 Welcome to another edition of Hawaii in Uniform, I'm your host Calvin Griffin and I always start out with the same introduction for those of you who haven't seen the program before. Here we talk about a lot of things that affect our veterans community and what we try to do is connect the dots. There's a lot of different programs out there that many veterans don't know about and we're going to try to be informative about what we present to you today. Today I have two guests, one is a call-in Mr. Larry Maze who's with the veteran student organization and also Mr. Jeremy Gawin who's with the Fleet Reserve Association and Jeremy was on the program before but right now to get right into it I want to introduce Mr. Maze. Mr. Maze thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. Good, may I call you Larry? Please don't worry. Okay could you tell us a little bit about your organization as I'm in the intro as I mentioned in the past also that there's a lot of different programs out there that the veterans may not be aware of and what we're trying to do is connect the dots with the different groups out there. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and also a little bit about the organization? My name is Larry Maze I'm the vice president of the student veteran organization. I've been a student here at University of Hawaii for two years now. I'm a triple major in management information systems management and human resources and our group is a student veteran organization and we're a mix of veterans who serve at all branches of the of the United States Air Force all forces give me and what we do here at the office we advocate support and mentor all of our veterans our student veterans and try to try to give them the resources they need to be successful students. Great. How much time did you spend in the military? I just spent four years in the military. I got out of 2013 and immediately started school. All right. Just a back reference also. Where are you originally from? You mentioned Memphis? Yes I'm originally from Memphis Tennessee. Once I joined the military ended up I did a small step at the Tennessee National Guard and then I transferred here to Hawaii to the Hawaii National Guard and then after that went active duty from there. Okay are you still in the reserve system or are you completely out? I'm completely out. Okay well with the organization how did that start and could you get a little bit more detail about what your mission statement is? The organization started just with a bunch of veterans who were looking for more resources on campus. It's actually a conversation that came that come up a lot as you know University of Hawaii has a rich history and seven veterans so our mission is to continue to bring quality service to veterans give them the resources they need no matter what their stipulations is we do the best we can to make sure they get everything they need. Okay some of the resources you're talking about like job placement or what kind of also the mentoring program want to talk about that also but is there anything to do with job placement or anything like that? We actually have a voc rehab specialist here and often that our office of better student services which we're a partner with so it's like the voc rehab is basically to help students better students who have a certain like may have an element or something like that that can keep them from being employed to reach a degree path to where it will help them take care of their family by being qualified for a certain job. Okay so with the voc rehab they don't necessarily have to be enrolled as a student as long as they're a veteran. They actually have to be enrolled as a student. Oh enrolled as a student okay all right so what is the future for the organization? Do you see it growing how many members do you have roughly right now? 20 to 30 members we have a large executive board that are dedicated to all of our to all of our members we're also starting to mentor other people too as well we just starting to get that program going as well. The support that you are you getting a lot of support from the university and the faculty members? Yes and also there's a lot of loopholes in the system here that we have to get together but we're making the right contact and it's coming along slowly but surely. Okay also you mentioned that there's a event that's going on today that you're currently hosting could you tell us a little bit more about that it's going to be some people out there that may not be aware of what's happening and might want to come down and join you to get more information. Yes here at the KELC building on campus at the University of Hawaii in Minoa they're having open house and celebration for the Queen's birthday and all the offices here are open for students or aspiring students veterans to come down and get more information about these resources that are contained in this building. A lot of people don't a lot of people come to this building mainly to register and for financial aid but they don't understand there's other resources here too as well. Okay I tell you is there a contact number that they some I can reach you with they're a little bit confused about directions or you know any other things any other information they may need before they go down. Oh yes you can call me in my office at 808 956-2192 or you can call me on my direct line at 901 at the area code 901-634-3831. Okay if you can just mention it one more time a little bit more slowly for those who are trying to get a pencil out there or crayon. Okay sorry you reached me at the office at 808 956-2192 or my personal contact area code 901-634-3831. Great okay as I mentioned we have Mr. Gwin here Jeremy Jeremy is also you mentioned about the you were with the student organization back on the main line. Yes I was part of the startup for the student veterans organization at the University of Southern Minnesota at Hattiesburg in Mississippi. Okay and it's a it's a great organization they do a lot they do a real a lot. All right Larry with all the different veterans out there that migrate back and forth or the different parts of the country are you in touch with some of the other student organizations out there veterans student organizations? And other campuses? Yes. At this moment no but we plan on reaching out starting here locally because because like us being at the University of Minnesota we're supposed to be stable about these organizations and different