[Senate Hearing 112-19]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 112-19
VETERANS EMPLOYMENT: IMPROVING THE TRANSITION FROM THE BATTLEFIELD TO
THE WORKPLACE
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
APRIL 13, 2011
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Patty Murray, Washington, Chairman
John D. Rockefeller IV, West Richard Burr, North Carolina,
Virginia Ranking Member
Daniel K. Akaka, Hawaii Johnny Isakson, Georgia
Bernard Sanders, (I) Vermont Roger F. Wicker, Mississippi
Sherrod Brown, Ohio Mike Johanns, Nebraska
Jim Webb, Virginia Scott P. Brown, Massachusetts
Jon Tester, Montana Jerry Moran, Kansas
Mark Begich, Alaska John Boozman, Arkansas
Kim Lipsky, Staff Director
Lupe Wissel, Republican Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
----------
April 13, 2011
SENATORS
Page
Murray, Hon. Patty, Chairman, U.S. Senator from Washington....... 1
Burr, Hon. Richard, Ranking Member, U.S. Senator from North
Carolina....................................................... 3
Brown, Hon. Scott, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts............... 4
WITNESSES
Reppenhagen, Garett, OIF veteran, Director of Veterans
Development, Veterans Green Jobs............................... 5
Prepared statement........................................... 8
Smith, Eric, OIF veteran, member veteran, Iraq and Afghanistan
Veterans of America............................................ 11
Prepared statement........................................... 13
Posthearing questions submitted by Hon. Mark Begich.......... 15
McCreary, RADM T.L., USN (Ret.), President, Military.com......... 15
Prepared statement........................................... 17
Response to posthearing questions submitted by Hon. Jon
Tester..................................................... 20
Yauger, Michael L., President, Teamsters Local Union 786,
Coordinator, International Brotherhood of Teamsters' Helmets to
Hardhats and Heroes to Healthcare Programs..................... 22
Prepared statement........................................... 24
Response to posthearing questions submitted by Hon. Mark
Begich..................................................... 26
Jefferson, Raymond M., Assistant Secretary for Veterans'
Employment and Training Service, U.S. Department of Labor...... 36
Prepared statement........................................... 38
Posthearing questions submitted by:
Hon. Patty Murray........................................ 43
Hon. Richard Burr........................................ 44
Hon. Jon Tester.......................................... 44
Hon. Mark Begich......................................... 45
Berry, Hon. John, Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management.. 45
Prepared statement........................................... 47
Response to posthearing questions submitted by Hon. Richard
Burr....................................................... 50
Campbell, John R., Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Wounded
Warrior Care and Transition Policy, U.S. Department of Defense;
accompanied by Ronald L. Horne, Deputy Director of Policy,
Transition Assistance Program, U.S. Department of Defense...... 52
Prepared statement........................................... 54
Posthearing questions submitted by Hon. Patty Murray......... 57
APPENDIX
Reserve Officers Association of the United States; prepared
statement...................................................... 71
Madden, Robert W., Assistant Director, National Economic
Commission, The American Legion; prepared statement............ 80
VETERANS EMPLOYMENT: IMPROVING THE TRANSITION FROM THE BATTLEFIELD TO
THE WORKPLACE
----------
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2011
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:01 a.m., in
room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Patty
Murray, chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Murray, Tester, Burr, Brown of
Massachusetts and Boozman.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. PATTY MURRAY, CHAIRMAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
Chairman Murray. Good morning, and welcome to today's
hearing. Today we are going to be examining an issue that is
very troubling to me and frankly should be more troubling to
our Nation as a whole.
The high rate of unemployment for recently separated
veterans is an issue that at first glance defies common sense.
Our Nation's veterans are disciplined. They are team
players, who have proven they can perform under pressure. They
have acquired skills on the battlefield as mechanics, medics,
and leaders that should translate into successful careers in
the working world. They are eager to achieve and to give back
once again.
But despite all that, according to the Department of Labor
statistics from just last month, over 27 percent of veterans
ages 20 to 24 were unemployed. That is, over one in five of our
Nation's heroes cannot find a job to support their family, do
not have an income that provides stability, and do not have
work that provides them with the self-esteem and pride that is
so critical to their transition back home.
