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November 10, 2025
In honor of Veterans Day, The American College of Financial Services would like to recognize the efforts of our veteran scholars.
In a recent episode of The College’s Shares podcast, Managing Director of The American College of Financial Services Center for Military and Veterans Affairs, Phil Easton, CMSgt, USAF (Ret.), and 2025 Soldier-Citizen Award Recipient, Vice Admiral James Zortman, USN (Ret.) spoke about the traits necessary to succeed as a member of the military community, specifically flexibility and adaptability.
As Vice Admiral Zortman pointed out in the episode, it is not uncommon for the life of a military member to change in an instant. As such, The College believes it is important to provide them with the resources they need to make major pivots in their goals at a moment’s notice.
One such scholar is Trevor Brunell, Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®), an Army veteran and recent completer of The College’s ChFC® designation program. Brunell, who spoke at the Center for Military and Veterans Affairs 2025 Military Summit, shared the story of how his goals were changed due to his experiences in the military.
During his second deployment to Afghanistan, Brunell was ambushed by ISIS militants and lost a third of his leg during the ensuing firefight. After numerous reconstructive surgeries, Brunell returned to the field. On his last tour, while infiltrating an ISIS village during the middle of the night, he sustained further injuries to his bad leg, resulting in additional surgery and being put in an administrative role when he returned stateside. Brunell stated, “My last three years in the Army were mostly from behind a desk, and I was determined to come up with a backup career plan, should the Army decide to retire me.”
After completing his undergraduate studies with degrees in accounting and finance, Brunell began a career at a veteran institutional financial firm, eventually doing well enough to open his own branch office. However, Brunell stated he desired meaning in his work aside from making a salary and sought to become a financial planner.
Hearing about The College’s scholarship opportunities available to military veterans, Brunell applied for a scholarship, and upon receiving the scholarship, began working on his ChFC® designation.
While discussing his experience with the program, Brunell stated, “It piques my interest and I'm incredibly grateful for the scholarship, and I think it's providing amazing opportunities for veterans who want to become experts in their field and gain meaningful, impactful employment post-service.”
Jessica Chominski, another scholar who spoke at the Military Summit, shared the story of her own experience with changing plans. In her address to the audience, Chominski said, “At first glance, those who know me might be surprised to hear that this is where I might find myself — with a degree in social work and psychology, 20 years in the Medical Service Corps in the Army Reserve, a gym teacher, and a mom with six kids, seven in about a month, I wear a few hats.”
Chominski quickly pointed out that all the roles she has undertaken have had one trait in common — servanthood. Servanthood drove her to social work, servanthood motivated her to join the military, and it was servanthood that she said drew her to financial services, “I began exploring the financial services industry for the simple reason that it appeared to be a means of combining knowledge with empathy to help people help themselves: showing a path forward toward financial independence.”
Chominski shared the story of the first financial planning meeting she sat in on, describing the scene as an industry veteran explained the situation to clients in plainspeak. Chominski went on to describe the look of hope she noted on the faces of the clients. According to Chominski, it was this look of hope that she aimed to inspire in clients moving forward.
“We are doing the same thing: highlighting the dignity of the person sitting in front of us and reflecting it back to them so that they can move forward in hope. When successful, someone leaves just a little better off than they were before you started working with them. I know that is not a … measurable KPI, but it is something I’ll gladly hang my hat on.”
Ultimately, in serving veterans such as Brunell and Chominski, The College hopes to embody the same admirable qualities they’ve come to embody over their military careers. Like Brunell, The College aims to offer flexibility and adaptability to veterans in need of an educational partner that is willing to meet their needs. Like Chominski, The College desires to provide hope to veterans looking for a career in financial services after their time in the military left them reevaluating their plans for life after service.
It is through these scholarship opportunities that The College wishes to prop up those who display admirable traits such as these, along with exceptional leadership and a willingness to put the needs of others ahead of their own. That is why The College wishes to honor them and all our other military scholars by saluting them for everything they’ve done for this country and their communities.
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