USM Veterans Center Adds Veterans Services Officer to Staff
Wed, 04/03/2019 - 01:16pm
The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families in collaboration with Mississippi Veterans Affairs recently established a full-time Veterans Services Officer position on the Hattiesburg campus.
The Mississippi State Veterans Board recently selected Teddy Reed to join the USM Veterans Center team in a key role as the Veterans Services Officer.
According to Stacey Pickering (Director of Mississippi Veterans Affairs), “We are delighted to have Teddy on board with Mississippi Veterans Affairs. We know that he will do a fantastic job serving our heroes in the Hattiesburg area,” said Stacey Pickering, Director of Mississippi Veterans Affairs.
In his new role, Reed will be responsible in assisting student-veterans and local community veterans in a variety of ways to include answering questions, advising, and educating individuals and groups on what benefits are available from federal, state, county, and local resources. He will work with eligible veterans, family members and survivors to assist them in processing veterans affairs claims to include:
- Compensation and Pension
- Health Care
- Education & Training
- Employment
- Burial & Survivor
- Housing
- Transportation
- Military Records
“I am very excited about serving the student-veterans here on campus and within the community and will provide them with the best customer service possible,” said Reed. “Each veteran has earned my sincere gratitude, and I am honored to help them in any way I can.”
Reed is a Hattiesburg native with more than 30-years' service with the United States Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserves and is currently assigned to Coast Guard Sector Houston/Galveston. He is a graduate of The University of South Florida and an active member in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post located in Hattiesburg.
He has been married to Eliza DeGraff Reed of Key West for 30-plus years and has two daughters, Shelby Reed Winpigler (Southern Miss '18) and Anna Reed, currently a freshman at Jones College.
The USM Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families provides full-spectrum support to student-veterans at both our Hattiesburg and Long Beach campus. A full-time Veteran Services Officer is also located on our Long Beach campus located in Hardy Hall. To learn more about the center, call 601-264-4629 or visit: www.usm.edu/military-veterans.