FALLS CHURCH, Va. –
FALLS CHURCH, Va.- One of the most significant lines from the thriller movie Taken, “I have a very particular set of skills” (Thanks, Liam Neeson ), is taken to a whole new level when it comes to Soldiers about to leave the Army and enter the civilian workforce.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael Yoha, a sixteen-year traditional Guardsman from California, is finding out firsthand how to translate his Army skills into civilian speak to secure a job when he medically retires this year. “To me, this is my saving grace. I’m 16 years in, so I don’t qualify for my 20-year retirement,” said Yoha, who was taking advantage of a Job Fair at the Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) Soldier Recovery Unit (SRU) in July.
Yoha fully planned on a twenty-year career in the Army National Guard, but a recent deployment changed that. “I was injured during my deployment to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and was medically evacuated to the JBLM SRU for treatment,” said the automotive maintenance warrant officer.
“I had dizzy spells in Kuwait at Camp Arifjan; I remember walking to the latrine, which was a separate building, and one of the doors caught me, and I woke up at the bottom of the steps.”
He had a previous back injury but was cleared to deploy, and he said he felt better, but after this incident with the dizzy spells and the fall, his back pain returned. “I had pain in my back and hip, and I hit my head too, so I had pain all over,” said Yoha, who knows he has surgeries in his future.
Yoha is managing his pain through therapy at the SRU, along with medical treatment. “I’ve had countless injections in my back, shoulders, hips, knees, elbows. I had five failing conditions and possibly two more. I am awaiting my disability ratings, and I know I will retire medically this year.”
He said the mosaic of resources Yoha had available to him at the JBLM SRU was mind-blowing. He participated in adaptive reconditioning events along with physical and occupational therapy. Knowing that he could focus solely on recovery and finding a job comforted him. He admits that, at first, it was a whirlwind of confusion about translating his life into a marketable resume.
“In my civilian life, I was a seven-year federal civilian employee, and I then worked in the oil refineries in the California Bay Area, but I'm a little too banged up to go back to that,” said Yoha, who also had some unique experiences along the way, thanks to the Army and COVID.
“I've been on active duty pretty much since January 2020- I went to my Warrant Officer basic course, came back for two weeks, then started on the FEMA COVID-19 mission, then went on to deployment, and now I'm here.”
He shares how getting resume writing coaching at the SRU and being encouraged to step out and come to the job fairs was eye-opening. It helped him put the pieces of his work puzzle together.
“For the COVID-19 FEMA mission I worked on, I was originally assigned to help provide lodging to people, like 3 thousand of them all up and down California. It was a nightmare, so dealing with that, and I was a battle captain and went to mission support meetings with the state logistics office and the California office of emergency services, so coming to talk to FEMA here was a no-brainer.”
Yoha also says accepting help from Transition Coordinators with the medical board process is also a no-brainer and can help with future career opportunities. “The Transition Coordinators have taught me so much about the paths for hiring disabled veterans. These folks are helping me realize what I qualify for that I never would have known.”
Yoha knows accepting recovery and career help from the SRU was a great move, and he feels optimistic about the future. “I haven’t gotten the job yet, but I have a lot of hope instead of wondering what I will do. This program changed that for me.”