campuses like Leeward KCC they all have better organizations so we want to be the ones at the forefront showing showing those other smaller organizations how it should be and also giving them also a bridge to when they get ready to transfer over here already have a connection here as well. All right uh do you guys have a Facebook or website or some other form of social media that can help that you're using to disseminate the information? Yes they can catch us on Facebook uh student veteran organization dash UH Minoa on Facebook. Okay and what's planned for the future as far as again some of the resources that are available again with the mentoring program how does that work? Our mentor program will be uh upper graduate students uh taking our undergraduate students uh they're new here um whatever they need sometimes people might need uh help with their school or they might just need uh uh I hear to listen to uh what's going on in their life you know so we're here to support in any way that we can. Okay I know also that there's a lot of veterans out there that um sometimes they get misinformation or not enough information before they transition out uh is there any uh counseling programs like that can enlighten them to what's happening with the or their educational benefits that um you know may not be widely known or the information not widely disseminated in case. From uh from my experience I've uh a lot of people end up not knowing how to use their uh use use a different um uh options uh with uh with uh with the 9-11 deal uh the vocabulary have and a lot of people are not getting the actual all the resources they need so there are there there are plenty of services available um and if anybody wants to contact maybe a lot easier to be uh uh talk to a one-on-one about everybody's situation is different and uh I personally uh thrive on helping people so if if I can't figure it out I'm gonna find somebody who can't figure it out and that's what that's what that's what uh makes me make sure you keep going. All right like I said it's all about connecting the dots Jeremy what do you know about I mean are you familiar with any programs or anything that's happening to enlighten the veterans? Well um I actually I'm I'm a member actually in the program with the voc rehab right now as a graduate student at a Emery Real Aeronautical University so I've got some background some knowledge on that and actually I'd be very interested in in your in your mentorship program as a graduate student working with undergraduates some of the other organizations that are here locally um that could really utilize especially student veterans or organizations like the Fleet Reserve Association um also Team Rubicon Team Rubicon is stood up here a couple of years ago I was a part of that uh standing that unit up currently we've got members deployed to Hurricane Harvey along the Gulf Coastal areas of Texas Louisiana um Team Rubicon is is widely known across the United States a couple of years ago actually last year uh we became international so now we can deploy uh to natural disasters and emergency relief across the world. Okay we'll get more information about that anyhow because that was interesting okay um Larry is there anything else that you'd like to discuss? That's pretty much it uh if uh if anybody needs me uh my my contact information is uh filled uh erico 901 634 3831 or if you email me at l as in lemo m as in mike a ys 901 at hawaii.edu okay and one more time just in case erico 901 634 3831 and my email is l m a ys 901 at hawaii.edu great okay well mr mason's been a real pleasure and uh let's say we're looking forward to doing a firewall program any one thing we can do here to help you disseminate information or you know like get and help the veterans connect the dots we'd be more than happy to do so but uh thank you for your efforts and thank you for your you know uh service to our country thank you for your time and one other thing before I let you go and uh before we go um as far as the female veterans what are there any special programs in place for them that you're aware because that's another issue that uh seems to be not getting enough um attention as far as with the some of the special needs for our female troops uh do you have anything on that uh all the all the history now I know our uh all of our services is uh is uh is uh is uh is uh gender proof um gender it's not even now it's gender equal so uh there's not there's not a certain a certain um a certain specific for female soldiers for female troops yeah just yet but if they if they need anything like I said well if we don't have the resources we would we would definitely point them in the right direction okay yeah because in the past we uh came across some information about some of the challenges that uh some of our female soldiers and veterans have encountered that um have not been adequately addressed you know not by yourself but as far as with the the system in general so that's what I was curious about it maybe if you knew something that may be in place but I'm quite sure that you know as you express that you're going to do everything you can for all veterans regardless of their gender but um yeah we'll um we're doing some more research on that and but we'll definitely keep in touch and find out how things going with uh you and the organization and as I mentioned before do what we can to help support getting the information out so we're here for the help help help out the case support so if if that issue comes up yeah we're we're behind the 100 percent great okay well we're looking forward to some time in the future having you in the studio but again thank you for your time I know you're pretty busy down there trying to um what you're dealing with your event but thanks again thank you all right have a nice day you too okay so Mr. Mays and um like I say a lot of things is going on anyhow and we're gonna I don't know if we're gonna be taking a break pretty soon or what but um one minute okay uh we're gonna get into more detail about what's happening and about uh since we take our break here but um quite sure do you have some information that you can share to enlighten some of our veterans also always now right but anyhow like I say you're here with um Hawaiian uniform and um we'll take our break and we'll come back and continue our conversation with Mr. Jeremy Gouin and uh we'll always look for feedback so we'll take our break I'm good I'm good I'm good but