How can that be? How can these young men and women who have
performed so admirably, who know how to lead and know how to
execute, be struggling so much?
To begin with, one thing we have to recognize is that for
many of our young veterans, the civilian working world is a new
experience. For many young veterans, the first job they apply
for when they return home is often the first civilian job they
have ever applied for. These veterans need help translating the
skills they have developed in the military into skills that
civilian employers can understand. They need direction on what
employers are looking for, and they need to know what job
resources are available to them as veterans.
I believe that we can and should do more to not only
prepare these veterans for meaningful civilian employment, but
also to make the critical connections they need to land a job.
For me, much of this effort begins with Labor's Transition
Assistance Program (TAP), which should be the cornerstone to
finding meaningful employment for young veterans. Yet the TAP
program is only mandatory for the U.S. Marine Corps, and, as it
stands right now, it is not as good as it can be. It needs to
be customized, it needs to be updated, and it needs to be
delivered in a way that is relevant and, most importantly,
accepted by servicemembers.
We can no longer afford for TAP to be seen as the last step
in a servicemember's enlistment. It has to be seen as the first
step in their successful career. We also need to improve
efforts to translate skills from the battlefield on to a resume
and into an interview with the prospective employer.
Too often what a servicemember has done in the military
doesn't really seem to count in the civilian workforce and even
more often, it is just not recognized. We need to make sure
that veterans are talking about their skills in a language that
employers understand, and we also need to recognize that many
States are not accepting the skills veterans learned in
service, often times sending them into a certification process
that is riddled with red tape.
I also believe the Federal Government could be doing more
to hire veterans and to make sure they are getting the hiring
preference that is already in law. In fact, a young disabled
Iraq veteran on my own staff has had an issue with a government
hiring official who did not understand veterans preference.
The government needs to be getting this right.
For some time now, I have traveled throughout my homestate
and talked to veterans about these and other employment
challenges. What these veterans have told me has been eye
opening and should be a call to action for all of us on this
Committee. I have had veterans tell me that they no longer
write the fact that they are a veteran on their resume because
they fear the stigma they believe that employers attach to
invisible wounds of war.
I have heard from medics who return home from treating
battlefield wounds who cannot get certifications to be an EMT
or to even drive an ambulance. I have talked to veteran after
veteran who has said they did not have to go through the TAP
program, or that it just was not taken seriously when they did.
I have heard from employers who say veterans do not use the
vernacular of the business world to describe the benefits of
their experience.
These stories are heartbreaking, and they are frustrating.
But more than anything, they are a reminder that we have to act
now. Our economy is beginning to turn around. We have seen very
encouraging signs that employers are hiring, and the
unemployment rate among the general population is beginning to
subside. We cannot leave our Nation's veterans behind.
We cannot continue to pat veterans on their back for their
service and then push them out into the job market alone when
they come home. It is time to take real and comprehensive steps
to put our veterans back to work. That is why I am planning to
aggressively pursue legislation to help our veterans make a
successful transition from military service to the working
world.
This hearing is a critical step to informing that
legislation and I hope that all of you who are here today are
open and honest about the challenges that we face and what you
believe needs to be done. I look forward to working with all of
my colleagues on this Committee on this legislation and making
every effort to improve results for our Nation's transitioning
servicemembers and veterans.
I want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today.
I look forward to hearing from you shortly, but at this time, I
am going to turn it over to Senator Burr for his opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BURR, RANKING MEMBER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA
Senator Burr. Madam Chairman, good morning and thank you to
all of our witnesses for being here for what I think is an
important hearing.
As we will discuss today, a wide range of efforts are
underway by both the private sector and the government to help
veterans find good jobs.
There are employment workshops for servicemembers getting
ready to leave the military, Web sites where veterans can post
resumes, search for job openings and learn tips for jobs
searches, personnel at one-stop career centers around our
country dedicated to serving veterans, and much, much more.
Despite those efforts, the unemployment rate for young
veterans reached over 27 percent in February 2011, much higher
than the non-veterans of that age. Veterans overall had an
unemployment rate of 9 percent.
