Jason Dieni named new veterans’ affairs officer

Date: 11/4/2011

Oct. 31, 2011

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

LONGMEADOW — After months of talks regarding regionalization and uncertainty surrounding the position, Longmeadow will once again have a veterans’ services officer.

Jason Dieni begins his service on Oct. 31 after he was the choice of a selection committee and subsequently appointed to the position by Town Manager Robin Crosbie.

Crosbie said several different aspects of Dieni’s experience made him the ideal candidate for the position.

“I think he’s the right fit for Longmeadow,” Crosbie said. “He’s had the experience, he’s a combat veteran and he’s very enthusiastic. The group involved in the selection process got a really good feeling after meeting with Jason.”

Dieni has spent the past two years working as an intern with the Springfield Veterans’ Services Office, as well as the Springfield Veterans Outreach Center.

“He was an intern, but he has been doing real work with Springfield veterans,” Crosbie said. “One of his major responsibilities has been doing intake investigations. He had nearly 300 clients that he worked with.”

As a combat veteran, having served in the Marines for four years, including deployment to Iraq, Dieni said in his interview that he hopes to provide the same level of service that he received, according to Crosbie.

“One of the things he spoke to was the fact that in addition to older veterans, he wanted to serve the young veterans coming home as well,” Crosbie said. “He learned a lot about veterans’ services through his own experiences and resources he was able to take advantage of and I think he wants to provide those same services to others.”

She added that Dieni has already served some Longmeadow veterans who turned to the Springfield Veterans’ Affairs Office for services they could not receive in town.

The hiring of Dieni puts Longmeadow in compliance with state law, which requires the town to have a full-time veterans’ services officer.

“I have notified the Veterans’ Affairs Office on the state level,” Crosbie said. “I have been updating them regularly on this process.”

Longmeadow had pursued the possibility of a regionalized position with East Longmeadow, but the two towns were unable to reach an agreement on a plan with East Longmeadow serving as the host community. Those talks severely hit a snag when residents at East Longmeadow’s Special Town Meeting voted not to fund the full-time veterans’ affairs officer position.

Crosbie said Longmeadow would still be interested in regionalization as the host community and invited East Longmeadow Town Administrator Nick Breault to sit in on the final interviews for Longmeadow’s finalists for the position.

Dieni will be formally introduced to the town’s veterans on Nov. 2 at the Veterans Circle meeting at the Longmeadow Adult Center. The meeting begins at 12:15 p.m.

He can be reached at 565-4150 or via email at veteransagent@longmeadow.org or jdieni@longmeadow.org.