Jeramiah Wegner

SSG, U.S. Army
Bachelor of Arts Sustainable Development, Columbia University
Master of Science Protected Area Governance, University of Tasmania

After graduating High School, Jeramiah immediately enlisted in the United States Army, following in the footsteps of his older brother he joined the Infantry. Once basic training, Infantry training, and Airborne School were completed, Jeramiah attended the Ranger Indoctrination Program (now Ranger Assessment and Selection Program) and was soon after assigned as a grenadier to Delta Company 2nd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Shortly thereafter he deployed for his first of six deployments, once to Iraq, and five times to Afghanistan. By the end of his third deployment Jeramiah had attained the position of Fire Team Leader and made a lateral move to the Reconnaissance Surveillance Target Acquisition platoon.

While on his fourth deployment in Afghanistan, during a kill or capture nighttime raid, Jeramiah was engaged by the enemy from a nearby rooftop. The night’s events led to Jeramiah and three of his fellow Rangers being awarded the Purple Heart. Jeramiah was also awarded the Bronze Star for Valor for engaging the enemy and providing first aid to his fellow Rangers after receiving a gun-shot-wound to the right leg. Jeramiah went on to complete two additional deployments and during his last one was accepted to Columbia University and applied to Sentinels of Freedom as he prepared for his upcoming discharge from service.

Jeramiah matriculated to Columbia University and was accepted to Sentinels of Freedom in the fall of 2015 where he began his studies for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sustainable Development. With the support of SOF, he was able to treat his education as a sole occupation and afford the housing costs in Manhattan. The support also alleviated much anxiety from an already anxiety-riddled experience which helped make completing school possible. Jeramiah also benefited from attending several networking events with SOF which resulted in an opportunity to study abroad for a Masters degree in Protected Area Governance at the University of Tasmania.

The opportunity to study in Australia was a lifelong dream for Jeramiah. Having grown up in South Florida in a single-mother household with very little money, Jeramiah spent much of his childhood outside exploring the swampy woods of Naples Florida. He has fond memories of spending time with neighborhood friends watching Steve Irwin’s Crocodile Hunter and never imagined he would be given the opportunity to study land management in Australia. During his studies, Jeramiah was also faced with the COVID 19 pandemic and had to make the difficult decision to finish his final year of studies online as SOF assisted him with his returned to the US before full lockdowns began. Following the completion of his degree, Jeramiah fulfilled his career goal of securing a position with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as a Federal Wildlife Officer receiving one of 16 openings out of 3,0000 applicants.

“I can say with certainty that the Sentinels of Freedom program helped me cross hurdles to get
to this point. I owe some of my greatest memories and experiences, my literal dream career, to the
Sentinels of Freedom Team. Supporting SOF is supporting veterans making that tough transition, finding
their new purpose, and achieving their dream careers.”  – Jeramiah Wegner