TRIAD‑DOC‑001 Personnel Qualification Standard · Student Veteran Track REV A
Earned. Not Given.

You served.Now you lead.

TRIAD is a three-pillar qualification standard for student veterans, built on the same sign-off structure the military already taught you. Free to follow. Works on any campus.

Personnel
Qualification
Standard
FORM 001
REV A
Pillar One — Academic
1.1Maintain 2.5 GPA minimum
1.2Use campus resources 3× per semester
1.3Hold 3.5 GPA — honors distinction
Pillar Two — Campus
2.1Four campus engagements, logged
2.2Service hours logged in SVA portal
2.3Faculty or staff recognition earned
Pillar Three — SVA
3.1Attend one national leadership event
3.2Submit leadership reflection
Qualifier signature
Date
In Progress
01The Problem

The transition is real.
The data proves it.

If college has felt off since you got out, you are not imagining it. Most campuses run events. What you need is a standard.

FigureFindingSource
60%of student veterans have a service-connected disability, yet campus support resources go largely unusedSVA / WWP
63%are 30 or older, balancing school against work and family unlike traditional studentsNPSAS 2019–20 / PNPI 2023
54%complete their degree. Structure and community are what raise that number.SVA NVEST
01

Identity Collapse

Military life is high-structure, high-purpose, high-accountability. Campus life is none of those. The gap is disorienting, and it is not a personal failure.

02

No Roadmap

The resources exist. Nobody hands you the checklist. TRIAD turns campus life into trackable milestones with a signature at the end of each one.

03

Leadership Left on the Table

You are among the most capable leaders on any campus you walk onto. Almost nothing in higher education is built to recognize, develop, or document that.

04

Distance

Online, commuter, and transfer students are cut off from community before they get a chance to build one. The standard travels with you either way.

02The Standard

Three pillars.
One designation.

TRIAD was not designed in a boardroom. It was built by a student veteran who lived the gap and mapped a military qualification model onto campus life.

Pillar One

Academic

  • 2.5 GPA minimum, held every term
  • 3.5 GPA earns honors distinction — the threshold for Psi Chi and most major-specific honors societies
  • Campus resources used three times per semester: writing center, career counseling, disability office, tutoring
  • Veterans resource center outreach
Pillar Two

Campus

  • Four or more on-campus engagements: clubs, events, student government
  • Recognition by faculty, staff, or peers — a nomination, award, or letter
  • Networking with faculty and staff inside your major
  • Community service hours logged in the SVA portal, building candidacy for Student of the Year and Chapter of the Year
Pillar Three

SVA

  • Active SVA chapter membership — or, where no chapter exists, membership in another national veteran organization
  • One national leadership event attended
  • Leadership reflection submitted
Triple Threat 2.5 GPA floor  ·  All three pillars  ·  Final review board  ·  3.5 earns honors
03Sequence

From day one
to designation.

01

Join

Free, about a minute. The orientation series, the booklet, and the other vets are all inside.

02

Orient

Six short sessions. What each pillar asks, how to log it, how not to overcommit your first semester.

03

Qualify

Work the pillars at your own pace on your own campus. Academics always come first.

04

Board

All three pillars complete, GPA floor held, final review board. Earned, not given.

04Where It Runs

Two places. Both free.

There is no application and no waitlist. The standard is public and the community is open.

The BridgeCommunity · Skool
  • The orientation seriesSix short sessions on what TRIAD is and how to actually work it.
  • Veteran to veteranBenefits questions, transfer questions, and people working the same pillars you are.
  • Any campus, any stateCommuter, online, transfer, or still deciding where to enroll.
  • No dues, no applicationFree to join and free to stay.
The PlaybookChannel · YouTube
  • The transition, honestlyWhat changes when the structure disappears, and what to put in its place.
  • Benefits without the runaroundGI Bill, VR&E, and campus resources explained by someone who used them.
  • Working the pillarsEach pillar broken into plays you can run this semester.
  • Chapter leadershipFor vets running, or trying to start, a chapter on their campus.
05Qualifying Authority
Service
United States Navy
Years
2015 – 2025
Separated
LS1
Degree
B.A. Psychology
Vanguard University
Current
M.S. Marriage &
Family Therapy

Tony Ordaz

Author of the TRIAD Standard

I served in the Navy from 2015 to 2025, active duty and then Reserve, and separated as an LS1. Like a lot of vets, I walked onto a campus expecting the structure to be there and found out it wasn't. Nobody hands you a qual card for civilian life.

So I wrote one. TRIAD takes the qualification model the Navy already taught me and maps it onto the parts of college that actually move a veteran forward: your degree, your community, and your leadership.

This is the thing I wish someone had handed me my first semester. It is free and it is public, because that is the only way it reaches the vets who need it.

Tony Ordaz
Author
05 SEP 2026
Date
06Report Aboard

Earn the
Triple Threat.

The community is free and there is nothing to apply for. Join The Bridge, or leave your address and I will send the plays as they go up.

No spam. Address is not sold. Unsubscribe any time.