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VETERAN CORPS OF AMERICA
Quarterly Update From Veteran Corps of America
Summer 2013
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On the Right Track
Check out all the great work being done
in the Operations Directorate, including
a move to bigger and better (warehouse)
places!
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Letter from the President
Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy as Bill
acquaints you with all the great things
happening in and around Veteran Corps.
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Communications Update
Notice anything different about Veteran
Corps these days? Communications
introduces the all-new Intranet, new
marketing materials, and a new
animated video!
BBQ and Bike Rides!
Veteran Corps hasn’t just been busy
working, we’ve been busy enjoying
summer and supporting our vets!
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FOURTH TIME’S A CHARM!
John and Bill better get ready to put their party duds back on,
because we have it on good authority that Veteran Corps is
slated to make it onto the INC 500’s list of the fastest growing US
companies of 2013 for the fourth year in a row!
CorpsReport
is published by
Veteran Corps of America
Veteran Corps of America
10300 Eaton Place, Suite 340
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
Editor
Greg Moreau
Contributors
Michael Kiess
Thomas Mitchell
Kate Newing
Carolanne O’Neil
Mike Staunton
1.888.VETERAN (838-3726) or 703.691.8387 (VETS)
Fax: 703.691.8385
[email protected]
facebook.com/veterancorps
veterancorps.com
Ops Briefing!
Operations is the lifeblood of any company
and we here at Veteran Corps are lucky
to have some of the best people in the
business who put the customer’s mission
first. As Director of Operations Tad Johnston
always tells people, “I have the best job
in the world because I get to brag about
all the great things that Veteran Corps
is doing thanks to all of the outstanding
employees. They do such phenomenal
work, every day, supporting the customers
and their mission.”
CBRNE Products and Services Division
Welcome Aboard! The Operations Directorate is pleased to announce two new hires.
First up, we have the distinct privilege of
welcoming Dan Grant as the CBRNE Products
and Services Division Manager. Dan comes
to us after a long and successful career in the
Army, where he most recently supported the
USARC program from the government side
of the house. Veteran Corps, along with
our partner Camber, provide the CLS and
sustainment support for this program under
the Consequence Management contract.
Check out Dan’s profile on page 8 of the
newsletter!
We’re also happy to welcome John Kish
to the Marine Corps Installation Protection
Program (IPP) as Assistant Installation
CBRNE Protection Officer at Quantico. John
is a Naval reservist and has moved from
Pittsburgh, PA (Go Ravens!) to accept the
position. Welcome to the team John!
CM1. There’s a lot going on in the Consequence Management 1 (CM1) contract,
including support for DCRF and USARC
CBRNE response. In July, we’re delivering
Mass Casualty Decontamination (MCD) and
continued on page 6 >>>
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Team Veteran Corps Events!
CorpsReport
Letter from the President
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Bill Wheeler
President
Dear Team Veteran Corps Employees,
John Wheeler
Vice-President
LOCATIONS
O’FALLON, ILLINOIS
MID-AMERICA - HEADQUARTERS
Veteran Corps of America
220 East State Street, Suite 2F
O’Fallon, Illinois 62269
FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
CONTRACT MANAGEMENT:
Veteran Corps of America
10300 Eaton Place, Suite 340
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
EDGEWOOD, MARYLAND
LOGISTICS AND TRAINING FACILITY
Veteran Corps of America
1309 Continental Drive, Suite M
Abingdon, MD 21009
STEVENSVILLE, MARYLAND
DISTRIBUTION CENTER
Veteran Corps of America
387 Log Canoe Circle
Stevensville, MD 21666
Welcome to the newly revamped Veteran
Corps of America quarterly newsletter, The
Corps Report. With so much going on in and
around Veteran Corps these days, I wanted
to update you on all things Veteran Corps!
