Johnston named leader of Veterans Affairs office

Gwen Johnston was approved to lead Adair County Veterans Affairs at the board of supervisors meeting Wednesday, Aug. 16. She succeeds Duane Avey, who is retiring as director. He will be featured in an upcoming edition.

Johnston, who is not a veteran and therefore will be the administrator, as opposed to director, said she began at the Veterans Affairs office in January 2020. Her job duties will be the same as what Avey’s were.

What started as an interest Johnston had in making sure her mother was getting the full compensation she deserved after her father served his country has grown a lot in those three years.

Johnston started as an office assistant, then she became accredited through the American Legion to be a Veterans Service Officer. She regularly attends training to keep up her certification.

“I became very familiar with the system and the benefits that are available. When I was visiting with Duane, they were looking for an office assistant. He saw I had considerable knowledge of the benefits system and asked if I would come in on a 10-hour per week basis,” Johnston said. “The office has to be open 21 hours by Iowa code. I was hired with grant funding at first. Now that I’ve moved into the administrator position it is paid through the county.”

Johnston simply plans to keep in motion the many good things that Adair County has done to help its own and other area veterans. In the near future, Johnston plans to have expanded office hours one night per week to better serve area veterans who work during the day.

A Veterans Resource Fair is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 14. At that event, Avey will be recognized for his time as the Adair County Veterans Affairs Director.

Because of the PACT Act of August 2022 that Congress passed, more veterans have been allowed to receive certain benefits. That has kept the Veterans Affairs office here extremely busy as they assist veterans with the appropriate paperwork. A recent deadline passed for veterans to receive back pay from that act, however they can still register to receive new benefits that are due them.

“There have been lots of new benefits [we’ve helped veterans receive]. There’s been a lot of education needed to find where to go and how to get the benefits,” Johnston said. “Our veterans deserve so much more for the sacrifice they’ve given. I love my job helping the vets.”

In addition to Johnston’s appointment, Nathan Reed was hired by the supervisors to fill an auditor clerk position left vacant by Timber Woosley transitioning to a deputy clerk spot after Josh Nelson resigned for a job with the Iowa Secretary of State’s office.