After long military career, veteran on new path in VGCC Human Services program
Robert Dow is one of a number of students at Vance-Granville Community College who are military veterans, but few, if any, have had military careers as long as his. Dow served in the United States Army from 1981 through 2013, when he retired at the rank of Master Sergeant.
For many of those years, he was stationed at Fort Bragg, but his service took him around the world. “During the non-conflict times, I was deployed for worldwide humanitarian services in Africa, Peru, South Korea, and other countries,” Dow recalled. “My Army campaign operations included Operation Just Cause in Panama, Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in the Middle East, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and other campaigns in between.”
As a Combat Arms and Combat Medic specialist, he saw warfare first-hand and, he said, lost many friends during his deployments. While serving in Iraq in 2004, Dow was seriously injured when his convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED).
When he transitioned to civilian life, Dow settled in the Franklinton area. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, through its Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E), or “Chapter 31,” program, helped connect him to VGCC. The VR&E program provides services to eligible service-members and veterans with service-connected disabilities to help them start new careers through education.
Dow enrolled in the VGCC Human Services Technology program in 2015. He chose that field in order to learn how to be of service to other veterans and children. “I am learning a great deal from my instructors,” Dow said. He likes to compare his military experience with how the civilian world, or, as he puts it, “corporate America,” operates, and finds much in class that complements his prior training.
“I was taught many things about the role of Human Services while in the Army, but I knew it as ‘leadership,’” Dow reflected. “We have a great program in the military called Alcohol Drug and Abuse Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) for soldiers seeking help and education. I received additional training in counseling, compassion, the effects of alcohol and drugs, along with where to seek professional assistance from health care professional if needed.”
Dow said he is enjoying learning at VGCC. He said many faculty and staff at both the Franklin County Campus and South Campus, where the Human Services program is based, have helped him adjust to school as a veteran and supported him with tutoring and other services. After he graduates, Dow hopes to volunteer at a Veterans Affairs hospital and with substance abuse counseling programs.
For more information on the Human Services program, contact Tracy Wallace at (252) 738-3519 or wallacet@vgcc.edu.
Above: Robert Dow is seen here in the library on VGCC’s South Campus, where he takes some of his classes. (VGCC photo)
Above: VGCC Academic Skills Center tutor Tina Moll (left) discusses an assignment with student Robert Dow in Moll’s office on the college’s South Campus. Dow said that Moll “has been great all-around,” patiently helping him with his English course work and forming one of his links in a “chain” of support at the college. (VGCC photo)