First off, because Operations are so central to
everything we do here at Veteran Corps, I’d like
to introduce you to Ops Briefing a summary
of key goings on under the capable leadership of John Wheeler, Vice
President of Operations, and his right-hand man, Tad Johnston, Director
of Operations. Next, I want to catch everyone up on the latest events,
including the Face of America bike ride, an unqualified success. In fact,
we’re over halfway to meeting our goal of $1 million in donations to
veterans support organizations! And as if anyone needs reminding,
summer’s the time for BBQ and good cheer, and that’s exactly what we
had last month at our Edgewood, MD Logistics and Training Facility in
early June!
June BBQ
It’s June, the weather is fine, and business is good. How should we
celebrate? With barbeque, of course! On June 5th, our teammates in
Edgewood, with support from Bill and John, organized a lunchtime
party to recognize the accomplishments of our USARC and DCRF
teams and organizational partners. You have heard in the All-Hands
meetings from the VCA USARC team (Scott Hamilton and Seth
Chouinard) and the VCA DCRF team (Sam DeMelo and Dan Tucker)
about our role in helping units and commands work together better
in the whole range of incident response. This event helps us build
and maintain strong internal ties between our program teams and
our partners. We know we can work together, now we are proving
we can have fun together! With our growing range of services and
adding another DCRF warehouse, you can be sure there will be
more of both in the months ahead.
Hey, have you noticed all the cool new tools and media that we’ve been rolling out? Let
me just say that the folks over at the Communications Directorate have been busy! Please
take the time to check out Kate Newing’s overview on the new Veteran Corps Intranet and
then check out the useful online tools via the newly updated Intranet. Need HR forms? An
org chart of the company? How about phone contact lists? They’re all there, and it’s your
internal Veteran Corps site, so please take a few moments to check it out! Ever wondered
about the tools we use to get our message across at conferences? Okay, probably not,
but in addition to the miscellaneous Veteran Corps “bling,” we also developed a new
Veteran Corps animated video. I gotta say, we’re really psyched about this video, because
it illustrates a legacy of service and transitions to modern-day capabilities (and if you’re
anything like me, you’ll want to crank up the volume on this one, folks!)
I invite you to take a few minutes and check out all things Veteran Corps in this
inaugural issue of The Corps Report. It’s all exciting stuff, and, I think, a great way to touch
base with everyone before our 4th of July holiday!
Sincerest Regards,
Bill
President and CEO
Veteran Corps of America
Bill Wheeler Signature | PANTONE 286C
Enjoy and feel free to let us know what you think about this new format, which,
along with archived versions of the previous newsletters, can be found online at
http://it.veterancorps.com/intranet/newsletter.
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Face of America Ride 2013
For the second time in two years, Team Veteran Corps participated
in the annual Face of America event, a 110-mile bike ride from the
Pentagon to Gettysburg. This event is totally focused on supporting
wounded veterans who overcome amazing physical challenges to
complete this grueling two day event. Just as Veteran Corps has
grown overall, Team Veteran Corps’ cycling team also grew! All told
there were 26 riders who wore the proud Team Veteran Corps
Cycling jerseys through the event. Joining us again this year were
14 members of Team Faithpoint, a local very athletic church group.
We also added six members of the 22nd Chemical Corps from
Aberdeen Proving Ground. Team VCA was once again led by our
Vice President, John Wheeler, backed up by repeat riders Mike Kiess,
Mike Staunton, and Scott Hamilton. Joining us this year, first time
riders Edgar Blanco, Seth Chouinard, and Tom Mitchell, all of whom
managed to navigate the hills of Maryland and Pennsylvania. (Not
sure, but Edgar may have set a Guinness world record by riding
109 miles without once sitting in the seat!) Tad Johnston, Director
of Operations couldn’t make it this year, but he joined the Veteran
Corps support team of Kyle Greene, Gina Brown, and Sharice
Boswell to meet riders at the finish line.
