This Veterans Day, FEMA is taking the time to honor our veterans. These brave men and women sacrificed everything to strengthen our nation. Read more about the veterans that continue their service to our country through their work at FEMA.
Stephanie Lincoln
Lincoln serves in the Florida Army National Guard.
Tell us about your military experience. How does it influence the work you do at FEMA?
Being in the Florida Army National Guard, I deployed multiple times for natural disasters, hurricanes, floods and wildfires, and the immediate security response after 9/11. I worked full time as a finance specialist with the Florida National Guard EOC Headquarters. I was the Battle Captain for the 53rd Infantry Brigade EOC for Hurricane Wilma. I worked with and alongside FEMA many times and was always impressed with their work ethic and professionalism.
What does Veterans Day mean to you?
I rose my right hand for the first time at the age of 17. Looking back now at how naïve I was about what this oath really meant makes me chagrined. The next time I took the oath, on the day of my commissioning as an officer, I had a very different perspective. Several months before that moment, I watched with horror as the second plane hit the World Trade Center. My second oath was one of determination to defend the innocent from terror. I took the oath again just a month ago at the FEMA Lynwood, Washington office. The third time filled my heart with pride. Pride because I had willingly chosen three times to protect and defend, and that I am a part of a very small special club of heroes who have made that same choice. I am proud to serve again!
Yomar Montes Ortiz
Ortiz served in the U.S. Army at Rose Barracks Vilseck, Germany.
Tell us about your military experience. How does it influence the work you do at FEMA?
My job in FEMA entails that I conduct myself in accordance with the agency’s values at all times, much like it was during my service in the Army. We followed the soldier's code, the Warrior Ethos and the Army Values in every aspect of our life in the military. The service provided me with the knowledge to lead others, with the motivation to continue ahead against adversity and with the mental strength to face life problems. My military occupational skill (MOS) became the backbone of my technical knowledge and experience in computer and communication systems, which I put in practice every day as part of the Maynard Mobile Emergency Response System detachment. I feel at home when working for a disaster support team, the leadership, teamwork and dedication is very similar to the military, especially when so many of us are also veterans.
What does Veterans Day mean to you?
It means the chance to say "thank you" and to honor those who had the personal courage to leave families behind to go and fight for our way of life and to defend our freedom.
Kenneth Reis
Reis served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve for the USCG Marine Safety Unit in Portland, Oregon.
Tell us about your military experience. How does it influence the work you do at FEMA?
I joined the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve in November 1987 in Portland, Oregon. My rating was Port Security Specialist Second Class. Reservists augmented Marine Safety functions (Port State Control, Marine Environmental Response, Marine Investigations, Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety, etc.).
In 2010, I changed my rating to Marine Science Technician First Class. I was assigned to the Investigations Division, for the majority of my career. Performing Marine Casualty, Merchant Mariner Licensing, Drug and Alcohol Program Inspection and Maritime Enforcement Investigations. Report writing, working with the Code of Federal Regulations and the U.S. Code, documentation, computer entry, interviewing and field work are important duties of a Marine Investigator.
Those skills influence my work as FEMA Security Manager. I retired from the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve in November 2015. I joined FEMA in October 2016.
Today, I continue my support to the U.S. Coast Guard as a Member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. I am the Vice Flotilla Commander for Flotilla 07-03 Pacific, in Portland, Oregon.
What does Veterans Day mean to you?
I am thankful for all that served and still serve in the military.
Michael Wheeler
Service: United States Navy - Pacific Coast (Bangor WA, Bremerton WA, San Diego CA, Vallejo CA).
Tell us about your military experience. How does it influence the work you do at FEMA?
My primary specialty was Electronic Support Measures in Submarines. I finished my career as a Training Instructor and Curriculum Developer. The core training I received still guides my work today. While techniques and processes have evolved, the basic principles of training I used in the Navy are very much the same today as when I learned them.
What does Veterans Day mean to you?
Veterans Day marks the ongoing sacrifice of all service persons past and present most of which many of us never see.
Emily Thompson
Service: Army National Guard, Fort Worth, Texas.
Tell us about your military experience. How does it influence the work you do at FEMA?
In 2021, I was activated to assist my community during a hurricane. Though my community was fortunate enough to see only minor damages, a sense of pride in knowing I had helped before, during, and after a disaster grew within me. To me, the oath I had taken to protect my community was important. Here at FEMA, I feel that oath is just as valued. Though I'm no longer called to the front lines of the disaster to provide support, I have the same sense of pride knowing I play a small role in helping people before, during, and after disasters. It drives me to be all I can be, whether in the uniform or at work.
What does Veterans Day mean to you?
My life has been profoundly impacted by the Army. I am a fourth generation solider in the Army, going back to my great-grandfather. I am indebted to not only my family who have served before me, but to my mentors who have taught me and the women who came before me to pave the path. To me, Veterans Day is about all of them. Everyday, I know I am the soldier I am because of them. So, on Veterans Day, I think of the mentor I lost, CPT (RET) Kim. I think of the bravery of the women who came before me that fought for the equality in the Army. I think of my family, who over the course of a hundred years, all took the same oath to serve. Veterans Day is about all of them and I am forever indebted to them.