Meade County Firewise Program   
"Hire a Veteran, train a Veteran, and you will help a Veteran on a mission toward a career path."
Veterans Looking for Career Opportunities
"Estimated to be over 850,000 unemployed Veterans in the US" 

The primary goal of this Community Wildfire Protection Plan is to reduce the risk from wildfire to life, property, and critical infrastructure. The Wildland Urban-Interface, (WUI), is a set of conditions that exist when man-made fuels (e.g. structures and other human development) meets or intermingles with natural vegetative fuels. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Interior identified a list of communities at risk from wildfire and placed them in the Federal Register. Communities are located in the WUI and are in the vicinity of federal lands and have been identified as being at high risk from wildfire.  
Meade County and the BLM 
Partner on Veteran Initiative 

Meade County's "Veteran in the Woods" initiative is funded by the BLM and falls  under Meade County's current Firewise program. The primary goal of this Community Wildfire Protection effort is to reduce the risk from wildfire to life, property, and critical infrastructure.

Veterans are hired and trained to facilitate this effort by working with private landowners on the education and implementation of fire/fuel mitigation efforts. The primary scope of work finds veterans being trained on cutting, thinning, and removing trees on private land.

Veterans are also trained on other job skills with the end goal seeing them find full-time employment in a career field of their choice. 

 


Shawn Dempsey 
Meade County Fire Mitigation Specialist

VETERAN 

 



James Adams 
Meade County Fire Mitigation Specialist

VETERAN 

 

 

Travis Ugland 

Meade County Fire Mitigation Specialist 

 

 VETERAN     

Program Graduate

Veteran - Daniel Campbell joined the Firewise Program in December of 2012.  Dan  successfully found full-time employment at the end of March, and is currently working in North Dakota.  
 
The BLM Veteran Initiative  afforded Dan the opportunity to support his family - while gaining skills and training to assist him with his career goals.

Good luck on your new endeavors and thanks for your service! 

Dan previously deployed to Afghanistan with the 842nd Engineering Company.

Goals & Objectives 
  • Offer veterans short-term employment (4-6 months) which leads to full-time career opportunities.
  • Train veterans in various skill-sets based on career path.
  • Seek community support and involvement for Firewise program.
  • Solicit private donations to support program efforts. 
  • Graduate veterans to full-time employment and repeat the effort with unemployed veterans. 
Benefits of Hiring a Veteran
   

 

Leadership

 

The military trains people to accept and discharge responsibility for other people, for activities, for resources and for one's own behavior. This training includes setting an example, giving carefully considered direction, inspiring leadership capabilities in others and continually motivating others.

 

Ability to Work as a Team Member and as a Team Leader

 

Almost all military activity is performed with the assistance, coordination and awareness of other persons or other units. Many military personnel serve as team leaders where they have analyzed situations and options, made appropriate decisions, given directions, followed through with a viable plan and accepted responsibility for the outcome.

 

Ability to Work under Pressure and Meet Deadlines

 

One characteristic of military service is that service members must perform. They must do their job, do it right the first time and do it in a timely manner. They are continuously setting priorities, meeting schedules and accomplishing their missions.

 

Ability to Give and Follow Direction

 

Service members know how to work under supervision and can relate and respond favorably to others. They understand accountability for their actions and for their subordinates' actions. They have learned to respect and accept legitimate authority.

 

Drug-free

 

With an honorable discharge, service members are basically certified drug-free.

 

Security Clearances

 

Many military personnel have achieved some level of security clearance. This clearance can, at least, demonstrate that an individual is recognized as a trustworthy person.

 

Planning and Organization

 

Most military operations require thorough planning and workload management. Carefully considered objectives, strengths and limitations of other people, resources, time schedules, supplies, logistics and various other factors are always considered.

 

Emphasis on Safety

 

Service members understand the considerable cost in lives, property and objectives when safety is ignored. Both the control and the emphasis on safety are valued in the civilian work force.

 

Flexibility and Adaptability

 

Service members have learned to be flexible and can adapt to meet the constantly changing needs of any situation and mission.

 

Education

 

Most service members have at least a General Education Development (GED) and the majority of them have high school diplomas. Nearly 30 percent have a college degree; and many have attended college to further their education.

