NH DHHS Employee Receives Distinguished Service Medal

Concord – In a surprise ceremony today, NH National Guard Adjutant General

William Reddel presented The New Hampshire National Guard Distinguished

Service Medal to Jo Moncher, Bureau Chief of Military Community Programs

for the NH Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The

Distinguished Service Medal is the highest military award that a civilian

can receive.


Ms. Moncher has been instrumental in the development of military and

civilian partnerships that have dramatically improved education, outreach

and services. Her position was created in the fall of 2008. Since then,

there has been a significant increase in military and civilian agencies

partnering together to provide services and supports to the 135,000

veterans, service members and their families in New Hampshire. Ms. Moncher

is also a United States Air Force Veteran and served as a Czechoslovakian

Linguist stationed in Augsburg, Germany in the 1980’s.


“Ms. Moncher provides valuable oversight to the NH National Guard

Deployment Cycle Support Program – a unique military/civilian partnership

that provides counseling and service coordination for National Guard

service members, veterans and their families who are engaged in the full

cycle deployment process,” said General Reddel. “Her distinguished service

and genuine caring for the service members of New Hampshire and of the

United States are greatly appreciated and reflect great credit upon

herself, her family, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human

Services, the NH National Guard, and the State of New Hampshire.”


“I am incredibly proud of the work Jo has done on behalf of our Department

to help the men and women and their families that have sacrificed so much,”

said DHHS Commissioner Nicholas Toumpas. “Our Department recognizes the

value of bringing state and civilian resources together to support our

military. The need to serve this unique population is an important one,

and our Department has a responsibility to help leverage our resources.”


DHHS is the only State Health and Human Services agency in the country that

has a position solely focused on military supports.