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Board of Veterans Affairs Biographies

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Pat Beggs.jpgPatrick C. Beggs, Janesville, representing the 1st congressional District on the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs. He served in the US Navy Seabee's from 1969 to 1970 as a construction mechanic. He continued in the Naval Reserves until 1974. He learned the core values of honor, courage, and commitment throughout his training. Pat worked as a diesel mechanic for a local trucking company for 20 years, where he served as a union shift committee appointee. They worked on day-to-day issues and labor contracts through the UAW. Pat is retired but finds himself working part-time as a marine mechanic in the summers. Nothing like spending your summers lakeside in Wisconsin. Pat is married with three adult children, two of whom still reside in WI. He has made many lifelong friends and connections within the state. 
 Bob Hesselbein.JPGRobert “Bob" Hesselbein is a lifelong professional pilot and recognized administrator. He is a career military pilot, a decorated combat veteran, and graduated from the prestigious United States Air Force Weapons Instructor School.

At the age of nineteen, Hesselbein piloted AH-1G attack helicopters in the Vietnam War. He then transitioned to the United States Air Force (USAF) and later the Wisconsin Air National Guard, flying A-10 and F-16 jet fighters until his retirement as a lieutenant colonel in 2000.

With almost thirty years of combined military service, he participates in military legacy activities. As the Vietnam Helicopter Pilot Association (VHPA) President, he envisioned and led the public effort resulting in the placement of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilot and Crewmember Memorial Monument within Arlington National Cemetery. He serves on the Wisconsin 2nd Congressional District Service School Selection Board and is a Wisconsin Veterans Museum docent. He provides a military history perspective for those visiting Asian and European battlefields. He is a life member of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, Order of Daedalians, Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, Air Force Association, and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Retired from Delta Air Lines in 2012 and living in Madison, he serves on the Middleton Cross-Plains Area School District Board of Education as Board President.

He is married to Wisconsin State Senator Dianne Hesselbein (27th Senate District). They and their family reside in Middleton, Wisconsin.

Kaalele01.jpgChris Hanson, of Sparta, is the civilian Protocol Officer and a Public Affairs Specialist at Fort McCoy.  Previously, he was the President/CEO of the Greater Tomah Area Chamber of Commerce and the President/CEO of the Veterans Assistance Foundation, Inc.  Chris is in his 30th year in the United States Navy Reserve, where he served his first 20 years as a Fleet Marine Force Corpsman, reaching the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer, before receiving his commission as a Public Affairs Officer in 2012.  He is a lifetime member of Disabled American Veterans and serves on Senate and Congressional Veterans Advisory Councils and Service Academy Selection Committees.  
Tonnetta D. Carter, Milwaukee, represents the 4th Congressional District on the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs. She previously served six years as a Construction Engineer in the Army National Guard, serving one tour in Afghanistan. Tonnetta currently works as the Assistant Director of Development at the Medical College of Wisconsin and is pursuing her MBA with an emphasis in Finance. She is an advocate for and a proud Milwaukee Urban League Young Professionals member.
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Mark Mathwig is a retired US Army Colonel and a retired Civil Servant that served with Dane County (Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator), Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs (Bureau Director for Cemeteries, Funeral Honors & Homeless Veterans Programs) and the US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey (Director of Business Operations at the National Wildlife Health Center) he had over 30 years in those various agencies.  He commanded at the battery and battalion level in field artillery units in the US Army and Wisconsin Army National Guard.  He served as J6/Chief Information Officer for the Department of Military Affairs, Wisconsin National Guard at Joint Force Headquarters in Madison.

Mark is currently a Volunteer Driver for Columbia County DAV, a Volunteer Representative of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) for Wisconsin Area 3, First Presbyterian Church of Waunakee Deacon, and a Substitute Teacher at Lodi and Waunakee School Districts.  He is a Waunakee American Legion Post member and a lifetime member of DAV.

Mark holds a Master's Degree in Management from Cardinal Stritch University, a Master's Certificate in Project Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an undergraduate degree in Industrial Technology from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

Mark resides in Lodi (Okee) with his wife Eileen.  He has two grown children, one a Chiropractor in Green Bay, WI, and the other a soldier in the US Army stationed in the Republic of Korea.

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Jason Maloney enlisted in the Wisconsin Army National Guard in 1989. Trained on M-60 and M-1 tanks, Maloney served with units in Marinette, Wausau, and Madison. He graduated from the Wisconsin Military Academy Officer Candidate School. Maloney served in the U.S. Army Reserve and was attached to Selective Service System units in Milwaukee and North Chicago. As a mobilized reservist Major Maloney served in the J-5 Plans and Policy Directorate at Central Command Headquarters in the U.S. and the Middle East in support of Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Horn of Africa Operations.

A life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, the National Guard Association, and the Wisconsin National Guard Association, he is also a member of the American and Canadian Legion. Maloney was a program manager for the USDA Forest Service, serving as Director of the Blackwell Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center in Laona and the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland. He led the restoration of the Forest Lodge historic site on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest near Cable. He serves on the Bayfield County Public Housing Authority and Wisconsin Area Military Retiree Council at Fort McCoy.



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Chris Cornelius, Oneida, currently represents the 8th Congressional District on the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs.  Previously, she served in the United State Army as a light-wheeled vehicle mechanic in the 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Casey, South Korea.  Cornelius returned to the States, where she attended Air Assault School at Fort Campbell and reached the rank of Sergeant. 

Upon leaving active duty, she served in a reserve unit, where she became a drill instructor and reached the rank of Staff Sergeant.  Cornelius became a member of VFW and has served in many positions with VFW Post 7784 in Oneida. In 2017, she was elected and appointed the VFW District 8 Commander for two years.

In 2010, she was appointed by U.S. Congressmen Dr. Steve Kagen to serve as a Congressional Aide to serve all veterans and military for District 8 in his administration.  She was appointed as the Defense and Veterans Affairs Caseworker.  In 2020, Cornelius was appointed National Vice Commander of the National American Indian Veterans (NAIV) Association.

She is currently a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the American Legion, and the National American Indian Veterans (Inc) NAIV, and a member of the Wisconsin Indian Veterans Association.  Presently, she is pursuing her bachelor's degree in communications and graphic design at Saint Norbert College in De Pere, WI.  

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Laura Colbert is an Operation Iraqi Freedom Combat Veteran. She served 16 months in Baghdad, Iraq as a National Guard Military Police Officer in 2003 and 2004. Laura is an award-winning author of a book entitled “Sirens: An alarming memoir of combat and coming back home.” Laura is a board member of the UW-Madison Missing in Action Recovery and Identification Project. She also speaks regularly about her combat experience in hopes to bridge the military and civilian divide.

Laura is the City of Waupaca’s Parks and Rec Director. She has also worked as an Activities Director for people with special needs, an Outdoor Education Teacher, Dean of Students, and Middle School Principal. Laura has a Bachelor's in Kinesiology from UW-Madison, a Master's in Educational Leadership through Cardinal Stritch, and a master's in Experiential Education from UW-LaCrosse.

She resides in Waupaca, WI with her husband, three children, and many pets.

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