These troubling statistics suggest that many veterans may
not be receiving the information services and support they need
to find meaningful jobs after leaving the military service.
That is why last month Members of this Committee in a
bipartisan letter questioned the effectiveness of employment
programs for veterans and committed to look at whatever we
needed to as far as changes.
In my view, two recent reports from the GAO provide a good
starting point for those efforts. Here is what the GAO found:
in Fiscal Year 2009, the Federal Government spent $18 billion
on 47 separate employment and training programs run by nine
different agencies. Geez, this sounds eerily familiar to some
other studies that have come out.
All but three of those programs overlapped with at least
one other program and five programs that specifically targeted
veterans provided seven similar types of services. GAO noted
that the overlap among programs might interfere with
individuals seeking services and frustrate employers.
On top of that, GAO found a lack of information about the
effectiveness of the programs. Most, including those serving
veterans, had not completed studies to see whether positive
employment outcomes result from their services rather than from
other factors. And three programs, including the Transition
Assistance Program, did not track any outcome measures. Let me
say that again: did not track any outcome measures.
Madam Chairman, all of this suggests that in trying to
improve employment assistance for veterans, we should start by
figuring out which programs are working well and which are not.
Also, we need to look at whether reducing overlap could make
these services more effective and obviously more efficient.
These common sense steps could save taxpayers money and more
importantly, make long-term improvements in services for our
Nation's veterans.
In the near term, we should take other steps to bring down
the staggering unemployment rate among some groups of veterans.
That is why I joined several of my colleagues in introducing
the Veterans Employment Transition Act of 2011, which would
provide tax incentives to employers to hire veterans who have
recently separated from the military. This should provide
another reason for employers to take advantage of the valuable
skills veterans develop while serving our Nation.
Also, more should be done so that those skills can easily
translate into civilian occupations. As we will hear today, the
men and women of the military can spend years honing their
skills in a particular trade only to find out that they have to
start over with training, testing, and certification before the
civilian labor market recognizes that skill. Improving this
situation should be a priority.
Finally, I want to acknowledge that many employers in North
Carolina and around the Nation are doing their part by actively
recruiting veterans into their organizations. These efforts
play a key role in helping our Nation's heroes smoothly
transition back to civilian life, and I encourage more
employers in this country to follow their lead.
Madam Chairman, I thank you for calling this hearing on a
very important topic, and I look forward to working with you
and our other colleagues to make sure that veterans will not
struggle to find good jobs as they return and separate from the
military.
Thank you.
Chairman Murray. Thank you very much, Senator Burr. Look
forward to working with you on this.
Senator Brown, do you have an opening statement this
morning?
STATEMENT OF HON. SCOTT P. BROWN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MASSACHUSETTS
Senator Brown of Massachusetts. Thank you, Madam Chair. I
will be brief. I want to hear the testimonies of everyone. I
also want to make sure that veterans are given the tools and
resources they need to find jobs. As a member of the National
Guard, I am familiar with the stereotypes held by employers. It
is a shaky economy. People have fears that hiring a veteran is
just too risky.
I spoke with Admiral McCreary yesterday at length about
what he and others are doing, and I look forward to the
testimony to find a way to move forward trying to get our
heroes employed. In the Guard and Reserve I know the number is
very, very high. In the active Army, there are ways we can do
it better to get them assimilated right after they get through
their military service.
I want to thank you all for coming to testify.
Madam Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing.
Chairman Murray. Thank you very much. We will now turn to
our first panel for testimony this morning, and we are very
pleased to have all of you here. I want to thank you for your
testimony. I look forward to it.
First of all, we have OIF veteran Garett Reppenhagen, the
director of Veterans Development from Veterans Green Jobs, who
will be followed by Eric Smith, also an OIF veteran. He
represents the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. After
that, we will have Admiral T.L. McCreary, president of
Military.com, and then Michael Yauger, president of the
Teamsters Local Union 786 and coordinator for the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters' ``Helmets to Hardhats'' and ``Heroes
to Health Care'' programs.
So really again, I appreciate all of you being here. Mr.
