ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs selection to compete in the Military Bowl is quite fitting for a university known as the nationβs top talent pipeline for students to work in the defense industry, as a leader in military partnerships in modeling and simulation, and for innovative PTSD treatments benefiting veterans and military personnel nationwide.
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ has a long history of welcoming and supporting student veterans β including more than 1,400 who are currently enrolled β and partnering with all branches of the military as well as the defense industry.
The The Office of Military and Veteran Student Success’s Β goal is always to make veteransβ transition to civilian and academic life as smooth as possible.
The has been serving a growing student veteran population since 2011.Β The resource center offers support and a sense of community to students, faculty and staff veterans on campus. Students use the space for studying and homework, and itβs also where they receive guidance on the use and benefits of the GI Bill.Β
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ has received the Purple Heart University designation from the Military Order of the Purple Heart. The designation reflects a commitment to help student veterans succeed from enrollment to employment, recognition of student veterans on campus, efforts to preserve the stories of military veterans and the innovative aid rendered to veterans through .
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ has also been recognized as a top 10 best online bachelorβs program for veterans by U.S. News & World Report; one of the Best Colleges for Veterans by College Factual; and βMilitary Friendlyβ by Military Friendly Schools.
Fueling the Talent Pipeline
Students looking to pursue careers in defense will find an ideal home at ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½. They learn from world-class faculty members and benefit from ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs strong connections with industry partners as well as our location in Orlando, which is a hub for leading employers in modeling, simulation and training; optics and photonics; and engineering.
For nearly a decade, Aviation Week Network has ranked ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ as the top supplier of graduates to the aerospace and defense industries. ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ also ranks as the industryβs second-most preferred supplier, behind Georgia Tech.
Nationwide, Lockheed Martin employs more ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ graduates than alumni of any other university.
Locally, 27% of Lockheed Martin employees in Orlando are ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ graduates, as are 20% of Siemens employees.
This year, ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ signed a partnership agreement with the new U.S. Space Force to help the agency develop technology and an agile workforce. ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ also partners with the National Security Innovation Network to give students real-world experiences solving problems related to U.S. national security challenges.
With its strong computer science and engineering programs, ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ fields many of the best student cyber defense teams in the nation, with frequent victories in collegiate competitions sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the National Security Agency and others. Last month, teams from ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ took first and second place in the CyberForce Competition, led by the Department of Energyβs Argonne National Laboratory.
Strengthening National Security
In Central Florida Research Park adjacent to campus, ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ scientists are collaborating with researchers from the U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force and Marine Corps to protect and prepare military personnel and to help them work effectively in teams.
The U.S. Department of Defense awarded ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ $21.55 million in 2021-22 for research projects, the second-highest funding source after the U.S. National Science Foundation.
The largest portions of that involve and engineering and computer science.
also has worked with military partners on developing simulation platforms for nearly 30 years. Some of the research projects designed to help keep military personnel well trained and ready focus on strengthening technology, while others are related to helping teams work more effectively together. Partners include the Army, Navy, Air Force and Defense Health Agency, among many others.
Innovative Treatments Help Those with PTSD Regain Their Lives
Over the past decade, has provided treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to active-duty military, first responders and other survivors of trauma, helping to change the way PTSD is understood, diagnosed and treated. The American Psychiatric Association estimates that one in 11 people will be diagnosed with PTSD in their lifetime.
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ RESTORES has helped more than 1,400 veterans and active-duty military personnel, first responders, survivors of mass casualty events and sexual assault, and others regain their lives with innovative treatments.
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ RESTORES’ unique approach to treatment β combining exposure therapy, emerging technology, as well as individual and group therapy sessions β has resulted in 76% of participants no longer meeting the diagnostic criteria for PTSD following three weeks of intensive treatment. The programβs virtual reality treatments include scenarios designed to look like foreign war zones, and they also include realistic smells such as gasoline and gunfire.
Funding for ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ RESTORES has included $19 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Defense and support provided by the Florida Legislature. Most of the services provided at ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ to veterans and military personnel are free to participants, including hotel rooms for those traveling from out of town.
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ RESTORES also treats active-duty military personnel at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia, and Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia.
Caring for Veterans
β an experience they say helps them better understand and appreciate the sacrifices of our nationβs heroes.
During their third-year clerkships and fourth-year electives, medical students receive training in specialties including surgery, internal medicine, neurology and psychiatry at the Orlando VA Medical Center next door to the College of Medicine in Lake Nona and Bay Pines VA Healthcare system in St. Petersburg, Florida.
βIt was a really humbling experience serving men and women vets with such interesting stories, and to be able to give back to those who have done so much for our country,β says Gary Saloman, a third-year ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ medical student.
The Orlando VA Medical Center opened in 2015 and is one of the nationβs largest VA hospitals, serving the regionβs 400,000 veterans.
It also houses the VAβs state-of-the-art SimLEARN National Simulation Center, where physicians can train using simulated robotic patients.
Students say they are particularly struck by how willing veterans are to share their medical and life experiences to help the learners become better physicians. Andrew Taitano, a surgeon at the Orlando VA and associate professor of surgery at the , says he isnβt surprised.
βIt speaks to the character of the veterans,β Taitano says. βThey are happy to be getting care and want to help students learn to help others in the future.β
Collecting Veteransβ Stories
Launched in the fall of 2010, the honors American war veterans by giving them the opportunity to share their stories so that future generations will better understand the realities of conflict. The project, which is ran by , collects, preserves and makes to the public the experiences of Central Floridaβs veterans before they are forgotten.
The project, which is comprised of students majoring in history and student veterans, is a collaborative endeavor led by Barbara Gannon, an associate professor of history, who is a veteran herself. She has trained and worked with students to conduct interviews with veterans for more than a decade. More than 700 veterans have been interviewed to date, with some now housed in the Library of Congress.
If you are a veteran living in Central Florida and would like to be interviewed about your time in the military, call 407-823-0242 or .
Preparing the Next Generation of Military Leaders
The ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ campus is home to two Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs that train students to become commissioned officers in the U.S. Armed Forces.
This year, marked 50 years of partnership with ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½.
Roughly 170 cadets are currently enrolled in the officer commissioning program, led by nine active-duty cadre members. An estimated 1,500 ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ graduates have become lieutenants in the Air Force and Space Force through this Air Force-ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ program.
The was established on the university campus in 1986. There are 160 cadets currently enrolled, and roughly 850 officers have been commissioned since the programβs inception.
