Becoming Part of Something Greater: Air Force Veteran Finds his Place by Serving Other Veterans 

by Matt Dye 

In recognition of Military Appreciation Month, Brandon Lambert, former Cyber Transport Systems Specialist (3D172), SSgt for the United States Air Force and now chaplain for the Lake Charles VFW, shared his military journey and his current role with the VFW. 

Lambert was in 10th grade on that fateful Tuesday in September 2001 and says at that time, he was looking for direction in his life. “9/11 probably made the biggest impact in my decision to join the Air Force,” he says. “My agriculture teacher wheeled in a TV and then sat in the corner, face in his hands, fighting back tears. This man was the definition of a Patriot, a two-tour Vietnam vet who volunteered for a third round in the USMC.”  

Though Lambert didn’t join the military until April 2005, he cites that memory as being something he couldn’t shake. “Right there was the trigger. To be part of something greater than myself was the direction I needed in my life.”  

Lambert was stationed at Barksdale AFB in Shreveport, Louisiana. He began his military career in a Secure Communications back shop, where he worked with now-outdated technology that gave him a foundation in the field of communications. From there, he served with the Customer Control Center, resetting passwords, recalling emails and voicemails, and maintaining computers. Next, he trained in maintaining the Strategic Automated Command and Control System, monitoring intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-armed long-range bombers, and ballistic missile submarines. Armed with this experience, Lambert was deployed as a satellite tech for the U.S. Army, on loan from the Air Force, and embedded with the 95th MP Company.  

“The area we were in was not exactly friendly to Americans, especially during the elections taking place in the region,” Lambert says. “There were IEDs on roadways, and enemy combatants would shoot at us during meals; somehow, they knew our schedule and would drop mortars on us regularly.” Lambert recalls a point when they were shot at and/or mortared for 175 days straight.    

After Lambert was honorably discharged in 2013, he, like many veterans, found it difficult to transition and find his place back home. “At the time, I was relieved to be out of the service, but I lacked the structure that I’d grown accustomed to. And my marriage was rocky at best. I crawled into a whisky bottle and stayed there for two years as a junior mechanic.” 

In 2015, Lambert was offered a role at Little Rock AFB in Arkansas, doing the same job he’d done in the Air Force, but this time as a civilian. This was the transition Lambert needed. “Moving to Arkansas saved my life and my marriage,” he says. “I was back in a structured environment and around like-minded people again.”  

When that contract ended in 2017, Lambert moved back to Southwest Louisiana and faced some of the same fears he’d had upon discharge from the Air Force. But in 2022, an invitation to the VFW changed his life. He was welcomed to the VFW by members of the Mardi Gras Krewe de Valhalla – Southwest Louisiana’s only all-veterans Mardi Gras krewe. Lambert was voted in as VFW chaplain at his very first meeting. Raised in the Catholic faith, he accepted the post as a personal challenge to get back to where he longed to be spiritually. Lambert started a peer-led support group for veterans, where they can speak freely to fellow veterans who have walked the same walk and can relate to their experiences. “It’s difficult to find someone to talk to who understands,” he says. As chaplain, Lambert serves as the VFW’s spiritual leader, leading prayers and comforting family members who have lost loved ones serving in the military. In addition to his duties at the VFW, Lambert works at CITGO as a technical analyst. He lives with his wife, Nakita, and their seven-year-old son in Lake Charles. 

Now Lambert and other members want to break the stigma that the VFW is just a place for old war vets to share stories or relive the glory days. They want to create a veteran community where good times can be experienced, and friendships last a lifetime. Lambert says, “Being able to help veterans in need is my biggest goal.”