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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Wilkes University senior Justin Newcomer was one of just 48 military veterans nationwide to get a 2020 Student Veteran Leadership Award from G.I. Jobs magazine, the school announced Tuesday. An electrical engineer major, Newcomer will be featured in the August issue of the magazine.
				Newcomer, of Newfoundland, Pa., served five wartime tours of duty in the Middle East with the U.S. Army. He retired as sergeant first class, but continues to serve in the Pennsylvania Amy National Guard as a platoon sergeant. He was deployed this spring to Fort Indiantown Gap to assist in the state&rsquo;s efforts dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a media release.
				Living up to the leadership award, Newcomer has served two years as president of the Wilkes-University Veteran&rsquo;s Council, organizing the campus Veterans Day ceremony in 2018 and 2019, speaking at the event. Under his tenure the club conducted many volunteer activities, including building a playground at Heights-Murray Elementary School in 2019.
				The group also raised funds for Patriots Cove, a rustic retreat established in 2017 by retired U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Swire and his wife on the banks of Beaver Run near Noxen, Wyoming County.
				G.I. Jobs, online at <a href="https://www.gijobs.com/about-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">gijobs.com</a>, bills itself as the &ldquo;number 1 resource for jogs, schools, entrepreneurship and transition resources&rdquo; for veterans.
				&ldquo;The award recognizes student veterans who have demonstrated a meaningful contribution to their institution of higher learning and to their fellow student veterans,&rdquo; according to the Wilkes release. &ldquo;Criteria for receiving the award includes academic achievement, volunteerism on and off-campus, participation in campus activities, mentoring other students and student veterans, and working to bridge the cultural gap between student veterans and non-veteran students and faculty.&rdquo;

Wilkes student receives Student Veteran Leadership Award, one of 48 in US