There are around 1,100 US military Veterans presently living in Union County. At any time, a Veteran may have questions and need advice about what benefits are available from federal, state, county, and local resources. A Veteran may need professional assistance in completing and filing benefits claims or even someone to represent them in a Veterans Administration (VA) hearing. That is where a Veteran Service Officer (VSO) comes in.
A VSO is trained and accredited by the Veterans Administration to provide assistance to Veterans, their dependents and survivors. While a Veteran Service Officer must be accredited by the VA, they are funded by the county, and they work for the Veterans in the county – NOT for the US government.

Lt. Colonel Kevin Manley honorably served in the United States Army for 28 years, holding a variety of positions. His father was an Army infantry officer and a fixed wing pilot. His sister was Army air traffic control, his brother-in-law a Marine and Kevin’s wife, Alexa Manley, served as an Army air traffic control specialist. He knows something about the military.

After enlisting in 1980 as a Military Intelligence Soldier, Kevin finished a bachelor’s degree at the University of West Florida and was commissioned as a Field Artillery Officer. Later he transferred to the Army Finance branch and became a Finance Officer. He spent two years at the Pentagon and left in 2000 – the year before it was attacked by Islamic suicide terrorists. His former office was hit, killing a former co-worker.

When he was the Executive Officer of Finance in Theater for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, the 3rd Infantry Division found Saddam Hussein’s money and Saddam’s wife’s jewelry. It was all in metal boxes from the Bank of Jordan and held almost 1 billion dollars in US currency. It was flown from Bagdad to Kuwait in a C-130. Kevin’s unit then had to account and authenticate it – which necessitated bringing in people and machines to count and validate it all. None of it was counterfeit. It was then disbursed within Iraq to build roads, schools, medical facilities, etc. for the Iraqi people.

After retiring from the Army in 2009, Kevin became the Chief Financial Officer for the Lyster Army Health Clinic in Fort Novosel, AL and retired from Lyster and Civil Service in 2018. He has been retired ever since. He and his wife live in Sharps Chapel.

This writer found Lt. Colonel Kevin Manley to be soft-spoken but fiercely committed to helping Veterans. When asked what it is that compels him to do this job, he replied that he is now retired, has some knowledge of the military system, is more than willing to take the VA training to become accredited, and he genuinely wants to help as many of the Union County Veterans as he possibly can. He said that there are so many different aspects to retired military including Vocational Rehab, Education & Training, Employment, Burial & Survivor benefits, Housing, Transportation, and access to military records. And Veteran suicides are distressingly at an all-time high. He simply wants to assist Vets with accessing the benefits due them and looks forward to collaborating with the Union County American Legion New Liberty Post 212.

The VSO office is located behind the Maynardville Library in the Union County Senior Citizens Center & Office on Aging at 298 Main St Maynardville. VSO contact phone: 865-661-7243 and email: kevin.manley@unioncountytn.gov He can also be found on the Union County government website: https://www.unioncountytn.gov/veterans-service-officer/ Kevin Manley is available at any time by phone or email. Office hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 9:00am – 2:00pm - starting NOW! There is NO charge for this service. Union County Veterans: please help keep this man busy!!! Welcome, Veteran Service Officer Lt. Colonel Kevin Manley!