Nearly 50 Rio Salado College students, employees and community members gathered in early November for the college’s Taco ’Bout It Veterans Celebration, an event that combined conversation, connection and, of course, tacos.
The celebration featured a panel of Rio Salado student and employee veterans who shared personal stories about military service, transitioning to civilian life, and the lessons they continue to carry into their work, education and everyday lives.
The event was a collaboration between Veterans Department Director Melanie James and CommUNITY Engagement Council Chair Dr. Reina Ferrufino, with support from Loren Brock and Penny Miller, who helped connect attendees with VA benefits and resources. Rio Salado employee Lynn Barth moderated the panel.
The panel included:
- Ethan Hall, U.S. Navy veteran and Rio Salado student
- Dan Phelan, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Rio Salado employee
- Randy Anderson, U.S. Air Force veteran and Rio Salado employee
- Jeremy Lofgreen, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Rio Salado employee
- Damon Hutchinson, U.S. Navy veteran and Rio Salado employee
- Ramón León, U.S. Army Medical Corps veteran and Rio Salado employee
Lessons that Last
For the panelists, military service was more than a chapter in their lives. Many said it helped shape how they approach challenges, relationships and leadership today.
Phelan reflected on his early experiences in the Marine Corps, including deployments to Japan, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia. As an 18-year-old, he said the experience taught him to rely on himself and the people around him.
“It taught me how to be resilient, how to be self reliant on myself and also with my fellow Marines, and how to utilize their experience to help me get through,” Phelan said.
Lofgreen said his military experience continues to influence him every day, particularly through the perspective it gave him.
“Understanding sacrifice, commitment, overcoming hardship, perseverance, building meaningful relationships, people that you would never have gotten along with in another situation, conflict resolution — all these things, they get wrapped into these soft skills that are valuable everywhere,” Lofgreen said.
Understanding the Veteran Experience
The panel also addressed misconceptions about veterans and the importance of giving veterans grace.
Phelan said veterans may appear strong on the outside while still dealing with challenges that others cannot see.
“You don’t know what they’ve been through, where they’ve been, what they’ve seen, what they’ve had to do,” he said. “And just because we put on a strong front doesn’t mean that we don’t have things that we deal with on a day to day basis.”
The panelists also discussed the challenges veterans can encounter when navigating education benefits and moving between military and civilian systems.
One panelist emphasized the value of clear, step-by-step guidance for veterans using education benefits, noting that “having that step by step” checklist can make the process easier to understand, emphasizing a veteran’s experience with checklists is a built in habit.
For Hutchinson, the transition from civilian life to military to civilian life again marked a difference between him and his fellow veterans.
“The only thing that was a challenge to me was how you applied for jobs because before I left in 1992, you applied for jobs in person, with a paper resume, and then when I got out, everything was digital,” he said. “Career Builder was coming on the line, and Indeed.”
An engaging high school teacher inspired Anderson to join the military. Living in a small town, he faced few opportunities, he said. The teacher took him and a friend flying in his airplane and told them about the Air Force, where he had served as a plane mechanic. Anderson went on to follow in his footsteps.
“I worked on several aircraft and worked about 20 years,” he said. “I went overseas. … now I'm over here in Rio Salado College, doing computer tech.”
Showing learning never ends, Anderson noted he is working to get a project management certification to join one of the college project management teams.
Service that Continues Beyond the Military
For León, who served during the Vietnam War with the 44th Medical Brigade in Saigon, military service provided an opportunity to work alongside experienced professionals while serving others.
León said he wanted to become a medic and was ultimately trained as a combat medic before receiving additional training in medical technology and tropical medicine. He worked for 18 months in a clinical research laboratory in Vietnam.
“I saw myself as a peacemaker because we were there to heal the wounded, whether they were enemies or not,” León said.
His experience in the military also became a foundation for his life after service. He went on to earn his degree at the University of Arizona and built a career in nonprofit leadership, housing, community development and behavioral health.
Today, Rio Salado’s veteran community includes both employees and students, including Ethan Hall, who is pursuing an associate degree with plans to transition into forensic accounting.
Hall said one of the most difficult parts of military service was the time away from family.
“It’s mostly taxing because of the time that you spend away from your family and loved ones,” Hall said. “It’s very hard on relationships.”
Building Community Through Conversation
The Taco ’Bout It celebration created an opportunity for members of the Rio Salado community to hear directly from veterans about their experience. It was also a reminder that veterans are an important part of the college community, bringing their experiences, skills and perspectives to the classroom, workplace and campus community.