PANORAMA: A Discussion on Veterans Services

In a recent "Panorama" discussion, Anthony Woods, Secretary of Maryland's Department of Veterans and Military Families, shared insights on serving Maryland's 360,000 veterans and broader military community. Woods, a West Point graduate who served two tours in Iraq before being discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and later returning to service following the policy's repeal, leads efforts to support military-connected individuals through key life transitions. His department focuses on five priority areas: employment, education, food and housing security, health and wellness (including suicide prevention), and community belonging. Under Governor Moore's administration, which declared 2024 "the Year of the Military Family," the department has helped pass 24 bills benefiting the military community and is currently tracking over 80 more, including measures to prevent fraud against veterans and streamline professional license
transfers for military spouses.

Woods emphasized the strengths veterans bring to the workforce, noting LinkedIn's report that veterans possess 8 of the 10 most in-demand skills sought by employers. He discussed the department's nonpartisan approach to working with the new Trump administration while remaining prepared to advocate against policies potentially harmful to Maryland's military families, particularly concerning remote work opportunities for military spouses and the value of diversity initiatives that benefit veteran employment. Woods encouraged civilians to engage with veterans through volunteer opportunities and by simply asking about their service, and urged young people to consider military service as a pathway to education and valuable life skills. With approximately 600,000 military-connected individuals making up 10% of Maryland's population, Woods strives to highlight both the challenges they face and the significant contributions they make to communities and workplaces.

read the transcript:

Transcript is generated with artificial intelligence.  

ALVIN: At Panorama, we highlight the stories and insights of the leaders shaping our communities. Welcome to our discussion with Maryland's Secretary of the Department of Veterans and Military Families. Working in Governor Westmore's cabinet to serve the thousands of veterans living in Maryland, Anthony Woods has gained an invaluable insight into the inner workings of government, the unique experiences of veterans, and Maryland's plans to work with a new presidential administration.

CHARAN: Well, welcome to Panorama. My name is Charan. And my name is Evan.

And today we have with us Secretary Anthony Woods. Secretary Woods, would you mind introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about what you do in the state of Maryland?

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah. Uh, so I, uh, serve as the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families. Um, our mission is really to lead Uh, veterans, service members, and their families through life's transitions.

We kind of really took a step back and realized that it's those sort of key inflection points in a veteran's life or a service member's life that if they're not able to get it right, it really has impacts on their well being and the well being of their family. So when you transition from the military.

To civilian life, looking for a job, making sure you have access to your resources and benefits, et cetera. Um, if you, uh, you know, transition to our state, if you're a member of the military community, um, if you're, you know, your military loved one is, uh, assigned here, it's looking for those sort of key inflection points or transition points in a person's life and seeing what we can do as a, as a department, as an agency, uh, to meet them where they are, to support them in those critical needs and then help.

In some cases, uh, to pick them up if they've, if they've stumbled during those transitions. And so that's what we focus on. Our hope is to be the best state in the nation to be a member of the military connected community. We want to make sure all veterans and their family members who live here know about their benefits that they've earned through service.

And then we want to help them access those benefits seamlessly. Uh, and that's really the hard, hardest part. Um, but it's the part that brings us the most joy and keeps us, uh, as a mission driven organization, uh, excited about what we do every day.

EVAN: Yeah, so thank you. So Charan and I actually, um, participated in Maryland Boys Day over the summer, and we heard your story then, um, and we found it really compelling.

So we were wondering if you could tell us about your story again, so our viewers could, uh, hear about your story.

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah, of course. I appreciate the question. Um, uh, I often sort of tell it this way. My mom, um, uh, raised me as a single mom. Uh, she worked as a housekeeper and, uh, I knew then, uh, what I, what I kind of look back on and appreciate now is that, um, you know, if I was going to get a high quality education and change the trajectory of my life.

I needed to find, um, um, some way to support that journey. And our governor often talks about it. He uses this phrase that service will save us. I knew kind of intuitively at that time, um, that military service was going to be my path to a different life, a better life. Um, I was a junior in high school when I got a letter in the mail, um, from West Point saying, um, Hey, you know, you, you did well enough on this test.

You seem interested in engineering of some sort, uh, coming, you know, you should, you should learn about us. Told my mom, I showed my mom that letter and or she showed it to me actually, and she's like, this is a really good school. And I'm like, okay, well, I guess put it in the good school pile. Uh, they sent another invitation saying, Hey, come to, I lived in California.

They said, come to Sacramento and see this presentation. Uh, and I knew from that presentation from that moment on that that was the only school that I wanted to go to, uh, like an idiot. It was also the only school that I applied to, uh, which I do not recommend for anyone. Um. But I was really fortunate to get in and went to West Point in 1999, um, the summer of 1999.