 

VOW to Hire Heroes Act 2011

 

 


Training for a Career Path and Employment 
April will find a few days with the Firewise Veterans working on job skills training in the Meade County Human Resource Office: 
  • Resume / Cover Letter Writing  
  • Interview Techniques 
  • Mock Interviews with interview panel 
  • Posting new resumes online (several hiring sources) 
  • Using Meade County resources and contacts to find employment opportunities. 
Meade County Law Enforement Center 
"Job Shadowing" 
March brought some snow and wind to the project sites, which afforded Shawn, Travis and James - the opportunity to spend a couple of days working with fellow county employees at the Sheriff's Office, Jail and Dispatch Center.  The job shadowing found them out on patrol with the deputies and working with correctional officers at the Jail.  They also observed our judicial system in action at the Meade County Courthouse. 
 
Exposing the veterans to various career fields - provides them an opportunity to discover potential employment opportunities. 
Veteran Unemployment 
Meade County Firewise
March Newsletter
2013
Meade County, SD 
Completed Training Initiatives 

MSHA Training 

  • Mandatory Safety & Health Standards
  • Transportation Controls & Communication Systems
  • Firefighting
  • Ground Conditions & Control
  • Traffic Patterns & Control
  • Working in Areas of High Walls
  • Water Hazards, Pit & Spoil Piles
  • First Aid
  • Electrical Hazards
  • Accident Prevention
  • Health
  • Mobile Equipment Hazards
  • Maintenance & Repair; Material Handling; Working Around Moving Objects
  • Hazard Communications
  • Machine Guarding
  • Review of Mine Safety Act

Emergency Management - FEMA 

  • IS-00100.b Introduction to Incident Command System ICS-100 
  • IS-00200.b ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incident, ICS-200 
  • IS-00700.a National Incident Management System (NIMS) An Introduction 
  • IS-00120.a An Introduction to Exercises 
  • IS-00800.b National Response Framework,  An Introduction 
  • IS-00701.a NIMS Multiagency Coordination Systems (MACS) 
  • IS-00130 Exercise Evaluation and Improvement Planning
  • IS-00634 Introduction to FEMA's Public Assistance Program
  • IS-00240.a Leadership and Influence 
  • IS - 00130 Exercise Evaluation and Improvement Planning

GIS Training Class 

  •  GIS, Geographic Information Systems, is a technology in which data in the form of points, lines, and polygons are connected to databases providing information about a geographical area. GIS is a digital map containing several layers of data, each layer containing specific information within the digital map. 
  • Training on mapping projects and using GPS coordinates.
CPR 
  • CPR class instructed by Meade County Jail Medical Staff 
  • CPR Certification obtained 

S-212 Wildland Fire Chains Saws Class 

  • Classroom and practical 
  • Certified  

RT 130 Annual Fireline Safety Refresher Training 

 

 
Successfully passed and received certifications in all training classes
VET Project # 1 - Completed
Daniel, Shawn and James, thinning trees on 3.75 acres near several residences in 
Woodland Hills Subdivision near Black Hawk, SD 
FW Project 2-3
Vet Project #2 & 3 - Chickadee Lane - Black Hawk, SD
Letter of Support for Program Efforts

"Good Job Firewise Vets"
LOS
"Private landowners in the Wonderland Hills Subdivision have witnessed  the efforts of the Firewise program and continued projects appear on the horizon."
DEMOGRAPHICS OF HOMELESS VETERANS
  • 13% of the homeless adult population are veterans
  • 20% of the male homeless population are veterans
  • 68% reside in principal cities
  • 32% reside in suburban/rural areas
  • 51% of individual homeless veterans have disabilities
  • 50% have serious mental illness
  • 70% have substance abuse problems
  • 51% are white males, compared to 38% of non-veterans
  • 50% are age 51 or older, compared to 19% non-veterans

Program Donations: 
 
  • RDO Equipment - John Deere Gator 
  • Meade County - Ford Bronco / Flatbed Trailer

 

 For those who serve, the struggle does not always end when they return to American soil.

A U.S. military veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes, according to a recent study from the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

"22 deaths per day"

 

You can assist the Meade County Firewise Program 

 

Office: 605.720.1625 / email: jderr@meadecounty.org
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1300 Sherman Street STE 212 / Sturgis, SD 57785 - 605.720.1625
jderr@meadecounty.org