Tucson Standard

TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Congressman Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06), a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, launched his new Veterans Advisory Council yesterday. The group, chaired by Maj. Gen. Don Shepperd (Ret.), is comprised of veterans from the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and U.S. Navy, along with other stakeholders from the military community.

During the council’s inaugural meeting, they identified specific areas of focus, which include veterans’ transition into civilian life, access to housing, mental health and suicide prevention, and workforce and education opportunities. Ciscomani also shared a legislative update on his work in Congress for veterans and the group discussed ways to expand upon it to deliver more solutions for Arizona’s veterans.

Click HERE or the image above for photos and videos from the event.

"During my short time in office, I have consistently heard about the unique challenges that our veterans face, from the backlogs at the VA to the difficulty of adjusting to civilian life,” said Ciscomani, whose district is home to over 70,000 veterans. “I formed this group to be a results-oriented platform that will allow me to be consistently attuned to the concerns of our veterans, specifically regarding their transition out of uniform, veteran homelessness, mental health and suicide prevention, and education opportunities. The individuals on this council bring with them decades of experience and I look forward to working with them to provide for their fellow veterans.” 

“The Veterans Advisory Council has been charged with making our veterans’ lives better, which we will do by focusing on the things that they need and giving recommendations to the congressman that he can relay to Congress,” said Maj. Gen. Shepperd.

The council includes:

1. Don Shepperd, U.S. Air Force and Chair of the Veterans Advisory Council    
2. Tom Davis, U.S. Army
3. Nick Franco, U.S. Marine Corps veteran
4. Ben Buehler Garcia, Host of American Warrior Radio
5. Allen Kinnison, U.S. Air Force veteran
6. Young Mayberry, U.S. Air Force
7. Mayor Clea McCaa, U.S. Army veteran and Mayor of Sierra Vista
8. George Murga, U.S. Navy veteran
9. Tom Murphy, U.S. Air Force veteran and Mayor of Sahuarita 
10. Cody Nichols, U.S. Army veteran
11. Jane Strain, U.S. Army veteran
12. Bob Wells, U.S. Navy veteran
13. Alex Wright, U.S. Air Force veteran

At the beginning of his term, Congressman Ciscomani formed his Citizen’s Advisory Council, which is similarly composed of 40 men and women from across the district and includes Republicans, Democrats and Independents from both the private and public sectors.

Original source can be found here.