And, um, while it is grueling and challenging and stressful and all those things, um. I was hooked and I knew that, um, you know, military life was the right life for me. Um, graduated from there with a degree in economics and political science in 2003. Um, that, if you recall, was sort of, um, shortly, of course, after 9 11.

A country was in the midst of wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq at that's at that time. I ended up deploying twice to Iraq. I was really fortunate to lead two different platoons, one tank platoon of 16 soldiers and then support platoon of 64 soldiers. And I often tell folks, I think the, the most important accomplishment and it's, you know, it sort of implies that it was due to my skill, which I would say it was much more luck in the grace of God, but.

I don't think I will have a bigger accomplishment than bringing all of those soldiers home alive to their families. I unfortunately, was also serving at a time when the military still had what was then called the don't ask, don't tell policy that barred members of the LGBT community from serving openly in the military.

And, I was going to actually have a chance to go back and teach at West Point and, something really didn't sit right with me about the idea of teaching cadets, potentially lying to cadets who, lived under an honor code that they will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do. and then to do so to violate my integrity at the same time.

And so I made the decision to come out in defiance of that law at that time. it resulted in an investigation and my being discharged from the military. I was 1 of basically 13, 000 plus individuals who were kicked out. Because of that policy, I did advocacy work for repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, along with many really great, other individuals.

And then, I was really fortunate when that policy went away to get a little bit of help, but was able to get back in. And so I currently serve in the Army Reserve, and it's been a really, really wonderful experience. An opportunity to see that our military is a melting pot. It represents all of us in the United States and with good leadership.

Uh, it has been more than able to handle the diversity within its ranks of all types, gender, orientation, gender identity, all those types of things, religion, et cetera. Uh, and so I currently serve now on the joint staff and the Pentagon, and it's been a real privilege to do so.

CHARAN: Thank you very much, Secretary Woods, for your service.

Um, we wanted to know, how has the military service, um, in, in 2003 and, and now, even now in the Army, how does military service impact the way you think, the way you lead in your current role at the Department of Veteran Affairs?

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah, one of the things that I appreciate, and I sort of tell this to anyone and everyone, leadership is, Yeah, in some cases, it's innate.

You know, people kind of naturally gravitate to certain people and, people take to leadership a little bit, more easily than others. That's true. And so in some ways it is, it is, something you could be born with, and grow up to observe and develop, but it truly is an art and a science. And so I think that was sort of one of the biggest things that I took from military services.

The more you apply yourself to the craft of learning about leadership. The better a leader you can be, right? And so listening to podcasts like this or reading books on leadership and management, you absolutely can grow and develop and refine your ability to be a good leader. So that was sort of like lesson one is, you should be a lifelong learner of leadership and you will get better at it.

Um, I think from there, it's been a lot more practical things. Um, the military, which is a lifestyle, which has lots of change and lots of moves constantly, um, provides you an opportunity to apply leadership in different settings, units, organizations over and over and over again, and you start to see a pattern of what it's like to come into a new environment.

Assess where they are today to listen to observe to ask questions, then to set priorities for. Okay. Here's our North star over the next 90 days, 120 days, my 2 years of leadership and then, you know, work to kind of build the team and guide the team in that direction. And that is, you know, really served me well and every single role that I've ever had and serves me well in my current role as secretary of this department.

And so I'm glad we're on that journey. I think the last piece that I would say that I really appreciate about military service is its focus on people. And I would say this is particularly strong about the army. Um, and you know, I love all the other services and think they bring and emphasize really, really different, uh, really, really valuable components of personal development and leadership.

But what I love about the army, um, and I think is also true of the Marines is it's. Focus is much more on people than it is on technology or platforms or ships or aircraft, et cetera. Right? And so, um, something that I appreciated that I use every single day is 1 remembering that you have to invest in train coach and develop your people.

Um, you always have to plan for your succession. Uh, who are the leaders in my organization who are going to hopefully someday replace me? Um, but then the other thing that I like to talk about is the fact that. You know, in the army, short of very significant infractions, nobody is able to be fired. Uh, and so you have to learn what are all the things, you know, and for the most part, they're assigned to you by kind of random number generator.

And so what are the things that are going that, that I need to. Learn about that individual, that soldier, what are the skills they bring to the table? And then how do I motivate and encourage and inspire them to use those skills at the right time in advancing our mission together? Um, and so, um, that to me has kind of given me a belief.

You don't give up on people, uh, and you find ways to match their skills to what your organization needs to be successful.

EVAN: Yeah, so touching on that last part a little bit, I was wondering, um. You talked about the letter you got from West Point and then the people part of the army. If there's anything else that influenced you into choosing the army and things you learned specifically from the army branch?

