Green Zone initiative launched for veterans

It’s called the Green Zone Initiative because during the Iraq War, the Green Zone in Baghdad was designed as a safe place for soldiers to be inside the wire.

That is what Nevada Office of Veterans Services Executive Director Caleb Cage had in mind when he envisioned the Green Zone Initiative, a plan to channel Nevada veterans to employment, education and health care and attract others from out of state who will become assets in academia and the workforce.

"It’s a place to go, to thrive to pursue their dreams," Cage told reporters during a round-table discussion last week in which he announced the path for launching a social networking site on Aug. 1.

The website will become a one-stop shop for veterans and private organizations to share information about their needs and services.

"A business that wants to hire veterans in Minden will be able to list their opportunity, and a veteran who has a desire to move to the Minden area would be able to find them," said Cage, a 2002 graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., who served two tours in the Iraq War.

"Or a math tutor that wants to help veterans at UNLV would also be able to list their service to assist veterans and veterans would be able to find them as well," he said.

Cage, who is leading Nevada’s charge to improve veterans services, hopes word of his campaign will reach the estimated 240,000 to 300,000 veterans who live in the state.

"What we want to do is empower folks at the local level as much as we can and see what we can gain from the current practice," he said.

According to the Nevada Office of Veterans Services website, "The Green Zone Initiative is not simply ‘talking about’ veterans issues, it is a plan of integration to veterans coming back home and an invitation to veterans throughout our country to come to Nevada, to be educated here, to open businesses, find employment and know of the excellent health and wellness facilities available throughout our state."

To learn more about the Green Zone Initiative and to access a 40-page brochure, go to http://www.veterans.nv.gov/GZI_Brochure.html.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.