Taking advantage of the GI Bill

Army Cpl. Eddie Moorehead, 26, of Lake Placid, is one of three veterans taking advantage of the Veterans Work-Study Allowance Program, an educational entitlement under the Veterans GI Bill, at the Heartland Workforce.

"They work here part-time while they're going to school," said Howard Jenkins, veteran's representative at the Highlands One-Stop Career Center, at the Heartland Workforce.

"They get regular pay - minimum wage - tax free. There is only one place in Highlands County to work as a veteran work-study and that's here."

Go Army

Moorehead, who graduated from the Lake Placid High School class of 2001, said he is active Army. He enlisted in June of 2001 and served from 2003 to 2004 in the Iraq War.

"I'm going to school for computer programming at (South Florida Community College)," said Moorehead. "I'm going full-time. The military is paying the bill."

Some of his military training is working toward getting his degree.

"I was an administrative specialist," he said. "I did supply routes and worked tower guard duty. We also set up check-points. I helped soldiers process paperwork, did troubleshooting about government programs and I would set up computer networks."

The world of computer technology is constantly changing, he said. He's hoping to get a job with a large company.

"I have a lot of options, but I want to go with the programming part of it," he said.

What he liked about his military service is he got to travel and see different cultures.

"And feeling like I've served my country," he said.

He met his wife, Maribel, when he was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. They've been married for five years. His son, Montrell, 3, was born while they were stationed in Germany and their child holds duel citizenship.

Moorehead said he saw some combat in and around Baghdad, but said he preferred not to talk about it. He keeps in contact with a lot of his Army buddies.

"It's like a second family," he said. "You eat, sleep and work with these guys. You get close."

Services VA work-study participants may perform under a VA work-study program must be related to VA work, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Web site.

Go Navy

U.S. Navy Petty Officer Third Class Gary Davidson, 25, of Lake Placid, graduated from Lake Placid High School in 2003.

Three months later he joined the Navy.

"My first choice was the Air Force but the Air Force recruiter didn't seem to want to talk to me, so I went to the Navy recruiter," said Davidson. "He sold me the dream.

"He sold me the dream as far as the benefits. He showed me all the time I'd have in different countries, time out of country. The type of job that would be suitable for me because of my hobbies at the time, which was I liked computers, and playing (video) games, stuff like that and I liked to talk, so he told me air-traffic controller would be good."

It's not long hours. It's pretty much a regular 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job while they're on land.

"While you're on the boat you only work while you're out to sea," he said. "When you're in port you really don't have to do any work, so I looked at it like that's a lot of free time to get out there and see a lot of different countries."

He worked aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, an aircraft carrier named after Kitty Hawk, N.C., and was stationed off of the coast of Japan after North Korea fired a missile in that direction.

"We went over there just to let them know we were still here," he said. "It's pretty much a floating city. Anything you can find in a small town you can find on that carrier."

The Kitty Hawk returned to the United States and had her decommissioning ceremony on Jan. 31, 2009. She was officially decommissioned on May 12, 2009 after almost 49 years of service, according to Wikipedia.

Being an air-traffic controller in the private sector is part of Davidson's back-up plan, and he can make good money at it, but what he really wants is to open his own business. That is why he is studying business management full-time at the college.

"I've always been into the club business more than anything, so if everything goes south, don't go as well as planned ... I think that would be a good backup plan," he said. "They're teaching me all that stuff right now. It's definitely been a great eye-opener."

He's learned about checking out the competition, accounting and managing money and the importance of choosing the right location.