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah, um, it was actually, um, most folks don't realize this, but Every year, all of the service academies, you know, so West Point, the Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy, um, if you pay close attention, you'll see that a few people can actually go to other services, right? So, every year, West Point will have 2 or 3 or 4 individuals go to the Navy or the Air Force or, you know, that sort of thing.

Because my mom, dad, and grandfather all served in the Air Force, I was actually able to make the case that Um, I've got a family history of Air Force service and perhaps I should be allowed to do that. But what I realized is that, you know, I had spent this four years learning about how to be an army officer, and that's what West Point had prepared and trained me to do.

Um, I took stock in the mentors and professors and instructors who I had at West Point and realized, well, these are people who I want to be like, you know, I really admired them as leaders and said that, yep, there are great leaders in the Air Force. But, um, West Point has prepared me to lead soldiers in the army and was really, Delighted to take that opportunity.

Um, I branched armor. Um, so one of the combat arms branches, um, at the time I didn't really realize it. I didn't really give it much thought. I just sort of said, Hey, the instructors who I really admire and like, and my mentors, they're armor officers. And so I want to be like them someday. Um, but I also didn't realize at the time that, um, you know, there are kind of disproportionate numbers within our combat arms branches of people of color.

Um, at the time there were no women, uh, in armor or infantry, um, uh, that is of course since changed. Um, but, you know, all of these just sort of made for a more unique experience, um, one that I enjoyed a lot and it was a privilege to lead soldiers in the, in, in, as an armor officer in the army.

CHARAN: Yeah. Thank you.

Um, so I actually want to talk about a little bit, um, in the period where you were discharged from the army, right? And you were advocating, what did that advocacy lead to? I mean, what, what has that taught you that you apply today in public service?

ANTHONY WOODS: It's a good point. Um, I think many folks, um, in kind of social movements in, uh, advocacy and change.

Uh, there's a, uh, a professor at Harvard named Marshall Gans, and, um, his sort of approach to change, um, is really all about the power of individual storytelling. And, um, you know, he learned this in, uh, efforts by Cesar Chavez to organize and to support, uh, farm workers. Um, but it's all about telling that individual story of how this current law or policy impacts me as an individual.

Um, Marshall Gans, that kind of. Individual storytelling approach to change is actually represented, uh, he served as an advisor to President Obama's campaign. And so you see this in political movements as well. Um, and I would say that this was actually also quite true in, um, in the, in the effort to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, where I think that effort succeeded was telling individual stories about.

People who were deeply experienced, people who the military had invested a lot of time and energy into their skills, uh, linguists, uh, you know, people who had served in combat, um, people who were ready, willing, and able to serve again in combat at that time during the height of very significant wars for our country.

And so I think when we were able to, I was one small part of many, uh, to tell those individual stories that look, we think our military is more than capable of handling this form of diversity. We already serve successfully in the military and we shouldn't have to compromise our integrity. And here are the skills that you would be losing if you lost people like me.

Um, doing that, it made sense to the American people and that helped them understand, oh, that is a real person with real skills who is willing to step up and defend our country. I don't have an issue with it. And I think that is a technique that I would recommend to anyone. This could be true at your high school.

This could be true on a college campus. This can be true in our broader society. People have to step up and tell individual stories of how this impacts me and how it harms me. And I think empathy hopefully kicks in and people understand and accept that and are open to that change.

EVAN: Yeah, thank you. Um, before we actually go into like the veteran part of Maryland, um, we just have one more question about your personal background.

So, you know, we know that in 2009 you ran for Congress to understand, you know, what your intentions were running for Congress, what you sought to change. Um, and, you know, what you got out of that experience, how it's shaped, you know, you today. And if you could run again, what would you do differently, or would you run for the same, same values, same things?

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah, well, it's a good question. Um, so I guess the why part is a little bit directly related to what we were just talking about with like my experience in serving in the military. Um, when I graduated from West Point, I very much felt that I, owed a debt of gratitude to my nation, right? I got this free education in exchange for service.

But West Point's mission at the time was to create leaders of character dedicated to a lifetime of service. And I really took that to heart. I had lost my ability to serve in uniform, but I felt that running for office provided an opportunity to serve in a different way. And so that was my hope, was that I would get an opportunity to go off and As I mentioned before, tell the individual stories of what it felt like to grow up without health insurance, what it felt like to grow up with a person who, um, you know, my mom working as a housekeeper, struggling to make ends meet, right, to share sort of a different perspective. Uh, it was true then and it's even more true now, you know, Congress is really made up of lots of millionaires. and so kind of getting the opportunity to bring a different perspective to. The halls of Congress and share that was something that I hoped to do.

