MAC Breakfast features presentation on JMCI project, recognition for award and QoV

Holly Hendershot, The Junction City Union, Kan.
·2 min read

Apr. 28—At the Military Affairs Council Breakfast Thursday, the council recognized the Army Spouse of the Year and presented a Quilt of Valor to a veteran. The main presentation of the evening was about the Junction for Military/Civilian Innovation project.

Monica Bassett was named the 2022 Armed Forces Insurance Army Spouse of the Year. Bassett is stationed with her husband, Maj. Gregory A. Bassett, at Fort Riley. She has two children.

Not only was she the Fort Riley Spouse of the Year, but also advanced through two rounds of competition and is in contention to become the overall Military Spouse of the Year, which will be announced next week.

The Army Spouse of the Year award was founded in 2008 to honor military spouses from all branches of service for selfless sacrifice and commitment to the military community. Basset was nominated for the award by a fellow military spouse for her community outreach, volunteer work and fight against food insecurity within military families.

"I put forth my mission of wanting to connect, strengthen and serve, not only in our Fort Riley families and community, but also our surrounding communities like Junction City," she said.

At the breakfast, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Young was awarded with a Quilt of Valor for his 34 years of service. He retired in 2002.

His quilt, pieced together by area quilter Montika Allen-Atkinson, has descriptive words on it like "friend," "mentor," "guide," "role model," and "hero."

The main presentation at the breakfast surrounded the Junction for Military/Civilian Innovation project. Mickey Fornaro-Dean, director of Economic Development, and Troy Carlson, of Initiatives Inc., explained that Fort Riley is the beta site for the project.

The purpose of the project is to help transition soldiers into civilian jobs when they leave the military. A career-advising platform built by AstrumU, a data services firm, takes data about soldiers and helps them find civilian positions where they can use the skills they learned in the military.

Fornaro-Dean said talent base is the current top factor leading to growth in communities, and soldiers coming out of Fort Riley are a great resource for the civilian market. Not only would the program help soldiers and veterans find jobs that work for them, but it would also help businesses find highly valued employees.

Carlson said around 300 soldiers have shown interest in the program thus far. The company's which have already partnered with the project include T-Mobile; general building contractor JE Dunn Construction Group; facility service and construction solutions provider P1 Group, Inc; and Evergy. Carlson said a major financial institution is looking to partner, as well, and an announcement is forthcoming.