Carolina salutes its veterans

shadows of color guard in front of a memorial

Service before self

MaDana Bivenshasbeen serving fellow veteranssince the start of her career in the Air Force in2010. As a first-generation college student, she joined Air Force ROTC at Howard Universitytofund her education andbecame interested in helping veterans returning from war.

“I was a psychology majorin college, sowhenI learned howveterans weren’treceiving the careandattention that they neededtodeal with PTSD, I wanted to help,” says Bivens. “I had personally witnessed my uncle, who was an Army veteran,struggle after coming homefrom Iraq sothat prompted me to want to serve those individuals.”

Upon graduation, Bivensjoined theAir Forceasapersonnel officer. Sheled a team thatworked directly with airmenon everything fromtheir baseassignmentstopromotionsand retirements.Bivens also directed a fitness center, dining facility and childcare center. Afterfouryears,she pivoted to working with students as an Air Force ROTCinstructor. In 2020, she becameprogram director for the Carolina Veterans Resource Center,whereshe uses her experiences fromherprevious roles toadvocate for student veterans.

MaDana Bivens

The Carolina Veterans Resource Center is apoint of engagement for student veterans and other military–affiliated students.The CVRCservesnot onlyveteransbut also theirdependents, spousesoranyonewith amilitary affiliation.TheCVRCidentifiesany internal and community resourcesstudent veteransmay need, increasescampus awareness ofveterans’unique needs andworks toimprove retention and graduation ratesthroughsupport services.

As program director,Bivensservesas aliaisonbetweenveterans and the campus community.

“I’ve been honing my leadership skills since my time as an ROTC cadet, and I led a large group of people as an officer, and through those experiences I developeda servant leadership style,” says Bivens. “Myprimaryjob is to serve the militaryandmilitary–affiliated students here at Carolina.I took thisposition to ensureveteransfeelconnected to the Carolina community and havethe resources they need to become successful.”

BivenssaidherAir Forceexperiencedrove her to serve others.

“We have core values in the Air Force,which are “Integrity First,ServiceBeforeSelf andExcellence InAll We Do.” Servicebefore selfis somethingI value, because those of usthatserve our country essentiallyalso agreeto put our professional duties before our own personal desires,” says Bivens.“Ihad a sense of satisfaction then and now that I’m serving a cause bigger than myself.”

Her careerofhelpingAirmen and veteranscertainly puts others before herself,and Bivens encourages others to reflect on how they can serve and celebrate this Veterans Day.

“I think it’s easy for veterans on campus to be a forgotten group, so recognitionthrough Veterans Daycelebrationsthis weekis a great start towardsacknowledging their important place in the campus community,” says Bivens.

By Madeline Pace

From the sea to OASIS

Timothy Hensley ’04,associate director of systems, instructional technologyandweb servicesfortheOffice of Arts and Sciences Information Servicesat Carolina, is a U.S. Navy veteranwho doesn’t always think of himself as a veteran.

Anunlikely sailorwhen he enlisted in 1995, the18-year-old native of Sylva, a smalltown in the North Carolina mountains,had never seen the ocean and didn’t know how to swim.

But Hensley was determined toget an education, and the Navy offered him the surest route. “I was from averylow-income family, and I needed the money to go to college,” Hensley said. “I had intended to go to the Army, but the Navyofferedme moremoneyfor college.”

Tim Hensley

Hensley spent much of the next four years aboard the USSLeyteGulf, a guided missile cruiser then part of the USS Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group. In March 1999, he wasthe battle group’s tactical information coordinatorforOperation Allied Force,aNATOoperation to free Kosovo fromSerbiancontrol and allowAlbanian refugees to returnhome.

Hensleysupervised a watch team thatidentifiedand tracked over 1,000 allied air combat missions. The Navycommendedhimfor his service,calling his skills “vital to the success of Operation Allied Force in the Adriatic Sea.”