At that time, uh, the affordable care act was not a thing. It was still being debated of whether or not healthcare should be there. We were in these two very complex, significant wars and about 1 percent of individuals have served. So you didn't have people who had individual experience in some of the biggest conversations at that time.

And I hoped to be a part of that. I ran in a crowded field. That's where I grew up. Uh, I was 1 of 14 candidates. I was the only candidate who was born and raised in that district. Um, I ended up coming in 4th, but it was a really good experience. I think a big lesson that I take away that. I hope your listeners also take is that, you know, um.

Politics and policy and governance is, uh, uh, it's not a spectator sport or it shouldn't be, or it'll be more frustrating. The outcomes will be more frustrating if we sit on the sidelines and watch. And so I hope that young people like yourselves and others listening, um, of all ages, frankly, step up and jump in and make their voices heard and give it a try.

You know, you're, you're better qualified than you realize and your perspective is important and you have every right to be heard in this in the political process. Um, I don't know that I want to run for office again. I've never ruled anything out. Um, but 1 thing that I, that happened as a mentor of mine, John Barry, when I served as a White House fellow, he was the director of OPM then, and then he became the ambassador to Australia.

But he sort of pulled me aside and he's like, Hey, Tony, it's really great that you, uh, ran for Congress. You know, we need that kind of representation and, and, and, and, and office, but you should also remember the power, the impact that you could have as a political appointee. Um, and he was sort of talking about his role, but, um, it's really what inspired me, um, um, to jump at the opportunity when Governor Moore gave me this opportunity, um, is you can really make a big difference in the, in the lives of individuals in appointed roles.

And so that to me is where, um, I, I aspire to for the future. Yes.

CHARAN: Switching gears to, um, to focus on the veteran population of Maryland. We were wondering if you could contextualize The veteran population of Maryland for us. Just tell us about, um, what they're like, what, what the makeup is.

Yeah. Um, Maryland is really blessed to have a large and diverse veteran population across the state.

Um, we have about, uh, 360, 000 veterans. Uh, we're home to 14 installations and facilities from the Department of Defense. So what that also means is that we have about 60, 000 active service members. Um, we've got about 75, 000. Um, military family members, um, which is a very significant population. Um, when you also start to include our veteran caregivers and survivors, uh, those who've lost a service member, loved one, um, we're actually looking at almost 600, 000 military connected people in our state.

It's about 10 percent of the population. It's really, really significant. And so one of the things that I love to do in this role is help people understand that our veteran population is not just, you know, people who have complex challenges, although we do have some of that and we focus on that very significantly.

We also bring a lot of strengths to the table and it's important that people realize that. And, And see the diversity of the skills that we bring to our communities, to the businesses that we work in, to the businesses that they start, to the, the vibrant economy. And I always tell folks, you know, you can be anything from, you know, all you can be all the way up to governor of the state.

There are veterans serving in very, very significant ways. Um, and so, um, the other thing I also point out is that, you know, of the 360,000 veterans, about 60,000 of them are women. Um, and that, to me, is also important to make sure we're doing a better job of telling the stories of women veterans or other underserved communities because they need to realize that they have earned their benefits just like everyone else, and they should take advantage of them because they're really life, uh, life changing and impactful.

Um, and so working with this community, amplifying the positive stories from this community and helping them overcome challenges has been a real, uh, a real blessing.

CHARAN: Yeah, so, you know, switching gears kind of and focusing on the challenges that, um, veterans in Maryland and across the United States face, what are some of the biggest challenges that, you know, the Department of Veteran Affairs has had to deal with, um, in recent years?

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah, it's, it's interesting and it's wide ranging. Um, I mentioned the sort of at each of those sort of core transition points is sort of where you kind of can hone in and find sort of the key challenges. Um, what I would say is important to point out is that, um. Uh, we've stood up an initiative called Maryland Joints Forces, which focuses on how do we bring together people from all sorts of sectors to solve the issues that are unique to this population?

We've identified kind of five key areas. Employment is really, really number one. That's true for veterans. It's true, especially for the military spouse community education. So that could be a veteran taking advantage of their benefits, or you can also think about it from the perspective of a military kid who is at a school, perhaps off of the installation that their parent is assigned to in our community, um, does that school have the cultural competency to know how to support that young person? Um, so education is the second one. Food and housing insecurity are much bigger challenges than people realize. It's true for veterans, but it's also true for our active service members.

Particularly active service members whose spouse is unemployed, right? It's very hard to survive in any economy with 1 salary these days. Um, the 4th 1 is around, uh, we sort of generally say is health and wellness related, but I say included in that is suicide or suicide prevention. It's a very, very big focus for us.

