Finding Myself and My Place

    by Joshua Maloney   Osterville, Ma   Featured in Bartlett Tree Topics – Autumn/Winter 2023 internal employee magazine   Photo of TreeTopics Autumn/winter 2023 cover by my employer, Bartlett Tree Experts       I still scan rooftops. Hypervigilance is a behavioral pattern that the Global War on Terrorism imprinted on many veterans. A combatant high on a roof can be part of an attack, so scanning for threats helped keep us safe. Habits like this became entrenched after I was deployed to Mosul, Iraq, in 2008. Like many other combat veterans, I have struggled to turn these functions off since the war. Now, in my work at Bartlett, as I scan the tree canopies for hangers for lob site and crew safety, I am finding new, productive ways to cope.   It has been a journey. After serving as an M1 Abrams Crewmember (working in a team to operate tanks and assault vehicles) and later a Drill Sergeant in the Army, I have had to make every effort to find meaning in life and a crew with which I felt I belonged. Upon return, I  hadn’t addressed what I had dealt with in combat as a 19-year-old, let alone six years as an officer. There were, and still are, so many everyday experiences that trigger memories of my time in the service. Seeing garbage in the road elicits reminders of the Improvised Explosive Devices often used in attacks: sounds of whistling sparks thoughts of falling mortars; and loud, sudden noises evoke explosions and small arms fire.  Returning to work presented many challenges, and after a role as a Police Officer, I chose to leave because of stress.    Looking for a better path forward, I checked myself into a local Veteran’s Affairs (VA) program and got help for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcoholism in 2017. I have stayed sober and in care since. While in recovery, I tried hard to find a career. I worked as a mechanic, drove for a rideshare app, and managed a laundromat. However, I hadn’t figured out yet where I fit. Following the advice from one of my therapists, I tried volunteering for a local wildlife sanctuary.    Nature Brings New Meaning   At the Mass Audubon’s Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary, I began to work outside with a property manager, clearing trails of new growth and storm-damaged trees. The sanctuary’s director, lan lves, gave me a book written by Tom Wessels, one of his college professors, called Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England. The skills within Wessels’ book, coupled with my newfound relationship to nature, helped me transform my habitually destructive patterns of watching and being on guard for danger into ways to interpret the forested world. I found meaning in understanding and working with the environment. This led me to earn an associate degree in environmental technologies from Cape Cod Community College via the VA’s Readiness and Employment Program. During my schooling, I read an excerpt from Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring. Seeing how she combined science and literature to effectively communicate the lasting impact of DDT, which eventually led to new global pesticide policies, further fueled my interest in pest management.   With a focused interest in the intersection of pest management and forest health, I undertook an internship with the Forest Pest Methods Laboratory on the Joint Base Cape Cod military base, which is part of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Plant Protection and Quarantine program. As a lab and field technician, my main role was helping to evaluate the efficacy of a parasitoid wasp. Ontsira mellibes. As a biocontrol agent for Asian long-horned beetle (ALB) larvae.   As part of the internship, I inserted over 1800 ALB larvae into prepared grooves in 208 logs. These logs were moved from my site to an AlR infestation zone in Worcester, Massachusetts. Once there, USDA tree climbers affixed the caged logs to trees, and I released the wasps. I had the opportunity to get to know the Climbers, many of whom had gotten a start with Bartlett and spoke highly of the training and safety programs. Likewise, the entomologists I encountered said that Bartlett’s Research Lab and local IPM programs were elite.   Welcome to the Crew   After my internship was complete, I applied for and accepted a role as an arborist limber trainee at Bartlett in September 2022. I found my once counterproductive pattern of hypervigilance and scanning rooftops could be useful when appropriately applied to checking treetops. While the threat of someone watching our movement to attack is minimal, the danger of a hanger falling or of a failure resulting from a tree disease is a real possibility.   As a veteran, I am not alone at Bartlett. There are many, including Rich Herfurth, New England Division Safety and Training Coordinator, a Vietnam veteran who has employed his military training and experience in many ways during his Bartlett career. I am grateful for the support and camaraderie of these fellow veterans who understand the challenges and struggles of transitioning from military to civilian life. With their encouragement and through my work, I have found fulfillment and am able to use my military training and experience in a productive way. I have also discovered a passion for environmental conservation and pest management. I am proud of my work in helping to control the spread of ALB and am excited to continue learning and growing in this field.   My journey has not been easy. I still struggle with the effects of PTSD and alcoholism, but I am committed to my recovery and building a meaningful life. I am grateful for the opportunities and support that I have found at Bartlett, and I am excited to see where this path will take me.   Photo of pages 12-13 of TreeTopics, Bartlett Tree Experts Internal Newsletter Magazine sent to the employees of more than 100 world wide offices   I have special thanks to Dr. Beth Brantley and Tina McNulty. I met Dr. Brantley, a Plant Pathologist who provides technical support to Bartlett Tree Experts’ arborists in the northeast. She is the one who pushed me to write about my experience, leading me to find my place in my current career. I also have gratitude for Tina McNulty, the editor of TreeTopics.       Bartlett Tree Experts