MARYLAND - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Special As Sistant to the Secretary
Secretary Woods leads the department whose mission is to assist veterans, active duty service members, and their families and dependents in securing benefits earned through uniformed service.
Job Titles:
- US Veterans Affairs Secretary
Job Titles:
- Director
- Communications, Outreach, & Advocacy Program
- Director, Communications, Outreach, and Advocacy Program
Born and raised in Annapolis, Maryland, Ms. Burl began her service to the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs as the Director of Communications, Outreach, and Advocacy in October 2013. In her role she oversees communications and public affairs for the Department. Ms. Burl serves as the department's public information officer and public information act liaison. She is responsible for designing all written publications, for managing content for the Department's website, for managing social media and email communications, for representing the Department at community events, for staffing resource tables, and for providing briefings in the community on veterans' benefits and services in Maryland. She serves as the Secretary's Designee to the Governor's Commission on Suicide Prevention and the State's Interagency Council on Homelessness. She also sits on the Balance of State Continuum of Care Board. Additionally, under her direction is the Maryland Veterans Service Animal Program and the Veteran Services Specialist Program. She is currently the co-lead on the Maryland based Governor's Challenge to Prevent Suicide among Service Members, Veterans and Families. She serves as the department's customer service initiative liaison and annually trains MDVA staff on customer experience best practices. She is trained to facilitate the VA S.A.V.E. Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training.
She began her professional career in Delaware and served as an investigator with child protective services from 1997 to 1999.
Ms. Burl provided case management services at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center from 2000-2008, overseeing work release, intake and home detention populations. During her tenure with the Detention Center, she served as an adjunct instructor and field training officer. She taught suicide prevention in corrections as well as mental health and substance abuse in corrections in the entry level correctional training academy as well as the in-service training program.
Ms. Burl served as an adjunct professor at Baltimore City Community College from 2011 to 2012 and began her service to the veteran community in 2012 when she was hired as the central region resource coordinator with Maryland's Behavioral Health Administration's Maryland's Commitment to Veterans Program.
She received her bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of Delaware in 1997 and her master's degree in psychology from Towson University in 2005.
A former military spouse, she lives in Anne Arundel County with her two sons.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director
- Deputy Director of the Outreach & Advocacy Program
- Deputy Director, Communications, Outreach, and Advocacy Program
- Deputy Director, Outreach and Advocacy Program
Denise G. Nooe, is the Deputy Director of the Outreach & Advocacy Program for the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs, joining the Department in 2014. Her primary responsibility is outreach to veterans, benefits briefings to organizations and writing the e-newsletter. Ms. Nooe serves on the Maryland College Consortium for Student Veterans Commission and the Governor's Workforce Development Board as the Secretary's Designee. She also staffs the Maryland Veterans Commission.
She began a new career in Maryland state government after retiring from 30 years in federal service. Her career in the federal government included three years as a caseworker for Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski, then a promotion to Director of newly elected Senator Mikulski's Annapolis office, a position she held for 27 years. Ms. Nooe's portfolio for Senator Mikulski included Veteran & Military issues, including Base Realignment & Closure (BRAC), the Department of Education, the Department of Transportation and Independent Agencies. She also served as Senator Mikulski's liaison to the Maryland General Assembly and to the Maryland Governor's office.
Ms. Nooe received her B.A. in Sociology from UMBC and her MSW in Strategy/Community Organizing from what was then the University of Maryland School of Social Work and Community Planning in Baltimore (UMB). She is licensed as a LCSW in the State of Maryland. Ms. Nooe is a Maryland native, is married and has one daughter.
Friendly and Courteous: We will be helpful and supportive and have a positive attitude and passion for what we do.
Timely and Responsive: We will be proactive, take initiative, and anticipate your needs.
Accurate and Consistent: We will always aim for 100% accuracy, and be consistent in how we interpret and implement state policies and procedures.
Accessible and Convenient: We will continue to simplify and improve access to information and resources.
Job Titles:
- Veterans Trust Fund Grant Administrator
Job Titles:
- Interim Director, Charlotte Hall Veterans Home
Job Titles:
- Superintendent, Memorial Program
Job Titles:
- Director, Finance and Administration
- Its Director of Finance and Administration
Pete Pantzer has served the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs as its Director of Finance and Administration since May 2014. Pete leads a small but dedicated fiscal team responsible for budgeting, financial analysis and reporting, procurement, accounts payable, timekeeping, fiscal compliance, fiscal closeout, and audit.
In addition, Pete's role includes a wide range of personnel duties including employee relations, approving new hires, and serving as EEO and Fair Practice Officer. Pete functions as MDVA's liaison with the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Information Technology, the Maryland State Archives, the Statewide Treasurer's Office, the Office of the Comptroller, the Office of Legislative Audits, and others.
Prior to moving from Minnesota to Maryland with his family in 2014, Pete's career included financial, administrative, training, and systems roles in New Hampshire, suburban Chicago, northern California, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, in manufacturing, distribution, information technology, and non-profit organizations. From 2002 through 2008, Pete worked for an international non-profit doing development and construction work in countries affected by war and natural disaster. During that time period, he lived in Tajikistan for a year and served in short-term roles in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Southern Sudan. He earned his MBA from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2010.
Pete has thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of leading MDVA's fiscal unit over the past several years. He sees the fiscal unit's mission as one of service to MDVA's staff on the front lines serving Maryland's veterans. His goal for the team is to administer an efficient back-office function for those staff so that they can accomplish their mission effectively.
Pete lives with his wife Amy and four young sons in Baltimore. He loves to write, to run, to hike and to spend time in nature either alone or with his family.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Service and Benefits Program
Phil Munley began service with the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs on December 14, 2011. Prior to joining the Department, he served as Director of Veteran Services for Contra Costa County, CA. Mr. Munley served honorably for over 20 years in the United States Navy. He was awarded two Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medals and three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals. Born and raised in Baltimore he currently resides in Westminster, Maryland. Married over 35 years, Mr. Munley is the father to three daughters and three grandchildren.
Mr. Munley holds VA national accreditations with the following Veteran Service Organizations:
Job Titles:
- Women Veterans / Inclusion Program Manager
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Cemetery and Memorial Program
Russell Ware began his career of service in 1987 as a volunteer fire-fighter while still attending high school. In 1990 he graduated from Judson High, Converse, Texas and immediately entered service in the United States Air Force as a Security Policeman. During his nearly twenty five years of service he was assigned to Air Force One Security for Presidents Clinton and Bush, security oversight for multiple intelligence gathering platforms and deployed to hazardous locations in support of Combined Joint Task Force Bravo, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Support Justice IV, Operation Provide Comfort, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Northern Watch, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, and provided direct distant support to Operation Noble Anvil and Noble Eagle. Throughout his career he held several positions of leadership and taught combat survival and security skills to several U.S. and foreign military and civilian personnel.
His major decorations include: Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal with 1 Service Star, Iraq Campaign Medal with 1 Service Star, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal with "N" device and bronze oak leaf cluster, and Humanitarian Service Medal.
In 2009 Russ began riding with the Patriot Guard Riders and in 2012 he became a Life Member of the VFW, Annapolis Post 304. In 2014 he graduated Magna Cum Laude with his BA in Homeland Security from American Military University. He is an Alumni of the Wounded Warrior Project, IAVA and a member of the USAF Security Forces Association.
In August of 2015 he retired from the Air Force and began squiring for the Maryland Renaissance Festival. The following year he became a knight and jousts, full-contact, in approximately 110 pounds of stainless steel armor.
Job Titles:
- Interim Director, Charlotte Hall Veterans Home