And then the fifth one that I mentioned, uh, oftentimes is feeling a sense of belonging or feeling connected to the community. Uh, and so we look to address this in a number of ways, you know, are veterans aware of the great nonprofits and veteran service organizations in their community, or, um, you know, are veterans finding opportunities to serve meaningfully alongside their civilian counterpart to help to break down some of the barriers that exist to just understanding one another's lived experience.

EVAN: Yeah. So, uh, touching on that last part, I was wondering, um, I know of course we went on Boys State, which was sponsored by American Legion, a veterans organization, but you can elaborate on more ways that veterans are able to connect across the state of Maryland through organizations like these, these support networks, things like that.

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah. Um, so I think you, you've touched on a, on a great example. Uh, veteran service organizations do play a really wonderful role. Uh, I would also point out, you know, my experience as a person who served in the Iraq war or other post nine 11 veterans, it's really different than, um, uh, our world war II generation, our Korean war generation, and of course our, our Vietnam generation.

I think it goes without saying in some cases, but it's really important to be said that our Vietnam veterans were not treated with the level of respect and dignity that they deserved, um, for after, you know, raising their right hand, deploying to a conflict that perhaps they didn't agree with, or that many in the nation didn't agree with.

But nonetheless, that wasn't their choice. They stood up for themselves. They served, they served honorably and came home to a, to a nation that did not welcome them. Uh, and so it is a privilege for us to, you know, tell them, welcome home, uh, even to this day, uh, because it's the welcome home that they deserve and didn't get.

But this post 9/11 generation of veterans, It's been interesting to sort of see the challenge of connecting with them, of finding them when you look at statistics like, you know, anywhere between 18 and 22 service members dying by suicide across the country per day a lot of that comes from sort of feeling a sense of belonging and feeling a sense of purpose.

And I think a lot of that is addressed when we connect with other veterans who share our experience, when we find ways to volunteer and to serve in our communities. I think a lot of people. join the military in part for economic reasons, but also because they want to be a part of something greater than themselves.

And when you leave that environment, it's hard to fill that gap. And so that's why I think, you know, you see a lot of, um, serve former service members, veterans go into teaching. Uh, law enforcement becoming first responders, right? This, this continues that kind of ethos of serving the community, but if you don't go into those pathways, if you go to a job that doesn't necessarily provide that outlet and finding those meaningful ways to give back. Uh, veteran service organizations can certainly help with that, but any volunteer organization is also a great way. And I think those start to help to address, uh, some of the challenges that we see within our community as well.

CHARAN: Got it. So, you know, um, as civilians, right, a lot, I think a lot of people are afraid to, to speak to veterans about their experience, whether deployment or in this service, right?

So, you know, in your opinion, how can civilians? kind of break the ice and like, what kinds of things should they, should they say to veterans to acknowledge their service, but to do it in a respectful way?

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah. Well, frankly, I think, you know, the example of this interview is exactly that, right? Just being curious and asking questions.

Um, I think somebody can tell if this is a genuine question, uh, we would ask out of respect and a genuine curiosity and wanting to learn more. Um, and so, you know, just not being shy about asking those questions, of course, being an active listener and realizing if this veteran across from me is either enjoying this experience or not enjoying this experience, that's of course one.

Um, but I mentioned this before and I'll say it again, finding ways to volunteer and serve alongside veterans is another really, I think, meaningful way, right? So, Looking up your American Legion, um, uh, or VFW post in your community and asking, Hey, do you guys have volunteer service opportunities that I can do alongside veterans?

Um, looking up organizations like the Travis Manion foundation, uh, that does really great volunteer work in our communities or team red, white, and blue, finding a workout that you can do alongside former service members. I think just. Creating more opportunities to get to know one another and reduce those barriers, um, goes a really long way of making someone feel connected and, and creates an opportunity for you to learn their story and to share your story.

Um, I think the last piece that I would say kind of related to this, um, you know, my department has a campaign that we were working on across the administration, uh, called ask the question. Uh, we want more and more, um, Uh, businesses, hospitals, individuals, health care providers, um, to ask, Hey, have you ever served in the military?

Uh, or has, has, as somebody you loved ever served in the military and what that does is it, it opens up a whole different world of questions and conversations. It can result in. better health care being provided. Um, if a, if a veteran has found themselves involved in the criminal justice system, it can open up pathways to different resources and supports.

Um, or in the case of, um, a curious, uh, member of the community, just, it can, it can open the door to conversation about that person's service, and it might even inspire them to consider service themselves.

CHARAN: Yeah, that's a great initiative. Um, so we, you know, you talked about the five points of and two of them were employment.

