Former Navy officer from Mundelein still fighting, only now for veterans
For most of his military career, Andrew Tangen was the officer in charge of a mobile security unit under the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, traveling far and wide to protect national assets.
The Mundelein resident was deployed several times to the Middle East, as well as South and Central America, while on active duty in the Navy from 2006 to 2013. There is a picture of him during that time wearing a Cubs hat somewhere in Afghanistan, but the location is confidential, a nod to the sensitive nature of his work.
Tangen no longer is in uniform, but his mission protecting national assets continues as superintendent of the Veterans Assistance Commission of Lake County.
"It's a calling," says Tangen, who was raised in Naperville and earned a degree from John Marshall Law School after leaving active duty. While in law school, he worked with its veterans legal support center.
"I had this bug inside me where I wanted to do more for vets," Tangen said. By chance he learned Mike Peck was retiring as head of the Lake County VAC, a unit of county government, and applied. He started in April 2017.
"What he used to say is the VAC is the best-kept secret in Lake County," Tangen explained. "A big part of my job is trying to figure out effective outreach."
The VAC's mission is to advocate on behalf of veterans, to file applications for benefits and manage claims and provide assistance for indigent veterans. During his tenure, Tangen has continued fighting for veterans on several fronts, even suing the Lake County Board for more resources. That case is pending in Lake County circuit court.
"He's taken care of a lot of problems," says Paul Baumunk, a Vietnam veteran, former Lindenhurst mayor and chairman of the village's Veterans Memorial Commission. "He doesn't walk on water but he knows where the rocks are."
That's a reference to Tangen's depth of information, tenacity and success in navigating a sometimes complicated military bureaucracy in search of benefits veterans earned but either didn't know about or were too frustrated or stubborn to pursue.
That includes Baumunk, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Tangen found Baumunk's Vietnam-era medical records and was able to secure benefits as a service-related disability.
"I was just going to let it go by the wayside," Baumunk said. "He explained this was not a handout."
One success is the Veterans Ambassador Program, which began in 2017. It involves several partner agencies and advocacy groups to ensure any veteran in crisis can be assessed at any time, get shelter and be given a path toward securing needed services.
"Andrew Tangen has played a pivotal role in the development of this and so many other programs for our veterans," said Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg, a Marine Corps veteran.
Sheriff's deputies are trained to provide veterans with crisis transportation, shelter and referral options for immediate assistance, he added.
Through the ambassador and partner programs, Lake County last year became the first in Illinois to be operating at "functional zero," according to Tangen. That means the number of veterans experiencing homelessness within a community is less than the average number of veterans being connected with permanent housing each month.
This past December, the VAC moved from its decadeslong home in downtown Waukegan to a more centrally located office in Gurnee. The new office offers a clean and welcoming environment, and it is part of what Tangen describes as a "transformative process" for the agency.
"It's fulfilling to educate people on what vets do and what we can bring to the table," he said.
• Do you know of veterans helping other veterans, doing good things for their community or who have an interesting story to tell? Share your story at veterans@dailyherald.com.