Veterans find next chapter through work, education

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WNKY) — Leaving the military can come with a new set of challenges. For some veterans, that means finding work, going back to school and trying to figure out what comes next.

Kevin Duff knows that firsthand.

Duff spent five years in the Army and another five in the Navy. When he got out, he thought his military background and leadership experience would make it easier to land a job.

Instead, some employers told him he was overqualified.

“So when I got out, I really thought it would be easier to find employment because of my background, because of my leadership skills, the different classes and schools that I attended. And a lot of the jobs when I got out in 2013, they told me I was overqualified. And to me, I’m like, how am I overqualified? I just got out of the military. I’ve never done that type of job before,” Duff said.

A new path

Duff found his way into professional baseball. He worked in groundskeeping and operations with the Bowling Green Hot Rods. That experience later led to work with the Chicago Cubs.

A few years later while working as an underground coal miner, Duff injured his right arm.

Even after six surgeries, he can only lift 5 pounds with that arm.

With physical work now more difficult, college moved back to the front of his mind.

Duff, now 41, expects to graduate in the spring with a degree in agriculture.

His father helped inspire him to keep going. Duff watched him attend WKU while working second shift at a factory and raising a family.

“And so I always told myself, if my dad could do it, I can do it,” Duff said.

Helping veterans succeed

At WKU, Military Student Services helps veterans work through some of those same transitions.

Kent Johnson, who leads WKU Military Student Services and is a Marine Corps veteran, said some veterans arrive on campus not knowing where to begin or how their education benefits work.

His office points them toward the right resources. One of those is Textbooks for Troops, which offers book loans and scholarship help to military-connected students who do not already receive money for textbooks.

WKU also has a student veterans group that helps veterans connect with others on campus.

For Johnson, the work is quite personal.

“To leave that interaction with our office with a sense of hope,” Johnson said. “You know, that they’ve got a path forward that they can succeed.”

Duff said Veterans Upward Bound helped him understand how to use his education benefits when he first started college.

For him, the next step now is simple: finish the degree and keep moving forward.