He may live and work in a state with no active naval bases, but that didn’t stop Eric Schuck, from serving and recently being honored for his achievements with the United States Navy Reserves.
Linfield is honoring all its veteran students and employees as part of May’s National Military Appreciation Month. The entire month is designated to honoring past and present military members and their families and includes specific military holidays including Victory in Europe (VE) Day, Military Spouse Appreciation Day, Mother’s Day, Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day.
Schuck, a professor of economics at Linfield University, received the Defense Meritorious Service Medal from the U.S. Department of Defense in January. The 19-year Navy Reserve veteran, earned the award as commanding officer of Disposition Services Unit One with the Joint Reserve Force of the Defense Logistics Agency. The unit provides reverse logistics services, essentially developing the plans and systems that help the military reclaim and reuse equipment, to U.S., Coalition and Allied forces.
“Honestly, the medal isn’t really about me,” Schuck said. “I was graced with an amazing team of Army, Air Force and Navy personnel who stayed on mission and ready to deploy despite the challenges of the pandemic. There are times leaders wear the medals, but the honor is to the unit. This is very much one of those times and I was privileged to serve as their commanding officer.”
Schuck is one of many military veterans among staff, faculty and administrators at Linfield. Linfield President Miles K. Davis is a six-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and served in the Gulf War.
Student veterans are not uncommon either, nine are a part of the current student body. Linfield honors military scholarships and gladly partners with the following:
- The Yellow Ribbon Program, which can help cover the costs of private university and graduate tuition and fees.
- The Veterans Administration Readiness and Employment/Chapter 31 benefits, which helps veterans with service-connected disabilities explore employment options and address education or training needs.
In addition to working with programs that support veteran education, Linfield makes accommodations for employees who serve in reserve capacities. Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing Professor Morgan Torris-Hedlund serves as a public health nurse with the U.S. Army Reserves. Torris-Hedlund was deployed to Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti for 10 months during the pandemic.
As a public health specialist, Torris-Hedlund looks for trends in injury and illness and formulates plans for changing the human behaviors that could reduce their frequency. During his deployment, his recommendations included making gym time part of the workday to reduce injury; temporarily shutting down an on-base food cart after foodborne illness was discovered; and making sure condoms were readily accessible.
“As an educator at Linfield, I need students to appreciate those dynamics, what we call social determinants to health and issues of power structures. Once we recognize where someone falls within a power structure, we can help them make better choices and, ideally, advocate for themselves,” Torris-Hedlund said.
Read more about one of our recent veteran graduates, Tyler Bergeron ’21.