There has been a changing of the guard at the Washington County Veterans Service Commission, but the heart and soul of the mission remain unchanged, according to the group’s new leader.
Retired U.S. Army Master Sgt. Darren Shearlock assumed duties June 10 as the commission’s new executive director, following Robert Fitzgerald’s service in that position from January 2018 through spring of this year.
Shearlock wasn’t born and raised in this area, but he didn’t wind up here by chance.
He’s a native of St. Louis and his wife, Melody, is from Cincinnati.
They met while he was in the Army and she was in the Ohio National Guard. Many spare-time trips between the two cities put them in touch with the Mid-Ohio Valley.
They began to notice interesting things like sternwheelers on the Ohio River, the Spencer, W.Va., Walnut Festival and North Bend State Park. Then they began to experience area residents who were not only generally friendly, but who welcomed and sought them out when they could see the visitors were “military folks.”
“I’m not from here, but I chose to be here as the place I want to retire, put down roots, raise the rest of my children and call home,” Shearlock said.
As a result, his first jobs after military retirement were at West Virginia University at Parkersburg, first teaching American history and then serving as the school’s veterans advocate.
“Instead of teaching,” he said, “I was helping other veterans go to class.”
Then it was a natural move from there to his new WCVSC role.
“Here, it’s a more holistic way to help,” Shearlock said. “It’s not only helping with further education but also VA compensation, veterans’ widows benefits, transportation to medical facilities and many other things.”
Shearlock says Washington County, with its population of around 60,000, has just over 5,000 veterans. The veterans commission is charged with serving them all, along with their spouses, widows and children.
“I believe we’ve reached about half of them,” he said. “That’s a .500 average, really good in baseball. But I’d really like to focus on people who don’t even know there could be services or benefits still available to them.”
He urged veterans who have never been in touch with the county veterans service office to make arrangements to come in for a checkup, to make sure nothing has been missed that could help them. Veterans can talk to one of the staff specialists – Tom Kukulka, Tom Mullenix or Todd Farrar – or financial assistance coordinator Melinda Smith. The office is at 706 Pike St., Suite 1, in front of the Aldi store. The phone number is 740-568-9009.
Furthermore, Shearlock said, there will be opportunities to take advantage of outreach events. “We may be able to come to your area for a group event, rather than you having to come to us,” he said. “We know there are going to be specific issues for some that make it difficult to get out, to get around.
” You’re not taking away from any other veteran by using what you’re entitled to,” he added. “The more people who use the services, you’re making the system stronger.”
There are a couple of other reasons, Shearlock said, for him and all the others in veterans’ services to take their jobs so seriously.
“What we do today will influence future generations as to whether they want to serve in the military,” he said. “We need to show them that we’ll take care of them on the return side. If they decline to serve because they think they’ll be forgotten afterwards, then we’ve all lost.”
Shearlock’s second reason to take good care of veterans is, simply, it’s the right thing to do. As the U.S. military’s Oath of Enlistment says, in part, “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic … I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.”
“There’s no expiration date on an oath,” Shearlock said. “And if there’s nothing you need,” he reminds Washington County veterans, “then come help us help the others.”
After more than 20 years of service in the U.S. Army, Darren Shearlock retired as a master sergeant who could count among his accomplishments:
* led soldiers during three combat tours in the Middle East
* directed drug interdiction, drug awareness and alternative agriculture development programs in Bolivia, St. Kitts and Barbados
* served as liaison officer for the Special Operation Command, 4th Psychological Operations Group, 19th Special Forces Group and Naval Special Warfare Unit 3
* was an instructor at John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School
* taught psychological warfare to both American and foreign military officers
* planned and directed counter-violent extremism operations in Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.