And the other one was how food and housing and security. Now, I would imagine that, you know, food and housing and security is probably a factor of not gaining employment, right, of being unable to find employment. So the thing is, those two are linked, you know, how can we help veterans find employment? I mean, what kinds of things should the community do, but also, Um, how do we build a robust support network for housing?

Um, because there are, you know, homeless homelessness and veterans is a problem.

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah, I think kind of to your first point. Um, this goes back to what we mentioned with that. Ask the question campaign. Right? Employers who are asking whether or not somebody is, uh, military connected in some way, that creates an opportunity to identify them as a person who is going to bring a special set of skills, uh, to potentially to your organization.

So one, just upfront asking, you know, Hey, are, are you military connected in some way? Have you ever served? Um, One thing I'd like to point out in 2024, LinkedIn, um, released their Veterans Opportunity Report. And in that, what it did is it identified of, of veterans who are on their platform. It pointed out that they actually possess 8 out of the top 10 most in demand skills identified by employers on the platform.

And so that would be things like management, project management experience, um, leadership experience, all those types of things. It also pointed out that they're more often than not more highly educated, uh, because they take advantage of the great training and development opportunities within the military or, uh, tuition benefits.

Um, and it also turns out that they stick with organizations longer than their civilian counterparts, right? So, uh, the point that I like to make is when you consider hiring a veteran. Um, you're making a very good bet on a skilled person. Um, so that's one. And I think you're absolutely right. Um, you know, employment has that follow on effect that impacts everything from food and housing and security, of course.

Also health and wellness and risk of suicide, right? All of these things I think are tied to good, meaningful employment, which is why I think getting that transition right out of the military into civilian life is really quite important. To your point on housing, um, you're absolutely right. Maryland, uh, is a high cost.

Place to live. It's a desirable place to live. It's why I'm glad our governor, Governor Wes Moore, is working very significantly on this, passed a number of bills last year focused on increasing the number of housing units available, especially affordable housing units available. And that's good, not just for our veteran community, but of course the entire state as a whole.

And then of course, if you can afford the roof over your head, you can also typically be better positioned to afford putting food on the table.

EVAN: Yeah, so you mentioned some, um, initiatives by Governor Moore there. And, um, we were wondering since the General Assembly is currently in session, if, um, there's any plans for the current session regarding veteran affairs related legislation and also, um, touching on more progress that the Moore administration has made in the past couple of years.

Um, if there's any more specific initiatives, things like that.

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah, last year, uh, Governor Moore declared 2024 the year of the military family. Um, and what I loved about that is it was just really born out of not only his experience as a veteran realizing the impact that his service had on his, at that time, fiancee, then wife, while he was deployed to Afghanistan, now our first lady, Dawn Moore, but also our Lieutenant Governor.

Her husband, David, uh, is an Air Force veteran, right? So you have a veteran spouse as our Lieutenant Governor. Our second gentleman is a veteran. Our first lady is a former military spouse, veteran spouse, et cetera, right? So you just had this, this great nucleus of people who understood not only the experience of veterans, but also the impact that military service has on those that they love.

And so that's why we thought it was really important to do that. It's why we changed the name of our department. That was 1 of the pieces of legislation that came out last year to from the Department of veterans affairs. We obviously are now the Department of veterans and military families. Um, so that was certainly one also passed what was called the families serve act again in recognition of the impact on them, especially targeting employment, uh, for military spouses.

And so what this meant is that if you are a military spouse. You will also get just like the veteran 10 points towards your competitive application for employment and Maryland state government, but it also allows private sector employers to make military, uh, uh, spouses, um, uh, a group that you can offer preferential hiring.

Which was really, really important. Uh, we actually ended up passing 24 bills that were, um, that would positively impact the military connected community last year. Really proud of that this year. You're exactly right. I'm in the, um, the, um, uh, general assembly is in effect right now. We're actually tracking, uh, over 80 bills.

Uh, with potential to impact our military community, which is great. It shows a lot of enthusiasm. We have a legislature that is really active. They have the largest veterans caucus of any, uh, state level, um, uh, legislature in the country with about 74 members. So really, really well represented. Um, this year we're really focusing on a few different areas.

One, uh, Is, um, uh, helping to prevent fraud being perpetrated on our veterans, um, by what we call claims sharks, people who want to promise that they'll get a higher VA rating in exchange for a percentage of their benefits. That is illegal because they are, uh, these are unaccredited individuals. Uh, so we're working to make sure that in Maryland, that is not something that you can do.

There are stick penalties associated with that. We're also working on making sure that individuals who were veterans that served in the National Guard or, um, uh, reserves Um, they've passed away in another state, but their loved ones are here in Maryland and want them to be buried for free in our cemeteries that we can do that.

