The Covington County Veterans Service Office has new hours and new faces on hand to serve area veterans.

Following the retirement of longtime VSO Gary Petty, the local office now has two part-time service reps – Tammy Rice, who mans the Butler and Conecuh counties office, and Meria Nelson of the Coffee County office.

Rice said that the local office is staffed on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.

“And veterans can expect the same level of service from us that they’re used to. We would provide nothing less,” Rice said.

Rice said appointments aren’t mandatory.

“But if there are extenuating circumstances, then we’ll do our best to accommodate,” Rice said.

She said wait times to see a VSO vary, depending on a veteran’s business.

“It really depends on what the person in front of them has as to how long you might have to wait,” she said. “I’ve had some meetings that were 30 minutes long, but then maybe someone only needed a form, and they were in and out in four minutes.”

Veterans are encouraged to bring their discharge papers; however, if a copy is not available a VSO will help obtain one.

“One thing we really want to stress to veterans is that if you’re already receiving benefits, you can visit any veteran office in the U.S.,” she said. “So that means, if you need to see someone on Tuesday, and we’re not here, you can go to another facility.”

Those with veterans’ service-related questions can call the Hillcrest Drive office at 334.428.4687.