Young Veterans Making Agriculture Next Mission

July 8, 2010— -- After he returned from a deployment in Ramadi, Iraq, Garrett Dwyer, a 24-year-old rancher, hit upon the idea that there was a "goldmine" in people like him.

Remembering the military's discipline and leadership skills that help him work his family's 5,200-acre ranch in Bartlett, Nebraska, Dwyer told ABCNews.com that he considered returning veterans an "untapped resource" to power these agricultural communities.

Young soldiers returning to civilian life are facing high unemployment rates -- more than 20 percent. At the same time, the rural communities many veterans hail from are fighting off depletion as more and more residents move to cities.

"That discipline goes a long way as far as running an [agriculture] operation," said Dwyer, who served as an infantryman for the Marines and was deployed in Okinawa, Japan, before Iraq.

So Dwyer and deans at the University of Nebraska's Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, from which he graduated in May, came up with "Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots."

The program is an example of a new crop of nonprofits, college programs and a new office inside the U.S. Department of Agriculture that are all trying to ease a transition into the agricultural industry for young veterans.

Gearing up for its full launch this fall, "Combat Boots," at the college in Curtis -- a part of the University of Nebraska located about 225 miles from the main campus in Lincoln -- will be part job-training and part career-placement for military veterans interested in becoming farm or ranch owners.

The program, open to all military, veterans and family members, will offer on-campus classes and long-distance education. The goal is to partner with other agricultural schools within two or three years and, by next spring, to offer classes at military bases, school officials said.