Federal Way man helps local veterans

Published 9:30 am Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Like most young men in college, Rich Garmong specialized in “beer and ladies.”

“I didn’t do a great job and I decided it was time to do something more with my life,” the Federal Way resident said about his time at Green River Community College in the 1970s.

The son of two Army veterans, Garmong would join the Coast Guard and National Guard before landing his new job as the King County Veterans Service Officer.

But like most career paths, Garmong’s turned a few different directions.

While he did join the military straight out of high school in 1974, he was a self-proclaimed “child of the 70s” and grew up with parents who fought during the Korean War.

A stint at ROTC basic training in Fort Knox, Kentucky wasn’t enough to convince him to contract and he became the “college bum” until he decided to join the Coast Guard.

He went through cooks and bakers school and became an assistant supply specialty for four years on active duty with a reserve obligation after that.

Trying to be a civilian cook didn’t work and Garmong found himself back out to sea, working with Crowley Maritime Corporation for five years as a ship steward.

The tug boats he worked on went up and down the west coast, spending a lot of time in Alaska.

“That was an interesting time,” he said. “Just being in an environment where everything you do, literally everything you do, has an immediate consequence.”

Garmong said going outside meant being prepared with the proper gear on because even if “it’s the middle of July, it’s still 30 below zero.”

But because Garmong was married with two children at the time, that job came to an end and he found himself back in college. One year into it, his life would take another turn.

“Some young gentleman wearing an Army National Guard recruiters uniform walked into the veterans office, which is where I was studying, and said ‘How’d you like to join the National Guard?'”

The short story, Garmong says, is he replied “only if I could have your job.”

Twenty-one years later, Garmong retired from that job but not before experiencing some life-changing experiences during it.

As he was getting ready to plan his retirement, Sept. 11, 2001 happened.

“In fact, I had a retirement package already built when the two planes took out the World Trade Center, so that was not even a thought,” he said. “That went into the trash can.”

Garmong recalls, amidst the tragedy that day, feeling great support from the community.

His armory was in lockdown for a few days during that time, and families in the neighborhood would bring cookies, sandwiches and coffee.

“They were coming over and seeing if they could help take care of us,” he said. “So that was pretty impressive. I was a little taken aback because, like I said, I’m a child of the 70s and I saw what my father went through coming home from Vietnam.”

Garmong attempted to volunteer right away but there was no place for him at that point.

But in 2003, he got this chance with the National Guard’s 81st brigade, the largest brigade in Washington state.

Garmong’s job was to be a retention non-commissioned officer. After a few months of training, the 81st brigade arrived in Kuwait and Garmong was hit with a surprise.

“The National Guard Bureau … came down to my brigade general and said you have a senior NCO who knows retention and we have a retention mission in this theater and no trained retention NCO, can we share him?” Garmong said. “So, my mission immediately expanded from just the 81st brigade to 37 other states and their organizational units.”

Garmong would go to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Djibouti with video conferences in Afghanistan.

Garmong said he’s very proud of the 250 young men and women in the brigade who he worked with as a recruiter.

“I promised, as a recruiter, if they went, I would go,” he said. “And I was able to meet with a lot of them throughout my travels in the theater and let them know I was there and that I had kept my promise and that I was there to support them.”

Garmong doesn’t like to remember the hard times, such as the mortars, loud noises or young men and women with Purple Hearts. But he is proud of a man named Jason who received the bronze star for his work in recovering casualties in combat and ensuring that the young man he did save, survived.

“I was very proud of him because it was a struggle for him to get into the military,” Garmong recalled. “He had overcome some issues in his life both legal and physical and we were able to support him and help him meet his height and weight requirements and pass his test and get through.”

Today, Garmong is preparing for his new position as the county Veterans Service Officer, where he will help veterans write Veterans Affairs disability claims or pension claims to help meet their financial goals.

“Unfortunately, we’re running behind the rest of the state as far as our percentages, but you have to remember, we’re also the largest percentage of veterans in the state, so we have more veterans receiving benefits than any other county in the state, but percentage-wise, we could be doing better,” he said.

Before this position, Garmong was the Business Outreach Coordinator for the program.

Not only did he connect veterans with employers, but he encouraged employers to understand the value a veteran can bring to a company.

“They have this ingrained work ethic,” Garmong said. I’m not going to say that about all but most soldiers, veterans, marines, air force, whatever, have a work ethic and you give them a task, they take on that task and they do a good job. Most of the time we see them immediately. So that’s one of the roles and most employers get that.”

Unfortunately, too many veterans are homeless or struggling, he says, and most don’t realize the benefits they are entitled to.

“People misunderstand what a disabled veteran is,” he said. “A disability occurs when a veteran [is injured] while on active duty. It does not have to be tied to his combat service or combat training, although most people think that.”

Garmong said the benefits provide some veterans up to $1,500 or more a month, which is enough to pay rent, buy food and allow the veteran to take advantage of other programs.

“My goal will be to provide a better quality of life for the young and old people I work with.

For more information about the King County Veterans Program, visit www.kingcounty.gov/socialservices/veterans.aspx