James M. (Jim) Dubinsky is Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Writing in the Department of English at Virginia Tech (VT) where I direct the Center for the Study of Rhetoric in Society (CSRS). From 1998 until 2007, I was the founding director of the Professional Writing program, and from 2008-11, I served as founding director of VT’s Center for Student Engagement and Community Partnerships (CSECP), now VT-ENGAGE.  Much of my earlier scholarship focused on civic engagement and its links to pedagogy. I am also a veteran, having served in the US Army on active duty from 1977-1992 and in the US Army Reserve from 1992-2004 before retiring as a lieutenant colonel.  My current projects include creating a Veterans Studies program at VT, which focuses on an under-served population: veterans and their families.   The goal is to study veterans as agents who affect civilian society, though not necessarily in ways society valorizes.