Veteran Story: John Pflaumer

John Pfluamer in Adak, Alaska, 1987

I joined the Ohio Army National Guard in 1985 as means to help with college finances. I enlisted as an 11B Infantryman and went of course to Fort Benning, Georgia. I found I really liked the Army. There were a lot of reasons. A feeling of a common purpose, adventure, solving real world problems and of course the soldiers I served with. I could not have imagined I would serve in such a wide variety of roles, in places I had never even heard of.

After retiring from the National Guard there was a feeling of a void in my life. While visiting a National Park I asked a couple of rangers how they got jobs for the National Park Service. Every Park Ranger I had ever encountered seemed to be very enthusiastic and appeared to love their work. I had never considered being a National Park Ranger before for some reason. I did not think it was even a remote possibility. They told me to go to USAJOBS and I found a few positions in which I meet the requirements and applied.

I was hired at Hopewell Culture National Historic Park in Chillicothe, Ohio. I quickly found I had a smile on my face when I went to work and a smile on my face when I came home. Helping kids get their junior badges with beaming parents and grandparents taking pictures. Telling the story of the park while simultaneously batting down wildly inaccurate theories and doing so in a diplomatic fashion brought me great joy. My wife even noticed that I was happier since I started working at the park. It was not, I have to go to work, it was that, I get to go to work.

Ranger John teaches students about the signs and sounds of Glen Canyon as they boat Lake Powell.

NPS

Now as Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Rainbow Bridge National Moument's Education & Outreach Coordinator, I get to show kids the wonders of our public lands. Through classroom visits and field trips with the local schools we are able to provide an amazing Every Kid Outdoors experience, "Bridging the Gap" for all our area fourth graders.

The National Park Service is the largest and greatest outdoor classroom in the world. Working for the National Park Service has provided me the opportunity to serve my country once again, work with a truly wonderful and dedicated staff. Be directly involved in helping preserve, protect and relate the awesome story of the park to people from around the world. An old cadence we used to sing while marching states, I like it here, I love it here, I finally found a home. I have finally found a home in the National Park Service.