School Bus Contractor Recognizes Employees Who Are Military Veterans

June 13, 2012

For Memorial Day, Cook-Illinois Corporation, the largest school bus contractor in the Chicago area and one of the largest in the nation, recognized dozens of employees who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. The following is an article written by Cook-Illinois’ Helga de Jongh:

You see it all over the news now, veterans struggle to from war to work. Here are America’s heroes, just returning to civilian life after giving up everything to serve their country. In some cases, they’ve had more job-training than the average citizen will ever receive. However, in a job market already oversaturated with more applicants than there are jobs available, many of the veterans are finding it increasingly difficult to find employment anywhere.

Cook-Illinois Corporation is very proud to say that we hire as many qualified or over-qualified veterans as we are able to place.

Left to right: Anthony Gomez, Klem Brzuszkiewicz, Bob Smith, Craig Miller, Steve Miller are among nearly 150 Cook-Illinois Corporation employees who are U.S. military veterans. The company recently recognized them all for Memorial Day.

We wanted to take the time to meet with some of our veterans and discuss some of the struggles they have faced over the years as they try assimilate themselves back into the civilian workforce after serving our country.

Robert L. (Bob) Smith, Jr., a former sergeant of the U.S. Army Special Forces (1963 – 1966), has been with the company for 27 years. Currently, he is our director of business development. Bob is past chairman and founder of the Veterans Commission of the City of Orland Park (Ill.) and of the City of Rolling Meadows, a member of various Welcome Home committees, a life member of Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc., VietNow, American Legion, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Bob also sits on the Illinois Attorney General and Governor of Illinois Veterans Rights Advisory Councils.

Klem Brzuszkiewicz is a former Army staff sergeant and Air Force technical sergeant. A motor sergeant in the Army and a technician in the Air Force, Klem first served in the U.S. Army (1969-1977), and then re-enlisted with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army (1983-1999). Klem did not travel the world too much, as he remained stateside for most of his military career, working on engines based out of the George Washington Armory at 52nd and Cottage Grove and the Air Force Base at O’Hare (International Airport). He joined the company six months ago as the foreman of the body shop.

Craig Miller rose to the rank of sergeant with the U.S. Marines (1991 – 2003). Craig traveled all over the world during his time of service as a jet mechanic, seeing over 14 countries. He joined the company six months ago as the manager of the Chicago Bus Sales parts division. Craig is the chairman of the Oak Forest Veterans Commission and a member of the Midlothian American Legion Honor Guard.

Steve Miller served as a medic and obtained the rank of specialist while serving for nine years in the Illinois Army National Guard (1994 – 2002). Steve was able to continue his schooling and work at a senior living facility while serving in the ILARNG. Steve has been with Cook-Illinois for three years, and is in the Human Resources department.

Anthony Gomez is a former sergeant with the U.S. Army (2002 – 2011). Serving as a mechanic, during his time of service, he was able to see many countries, including Germany, Korea, and his most recent deployment, Iraq. He joined the company in March 2012 as a mechanic at our Westway Lemont facility.

Mike Rutter is a captain in the Illinois National Guard. His current assignment is the commander of A Company, 405th BSB out of Streator, Ill. Mike has over 20 years of service and has been to 37 different countries, and recently returned from Afghanistan in September 2009. Mike transitioned from federal services in May of 2011 to civilian employment (Cook-Illinois) while he continues his military career. It’s quite a challenge for Mile to balance his workload and military obligation.

Left to Right: Anthony Gomez, Klem Brzuszkiewicz, Bob Smith, Craig Miller, Steve Miller. (Not pictured: Mike Rutter)

Years ago, when Bob and Klem returned home from serving, there were no accommodations or nationwide initiatives to ensure that veterans were able to find employment. Unfortunately, since many citizens did not acknowledge the Vietnam War as a war, the soldiers were not respected as veterans, and they were not given the respect or opportunities that veterans from previous wars had received. They were basically sent home with their last paycheck, and had to make their own future. Returning from Vietnam, Bob went to work for pipeline companies for four years before he found his way into the world of student education, and then more specifically student transportation. Finishing his last commitment for the U.S. Air Forces, Klem, an accomplished mechanic and technician, became self-employed, opening and running his own body shops. Both gentlemen had the determination and ambition to go back into the civilian world and make names for themselves.

This writer truly believes that maybe some of the committees and councils that Bob Smith participates in, such as the Governor of Illinois Veterans Rights Advisory Council and the American Legion may have had a lot of influence on the many rights now afforded to today’s veterans.

Steve Miller and Craig Miller both completed their service very shortly after the 9/11 attacks. As a result of the 9/11 attacks, more people were proud to join the Armed Forces, and veterans were being viewed in a whole new light. With this came a willingness among more employers to hire returning veterans. This was also the beginning of the military branches’ awareness that they needed to provide more training to their soon-to-be discharged personnel.

Mike Rutter and Anthony Gomez have benefited greatly from the initiatives put into place by the U.S. Army to assist in the transition from military life to civilian life. In addition to having the opportunity to pursue continued higher education while serving, the Army now requires advance notice when one intends to leave Army life behind by not re-enlisting for another term of service. All Army personnel not planning to re-up must go through a program called One-Source. With One-Source, each person is evaluated for post-traumatic stress to ensure that any possibly lingering needs are addressed immediately. One-Source also requires that each person participates in Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP) Classes. These are mandatory classes that focus on budgeting, interview skills, resume writing, and translating one’s military experience into civilian equivalents in order to find a suitable career in the civilian world.

Anthony’s resume was written and sent out to prospective employers 6 months before he was discharged. He was hired as a mechanic within a very short time with a different company. He joined our company in March 2012 and hopefully plans to stick around for quite some time.

Although he has transitioned to civilian employment, Mike is still active, so it’s possible the transition options available to him may still improve.

On May 1, 2012, Steven Schluntz, one of our young men from Chicago Bus Sales, left for Boot Camp for the U.S. Marines. One only knows what options will be available to him for transition and employment when Steven has completed his service. We wish him the best.

Listed below are all 147 active veterans that we are aware of currently employed in the Cook-Illinois family. If someone is not listed, it is only because we were never made aware of their veteran status, and we do apologize: