Martin Brockman, who was instrumental in guiding Conger through the hiring process.
In August 2011, Conger was officially hired at Patuxent Research Refuge. When asked what is most surprising or pleasing about the job, Conger says it's the “guidance, friendship and helpfulness of the refuge staff." While interning at the refuge, refuge staff would call him at Walter Reed to make sure he was doing all right. Conger said the internship, and now the job, gave him something to look forward to doing every day. “I was happy to get out of bed and have something important and fun to do.”
Conger now spends much of his time at the refuge on tractors, backhoes, graders, and making equipment repairs in the field. Having first enlisted in the military in 1981, Conger’s many years of practical experience are now being put to use accomplishing the valuable goals and mission of the Service, the natural and the outdoor world he enjoys so much.
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