But Scocos just received a powerful reminder. Reflecting on a six-month stint in Iraq, the state 's top veterans advocate said his service there reinforced the importance of caring for the soldiers who are returning from war in the Middle East.

"Being in harm's way with them ... it just redoubles my commitment to do what 's right for these veterans, " Scocos said.

Scocos, 51, took an unpaid leave from his job as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs and went on active duty in Iraq from April until October.

The married father of three said his priorities now include providing veterans with opportunities for education and helping them cope with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and serious brain injuries.

As a colonel in the Army Reserve with the Gulf Region Division of engineers in Baghdad, Scocos helped coordinate shipments of massive amounts of materials from a port in southern Iraq. The shipments ranged from telephone poles to dump trucks and police cars -- cargo that's critical to the rebuilding of a country suffering from years of war and economic sanctions.

Scocos said he saw improvements in security in Iraq under this year's troop increase, but the dangers in the logistics work Scocos oversaw remained real. Over nine months this year, Scocos said a group of 3,400 convoys saw 428 attacks.

Scocos said the protected Green Zone in Baghdad where he worked saw regular rocket and mortar attacks in the early months of his time there, but he said he preferred not to comment more on those.

Scocos, who has served in the Army and Army Reserve for 28 years, including time in Bosnia in the 1990s, said he'll return to his state job in December.

Scocos praised the state budget passed by Gov. Jim Doyle and the Legislature, which provides full tuition remission at state universities to veterans and $11.6 million to partially cover the schools ' cost of providing those tuition benefits.

"We need to reach out and find ways that the city, county and state can work together to pool our resources and take care of these men and women," Scocos said. "As long as I 'm secretary, I 'm going to fight for every veterans' benefit possible."

-- Jason Stein

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