Uh, and so we'd be honored to provide that kind of service. We also want to see even more representation in our, um, um, veteran commissions that advise the department. Um, and then the final piece that I'll touch on this year that we're really focused on is how do we make it easier for service members and military spouses To move from one installation out of our state into our state and transfer their professional licenses.

That's a really important thing when it comes to employment. So this year we're looking at licenses related to social work. And teaching, which goes a long way and helping to fill our teacher shortage here in the state. Um, so it's a good wide range of priorities. Um, and we're excited to work with the Legislature to pass them.

CHARAN: Yeah. And actually, I just want to touch on that last last point about licenses. So, you know, obviously, Evan and I are students and we've been tracking the Blueprint for Maryland's Future and the teacher shortage that's been going on. So could you elaborate a little bit more on like the licenses and what that would do?

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah, and so this is actually one of the bills last year that I mentioned of those 24, um, the idea of interstate compacts is really quite important because what it means is if, let's say, if Texas and Maryland are also in a interstate compact for, let's say, teacher's licenses, um, if I get licensed in Texas, I am also simultaneously licensed in Maryland and the other states that are participating in that same compact.

Why that's really important, especially for the military connected communities. If you move into the state and then you have to go to, you know, the Maryland department of education and wait for your license to be recognized or transferred. Well, that period of time can sometimes take a while, right? And that might mean, okay, I'm going without employment for this period of time.

So last year we passed one that was focused on, um, cosmetology. Making it easier to transfer those licenses. This year, of course, we're thinking about things like teaching, social work, uh, dental care. Um, so all of these types of licenses, we want to make it easier to transfer across, across state lines much more quickly.

Uh, and we have, we were working actually quite closely with the Department of Defense directly on this one because they see the value in this too. Because when a military spouse. It actually makes it more likely that the military service member that they are married to is going to stay in the military.

It improves satisfaction. And that frankly makes us a national security issue when we are dealing with recruiting challenge with our military today.

EVAN: Yeah. Um, so, you know, obviously something that's been going on is the new administration, the Trump administration and the federal government. So we're curious as to, you know, can you give us some context as to what the relationship is between the State Department of Veteran Affairs and the Federal Department of Veteran Affairs and how you think that relationship will change, um, in the coming years as this new administration has been seeking to, you know, reduce the, um, the overreach of, of federal departments.

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah. Um, one thing that I appreciate about Governor Moore, is who he is as a leader. And I think it's reflective of both his experience in the military and mine. you don't really ask the soldiers to your left and to your right, especially when things are serious or in firefight, what their politics are, right?

Being focused on an important mission is a great way to see beyond lines of difference of all kinds, including politics. And that has been his governing philosophy to work with. Both parties closely and not really care about the credit as long as it's good for Marylanders. And after the election, he spoke to our cabinet and he made it quite clear.

We all have an obligation to make sure that we are working with the Trump administration for the good of Marylanders. And so we at the Maryland department of veterans. and military families are looking to rebuild our relationships with the Trump, new Trump administration. So, as, um, you know, new senior leaders are appointed in the days and weeks ahead, they're going to get an email from us saying, hey, we're, we're excited to meet you.

We want to figure out how we can work together to serve Marylanders better. but Governor Moore made it also quite clear that. We're not going to compromise our values. and so if there are instances or circumstances where Marylanders could be harmed by policy changes that are occurring at the federal level, well, we're going to stand up.

We're going to do our best to articulate why, the impact of those those changes potentially and stand up aggressively if we need to. So some examples that I cite in this case that we're already preparing for, um, In the earliest days of the Trump administration, they kind of, they released, an edict for all folks who work remote to return to the office.

I can understand why you, you might think that that's a good idea and, allow them to sort of make the decisions they'd like, but what they also need to understand is military spouses really rely on remote work. And so if you're a military spouse who started a job in Washington, D.C when your, when your loved one was assigned to Fort Meade. And you were able to go to work in person, but now your loved one is in Japan or assigned in Texas. Well, that return to work, is actually really harmful for that military spouse who was doing a wonderful job. Working for his or her country and delivering every single day for the American people.

Well, you may actually have really caused harm to that military family in a way that you weren't anticipating. I would also point out that some of the, aversion to, DEI initiatives that, that the Trump administration has, has made quite clear. veterans are a significant beneficiary of DEI policy.

There's a reason why nearly 20 percent of the federal government is employed, their employees are, veterans. It's because of preferential veterans hiring efforts. That is diversity, equity, and inclusion, right? And we, we need to sort of understand, well, you roll that back. Well, are you, you're saying you want to roll back efforts to bring veterans and that, that type of diversity to the table?