CorpsReport • VETERAN CORPS OF AMERICA
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CorpsReport
Tech Talk
Communications Update
Veteran Corps Version 1.0? For many people in Veteran Corps who have only just joined the team
recently (and for those who will be joining in the months ahead), they probably see Veteran Corps
as “Version 1.0.” But for the folks who have been at Veteran Corps since the beginning, or who have
been around for a few years, the look and feel of Veteran Corps is Version 3.0 or later! As the company
continues to evolve, our new brand has been showing up everywhere—from our new website, to the
trailer and truck wrap and marketing materials, to the new video and lapel pins (thought up by our very
own Tom Mitchell!), not to mention this newsletter—and that’s a good thing, indeed. But communication
is more than just “look and feel,” it’s about useful tools that employees can use.
We’re happy to introduce you to Veteran Corps’ new marketing materials, Intranet, and animated video,
as well as tools you can use every day.
The Veteran Corps employee Intranet (“VETS” or Veteran Corps Enterprise Technology System)
debuted in June to provide an employee-portal for whatever you’re looking for. The VETS Intranet
is structured with content from all of Veteran Corps’ functional areas including human resources,
finance and accounting, information technology, communications, operations, and quality assurance.
A variety of resources are just a few clicks away: you can view our employee phone directory and
organization charts in the about section, check out the frequently asked questions list under the IT
tab, or download logos, letterhead templates, and marketing brochures from the communications
toolbox. The Intranet will be continually updated to provide even more content and interactivity going
forward. You can view a secure repository of up-to-date information by logging on through the public
website (www.veterancorps.com) or by bookmarking https://it.veterancorps.com.
To make it easy to access
the site, there is now a link in
the upper right hand corner
of the Veteran Corps public
website (www.VeteranCorps.
com) that will take you directly
to our intranet. Just click on
“Intranet Login.” If you prefer,
you can still get to the site via
https://it.veterancorps.com.
Your email address/user name
Naming Contest! Bill Wheeler invites everyone to offer suggestions on a new name for the site (preferably an acronym to acknowledge our military roots!). In addition to a new name, content suggestions
for the VETS Intranet are encouraged. Help us evolve the site to a more dynamic employee resource
by sending ideas to Jim Sheldon and Bill Wheeler.
is your login (Ex: John.Doe or
[email protected]).
There is a “forgot password”
link just in case.
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Capabilities Package
[Front]
Truck & Trailer Wrap
VCA Lapel Pin
What’s a Challenge Coin? Veteran Corps’ ace designer Carolanne O’Neil has been central to the evolution of our overall look and feel, so she
was the perfect candidate to design a challenge coin for Veteran Corps’ high-value customer “six panel” carrier package to set us apart from
the pack. (We think she did a great job, too!) But just what is a challenge coin? Well, glad you asked! According to legend, challenge coins were
created by a lieutenant during World War I for each member of his squadron as a token of their service together. One pilot placed his coin in a
pouch worn around his neck. Later on, the man was captured by the Germans when his damaged aircraft was forced down behind enemy lines.
Capabilities Package
[Interior]
Challenge
Coin
During transport to a POW camp, the pilot was able to escape and eventually came upon a French patrol, to which he offered his military challenge
coin as proof that he was an American—an act that may well have saved his life! Once the pilot returned to his squadron, they each agreed to carry
the challenge coins at all times. Today, the challenge coin tradition is shared across all branches of the U.S. military and beyond. Challenge coins now
enforce solidarity and hold unit members to a high standard of service. Those challenged to produce their coins must do so immediately, and if they
are unable to, they must buy a round of drinks or perform some other service for everyone who displays his or her military challenge coin!
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Capabilities Package Overview: Slicks, Coins
Truck and Trailer Wrap:
Video Release
Veteran Corps is proud to introduce marketing materials that look
as great as the message they carry. To find out about our core
capabilities and services and more, check out these materials on
https://it.veterancorps.com/intranet/marketing_collateral.
Slicks are handed out to customers in custom-designed carrier
packages, and new employees will all be receiving them as part of
our updated “Welcome Aboard!” onboarding process. If you have
a meeting with a potential customer, feel free to get in touch with
Michael Clark in our Fairfax office to get hard copies.
