T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — New Iowa Veterans Home Ctommandant and Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Director Todd Jacobus poses for a photo during his first day on the job Monday. Jacobus, who lives in Des Moines, is an Army veteran who served from 1984 to 2018.

Todd Jacobus recently read — in a newspaper of all places — about the opening for a new Iowa Veterans Home commandant and director of the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs, and he quickly decided he may as well throw his hat into the ring.

A few weeks and a few interviews later, Jacobus arrived on the campus of the Iowa Veteran Home Monday night as the facility’s new commandant and the new director of the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs. He will replace Matthew Peterson, who resigned in September, and he is excited to hit the ground running.

Jacobus grew up in Des Moines, where he still resides with his wife today, and spent over three decades in the Army before retiring in 2018. He joined the Army Reserves while he was still a student at Hoover High School and went on to the ROTC program at the University of Iowa, becoming an engineer officer and serving for 16 years with an engineer battalion in southeast Iowa working full-time for the National Guard. Three of Jacobus’s four children live within a mile of he and his wife in Des Moines, and he now has five grandchildren.

After retiring as a military man at age 50, Jacobus began to wonder what was next, and while he’s been involved in local veterans groups, he saw a greater opportunity when he read about this vacancy.

“I called a friend of mine that worked for the Department of Administrative Services, and I asked him ‘What is the process to throw your hat in the ring?’ He basically said ‘If you’re interested in this position, you need to send in a cover letter and a resume.’ I did that, and it started the process,” Jacobus said.

Memories of Marshalltown go all the way back to Jacobus’s teenage years, as he can remember playing here as a student-athlete at Hoover, and he remembered towels being laid out for the opposing players when they entered the locker room and ambassadors greeting them there. The community, in his view, has always had a first-class reputation.

He visited again as an adult and took a tour of IVH with former Commandant Dan Steen almost 20 years ago.

“I had no idea about this place before that,” Jacobus said. “This place has changed incredibly since then. I mean, it’s mind blowing to see all the things that have changed in 20 years.”

He wound up on the campus again in 2008 while serving as a state Veterans Affairs commissioner on behalf of the National Guard and attending quarterly meetings. Jacobus stayed on the commission until his last deployment in 2014.

As he takes on the duties of the recently combined position, Jacobus said his top focuses are ensuring Iowa veterans get all of the benefits they’re entitled to and “maintaining” the work that’s been done at IVH.

“This facility is incredible, and it has been. It’s got a history of outstanding service to veterans, and everything all of the people that have worked here have done throughout the challenging times associated with COVID (is) incredible,” he said. “I’m coming in at a great time.”

Showing respect and appreciation for current IVH employees will be paramount for Jacobus as he acquaints himself with the new job, and he’s ready to learn more about how the facility operates on a day-to-day basis. Because the IVH and IDVA roles have only been consolidated into one position as of this year, he doesn’t necessarily know how he’ll balance the two yet, but Jacobus looks forward to making it work as he assesses what he’ll be doing and tackling the “leadership challenge.”

Stability at the commandant position has been a cause for concern in the Marshalltown community as a total of 11 individuals have held the position in the 20 years since longtime Commandant Jack Dack retired in 2002. Jacobus acknowledged it and expressed a strong desire to lead IVH in a positive direction in the future.

“All I can say is that I’m gonna come in here with an attitude of I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work, and I’m excited to meet and work with people who have done a phenomenal job during all of this transition,” he said. “I think it’s important to recognize that even during this major transition of leadership at the top, business has continued.”

He went on to tout IVH’s consistently high ratings from inspection and regulatory agencies and credited the leadership with making that possible. Jacobus was hard pressed to think of a better facility and campus than the one he stepped onto Monday and said the framework for excellence was in place.

Getting to know the Marshalltown community while balancing job responsibilities with the IDVA in Des Moines won’t be an easy task for Jacobus, but he looks forward to the challenge and has even made plans to transfer his VFW membership here.

“I’m ready to get to work,” he said.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.