Campus Conversations: Veterans and Military Affairs

In this episode of Campus Conversations, President Noland sat down with Col. Dan Bishop, ETSU’s Director of Veteran and Military Affairs. Col. Bishop shared the resources ETSU provides to veteran and military-affiliated students and families across our community — and how he once broke a tank in an attempt to take it airborne.

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Transcript

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  Brian Noland

  Welcome to the third episode of “Campus Conversations.” I'm Brian Noland, and I'm honored to be joined today by Col. Dan Bishop, who is no stranger to this institution, and I hope today is to learn a little bit about some of the services that we provide to veterans and their families here at ETSU. 

  But I want to get started by just giving you the opportunity to let campus know a little bit about you, your background, and what brought you back home to ETSU for your second engagement. 

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Oh, thank you, sir. It's great to be back. So started here 10 years ago. Time flies.

  Brian Noland

  We both had brown hair. 

  Col. Dan Bishop

  And that's it. That's right. I always wanted to do an ROTC assignment. And so when we got orders for East Tennessee State, we didn't know where Johnson City was. It's funny how those things work out because this is exactly where we were meant to be. So ran the ROTC program here at ETSU for two years and fell in love with the place, quite obviously. So we went from not knowing where Johnson City was to, you know, now you fast forward and after Army retirement, being able to get back here was, you know, sarcastically, I think Dr. Sherlin, or I responded to Dr. Sherlin when he said, “Hey, is there any way we can talk you into coming back to East Tennessee from Washington, D.C.?” And it was very easy to say, I mean, “Of course.” So I spent 26 years in the Army total. The two here that I spent were our absolute favorite, not only professionally, but just personally for the family had just had a wonderful time here. 

  Brian Noland

  So one of the things that I love about the opportunity to engage in conversations is the chance to meet people in their space. So as I look around your office, there are more interesting pieces of your history in this office than probably any other office. Talk to me about this heavy piece of machinery in front of us. 

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Happy to. This was from my lieutenant days. And so I started off as an armor officer with M-1 tanks many moons ago. In the late ‘90s. And a much younger Lt. Bishop decided that during his driver's training on an M-1 tank, that there was an old Army commercial that would show an M-1 flying through the air. Well, what they didn't show you in that commercial was the landing. And so I decided it would be a good idea to see if I could replicate that. And it worked. I went down a hill and went off a little ledge and the tank did, in fact, fly for a short period of time. And then it landed. And in this big piece of steel that runs through the entire width of the tank, I hit so hard with that 70-ton monster that it snapped it in half. 

  Brian Noland

  So you're the first person I've ever met who's willfully, knowingly broke a tank? 

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Yes. Yes. And I paid for it by manual labor and pounding that out with the sledge hammer. So this this was my, I'll call it my reward for my foolishness many years ago. 

  Brian Noland

  Well, speaking of foolishness many years ago, and I'm trying to recall if this was with you or with Col. Jeffress, but I know I trained with ROTC when you ran the program. Did you maybe do pushups or was that Jeffress? 

  Col. Dan Bishop

  No, I think we both probably did. And then if I recall back then, it was our I think one of my cadets back in the day, might have hurt your back at some point. 

  Brian Noland

  No, the young man who became a chaplain -- Yeah. an African-American student who went on to the Chaplain Corps, broke my ribs playing basketball. 

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Yeah, yeah, we played a little rough over there, but I know you hold your own. 

  Brian Noland

  But one of the things that I always enjoyed about your leadership, and I saw this even after you left, is you would come back for conditionings and you continued to return until all of your cadets had graduated and commissioned from the institution. And there was that connection of service to veterans and their families that I think really drew you back here. So let's talk a little bit about your new role. So you've been in this capacity for a little bit more than a year, but provide an overview of the types of supports and services that your office provides to veterans and their families here at ETSU. But then maybe step it back and talk about veterans and their families across the region as a whole, because it's more than just the campus. 

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Oh, yes, sir. And perfect, perfect post-Army retirement job because it was hard to retire. I don't miss the grind of the Pentagon, certainly, but I love the Army and loved just the military family. And so this was a perfect opportunity to just take the uniform off, but then also continue to find a way to serve and specifically with the military family that we have here in the region. And so really, in our capacity here in military veteran services offices, you know, first, there's one, is really acting as the -- I'll call it the liaison -- between ETSU offices and the VA. So if a veteran or dependent comes here with VA benefits, really in simple terms, we verify that that they have those benefits; we verify that they're astute and good standing and really marry those two statuses up; and and we get the ball rolling in terms of benefits that either a student will personally get directly or in the case of tuition and fees with who will go from the VA to the university.