Reppenhagen, we will begin with you.
STATEMENT OF GARETT REPPENHAGEN, DIRECTOR OF VETERANS
DEVELOPMENT, VETERANS GREEN JOBS
Mr. Reppenhagen. Thank you very much.
Chairman Murray, Ranking Member Burr, distinguished Members
of the Committee, thank you for inviting me on behalf of my
organization, Veterans Green Jobs, to testify today on the
important topic of veterans needs, and employment. Thank you
for your tireless efforts in helping those who dedicated their
lives to service.
My name is Garett Reppenhagen. I grew up a son of a career
Army father who was a Vietnam War veteran. Both my grandfathers
are World War II veterans. Service runs in my family. It is a
family tradition. I served from 2001 to 2005 in the U.S. Army
as a calvary scout and a sniper. I was deployed to Kosovo and
then Iraq.
As I transitioned from service from the military to
civilian, I joined a demographic that is basically prone to
unemployment, mental health injury, substance abuse,
homelessness, incarceration and suicide. Due to these factors,
after being honorably discharged in 2005, I actively have been
involved in employment issues for veterans, particularly those
of my generation of the post-9/11 era.
Veterans Green Jobs is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit
corporation. We are headquartered in Denver, Colorado. We have
existed since 2008. We are a young organization. Our mission is
to engage in transition and connect military veterans with
meaningful employment opportunities that serve our communities
and environment.
We work to inspire hope and confidence in our veterans for
a positive future for themselves and inspire them to rejoin our
communities and have healthy family lives. Our vision is to
empower veterans to utilize the military service to become
leaders in a new mission that helps our Nation achieve energy
efficiency, energy independence and security, national
resources conservation and resulting in environmental, social
and economic benefits.
We direct our efforts to building programs that offer
veterans concrete skill building and job placement. We view
unemployment as a risk multiplier. For all the obstacles our
veterans face, the lack of stable careers, which provide
veterans with a purpose and a sense of balance, compounds
problems with veteran health care, personal relationships and
other issues veterans face. These act as a roadblock to
reintegrating in our communities.
We are dedicated to helping all veterans transition into
successful career pathways by focusing on opportunities in
stable economic sectors related to the green economy, to
include energy efficiency, weatherization, clean and renewable
energies, natural resource conservation, environmental
restoration and other green sectors.
In some cases veterans receive training in military
occupational specialities that translate to immediate openings
in green-job sectors; however, most need further training and
education through community colleges, universities,
apprenticeships and on-the-job training.
We encourage veterans we work with to pursue other pathways
toward employment. We strongly believe that job opportunities
in these sectors will increase and that veterans will be
trained and positioned to assume these jobs. Private business
has a significant role to play in assisting veterans in
transition from the battlefield to the workforce.
Veterans Green Jobs directs a number of transition-to-
employment programs to support these goals in partnership with
government, business, and education. We currently directly
employ 26 veterans full time on our staff in our weatherization
programs. Our weatherization program is a partnership through
the Colorado Governor's Energy Office and provides residential
weatherization for low-income families.
Veterans in this program receive a full wage and extensive
training and certifications.
Additionally, we are assisting 100 veterans this year in
our Veterans Green Corps and our Veteran Fire Corps. These
programs exist in six western States in cooperation with the
U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park
Service, and Conservation Corps. The program provides eight to
22 weeks of paid on-the-ground training programs for veterans
to perform wildfire mitigation, trail clearing, and wildland
fire fighting on Federal lands.
Many of these programs are assisted and funded by the
Corporation of National Community Service, AmeriCorps. The
support of AmeriCorps leverages funding with the Federal land
management agencies that contribute, creating a win-win
situation, which makes it affordable for small regional offices
to utilize these programs to get work done on our Federal
lands.
We also have 15 veterans who participated in Veterans Green
Jobs' training academy program in Bucks Community College near
Philadelphia. This program will expand this year to include
technical training and job placement in the wind-energy sector.
In cooperation with Gamesa Wind USA, a large energy firm
with facilities on the east coast, this program is an
outstanding example of a program that provides technical
training directly linked to a real job.
