Adjutant's Outlook: New Beginnings

HELLO HOLLYWOOD POST 43!

Dear Post 43 Family,

I am thrilled to re-introduce myself as your newest Adjutant.

To begin, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to former Adjutant Josh Epstein - without whom I would not be in this position. Josh has been my guiding angel while I served as his assistant this past year, and I am forever grateful for his passionate belief in me and what he knows I will bring to our Post. With that, I would like to share a little bit about myself.

I was born and raised in Cape May, New Jersey. I attended Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business and received my New Jersey Real Estate License before enlisting in the United States Coast Guard. I served in the Eleventh Coast Guard District on two separate High Endurance Cutters, with responsibilities at Coast Guard Sector San Diego.

At the conclusion of my Coast Guard service, I enrolled at the University of Southern California and immediately became involved in veteran non-profits and service organizations. I served as the Social & Engagement Director for Team Red White & Blue (“RWB”) Los Angeles, and have held various committee and officer leadership positions in a multitude of veteran organizations, including 2nd Vice Commander at the renowned American Legion Ronald-Reagan Pacific-Palisades Post 283.

As the surviving partner of a service member, I feel personally invested in policy issues around military families, veteran reintegration, and meaningful veteran support programs.

In addition to my veteran advocacy roles, I have planned and produced several significant special events for local and regional government agencies, including the Inaugural Veterans Day LA at the LA Memorial Coliseum, the Netflix Medal of Honor Celebration at the Ace Theatre, and the Mayor’s Reception at the Getty House. I was recognized in 2018 with an award from the Guiding Star Board for my dedication to women veterans. I am the founder of PACK, a non-profit providing rescue and service dog training that provides a dual benefit to both the dog and the veteran.

In August 2019, I was member-nominated and inducted into the Pacific Council on International Policy, and in April 2020, I was brought on board Battleship IOWA as its first Department Manager to spearhead its efforts to establish it as a leading Military & Veterans Affairs institution. Despite being hired the day before the first Stay-At-Home orders for Covid, in just three months, I wrote my first major grant for USS Iowa. I triumphed in bringing in an award of over $850,000 per annum to help pioneer VPAN, the first-ever community-driven support network serving veterans and their families in the U.S., The Veteran Peer Access Network (VPAN) connects County departments, non-profits, the VA and L.A. City Programs. Today, Battleship IOWA has launched its second LA County VPAN district. It is developing additional programs I created, which can be found in my 5 1/2-inch thick program binder sitting in the Adjutant’s office. More on that later.

Finally, at the end of my tenure with IOWA, in October 2022, I contacted Josh after noticing 43’s Assistant Adjutant advertisement. At the time, I was going on 8 continuous years of membership at Palisades Post 283. As a proud Legionnaire who served in officer positions and attended Department and National Conventions annually, I was extremely curious to learn more. We are now just a few short weeks past my first anniversary working with you at the Post, and I can happily say that trusting God’s plan has never been more clear. I am beyond honored to join this family, and I am so excited to share my passions and expertise with you all. I know in my heart that I am exactly where I am supposed to be, and together, we can bring our Post into a prosperous, impactful, and thriving future.

I’m looking forward to sharing more about operations, strategic planning, partnership and community development, program building, grant writing, and a slew of other enrichment activities, but I’ll save some room for the following newsletters. So for now, I’ll leave you with this: when I am not working or volunteering, which is extremely rare, I can be found exploring Los Angeles with my handsome blue-eyed Service Dog, Archer, the REAL boss!

To everyone reading this, thank you for taking the time to get to know me, caring about our Post, and being involved. We need your engagement, and I hope you’ll continue to work with us, stay focused, and be inspired. I appreciate all your support of me thus far, and I hope you’ll be patient with me now as I move on from the operational tunnel I’ve been living in for the past year to learn this new role. I cannot wait to make you proud. And lastly, please see the new Post 43 Veterans Resource Guide I created HERE. I’ll begin sharing this guide at the bottom of every future newsletter. Please reach out to me if you have any questions. Email: janice@post43.org and cell: 323-412-3522 (text first).

Very Respectfully,

~ JB