🛡️ Teaching Strength, Restoring Purpose: How Covenant of Courage and JLBC Cadet Corps Empower Veterans to Lead the Next Generation
- Kirk Carlson
- Jun 29
- 3 min read
Updated: 17 hours ago
By Kirk Carlson | June 2025
In a time when many veterans struggle to find purpose after service, Covenant of Courage and the JLBC Cadet Corps are rewriting that narrative. They transform warriors into teachers. They turn experience into community resilience.
Through the integration of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, both organizations prepare youth for crisis situations. They also empower veterans to lead, instruct, and protect in new ways. They do this without a uniform, but with just as much honor.
🎖️ From Discharge to Duty: Reclaiming Purpose Through Teaching
For veterans who are medically discharged or transition out of military life, the question often becomes: What now?
"Too many veterans walk away from service with untapped skills and an aching sense that they still have more to give," says Kirk Carlson, a USMC veteran and founder of Covenant of Courage. "We decided to build a bridge between their experience and their community."
That bridge is CERT—a nationally recognized emergency response training program endorsed by FEMA. Veterans who complete the CERT Basic Training program now step into instructor roles. They lead workshops on fire suppression, triage, disaster psychology, and search and rescue.
🛠️ Bridging Experience and Community
These trainings are not conducted in isolation. They are embedded in JLBC Cadet Corps programs, where youth ages 12–18 learn leadership, emergency readiness, and teamwork under the guidance of veteran mentors.
For veterans, this bridge allows them to rediscover a purpose. They impart skills that could save lives. They become instrumental in shaping capable and resilient young leaders.
👨🏫 Veterans as Mentors: Teaching with Lived Experience
Veterans possess more than knowledge—they carry valuable lived experiences from real-world decision-making under pressure. Through JLBC and Covenant's partnership, they now pass on that wisdom through:
Teen CERT training in schools and after-school cadet programs
Hands-on simulations that mimic rescue operations and disaster response
Community readiness events aimed at bringing cadets and residents together
Leadership and mentorship that cultivates emotional intelligence, discipline, and service ethics in youth
These interactions do more than educate—they heal.
“When I’m teaching cadets how to stay calm in a crisis or how to lead their peers, I’m reminded why I served in the first place,” shares James R., a retired Army combat medic now serving as a CERT instructor.
🌟 The Impact of Mentorship
The connection between veterans and cadets fosters understanding and emotional bonds. For cadets, this technique builds emergency response skills. It also instills essential qualities: confidence, courage, and compassion. They learn from someone who has faced trauma and adapted, yet continues to show up for their community.
For veterans, each class is a chance to reclaim their role as protectors. Not just of a nation, but of their neighborhoods.
🌱 Planting Seeds of Leadership That Last
Covenant of Courage is actively building a Veteran Instructor Corps. This initiative offers:
Instructor training pathways for veterans interested in CERT and youth mentorship
Part-time teaching stipends for certified trainers
Support circles that reinforce mental health and community among veteran leaders
The goal is to ensure that both youth and veterans walk away empowered.
🧭 Where It’s All Going
The mission is clear: equip youth with real-world resilience while restoring veterans’ roles as leaders, mentors, and first-line defenders of their communities.
By combining military experience, disaster readiness, and service-based leadership, Covenant of Courage and JLBC Cadet Corps create a new model for community transformation—one generation at a time.
🙌 Get Involved
Know a veteran who wants to lead? Invite them to join our next CERT Instructor Training.
Want to start a Teen CERT team in your school or community? We’ll help.
Support our mission with a donation, a volunteer hour, or just by sharing this message.
“Service doesn’t end with the uniform. For many of us, it’s just beginning again—in a classroom, in a disaster zone, or beside a young person learning to lead.”— Kirk Carlson
💡 Conclusion: A New Beginning for Veterans
As we see, Covenant of Courage and JLBC Cadet Corps are reshaping the narrative around veterans. They provide an essential pathway for them to serve again, but in a different capacity. This new journey reinforces the value of community. It also ensures that veterans remain an integral part of the lives they once defended. By empowering them to nurture the next generation, these organizations foster a legacy of leadership, resilience, and hope.
Engage with your local veteran communities. Explore how you can support these transformative programs. Together, we can build stronger communities that thrive on the strengths of both our youth and our veterans.
Comments