Watervliet veteran finds purpose serving people with disabilities

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. (NEWS10) – For Watervliet resident Traci St. Denis, serving was always the goal. After her military career was done, she found new purpose helping adults with disabilities.

She enlisted in 1989. In addition to her basic and advanced training as an Army Wire Systems Installer, she was sent to Airborne school in Fort Benning, GA and enjoyed jumping out of “perfectly good airplanes”.

She earned a commission as a 2^nd Lieutenant in 1993 and completed Army Officer Quartermaster School at Fort Lee, Virginia.  Shortly before her deployment to Iraq in 2004 she attended the Movement Officers Course at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. 

After her military career ended, she was diagnosed with PTSD. After getting help at the VA, she started working at Wildwood Programs, an agency that supports people with disabilities.

Ten years later, she’s a site supervisor, and she says in many ways, her service never ended.