  The other one is, as you alluded to, is just external support. And I love the opportunity to go to each and every veteran service organization or even if they're not a veteran organization, but they're an organization that often seeks to support veterans -- the Red Cross is a great example -- and really represent ETSU at a lot of those organizations and tell our story because we've got a fantastic story to tell. So really, that's one of my favorite parts of the job is just getting out there and talking to the community, and frankly, bragging about what we're doing here and then really trying to to be part of the what I'll call a regional ecosystem that we're really trying to foster here, where, you know, at the state level, they've talked about Tennessee being the you know, the location of choice for veterans, for service members leaving the military. And we think we think specifically Northeast Tennessee is the place they should come. We've got one of the best VA medical centers, I would argue THE best VA.

  Dr. Noland

  Just celebrated their 120th anniversary.

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Yes, sir. And I'm a patient there. I can speak to the quality of service across the street. And then we've got a community that not only welcomes veterans, but, you know, obviously you go back to the regional history and the Overmountain Men. This region's got a history of service and specifically military service that, you know, rivals anywhere in the country. So obviously, I fell in love with this place, and so I am thrilled with the opportunity to try to draw more of our family here to the region and specifically to ETSU. And if they're not going to school and ideally, we get their kids to come here, go to school.

  Brian Noland

  Give us a sense of the scope of services that you provide to a young individual who is coming back to college to embark upon life after service.

  Col. Dan Bishop

  So I'm glad you asked that question because unfortunately, across all of the services, the transition process where you are leaving the uniform and reentering into the civilian world just frankly is not -- none of the services -- handle it very well.

  Brian Noland

  It's not a smooth handoff.

  Col. Dan Bishop

  It's not a smooth handoff. And so oftentimes when we get veterans here, it's one, just making sure they understand what their benefits are, and and not just referring them to a website, but we try to get them here on campus again, not only because I think once I can get them on campus, I can walk them around and show them what a wonderful place this is. But we sit them down here and we actually walk them through this is how you apply for VA education benefits. More broadly, this is how you apply for VA medical benefits. And if it's something we can't service, then we do a warm handoff with a veteran service officer that's in the county.

  Brian Noland

  So you're providing that not only here, but you're making that outreach and connection across the street at the VA.

  Col. Dan Bishop

  We are, and we pride ourselves -- quite obviously, we want everyone to come here to ETSU, but we will talk to anyone and everyone. If you've got a question on how to manage your education benefits, we will service all.

  And so one example is we've really focused on National Guard and Reserve units in the immediate region and beyond Tennessee, in Southwest Virginia, and we're expanding into Western North Carolina. And the majority of those service members are not going to come to school here at ETSU. We do the best we can to try to talk them into coming here and we're having some fair success. But regardless of where their education dream lands them, we will help them get to where they want to be. And so we really pride ourselves on just -- it's just a culture of service here in the office that all of us, you know, think very dearly of. 

  Brian Noland

  And that's wonderful to hear because that's the same approach we take as an institution when we're in high schools or community colleges or in job fairs. It doesn't matter where you go to school -- two-year, four-year, public, private, certificate, associate degree -- it's just that you position yourself to be successful in your career aspirations. So you're doing the same thing for vet students. So when those students arrive, you've got a full portfolio of services. Talk to us a little bit about some of the services that are available in the MARC.

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Well, one of the -- beyond the MARC, if you don't mind, sir, one reason why we're so successful on the recruiting side, getting them to come here, though, are the resources that the university provides. In addition to MARC -- and I'll touch on that in a second -- but you look at the, quite obviously, VA education benefits if they come here, there's a lot of veterans and dependents that frankly don't have access to those VA education benefits. And so ETSU offers a number of different things. They offer specific scholarships to veterans -- $1,500 a semester for veterans. For military dependents, it's $1,000 per semester. Recognizing that oftentimes, especially when you're dealing with federal benefits, there's a delay, ETSU offers a tuition and fee deferment for a military affiliated student so that, you know, you're not having to pay until that last day of the semester. So that gives you time for all of those federal benefits to sort of to line up the way they're supposed to.

  And then the Military Affiliated Student Resource Center downstairs, the MARC for short, and for veterans and anyone that's ever been in a USO in an airport across the nation, it's a lot like what service members are going to enjoy. It's an oasis away from home. And so you've got 24-hour access to Yoakley via swipe access with your ID card, 24-hour access to the MARC. We've got it resourced with snacks and drinks and we've got a coffee maker in there, and we've got some couches, A computer lounge, and everyone has their own computer these days, quite obviously, but we've got printers in there.