One morning a few years ago, Mike Staunton was at Dunkin
Donuts in Stevensville when a VW bug all wrapped up as a bunch
of flowers from a flower shop pulled up. He asked the driver
where he had the artwork done and was told that “Shore Signs”
had created the work. Mike thanked the driver and went over to
meet with Shore Signs in person, told them what we might be
looking for, and the rest, as they say, is history! Our new design
was applied to the corporate truck and a new trailer to complete
the Veteran Corps “rolling advertisement” in grand style.
In the digital age, you have to work hard to keep up and we’re
happy to introduce the release of our promotional video. The
video, which includes actual archival footage of John and Bill
Wheeler’s grandfather, the longest serving Chairman of the Join
Chiefs of Staff, Earle G. Wheeler, draws on eye-popping animation
technology to create a 3D look and feel. The video is shown at
tradeshow conferences and is also up on the front office TV
screen in the Fairfax office. Take a few minutes to check it out
(click http://vimeo.com/68534195) and feel free to share the link
with friends, colleagues, and family members!
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CorpsReport • VETERAN CORPS OF AMERICA
CorpsReport • VETERAN CORPS OF AMERICA
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DID YOU KNOW?
Here are 10 things you might not
have known about Veteran Corps!
Did you know that…
1. Bill Wheeler has a jeep with a real
machine mounted to it?
2. John Wheeler is a serious
professional when it comes to
fantasy football?
3. Veteran Corps will be increasing
the number of employees by
50% or more in the next several
months?
4. Veteran Corps is on track to be
on the INC 500 Fastest Growing
Companies list for the fourth year
in a row?
5. General Earl G. Wheeler was the
longest serving Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff in US history?
6. The first person hired by Veteran
Corps was Michael Clark?
7. IT guru Ryan Shelton in the
O’Fallon office plays in a blues
band that just released a CD?
8. Year to date, Team Veteran Corps
has been awarded $27 million in
task orders for the Consequence
Management II (CM 2) contract?
9. Veteran Corps backs up its
promise of quality assurance with
its ISO 9001:2008 certification?
10. Veteran Corps’ very own Greg
Moreau wrote the soundtrack
to the new Veteran Corps
promotional video?
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CorpsReport • VETERAN CORPS OF AMERICA
Ops Briefing continued from page 1 >>>
Recon sets to Ft. Stewart, GA. The DCRF
team has also been working with Camber
to “refresh” the MCD set at the 63rd CBRN
Company at Ft. Campbell, KY, and the USARC team is refreshing the MCD and Recon
equipment and Urban Search & Rescue
(US&R) equipment for Army Reserve unit
training in October.
CM2. As you may know, the CM 1 contract is being replaced by the follow-on
CM 2 contract, which currently supports
the US Army’s Rapid Equipping Force with
a mobile laboratory that can be dropped
into theater and used to solve operational
issues in real time and for the Rapid Reaction Tunnel Detec­tion (R2TD) program in
Afghanistan.
Jessica Dietrich and Luis Sanchez continue to provide outstanding support to
Marine Corps IPP support exercises conducted in the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) to
ensure readiness in the event of a CBRNE
incident. Meanwhile, at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Mike Harris achieved
the National Weather Ser­
vice’s “storm
ready” rating—only one of two Marine
Corps installations to achieve that honor.
Mike and his team will receive a wellearned NWS award (Mike says he will be
proudly sporting his Veteran Corps polo
during the ceremony!)
On Track for Success! Driven in part by
great proposals from Corporate Com­
munications, we are proud to announce
that we are competing well in the mul­tiple
award ID/IQ environment. As of the end of
June, we have 11 CM2 wins worth $27M
versus 7 losses worth $2.3M. We an­ticipate
more victories to come, as many awards
are still outstanding!
WAREHOUSING AND LOGISTICS
There are lots of changes to report in the
Logistics and Warehousing Division. First,
Mike Staunton has graciously accepted
our request to have him head up business
development efforts in Colorado Springs
to grow the Logistics and Ware­housing Division as per the strategic goals unveiled
early in the year. Good luck, Mike!