And the last piece that I'd point out that we're actually working on right now is, um, You know, I have experienced what it's like to not be allowed to serve openly because of who I am. that is true today in efforts to demonize trans service members. These are people who are highly skilled. Highly trained, wear our nation's uniform and are willing to give up their lives in defense of our values in our country, and they are being told that, hey, you're going to have to go potentially. And so one of the things that we're doing now is one, trying to tell that story. But to make sure that they know that in Maryland, we see them. We appreciate their service and we stand ready to help them when it comes time to find the next job.

If they unfortunately are unable to continue service. their service, help them get access to their VA benefits. and then of course, because of how traumatic that kind of experience can be, make sure they have access to mental health care services as well.

EVAN: Yeah. Um, and, and we kind of wanted to ask a little bit of a follow up to, to a few things you said.

So in regards to the DEI, you know, the, the Trump administration has been actively seeking to repeal some of the pre existing DEI requirements. So Just to make sure we're clear on this, you were saying that DEI actually benefits military personnel because it helps them find employment in ways that, you know, it would be difficult to reintegrate back into civilian life.

ANTHONY WOODS: That's exactly right. So, um, some of the best employers that I've worked at and many employers across the country, um, they have what they call employee resource groups. This typically looks like, you know, women employees, you know, employees of color, um, but I have participated in many. Uh, veteran employee resource groups, um, and I'm aware, I'm familiar with a very large defense contractor who, um, got rid of all of their DEI, um, um, uh, programming, uh, because of, uh, the Trump administration's sort of, you know, saying, hey, all federal contractors, you can't do that anymore.

And that meant they had to disband their veterans employee resource group. I don't really know how that makes that company better. Our nation better our nation more secure. Uh, and so these do have really significant effects on. Your ability to not only preferentially hire veterans, but also to create an environment where they are able to work together in community, mentor one another and, and, and provide, uh, support to one another, which makes them better employees and makes it easier to retain those employees.

You know, that's, that is 1 of the impacts of, of attacks on DEI here in our country.

CHARAN: Yeah, and I think a misconception, a misconception that many people have is that DEI, you know, puts people that are on like incompetent or, you know, incapable of doing the work in, in, in positions, right? But that's just not true, right?

These are, these are still people that are extremely qualified. , right?

ANTHONY WOODS: Yeah. And, and, and this is true for our military who is struggling to meet its recruiting goals and fell 25% short of its recruiting goals. I believe in 2023, we're actually working to bring more folks in and make sure they realize that there is a place for them and that they are skilled and capable.

And if you can meet the requirements and demands of the jobs, we've got a place for you. Um. Diversity, equity, inclusion initiatives help to bring those people to the table. It's not about people who don't merit being there. It's about making sure that everyone realizes that they can contribute in a significant way to that environment.

And that when they do join, that they belong there, uh, and are able to do their work. Uh, more effectively more and do so for a longer period of time helps to reduce churn and turnover helps to make sure that they're producing even better products, um, and better outcomes or meeting the mission because you have a much more diverse array of thinking about solving these problems, um, being applied to these challenges.

So, um, my hope is that folks will realize these benefits, uh, if, if they're gone and realize, actually, the pendulum has swung too far in the wrong direction.

EVAN: Yeah, so as we wrap up here, um, we end our episodes usually with a call to action to our viewers, something they can do to, um, Go on the guest mission further and learn more about it.

So we're wondering, um, to our viewers, what your call to action is and how they can further support veterans.

ANTHONY WOODS: My call to action starts a little earlier than the veteran. Be curious about military service and consider military service as a pathway for you. That would be my initial call to action. Um, parents play a really important role on whether or not their young person decides to join the military.

Uh, and so I would encourage parents to also be more curious about the benefits and impact that I can have. Um, I was able to get a free education because of it. Um, I was, you know, able to be equipped with lifelong skills and experiences that benefit me tremendously. Every single day, and so I would hope more people would consider military service in the 1st place.

And then I think some of the things that we discussed on this call that I would say is another call to action is look for opportunities to serve alongside those who have served in uniform and it creates an opportunity for you to demystify the military experience. to understand what that veteran may have done during their time in uniform and see if that could potentially be a pathway for you or someone you know.

Um, and, and if not, it's just a great way to give back and to connect to them.

CHARAN: Okay. Well, I think that's about it. So thank you so very much, Secretary Woods. This was really, really insightful. I found this really helpful.

ANTHONY WOODS: Thank you very much, guys. It's awesome that you're creating a podcast at this at this age. I hope you guys continue to do it after you graduate. And I hope you take my words to heart and consider military service. It could be part of your journey as well.

CHARAN: Yeah, thank you so much.

ANTHONY WOODS: Of course. Thanks, guys. All right. Be in touch if you need anything.