VETS ON THE FARM: Education programs focus on veterans with farming ambitions.

• Author: Blake, Kathy
• Position: SPONSORED SECTION: CASH CROP

Robert Elliott is a former C-130 aircraft mechanic for the United States Marine Corps. Like any enlisted person facing the tenseness of active duty, he says, "There were some questionable moments."

Elliott retired from the military in 2011 after five years of enlisted service and 10 as a contractor for the Department of Defense. The predicament of what to do next led him to farming. "It was more therapeutic, and I realized a lot of veterans wanted what I'd found. It can be a hard time transitioning from military to civilian," he says.

In 2015, he established The Veteran's Farm of N.C. Inc., a nonprofit assisting veterans with becoming successful farmers. The Sanford-based organization offers guidance on raising livestock and growing organic vegetables and maintains an arsenal of gear --tractors, basic farm tools, trucks and trailers--that can be checked out and returned.

"For a lot of them, it may take a few years to get squared away and transition and get to where they want to be and need to be," Elliott says.

Elliott's work became part of Fort Bragg's new Soldier to Agriculture Program, a six-week course that gives exiting military a glimpse of farming. The first class started in July 2017 to coincide with the opening of the base's Career Resource Center. Elliott is the instructor and is a liaison between Fort Bragg and N.C. State's Agricultural Institute.

The Soldier to Agriculture class is free and does not provide credits, though some students choose to segue to N.C. State to further their education in that discipline. All Career Resource Center agriculture classes are classroom only; there is no online work or self-study.

"It's...