Our Air National Guard (ANG) con­tract
supports several first responder elements,
including Security Forces, Fire Services, Engineer Support, and Urban Search & Rescue (US&R). In early June, the Logistics and
Warehousing team shipped the last of the
US&R kits that took up almost every square
inch of our 16, 200 sq. foot Stevensville
space! This was a huge accomplishment
for the team and we learned many great
lessons that we’re applying to our current
effort to send various equipment sets to
Home­land Response Forces (HRF).
We’re Moving Forward! To reduce our
footprint in Stevensville, while in­creasing
our presence in Edgewood, we’re moving warehouses. The move will increase
our overall capacity from 16, 200 sq. ft.
to over 21,000 sq. ft. Let’s all thank Kyle
Greene, Sharice Boswell, and Mickey
Baumgartner for all of their support with
the shipping of the kits as well as the outstanding effort during the move. Keep up
the great work!
The Commandant of the Marine Corps has praised the
exercises that Jessica Dietrich and Luis Sanchez have been
leading under our Marine Corps Installation Protection Program
(IPP) contract.
The USARC and DCRF teams (Sam DeMelo,
Dan Tucker, Scott Hamilton, and Seth
Chouinard) wrap up our training and
equipment commitments under the original
“single award” CM contract.
In March 2013,
Mike Clark met
Trace Adkins at the
American Freedom
Foundation concert
in Huntsville, AL.
“The best exercise that’s ever been conducted”
“This exercise provided us a picture of how we can better process
casualties while at the same time maintaining the
security of the hospital.”
IT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Last April, we submitted a high-quality,
270-page proposal to USDA that will con­
solidate various legacy IT operations into
one streamlined, modernized solution.
Because our world-class team includes
IBM, TechTrend, and HMS Technology,
we expect another important victory for
Team Veteran Corps! In anticipation of
award, we are busy preparing to bring onboard 20-plus Veteran Corps employees.
Stay tuned — an award decision is expected in July 2013.
At Gunter AFB, Ben Venable and Jessica
Edwards continue to provide excellent
support for the Global Force Management
(GFM) systems engineer­ing effort that we
won in our Joint Ven­ture with DSD Labs.
TRAINING AND SIMULATION
As some may know, the training we
supported since 2008 for the Customs and
Border Protection (CBP) at Harpers Ferry, WV
has been impacted by budget sequestration.
The training has been suspended and the
follow-on contract RFP has been delayed.
We have word that the RFP will be released
in late summer to early fall and are working
to ensure that we win this effort again.
VETERANS ADVOCACY AND SUPPORT
Veteran Corps is a proud supporter of our
country’s veterans—but we don’t just talk
the talk, we walk the walk (or in the case
of the Face of America challenge, ride the
bike!). To date, we’ve given over $466,000
to meet our goal of $1,000,000 in dona­
tions to veterans support organizations—
and that’s something we can all take pride
in. For the American Freedom Founda­tion
(AFF) alone, we’ve donated over $100,000!
This year’s AFF concert will be held in
Wash­ington, DC in November.
In May 2013, Bill and Laura attended
AFF concert on the deck of the USS Mid­
way in San Diego.
Golf Sponsorships in 2013. In addition to
donating money directly to organiza­tions,
Veteran Corps supports a number of “hole
sponsorships” that benefit organiza­tions.
Here’s a quick list of what events we have
sponsored:
• June 7 — O’Fallon Volunteer Fire
Department Golf Tournament (hole
sponsor)
• June 14 — Camber, Aberdeen, MD
(sponsored three 4-somes of
wound­ed warriors)
• Sept 10 — O’Fallon-Shiloh Chamber
of Commerce Golf Tournament
(hole sponsor)
• Sept — Association of the US Army
• Oct — American Freedom Founda­tion
(Gold Level Sponsor)
CorpsReport • VETERAN CORPS OF AMERICA
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PROFILE
Meet Veteran Corps: Dan Grant
Upcoming Events
July 10-12
Multiple Award Government and
Industry Conference (MAGIC)
Alexandria VA
August 6th to 8th
National Veteran Small Business
Conference and Expo, St. Louis
August 9
CCRA Green Dragon Ball
Washington, DC
August 24
VCA Warrior Dash 2013 Event Pocono
International Raceway in Long Pond, PA.
