Eager to help Saugus Veterans

After four weeks on the job, the town’s new Veterans Service Officer, Joseph Connell, said he’s exploring ways to make life easier for the veterans and families he represents

By Mark E. Vogler

Veterans who are looking for work now have access to more job openings by going to the Veterans’ Services Office page on the Town of Saugus website. Saugus’ new full-time Veterans Service Officer (VSO), Joseph R. Connell, said he recently included a new link that will put applicants in contact with Veterans-friendly companies all over the North Shore that had posted 122 job openings this week, including several GE Aerospace positions in Lynn. That’s one of several new initiatives that the retired U.S. Army Colonel has done so far since filling the VSO position at Saugus Town Hall about a month ago.

“I’m glad to be here,” the 65-year-old Lynnfield resident said as he sat at his desk in the small, first floor office at Saugus Town Hall.

“I’ve been wanting to do this job [VSO] for a long time. And the opportunity opened for me in Saugus. And I don’t have to go far to work because it’s so close to home,” he said.

Connell spent much of his first month getting oriented to the Saugus veterans community, getting to meet the leaders of the various veterans organizations in town and to learn about the buildings and programs that serve veterans. He said one of his top priorities in the early months of his job is to reach out to the Saugus veterans and their families to see what the office he’s in charge of can do to enhance local veterans’ lives.

“I would like to start a once-a-month ‘Veterans Welcome Meeting’ so I can get to know everyone in town better,” Connell said. He envisages setting up an informal meeting over coffee where local veterans and their families can come and ask questions about local services and also offer feedback on how to improve local veterans services. In addition to that meeting, he said, he would like to offer a monthly message from the VSO to keep local veterans and their families informed of services the town provides.

Town officials, including Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree and members of the Board of Selectmen, have praised Connell’s credentials and the background he brings to Saugus. Connell achieved the rank of Colonel during a 30-year active-duty Army career that included senior command and leadership assignments in the United States, Iraq and Afghanistan. He commanded approximately 500 soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment during a 15-month deployment to northern Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where his battalion conducted combat and stability operations. Connell later served with the 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan and subsequently became Chief of Staff for the Commander of United States Forces–Afghanistan, helping lead and coordinate a complex multinational and interagency headquarters during a significant period of U.S. operations in Afghanistan. From 2010 until his retirement in 2014, Connell served as Senior Army Advisor to the Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard, advising senior leadership on organization, personnel, training, operations, logistics, mobilization planning and military readiness.

His military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Iraq Combat Service Medal and Afghanistan Combat Service Medal, among numerous other awards and honors.

Connell also served as a senior trainer at the Army’s Joint Readiness Training Center, where he trained, coached and mentored battalion commanders and units preparing for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Connell also brings extensive municipal and community service experience. He is a former Chairman of the Lynnfield Select Board and has served on numerous municipal boards and committees. He serves as Chairman of the Lynnfield Veterans Memorial Committee and served as Project Manager for Lynnfield’s new Veterans Memorial, overseeing implementation of a major community project honoring those who served.

The new VSO said he and his wife are both ardent volunteers and he plans to continue the same along with his job.

“I feel very appreciative of all of the support I received when I was in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Connell said.

“Now, it’s important for me to give back to the people who supported me,” he said.

There has been great turnover in the VSO position, which only about a year ago became full-time. Previously, the town shared a VSO who worked part-time for the towns of Saugus, Wakefield and Melrose.

Connell said he hopes to be the full-time VSO in Saugus for at least a decade. “During my job interview, I told them [the town manager and the human resources officer] I’m hoping to work between 10 and 15 years,” he said.

Veterans, active-duty military service members and family members seeking assistance with benefits, programs or available resources are encouraged to contact the Saugus Veterans’ Services Office at 781-231-4010 at Town Hall.