Marc Churchwell, Director

mchurchwell@uwf.edu

A Navy veteran, Marc served on active duty from 1976 - 2004. He retired from the US Navy Submarine Force as a Master Chief Petty Officer. Marc directs the Military and Veterans Resource Center which serves as the hub for all veteran student support services on campus. As the primary advocate for military and veterans students Marc coordinates with various offices on the UWF campus (including Emerald Coast) such as enrollment, academic advising, counseling, tutoring, and disability accommodations ensuring these unique student needs are met.

Marc is the President of the Florida Advisory Council for Military Education (FL ACME) and is co-chair for UWF's Military and Veterans Advisory council. Marc also manages a Hometown Heroes Scholarship program providing more than $200,000 in tuition funding for veterans.

Opening a center such as the MVRC has been Marc's passion for the past couple of years. He is dedicated to providing the best possible support to all military and veteran students enrolled at the University of West Florida.

Terry Genton, VA Certifying Official

tgenton0@uwf.edu

A Navy veteran, born in Ohio, he enlisted in the Navy in 1967 and served for 28 years until retirement in 1993. After 16 years in aviation maintenance he received his commission as an aviation warrant officer. He retired in Naples, Italy and returned to Pensacola and UWF to finally graduate in 2004.

Terry has served the UWF veteran population since 1996 as the VA certify official. The MVRC is a dream come true at UWF and he is here to serve Veterans and their families. Working with the director and all the student assistants and transition coaches he provides the door to the future. As the VA Certifying Official he works with the Student students to manage their claims and files so that they are able to maximize their benefits while transitioning to civilian life.

Jeff Meister Sr., Veteran Services Coordinator

jmeister@uwf.edu

A retired U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman & Master Training Specialist

After completing 20 years in the Navy followed by a few civilian positions, Jeff attended UWF through the Vocational Rehabilitation program where he earned his B. A. in Middle Level Education. During that time, he began working in the Veteran Services Office as a work-study. After graduation, he was hired by UWF to be the Curriculum Change Coordinator.

Now he is back home in the Military and Veterans Resource Center as the Veteran Services Coordinator and is excited about where the office is going. He believes that we are doing more for veterans than he ever imagined during his time as a work-study.

Ivan Rodriguez, Webmaster

ibr1@students.uwf.edu

Ivan grew up in the local area and attended Choctawhatchee High School in Fort Walton Beach, FL. He also completed his Associates Degree at Northwest Florida State College.

Ivan served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1999-2003, he was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, CA. Ivan spent most of his career providing legal and administrative support for VMFA(AW)-225, which was an F-18 Fighter Attack Squadron. Ivan also spent a lot of time overseas on three seperate six month deployments, including Operation Southern Watch in Kuwait.

Ivan is currently focused on completing a bachelor's degree in Information Technology and is supporting the MVRC as the webmaster providing fellow veterans with up to date information to ensure their transition to UWF goes as smoothly as possible.

Tracy Rainey, Student Assistant & Transition Coach

tnr6@students.uwf.edu

A Coast Guard veteran, Tracy moved to the Pensacola area in 2001. The oldest sibling of three, and the daughter of two nurses. Tracy graduated from Gulf Breeze High School in 2003 and joined the United States Coast Guard. In 2004 Tracy deployed along the East Coast for five and a half years.

Tracy's favorite part of her East Coast deployment was conducting security for the Space Shuttle launches at Cape Canaveral, FL. She returned to Reserve Status in early 2009 and her current job is a Coxswain for the 25' RB-S. She has now completed 10 years time in service to date.

Tracy is EMT certified and Dive certified. She is currently enrolled at the University of West Florida and is majoring in Management Information System.

"My future plans are to complete my degree and to make a career out of helping veterans achieve their educational goals."

Rick Hartley, Transition Coach

krh22@students.uwf.edu

A Navy veteran, born in Indianapolis Indiana, Rick entered the Navy in January of 1975, and transferred to Fleet Reserve in November 2000 as a Senior Chief Air Traffic Controller. Rick worked in the private sector developing online training until 2007.

In 2008 Rick started back to school and is currently enrolled at UWF working toward a degree in elementary Educations with an emphasis on Exceptional Student Education.

Lee Bowman, Transition Coach

lab57@students.uwf.edu

Lee is a senior at University of West Florida (UWF) studying the field of Social Work focusing on Veteran Services. Prior to UWF Lee was in the military for 7 years as a Navy Corpsman deploying with various Marine units to Operation Iraqi Freedom I/II and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Lee's goals at UWF are to finish his Masters in Social Work and to work at the Military and Veterans Resource to help Veterans transition to the academic field from Active Duty Service.

Brendan O'Brien, Transition Coach

bjo6@students.uwf.edu

Brendan is a USMC veteran. He moved to Gulf Breeze in 2004, graduated from Gulf Breeze High School in 2007 and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2007 as a Logistician. Brendan deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). Brendan separated from the Marine Corps in 2011 and enrolled at UWF in the fall semester as a Business Marketing major.

Brendan enjoyed the challenges the Marine Corps offered in the Logistics field. He is pursuing a career in Business Marketing and Supply Chain Logistics.

Tori Harris, Transition Coach

tch12@students.uwf.edu

Tori, an Army Veteran, was born in Pensacola Florida. He graduated from Tate High School in 2003 and entered the Army in January of 2004. He served for six and a half years as an AH-64D Apache Crewchief and deployed twice overseas in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2010, Tori began pursuing a degree after being honorably discharged from the Army. He is currently enrolled at UWF working toward a degree in Management Information Systems.

