Courtney McCoy is more than excited to be working to assist Veterans.
The Army Veteran has joined the FVC staff in January as a Veteran Service Provider, working out of the Waco, Texas headquarters.
“I can’t express how excited I am to be assisting Veterans in this capacity of their futures,” Courtney said.
She assists with the FVC call center and handles emails from Veterans who have questions about accessing resources, as well as attends Veteran-related career fairs. But she also is working to establish Kubota Career Connect, a training program with Kubota that will place students with jobs in the industry.
An additional duty is operating FVC’s fulfillment center, handling and filling orders for products with the online FVC Store.
A native of Oregon City, Oregon, she enlisted in the Army in 2000 and became an Apache helicopter crew chief. Courtney served with the 1/6 Cavalry in Korea for 14 months and while there she was chosen by a full-bird colonel, Col. Ronald Buffkin, as a PFC (private first class) to personally crew his aircraft.
“That was a huge honor as a PFC and being the only female in my company,” she said.
She also earned her spurs partaking in the grueling Cavalry Spur ride. After leaving Korea she was sent to 1st Air Cav 1-227 Aviation Battalion at Ft. Hood (now Ft. Cavazos) in Texas.
Deployment
She was immediately deployed to Camp Taji Iraq, where, after receiving an email from Col. Buffkin whom she crewed for in Korea, she was chosen by the lieutenant colonel to personally crew for his aircraft alone. Once again, she was the only female in her company.
While in Iraq she earned her combat spurs.
Courtney was planning on making the Army a career. She prided herself in her work and her duty.
“If you act like you know something in aviation and you don’t, then you’re putting that pilot and crew in harm,” she said. “I could never do that. If I didn’t know something, I would say so.”
While in Iraq she re-enlisted for another six years.
Difficult Losses
During her first year of deployment, four of her pilots were lost in RPG attacks. That took a toll on her emotionally, she said.
She returned to Ft. Hood after Iraq and was again redeployed the following year. Upon returning from that combat deployment in 2007, she was assisting the Blackhawks sling-load the shipping containers brought back and slipped off a container, breaking her back in the fall.
“The worst thing about being injured like this was the knowledge that I knew it was the end of my military career,” she said. “Working closely with my pilots and fellow enlisted soldiers was my life, especially after combat deployments. Not only was I physically broken, but emotionally as well.”
She spent six months recovering in Darnall Army Medical Center and was medically discharged from the military.
Fynn Is Big Help
Courtney still suffers from severe PTSD as well as her physical injuries. She has a support dog, Fynn, an Australian shepherd, who comes to work with her and quickly has become an irreplaceable member of FVC.
“Fynn keeps my anxiety at a low,” she said. “He can feel it when I get anxious and he somehow takes that emotion from me by loving on me. He loves coming into the office. As soon as I put his vest on in the morning he immediately goes in to ‘work’ mode.
“He loves to wait by the door in the mornings and greet everyone as they come in to start their days. And he loves visiting each office just to check on everyone and get pets throughout the day. He loves FVC and the co-workers here just as much as I do!”
During a 10-year physical and mental therapy journey she has fought her way back from pain, as well as depression and survivor guilt. She heavily supports Veterans and has been involved in volunteering with the local VA for years.
Resuming Life
She earned her bachelor’s in business administration from Adams State University with the use of her GI Bill, and has been doing business management work since her discharge from service.
She has two children as well as two grandchildren. She and her husband Jason live in Waco and recently purchased their first house with the help of her VA loan. She enjoys basketball, hiking, going to car shows with Jason, and collecting Fox Body Mustangs.
Her stepson joined the Army this year as an MP.
She looks forward to many exciting years with FVC assisting in any way she can.