Hensley watched fromthe flight deckasTomahawk missiles lit up the midnight sky over the Adriatic Sea.“That was scary. It was like the ship exploded,” he recalled.Even more frightening was a training exerciseabout 100 miles off the North Carolina coastin October 1996 whenanaircraftcarrier unexpectedly reversed course and slammed into the bowofhis smaller shipand ripped it open.

Despitethese experiences,Hensley said he doesn’t always think of himself as a veteran.“I’m a reallybig fanof that HBOminiseries‘Band of Brothers’ and what those folks went through compared to what I went through — there’s no comparison, really.”

Back home in Sylva, Hensley enrolled in SouthwesternCommunity College, where hemaintaineda 4.0 GPA for two years before transferring to Carolina. He majored inreligious studiesbecause he was interested in the topic butdidn’t think of it as a career.

“My main goal in life up until that point was to get admitted to UNC and graduate from UNC. I really hadn’t planned my life after that,” he said. “During my time as a student at UNC, I learned that I loved technology and helping others. It didn’t occur to me that I might one day do both of those things while an employee at the University.”

Two jobs he had as a student — atthe RAM Shop of Student Storesandas one of the first Mac Geniuses at the Apple Store in Southpoint Mall in Durham— steered him to a career in tech. Afew years later, what started as atemporary position at OASISbecame permanent. In 2012, he completedthe University Leadership and Development Programand took on his current role.

The University’s pivot to remote-only instruction in the spring because of the pandemic was particularly tough on instructional technology specialists like Hensley.Butwhile the pandemic has been stressful,Hensleyhas his military past to keep things in perspective.

“It’s not as stressful as the collision at sea with an aircraft carrier that I lived through, because that really happened,” he said. “We’re all in this together, and we’ll get through this together.”

By Susan Hudson

‘Do the right thing when nobody’s looking’

The grandfather’s balding, bespectacled appearance belies an intensity as he explains to his teenage grandson the transformation happening before them while July heat descends from a clear blue sky over the Hudson River.

It’s Reception Day 1996, and new cadets have arrived at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The grandfather, a former 1st Lt. named Ernest Zseleczky who worked at West Point before serving in the Korean War, narrates the cadets’ transformation from civilian to soldier: goodbyes to family, hustling to orders, buzzcuts for the men, donning uniforms. That afternoon, the cadets emerge to march in formation past a grandstand full of families.

Dan Hurd

It was also transformative for the 15-year-old grandson, now Lt. Col. Dan Hurd, professor of military science and department chair of Carolina’s Military Science department. Hurd also leads the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps.

“That’s the day I decided that I wanted to join the Army, specifically to attend West Point and be a part of that tradition,” Hurd said.

“I got to see a little behind the scenes and see the cadets actually in-process. We watched them come out of the barracks for the first time in uniform and gather equipment at different stations. It was their first day in the military, and I kind of experienced that with them.”

Hurd went on to a career that includes tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University, leading soldiers and teaching at West Point. His awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Combat and Expert Infantryman’s Badges, Senior Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge and the Ranger Tab.

During childhood in Chapel Hill, Hurd had an idea of what Army life would be like, but he had no intention of enrolling at a service academy. But, through his grandfather’s influence, Hurd attended West Point and found other people to emulate. Hurd points to two seniors at West Point — Andrew Gallo and Trent Moore — whose examples during his first year inspire him to this day.

“I looked up to them. They always gave 100%, were disciplined and helped people. They seemed to always do the right thing, and I said, ‘This is what I want to be like.’ From then on, at least at West Point, it clicked. I understood what right looked like and what it meant to be part of something bigger in which you represent a larger community.

“We talk about service a lot in UNC’s program. We say, ‘When people look at you, they think of this larger community of soldiers, officers and people who serve their country. You can’t be the one that’s letting all those people down.’”

Hurd sees that discipline and commitment every day when 75 cadets gather for physical training. Everyone adheres to COVID-19 precautions by wearing face masks and maintaining appropriate distance. Afterwards, they attend class and take on other responsibilities.

“If there’s any group that can figure out how to do this the right way, it’s us, because these young men and women are disciplined, and they know how to do the right thing when nobody’s looking.”

By Scott Jared