All proceeds benefit St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital. Contact Sam
DeMelo for more information or visit
http:// www.warriordash.com/register.
php?loc=New%20Jersey&yr=2013
November
AFF Concert
Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA
Welcome Aboard!
Dan Grant. We have the privilege of
welcoming Dan Grant as the CBRNE
Products and Services Division
Manager. Dan comes to us after a long
and successful career in the Army,
while most recently supporting the
USARC program from the government
side of the house, which Veteran Corps
along with our partner Camber provide
the CLS and Sustainment support for
through our contract with JPdM CM.
John Kish. We are happy to welcome John Kish to the Marine Corps
Installation Protection Program, has
as the Assistant Installation CBRNE
Protection Officer at Quantico. John is
a Naval reservist and has moved from
Pittsburgh, PA (Go Ravens!) to accept
the position. Welcome to the team John!
Meet Veteran Corps is the newsletter’s profile of a
member of Team Veteran Corps. In this issue, we
introduce you to Dan Grant, CBRNE Manager, and a
new member of the Veteran Corps family. Take a few
minutes to get to know Dan.
1. Who’s Dan Grant? What is your Job Title and
what do you do for Veteran Corps? I am a retired
Grandfather starting a new career at Veteran Corps…
at 38. My title is Division Manager, and I’m in charge of
Dan Grant and his
operations for CBRNE Products and Services. But I’m
wife Amy
still trying to figure out what I do…! I oversee the CBRNE
Products and Services and Logistics and Warehousing Divisions. My focus since I
have arrived has been the CLS services provided to the CBRN Response Enterprise
USARC and DCRF Programs. I have also focused on the development and implementation of processes within the Logistics and Warehousing Division to ensure we
continue to meet ISO standards.
2. What are you most passionate about professionally? What most excites you
about your work? Three main things: First, ensuring the team members I work with
have all the tools they need to provide the best products and services to our customers, while taking care of my team member’s personal and professional needs. Second,
ensuring that the products and services our customers receive are exactly what was
expected and/or ordered, and are provided exactly when they are needed. Giving our
customers what they want when they need it. And third, continuing to “serve,” now
as a VCA employee, knowing that the CBRNE Products and Services we provide could
someday be used to save lives affected by a natural or man-made Disaster.
3. How did you get here? What path did you take before coming to work for
Veteran Corps? I enlisted in the Army Reserve as a junior in High School, in February
1992, and completed Basic Combat Training the summer between my junior
and senior year. I finished my senior year, graduated and immediately attended
Advanced Individual Training (AIT) as a Chemical Operations Specialist. I was the
honor graduate (Chemical Star) for Decon Operations from AIT. I served 7 years in
Reserve Status until applying for and entering the Active Guard/Reserve Program,
becoming an Active Duty (full-time) Reserve Soldier. I was the distinguished Honor
Graduate and Leadership Awardee in all three Non-Commissioned Officer Education
System schools I attended; Primary Leadership Development Course (PLDC), Basic
Non-Commissioned Officer Course (BNCOC), and Advanced Non-Commissioned
Officer Course (ANCOC). I held numerous assignments in the Army to include Team
Leader, Squad Leader, Platoon SGT, Company Operations and Training NCO, First
Sergeant of a 282 Soldier unit, Recruiter, and Operations Sergeant of the Homeland
Operations Division, United States Army Reserve Command. I recently retired with
21 years of service from Fort Bragg, NC.
4. What do you like best about working for Veteran Corps? What’s the one
thing you’d like readers to take away from your bio re: VCA? Veteran Corps
allows professionals to be professionals. The leadership encourages all employees
do what they are best at doing. If you are talented in any area, they encourage you to
focus and “own” that area.