  Brian Noland

  Designated for veterans’ use.

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Yes, sir. And then in a larger study room. You know, so if you've got a if you've got a study group that you need to bring in, need some peace and quiet, you can close the door. Why I love the MARC -- it's open to all of our military affiliated students, but especially our veterans, our veterans who are just a little bit older, who are transitioning from what's a pretty rigid and understandable, if you've been in the military chain of command and how things work in the military, and then you come here onto a college campus and it's just a foreign world, and even I'll speak for myself, even like, okay, I'm not wearing a uniform today. I actually have to -- I have to figure out what I'm going to wear. It's nice to have that little bit of oasis and retreat when they need it, just ideally just to catch their breath. We do, every once in a while, run into a veteran that's dealing with some PTSD issues or some other just challenges in general. And being able to come in there and speak to your fellow veterans about those challenges -- it’s an informal support network, which I'm just thrilled with.

  Brian Noland

  Let's jump ahead. It's let's say 10 years from now. So it's 2033. What do you see the scope of services in the operations that we provide to our students looking like a decade from now, if you could dream.

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Yeah.

  And that includes breaking things every now and then.

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Yeah.

  Brian Noland

  What would that dream look like?

  I really see ETSU as a hub, not just for academics and higher education, but we really are. And there's a couple other hubs. Eastman is an example on sort of the corporate side, but ETSU really can serve as what I'll call the quarterback in terms of in terms of synchronizing all the various and disparate service organizations that are all trying to serve others. One frustration we have and it's not just me, but there are so many different of those organizations here, you know, thousands of people with enormous hearts trying to assist, but right now, we're cursed a little bit with these cylinders of excellence and trying to bring those different organizations together to work together in a coherent manner, I think is a goal that we really want to shoot for moving forward.

  Brian Noland

  Well, I think as I look forward a decade from now as a university, it's going to be incumbent upon us to ensure that you've got the space and the support services to meet what is, I think, a growing base of students, as well as a group of students who clearly have given their all to this nation, and we as an institution, in return, have our responsibility to do all to support them. So one last question, and then we'll bring this edition of “Campus Conversations” to a close. As you reflect back upon your career, other than your failed ability to fly a tank, what's the one thing you're the most proud of?

  Col. Dan Bishop

  I think I would say that our work here -- and I'll say it's our work, the community’s work -- in making sure that the ROTC program remained on campus 10 years ago is something that I know my family is immensely proud of. My family and I took personal ownership of that place, and it still means a lot to me. And so ensuring that the ROTC program back then survived and then, you know, after I left, seeing the, you know, the subsequent officers and NCOs come in and just build that program, and it kind of goes back again, where ETSU’s serving as a regional hub. Now, ETSU on the ROTC side, you know, serves as a hub for Army ROTC for the region. So I love that. Really, that's probably one of my most proud experiences.

  So some of the cadets who were in that group that you had the opportunity to work with, I know you keep in touch with them. Where are some of those individuals now and what's their rank?

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Yeah. One, they're spread to the winds still. There's a good chunk of them, probably about half, that are out of the Army, and that's not out of the norm, where they did their time honorably and have moved on to what I hope to be, you know, leadership positions on the civilian side of the house. And then a good half are still in and they're all over the place. What does -- and I think this was an attempt for you to make me feel old -- they will be new majors. So they're all senior level captains and about to be field grade officers in the Army, which does -- time does fly -- but it's fantastic and Cadet Boggs, now Captain Boggs, is a great example where he just invited me -- he's about to take a company command down there in Texas and called me up and invited me out for his change of command ceremony. Yeah. I mean, it gets me choked up just to think about that. But being able to maintain contact and still being able to help those officers as they rise up through the ranks is just, nothing makes me happier than to see their success.

   

  Brian Noland

  But one of the beautiful things about an institution, as a leader, you have the ability to plant seeds in young men and women not knowing where those seeds will ultimately take root or bloom. And it's wonderful to see the things that you've done and look forward to seeing the great work that you're going to do for generations to come. So once again, thank you for joining us on episode three of “Campus Conversations.” I'm Brian Noland, joined by Col. Dan Bishop, and we look forward to seeing you in the near future. Everyone have a great, great month. Godspeed and Go Bucs.

  Col. Dan Bishop

  Go Bucs. 

East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.