Jill Schramm/MDN Brock Gilstad, Heather Rahn and Bradley Starnes serve veterans in the Ward County Veterans Service Office.

Their own military experiences and appreciation for veterans generate an enthusiasm for their work for staff in the Ward County Veterans Service Office.

The office is fully staffed after undergoing transition over the past year.

“We have overhauled the office,” said Bradley Starnes, who became veterans service director June 15. “We’ve got a fresh start now.”

Brock Gilstad started in July as administrative assistant, moving to the position of veterans service officer in October. Heather Rahn became the new administrative assistant Nov. 2.

With the retirement of the former office director in November 2019 and departure of an administrative assistant earlier this year, Starnes said he arrived on the job to join the then veterans service officer, who had been attempting the impossible task of single-handedly meeting the needs of all the veterans.

“My first six months here was a rollercoaster, for sure,” Starnes said. “It took a little bit to get things settled down, but now we are on track and we are rolling full steam ahead.”

Starnes previously worked as office manager at the Minot Vet Center for almost four years and earned a finance degree from Minot State University. A native of Minnesota, he fell in love with North Dakota after enlisting in the Air Force and finding himself at Minot Air Force Base.

“I love North Dakota because it’s a strong veteran state,” he said. “It’s a patriotic state.”

He was a staff sergeant at Minot AFB when medically separated in December 2008.

“I went through the VA process myself, and I knew how challenging it was if you don’t have the right direction. If you don’t have the right support in the community, it’s extremely hard to get going and to know what you need to do,” Starnes said. “I’ve noticed that, due to my own experience of not having the support that I needed when I got out, that this is what I wanted to do. And after working with the Vet Center, I know that I want to dedicate my life to helping veterans. You need an office full of people that are willing to help and are willing to do what they need to do. And right now we have the staff to do that.”

The office provides not only help with accessing Veterans Administration programs but it can provide referrals for jobs, housing or other services. With 5,500 veterans, Ward County has the third largest number of claims among North Dakota counties.

Having worked through the office’s waiting list, Starnes’ goal now is to schedule appointments within 30 days. Starnes and Gilstad each have been scheduling five appointments a day. Additionally, Starnes said, the office averages between 100 and 150 phone calls and between 10 and 15 walk-ins a day.

“It doesn’t seem like COVID-19 has slowed down our numbers as far as walk-ins and appointments, although we are taking precautions as far as distancing and masks,” Starnes said. “People need the help with the VA and they need to get their disability benefits, which they are entitled to. They need to get their healthcare rolling. They need to do these things, and we’re here to assist them, whether we’re in a pandemic or not.”

Starnes completed an intensive, weeklong course in Fargo in July to expand his knowledge about accessing veteran benefits and become accredited by the North Dakota Department of Veteran Affairs. Gilstad also recently completed the course and became accredited.

Local to the Minot area, Gilstad served four years in the North Dakota Army National Guard before joining the Army in 1999. He had been stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado, South Korea and Fort Riley, Kansas, before separating in 2002. He then went to college and worked a variety of retail jobs and for the railroad.

He said his customer service background comes into play in his current position because he views veterans as customers.

“I want to do my best I can for them. But I also want to treat their cases like they were my own. Because I want the best benefits for myself, why wouldn’t I want that for the veterans that I help?” he said.

While in the military he held jobs in hospitals and enjoyed working with veterans in those settings. He always wanted to get back to working with veterans, which is why he considers himself lucky to have his current position.

“I get the honor of being able to help veterans,” he said. “I think it’s great. I’ve just been lucky. I’m a disabled veteran myself so seeing what’s out there and learning as I’m going and being able to help the veteran has just been fantastic.”

Rahn handles the office’s phone calls and scheduling but also works with walk-in customers and processes claims for headstone markers for deceased veterans. A native of the state of Michigan, she joined the Air Force in 2015, working in logistics at Minot AFB. Upon separating from the Air Force a few months ago, she remained in Minot, where her finance is from, and worked for a local business until the opportunity opened with the Veterans Service Office. She said she enjoyed her time in the Air Force and finds satisfaction in being able to help others who share that military experience.

Starnes said the office has sought to do some outreach, such as participating in the Veterans Stand Down event, but the pandemic has limited efforts to raise awareness regarding the office. Fortunately, he said, Minot AFB has been doing a good job of steering separating personnel to the Veterans Service Office. Air Force retirees account for a good share of the office’s contacts.

Starnes acknowledged the frustration veterans were feeling during this past year’s transition but noted the office now is ready to serve.

“We’re having to work extra hard to gain the trust in the community,” he said. Not that he minds extra work when it involves helping veterans.

“It’s by far the most rewarding thing that I can imagine doing,” he said.

(Prairie Profile is a weekly feature profiling interesting people in our region. We welcome suggestions from our readers. Call Regional Editor Eloise Ogden at 857-1944 or call 1-800-735-3229. You also can send email suggestions to eogden@minotdailynews.com.)