We look for veterans with particular military occupational
specialties, then recruit and interview them. They are hired by
Gamesa before the program starts. Bucks County Community
program trains those veterans, graduates them, and they move
directly into full-time employment. All of our programs
represent boots-on-the-ground for putting veterans back to
work. As a non-profit, our success has been accomplished by
partnering with a wide array of government, private and non-
profit entities. We have developed an array of formal
partnerships and teaming agreements with businesses, community
colleges, 4-year educational institutions and non-profits.
Additionally, our efforts have been supported through
charitable giving that includes Walmart Foundation, Sierra
Club, and the Call of Duty Endowment. However, as a non-profit,
we struggle to sustain these viable programs for veterans
because of the downturn in the economy. It has directly
impacted charitable giving, both corporate and individual, and
other sources of funding.
In executing our programs over the last 3 years, we've
learned a great deal about employment issues facing our
veterans. There are numerous organizations and public offices
in the space of veteran support and advocacy. What often sets
Veterans Green Jobs apart is our ability to build partnerships
that offer holistic employment assistance linkages from
training and education to direct job placement by working with
both veterans and employers.
In our experiences, the programs with the greatest success
in serving veterans have incorporated these following elements:
a sense of service that positively impacts veterans because
they gain a sense of pride and accomplishment that transforms
their military service into national and community service; a
living wage and stipend that allows veterans to support
themselves and their families with some income while earning
certifications and training to prepare them for civilian
employment; direct connection with job placement as a result of
training and education; well communicated resources that are
easy to locate and access; and personal guidance that helps
individual veterans find training and careers based on their
experience and interest.
Our experiences have also taught us that some elements do
not provide notable benefits, including: so-called one-stop
shops; Web sites with numerous lists and web-based hot links;
resume banks that only offer standard competitive job searches
with no additional resources or services; training with no
prospective or direct employment on the other end linked to a
specific employer; shallow employment opportunities and part-
time work at a low wage that are not viewed as meaningful
careers; and disconnected services focusing on one aspect of
veterans' needs that do not communicate with other
organizations or offices.
Promoting veteran employment from the battlefield to the
workforce is making a commitment to connect private, public,
and non-profit partnerships to build comprehensive programs. In
this day and age, our capacities for a lot of our programs are
very low and by uniting these partnerships we are able to
multiply our growth in the amount of veterans we serve.
Some of the suggestions that I want to make to the
Committee to enhance our workforce opportunities for veterans
returning from military service are the following: one, convene
immediately a national-level workshop, engaging leaders in
government, business and non-profit sectors to address
solutions to current veterans employment issues.
This is not a workshop that identifies the issues. We
already know the issues. This is a workshop that defines
concrete solutions, successful models, and funding sources for
those programs.
Two, develop promotional materials targeted to both
business industry and returning veterans that identifies skills
by military occupational specialty and their translation to
civilian occupations.
Three, encourage all States to pass legislation that allows
veterans to receive in-state tuition rates. As an example,
Colorado has passed a G.I. Promise Bill, which affords these
rates to all veterans returning to public institutions inside
the State of Colorado.
Develop federally-funded grant opportunities to create
veteran-based environmental restoration, remediation crews to
assist in brown field restoration, mining reclamation, oil
spill habitat restoration, specifically on our coastline, and
other environmental cleanup needs. This would include new
legislation that establishes a revolving fund from taxpayer
return checkoffs for veterans to work in these areas.
Develop guidelines and policy measures that expand
Corporation for National Community Service--the AmeriCorps
Veteran Corps model--to provide national service leadership
opportunities to returning veterans at a livable wage. Take
into account the unique veteran demographic with creating
national initiatives that target specific age groups. For
example, Job Corps and America's Great Outdoors Initiative both
target veterans and youth, but because of this dual nature they
are trying to only recruit veterans under the age of 25.
Provide government incentives to residential and health
care sectors to enhance the role of veterans in providing
energy efficiency and weatherization of senior care communities
in concert with EPA Energy Star ratings and initiatives.
Develop clear communication and guidelines to education and
training providers about the post-9/11 G.I. Bill's ability to
support veterans in non-accredited certification and training.
