By Robin Paul, MSW
Acting OEF/OIF Program Manager
Roudebush VA Medical Center (Indianapolis)

Part III — Riding "The Vortex"

	Robin Paul, Indianapolis VA Medical Center OEF/OIF Coordinator, left, with Roger Peterman, Indiana Transition Assistance Advisor at a recent Yellow Ribbon event.

At one of our recent weekend outreach events, one of our staff members commented that working in the OEF/OIF program is similar to riding "The Vortex." Remember the amusement park ride, The Vortex, that spins round and round and you can barely catch your breath while your stomach lurches in various directions?

Google tells me that "vortex" means the shape of something that rotates rapidly. I think this is a great correlation to working in the OEF/OIF program. Sometimes the activities and duties spin so fast that you don't know which direction you are heading, and you can't wait for the ride to slow down.

Like "The Vortex," the energy and excitement are so attractive that you want to get back in line immediately to ride it again.

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By Robin Paul, MSW
Acting OEF/OIF Program Manager
Roudebush VA Medical Center (Indianapolis)

Part II

As promised from Part I of “A Day in the Life of an OEF/OIF Program Manager”, a typical day “on the boat” involves packing and unpacking containers of outreach materials, managing eons of email messages, multiple incoming phone calls, managing HR functions for team members, lots of “door knocks”, volumes of “reports due”, “required conference calls”, and “meetings”. I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t have some type of communication with my Indiana National Guard counterparts in the coordination of services for some Demobilization Event, Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program Event, PDHRA, or other outreach activity.  (Post Deployment Health Reassessment (PDHRA) events offer education, screening, and a global health assessment to identify deployment-related physical health, mental health and re-adjustment concerns and refer Service members/Veterans for further evaluation or treatment. Yellow Ribbon Reintegration events provide information, services, referral, and proactive outreach programs to Military Personnel and their Families through all phases of the deployment cycle.)

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	Robin Paul, Indianapolis VA Medical Center OEF/OIF Coordinator, right, with Col. Corey Carr, Commander of the 76th Combat Infantry Brigade, left.

By Robin Paul, MSW
Acting OEF/OIF Program Manager
Roudebush VA Medical Center (Indianapolis)

Part I

When I was invited to be the guest blogger on this site, I was excited and nervous at the same time. I was asked to share my experiences as leader of the OEF/OIF Care Management team at the VA Medical Center in Indianapolis. Like many of you, my job is a very important part of my life, but not my whole life.

I am cringing as I write this, but I am one of those "middle-aged" career women trying to balance a family and all of the wonderful things that life throws at me, often pulling through just ahead of the "ding" reminder bell on my computer calendar. My house is never as tidy as I would like it to be, I never have enough time to accomplish everything on my "to do" list, and I never get enough sleep. I worry that my friends will "vote me off the island" if I cancel one more thing with them.

My career as a Social Worker with the Veterans Health Administration is a major part of who I am, what I do, and how I contribute to others and my own well-being.

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Across the country VA is opening new clinics to provide health care to our nation's newest veterans. These clinics offer customized care to help returning service members with their specialized needs.

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Today's guest post is from our Transition Patient Advocate at the Boise, Idaho VA Medical Center.

I recently had the privilege of playing in a wheelchair basketball tournament with some of the Veterans that I work with here at the VA. The tournament is an annual event put on by Boise City Parks and Recreation and is used to raise funds for their youth wheelchair summer camp.

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