I have a story and I don't know where to start I feel alone in the crowd I can't sleep I feel overwhelmed I don't even know who I am anymore I still have nightmares I can't live like this anymore I'm really not so good are you ready to listen the host of Voice of the Veteran seen here live every Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m on Think Tech Hawaii as a fellow veteran and veterans advocate with over 23 years experience serving veterans active duty and family members I hope to educate everyone on benefits and accessibility services by inviting professionals in the field to appear on the show in addition I hope to plan on inviting guest veterans to talk about their concerns and possibly offer solutions as we navigate and work together through issues we can all benefit please join me every Thursday at 1 p.m for the voice of the veteran aloha okay and you're back with uh Hawaiian uniform I'm your host Calvin and uh we got Mr. Gouin Jerry I mean Jeremy how's it going again today that's pretty good okay I know you were in a program before and uh one of the issues that you're dealing with you're the legislative chairman for the fleet reserve association correct how's that going and what context are you making right now or what responses are you getting from some of our elected officials as far as the veterans issues well currently um like I said I've recently returned to the island in the uh in December um since then I've been active um basically keeping tabs on what's going on at the uh at the government and federal government level yeah um recently they've passed the um the modernization act um which is they're trying to attack the backlog issue of veterans that are reapplying for either upgrades in their disabilities or the like or adding disabilities or adding service related injuries uh to their initial claims yeah um so they've been able to um reduce it from 2000 and I want to say eight numbers which was around 600,000 cases backlog now they're down to around 83,000 so they've been able to modernize that whole process right now and go outside so that's one of the things we're keeping tabs on um the fleet reserve association you know we also advocate not just for the Navy the Marines or the Coast Guard but we advocate across the board I mean um and this goes back to the original conversation that we had the first time that was on the program where we were talking about what's the veterans conversation like and is it happening at what level um so we're trying to just like with Mr uh with Larry earlier you know we find that a lot of times with veterans you know if you have something to say you know I'm willing to take your word for it more than I would maybe somebody else just because if especially if it relates to veterans um affairs or veteran dealings or anything yeah um so those are where the conversations are happening yeah well the compass you know we have conversations a lot of times with the conversation we have offline we talk about the vet you know and we you know some um similar issues that we all share in one way or the other you know uh some of the things of course happening with the VA uh that's a running battle that's going on all the time you know uh there's a lot of good as I mentioned in the past there's a lot of good people who work for the VA but sometimes systemically there's a lot of problems that are not being addressed because whatever reason they can't you know or they won't be addressed you know hopefully with the new administration the way it's been touted is that they're seeming that you know they're going to go ahead and put new things in place that will help expedite um or address certain issues concerned in the veterans anyhow so I know they have a hotline that's being set up um here in Hawaii um I think for the most part you know a lot of people are comfortable but that does still mean that there can't be some improvements in the system over here especially one thing we wanted we don't have a veterans hospital over here you know we have the different the clinics over here or whatever but um I think that that's another issue that the long standing goes a long way back anyhow but again connecting the dots like so between those who represent us and those who are actually out there who have served you know their country and the issues that we're dealing with and one of the things as I mentioned with um Larry is there's a lot of things that's still happening when our you know special needs for our female veterans you know a lot of issues are not being addressed because one of the things I came across recently that was a documentary called the invisible war I don't know if you ever heard of that one okay this is about the sexual harassment of female troops you know and it's it really is more extensive than people think you know and the way that some of our female veterans have been treated in the past it's really despicable to be honest with you know and actually that's one of the things that they really don't talk about you know I know there's a lot of um again not singling out or trying to make any special part of the veterans community special but there are needs that needs to be addressed you know in certain cases and I think that's definitely one of them and I recommend that figure out if you're out there go to the library or pull it up on the internet it's called invisible wars and it's very enlightening or you know and sad in a way about the issue what's being addressed and the long range of fact not only on the female veteran and again as far as with the the rapes in the military that's another thing they really don't want to talk about this male female you know and it's like you know again one of those things like well we'll talk about it offline you know at the time when it does hit the press if there's something that can't be I'd say buried then they come up with these different programs you know but this is something that's a constant you know and I believe that most of the male members of the veterans community wholeheartedly support you know what's going on with the um as far as our female counterparts you know what we can do but I think a lot of people are not aware of the situation the extensiveness of it you know and a lot of that has to do with the systemic problems those who represent us you know and that's what sometimes that's really disheartening and really discouraging and really bothers the heck out of me to find out that there the problem has been identified but not properly addressed you know we do have people that's well with a lot of problems I definitely agree with you on that a lot of it has to stem from as you stated the systemic issues within the military and it comes with a certain amount of complacency yeah and complacency breeds contempt and that's what we've had you know over the past couple of years um but also there's a there's an element of being visible there's a the element of being transparent which um as you and I both know and any veteran listening to this program you know at a certain point in time it's just like look don't BS me anymore just shoot me straight and let me go on about my business and do what I have to do and as the conversations that we were talking about earlier having them offline and everything okay we can have them offline but at a certain point in time there needs to be some acknowledgement and that acknowledgement comes in the form of being out here in the public eye and say hey these do exist and these are what we're this is what we're trying to do to correct that and that will give us as veterans some some sort of saying you know hey at least we're trying you know yeah uh because some of the caps excuse me watering up here not because I'm getting too emotional but the thing is um yeah we do go through the different council meetings and things that have nature what they do have different forums or you know so-called uh open house you know conversations but when you really get to the heavy issues it's like uh the representatives from the VA and a few other places like okay let's talk about this offline with me there is no offline yes you need to go ahead and address the issue if like say if it concerns me if it brings me you know to bring the members of my organization up to speed on certain things we need to talk about this in an open conversation you know where everybody because if I'm concerned about it definitely you're concerned about it well you know somebody that is definitely being affected you know so this offline stuff has got to stop we have to be completely honest with what's going on there's a time and a place on how to address certain issues but you know to try to just say ignore it and think it's going to go away it ain't going to happen no no I mean and the simple fact of the matter is whatever individuals or groups or whatever they want to sit there and say well let's talk about it offline number one that tells me well you don't have your ducks in a row you're not up to speed on the information and you have actually no concept of what's going on so now you've got to go back and chase down leads and information and stuff like that but if you come to us and ask us maybe that we have as other veterans some ideas on it so and that that goes back to leadership it's just like look I'm not here to tell you how to do it I'm here to take in your information so we can all figure out a way out of this yeah because we all got ourselves into this in one way or the other well that's the problem as far as the common sense approach not only like say with the veterans issues but the much larger scale in general was happening with our country where common sense seems to go out the window it solves about special interests and when you've had people like say that are especially involved with the veterans community who have invested interest in just keeping their job you know it's then and we've seen that in the past we've been discussed briefly but not again to the extent we have people who they can't be fired you know because they're either unionized or whatever not that I have anything against unions but there's a time and a place for everything the main thing is making sure that the job is done for our veterans there's no excuse whatsoever you know and the things the way they play musical chairs in certain circumstances where you just when you screw up here we're just going to ship you off someplace else you know yes yeah I think well retired general James Mattis current secretary defense recently stated that you know there's there's a job that we have on the active duty side and that's to go out and defend and he wasn't apologizing I don't think so much for you know the way the war is going but he was also bringing to the forefront the issues that we have within our own country and you know that's where us as veterans can actually step in and say you know what hey we understand these problems as well and we have different perspectives so like the students veterans organizations the other organizations that are out there you know that are being born because we have a lot of new veterans organizations that are being born out of this this brunt this weight that we've been carrying for 30 years now and then you've got other organizations like the fleet reserve association like the vfw that are that are needing new blood yeah and that's one of the issues that we have at the fleet reserve association here locally is we need new blood coming in but at the same time this gives us an opportunity to actually get out in the communities and voice our opinions voice our concerns not just for ourselves but for everybody involved because everybody's going to you know I like going through yeah going through revitalization because one of the things you mentioned of course with the fleet reserve are familiar with that anyhow but with a lot of the groups anyhow you have the old guard a lot of people that are in place that be honest with you they shouldn't be there any longer because their interest is mainly is like again the holding pattern where I'm here I know what's best you know and that's all there's to it that's the reason why we're not getting they're not getting a lot of influx from the from the younger community we're down to it with the wire like say for about a minute anyhow but this is something like say they definitely I'd like to come back we're going to talk about this a little bit more but as far as with the different groups and the veterans out there do we need to connect the dots if these certain systems are not going to support us then we need to work together that's a very important anyhow anyhow as I mentioned we're getting down to the wire in 10 seconds or less anything you want to say. Mahalo again thanks for having me it was a great meeting Larry everybody stay tuned you know keep coming back to the show we got more information great okay thank you very much Mahalo and until that time