Veterans Resource Office, serving USU across the state

In July, Andy Allen was hired as the director of Utah State University’s Veterans Resource Office. Allen recently retired from the military after 26 years of service.  

The VRO is located in the Taggart Student Center on the Logan campus in room 225. The office helps veterans, service members and their dependents. The main purpose is to help them understand and use their GI Bill benefits.  

Allen shared his thoughts on the importance of helping these veterans. 

“We want to accept veterans, and dependents of veterans, at our university and allow them to use the GI Bill, which is the money, the education benefits, that service members earn while they’re on active duty, or even reserve or guard,” Allen said. 

GI Bill benefits can be transferred from the veteran or service member to their family members.  

The Veterans Administration requires colleges to have a VRO so GI Bill benefits can be utilized. The office acts as a conduit, being the middleman between the students, the university and the VA. 

What the VRO does is important, because many people know they have GI Bill benefits but they don’t know how much, or how to use them, Allen said. 

“We help them navigate all the procedures and the processes and the regulatory requirements that the VA has set, the timelines, the deadlines, the paperwork, the administrative, everything that is required for them to draw their benefits,” Allen said. 

The VRO certifies students with the VA in order to receive their benefits. Paul Klimack works as one of the two certifying officers in the VRO.  

Klimack explained that certifying is the process of registering who the person is, what benefits they have, how many credits they are taking and how they are using their benefits. 

Certifying is the biggest thing the office does, working with a population of about 500 students spread across all of USU statewide.  

The VRO office in Logan is the only one for USU, but students at all USU statewide campuses have access to the office and its support.  

Allen keeps in contact with the directors of students across USU statewide campuses to educate them on the VRO. He wants to help them support their students with GI Bill benefits.  

“Andy runs the show, he keeps everything going,” Klimack said.  

The VRO also provides a place for students to feel involved and supported. 

“I really do feel like it is a safe space a little bit, because I’m just a freshman this year, but when I started to work here I was starting to make friends. It helped me be more social with other people,” Cami Lee, a student employee at the VRO said. 

Lee is a dependent of a veteran, and used her stepfather’s GI Bill benefits.  

Allen offered Lee a job in the office after she visited with her parents to discuss GI bill benefits. 

Allen grew up as the son of a navy officer and lived all over the world. He was born in Kodiak, Alaska, his brother was born in Bangkok, Thailand and his sisters were born in Japan.  

“So I grew up very patriotic, and I knew I wanted to serve, but I chose the army for personal reasons,” Allen said. “I just chose the army and not the navy.” 

Allen enlisted in the army, and later became an officer. As he went up in rank, he gained more responsibility over soldiers.  

Allen was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. He was stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington, Fort Meade in Maryland and Fort Huachuca in Arizona. He was also stationed at the Monterey California language school to learn Russian.

Allen has five children, none of whom served in the military. He transferred most of his GI Bill benefits to his two oldest daughters to help them receive their college education.  

After he retired from the military, his wife passed away from cancer. He met someone in Smithfield and moved to Cache Valley to marry her.  

When the job for VRO office director became available, Allen said he was very excited to apply.  

“I applied for it because thisjob is similar to what I did in the military,” Allen said. “It’s taking care of service members. Here we take care of service members, specifically with their education needs.” 

Allen had goals of what he wanted to accomplish while in the position.  

“So one of my goals was I wanted to make sure that everybody statewide felt included in part of the VRO, and that they had access to the VRO,” Allen said. “That we were communicating with everybody. What I wanted to make sure of is that we help them overcome all the hurdles that they were facing.” 

Allen also wanted to hold town hall meetings. These meetings are held over Zoom, and statewide students, faculty, and staff who want to know more about the GI Bill or the VA are welcome to join.  

Allen plans on holding these meetings every three months to keep everyone updated on VA deadlines and the GI Bill. 

Allen has organized an event to honor Veterans Day on Nov. 11. 

The festivities kick off at 7:30 a.m. with a walk/run starting in front of the Aggie Recreation Center. It will end on the quad, where everyone will be able to grab an American flag and plant it on the quad.  

At 11:30 a.m. in front of the flagpole at the Spectrum, there will be a tribute to veterans. They will have bagpipe players, Allen will speak for a few minutes and the national anthem will be sung.  

Following the tribute will be a barbeque, open to thepublic, and free to everyone. Attendees are only asked to thank a veteran while there.  

Hamburgers, hot dogs and chips are provided, along with games set up by Campus Recreation on the Legacy Fields.  

At 7:00 p.m. veterans will be honored at the home basketball game in the Spectrum. 

At 7:30 in the Daines Concert Hall, the College of the Arts will hold its annual veterans’ tribute concert.  

More information about the events can be found on the VRO website.