Later in his military career he re-trained and became a Combat Trauma Medical NCO and served as an Ambulance Platoon Sergeant (and Company Training and Operations NCO), then was selected to serve with the elite USAR 26^th Infantry (Pathfinder/Airborne) Platoon a SOCOM (Special Operations Command) unit as their Platoon Medic.� During this time he competed and won the coveted NCO of the Year Award.

Johnathan was called back to voluntary duty, for another 3 year stint, to serve in the 82^nd Division as a Medical Detachment Field First Sergeant during the first Persian Gulf War (Operations Desert Shield / Storm and Provide Comfort).

He then returned to the Army Reserve as a Medical Group Operations NCO until he was selected to serve as a Medical Observer/Controller (OC) for the 75^th Division (Training).

The wear and tear of soldiering, old wounds and a training accident ended his military career short of the 30 year goal he had set for himself � he left the Army in 1998.� That�s when he began his battle for benefits from the Veteran� Administration and learned of the dreaded Veteran�s Benefit Administration (VBA) and the imbedded bureaucracy of the C & P (Claims & Processing) administrative obstacle course (which many of our Disabled Veterans have loathing labeled �Crimes in Progress�).

It took nearly three years, the loss of his marriage, the exhausting of all his savings and assets, becoming disenfranchised from his daughter, becoming a Homeless Vet � and a premature heart-attack (caused by the V.A. mismanaging his case erroneously prescribing two deadly contradicted medications simultaneously) that resulted in an emergency quadruple heart by-pass operation (thankfully performed by local civilian doctors) before his V.A. claim and rating was finally approved.� Upon rehabilitating (at home on his own), Johnathan became politically active in Nevada helping Disabled and Homeless Veterans and in founding the Nevada Democratic Veterans & Military Families Corps Caucus, first at the Clark County, then, at the Nevada State level.� His column, �A Veteran�s Voice� is a regular monthly feature in �The Nevada Military Veteran�s Reporter� (a specialty newspaper that goes out, state-wide, to all V.A. Clinics, National Veteran�s Organizations and local public libraries) � and he also writes on-line regularly at www.vegascommunityonline.com � he can be reached at [email protected] for further commentary on Military matters and especially V.A. and Disabled Vets Issues.