Lori Milkeris, Transition Coach

llm35@students.uwf.edu

Lori is an Air Force veteran, born in Hawaii, both of her parents and her brother served in the Air force as well. She graduated in '93 from Scio Central in NY, she joined the Air Force in 1994. She did 4 years active duty as an F-16 Crew Chief and 2 years reservist as a Mental Health Tech. She moved to Florida in 2005. She has 2 daughters and currently resides in Milton.

She received an Associate in Small Business from PSC and a Bachelors Degree in Social Work from UWF and is currently working on her Masters Degree. Anticipated graduation date is May 2013. After receiving her M.S.W she plans to work with children and their families at the elementary level.

Robin Griffiths (Griff), Transition coach

rrg11@students.uwf.edu

Griff is a Marine who was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Enlisted in the United States Marine Corps September, 12, 2001. Served with 2ed Marine division from 2002- 2006, was deployed for OIF I and OIF II with Task Force Tarawa and the 24th MEU. Griff was severely injured January, 27, 2005 Babil Province Iraq. After a year of recovery and rehabilitation in San Antonio, Texas Griff moved to Milton, Florida and attended Pensacola Sate Collage where he earned an AA in History.

Griff is currently studying Political Science and plans on attending Graduate school in the fall of 2012. Griff is very familiar with combat to classroom transition and enthusiastic about helping others.

Terri Daugherty, Transition Coach

tld31@students.uwf.edu

A Navy veteran, Terri has been in the Pensacola area since 1999 when she transferred to the Center for Information Dominance Corry Station as a Cryptologic Technician. There, she served as an Instructor and a Technical Schools Coordinator before separating from the service. Prior to transferring to Pensacola, she successfully completed tours in Adak AK, Edzell Scotland, and Denver CO.

Terri received her associates' degree in 2010 from Pensacola State College and is now a junior Psychology student at UWF. In addition, she will begin her second year of seminary school in January 2013 at her church. She is passionate about changing lives and hopes to use her degrees to do just that. She and her son currently reside in Pensacola.

Melissa Nicole Miedzinski, Transition Coach

mnm26@students.uwf.edu

Melissa served 10 years of active duty service in the Air Force, 8 1/2 of which were served throughout Europe and Asia. She recently returned to the United States in the summer of 2012, where she then separated honorably from active duty. She immediately joined the Air Force Reserves at Duke Airfield and moved to Pensacola to start her first semester at UWF in the fall as a junior.

During active duty, she was awarded her Associates degree in Munitions Systems Technology with the Community College of the Air Force. Melissa is currently enrolled in two majors, Physical Education and Studio Art with a minor in education. Her future plans are to take on a teaching position overseas for the Department of Defense where ever she is needed. Melissa also plans to start a small art studio/gift shop with her best friend either here in the United States or overseas.

Lawrence Robbins, Transition Coach

ler14@students.uwf.edu

Lawrence served in the U.S. Army on active duty from 2006 to 2012 as a paralegal and is now currently serving in the U.S. Army reserves. He deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2008, while on active duty. Lawrence is a Pre-law/Legal Studies major here at University of West Florida.

Upon completion of his Bachelor's degree, Lawrence plans to pursue a law degree. From there he wants to open an international real estate law firm. He then intends on continuing his education to obtain a Master's in Business Management.

Art Busch, Transition Coach

acb45@students.uwf.edu

Art is an Air Force veteran who retired in 2006 after 20 years of service. Along with tours of duty in Korea and Turkey, he also served in the Persian Gulf War and Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq. While in Iraq, he was the NCOIC of Training for the 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron

Additionally, he recently retired from teaching Advanced Placement U.S. and World History in Ocala Florida and moved to Pensacola to get his Master's Degree in Strategic Communication and Leadership at UWF.

Holly Cannell, Transition Coach

hmc27@students.uwf.edu

Holly, a 10-year Navy veteran, was born in Oklahoma. She is a 3rd generation service-member with her father and grandfathers serving in the Navy and Army respectively. Holly was a Corpsman and her most recent duty station was teaching Aviation Survival Training at ASTC Norfolk. She was also stationed in Okinawa, Japan.

Holly is currently majoring in Hospitality, Recreation, and Resort Management with a minor in Finance. Her anticipated graduation date is Spring 2014.

Caitlan Webster, Transition Coach

cow5@students.uwf.edu

Caitlan is a psychology major with a minor in biology and a certificate in physiology. Her father is an active duty Supply Officer in the US Navy with more than 20 years of service. As a military dependent, Caitlan has lived in nine different states across the country, from Maine to Hawaii. She graduated as a valedictorian from Mililani High School in Hawaii in 2010.

After completing her undergraduate work at UWF, Caitlan plans to continue her education in graduate school with the goal of becoming a pediatric neuropsychologist.

Jackie Cameron, Communications & Marketing Coordinator

jyc3@students.uwf.edu

Jackie is a third-year student, pursuing her B.A. in elementary and special needs education here at UWF. Her father was an AMU Superintendent for the HC-130 Squadron in the U.S. Air Force and just recently retired last year after 26 years of dedicated service. Jackie was born at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, where her family was stationed for one year after her birth. They were relocated to Tyndall Air Force Base for nine years and once more to Okinawa, Japan for eight years. There, she graduated from Kadena High School in 2009. She went on to attend college at PSC for one year, Valdosta State University for another year, and now she has transferred back to UWF to complete her degree.

Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Jackie plans to teach first grade as a Department of Defense Education Activity teacher overseas in Europe or the Pacific. Her goal is to ultimately end up back in Okinawa as a Department of Defense Education Activity elementary school teacher.