Hello Combined Arms Community,
My name is Sharon Ozdarski. I was recently hired as the Austin Regional Coordination Center Manager for Combined Arms.
I am originally from Virginia Beach, VA where my family has been deeply rooted for the last 130 years. Upon completing my Master’s Degree in Sociology, I was soon married and became a Navy spouse to a US Navy SEAL. We spent the next 16 years supporting each other through a difficult Naval career and through some of our countries most devastating events. During this time I was fortunate enough to be hired on by a government contractor that held contracts for the Fleet and Family Support Centers in Virginia Beach, VA and San Diego, CA. I held various positions on both coasts to include teaching life skills classes during Safety Stand Downs, activating reservists post 9-11, and manning an emergency family call center following catastrophic events. My last assignment held with this contractor was acting as their Outreach Supervisor managing a DOL grant that funded military spouses to go to school and earn approved certifications and degrees so they could ultimately return to the workforce in the communities they were assigned to. Watching the transformation of the spouses who participated in the program was an incredibly rewarding experience. Years later, I became pregnant with our first child and we made the decision that I would stay home with our children while my husband completed his career.
Our household motto was “One Day”. We knew that one day he would retire and we would live out our version of “happily ever after”. Unfortunately upon retirement, “one day” looked much different than we imagined. Retirement took us away from our family, friends and our community and brought us to Austin, TX. Neither of us was fully prepared for the challenges and frustrations we would face during our transitioning process.
After being at home with my children for 11 years I decided to return to the workforce. I recently spent the last 5 years working for an outdoor consumer goods brand. I was a Corporate Sales Manager for a retail company, however I knew that I needed to find my way back to helping the veteran community. That is how I found Combined Arms. During my search I learned about Combined Arms and I knew immediately that I wanted to be the voice behind the mission in the Austin community. My role is to ensure that our transitioning service members, veterans and their families are connected with our servicing member organizations and receive the quality service they require and deserve. I will approach this opportunity with empathy and understanding and feel excited to represent this revolutionary platform in Austin, TX.