There are a lot of trainers who do not realize the benefit
of the G.I. Bill and have not looked into their State
certification of becoming a training program for the G.I. Bill.
Chairman Murray, Veterans Green Jobs is a national non-
profit corporation dedicated to green sector employment for
veterans. We are fully aware of the urgency of the problems
facing our veterans as they exit military service and return to
our communities. Our board of directors, chief executive
officer and non-profit staff are composed of professionals,
both veteran and non-veteran, who are dedicated to partnering
with others in creative and productive ways to place veterans
into meaningful opportunities.
This concludes my statement. I will be glad to take any
questions you have. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Reppenhagen follows:]
Prepared Statement of Garett Reppenhagen, OIF Veteran,
Director of Veterans Development, Veterans Green Jobs
introduction
Chairman Murray, Ranking Member Burr and Distinguished Members of
the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Thank you for inviting me on
behalf of my organization, Veterans Green Jobs, to testify today on the
important topic of employment needs of veterans and thank you for your
tireless efforts in helping us who dedicated our lives to service to
this country. My name is Garret Reppenhagen. I grew up as the son of a
career Army father who was a Vietnam War combat veteran. Both my
grandfathers served in WWII. Military service is a family tradition. I
am an Army veteran who served on active duty from 2001-2005 with the
1st Infantry Division as a cavalry scout and sniper, to include tours
in Kosovo and Iraq. As I transitioned from servicemember to civilian I
have joined my fellow veterans in a demographic that is prone to
unemployment, mental health injuries, substance abuse, homelessness,
incarceration, and suicide. Due to these factors, since being Honorably
Discharged in 2005, I have actively been involved with employment
issues for our military veterans, particularly those of my generation
who served in the post-9/11 combat era.
veterans green jobs organization
Veterans Green Jobs is a national 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation,
headquartered in Denver, Colorado, that has existed since 2008. Our
mission is to engage, transition, and connect military veterans with
meaningful employment opportunities that serve our communities and
environment. We work to inspire hope and confidence in our veterans for
a positive future for themselves, their families and their communities.
Our vision is to empower veterans to utilize their military service to
become leaders in a new mission that helps our Nation achieve energy
efficiency, energy independence and security, natural resources
conservation and the resulting environmental, social and economic
benefits. We direct our efforts to building programs that offer
veterans concrete skill building and job placement. We view
unemployment as a risk multiplier for all other obstacles a veteran
faces. The lack of a stable career, which provides a veteran with a
sense of purpose, compounds problems with healthcare, personal
relationships, and other issues, and acts as a road block to successful
reintegration into our communities.
We are dedicated to helping all veterans' transition into
successful career paths by focusing on opportunities in stable economic
sectors related to the green economy, to include energy efficiency and
weatherization, clean and renewable energy, natural resources
conservation, environmental restoration and other green sectors. In
some cases veterans have received training in their military
occupational specialties that translate to immediate openings in the
green job sector. However, most need further training and education
through community colleges, universities and apprenticeship or on-the-
job programs. We encourage the veterans we work with to pursue these
pathways toward employment. We strongly believe the job opportunities
in these sectors will increase, and that veterans can be trained and
positioned to assume these jobs. Private business has a significant
role to play in assisting our veterans in transitioning from the
battlefield to the workforce. Veterans Green Jobs directs a number of
transition and employment programs to support these goals in
partnership with government, business and higher education.
veterans green jobs programs
We currently directly employ 26 veterans full-time on our staff and
in our weatherization programs. Our weatherization program, in
partnership with the Colorado Governor's Energy Office, provides
residential weatherization for low-income families. Veterans in this
program receive a full wage and extensive training and certifications.
Additionally, we are assisting over 100 veterans this year in our
Veterans Green Corps and Veterans Fire Corps training and transition
programs in six western states, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest
Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and
the Conservation Corps in these regions. This program provides an 8-22
week paid, on the ground training program for veterans to perform
wildland fire mitigation, trail clearing and wildland fire fighting on
Federal lands. Many of these programs are assisted by funding from the
Corporation for National Community Service--AmeriCorps. The support
from AmeriCorps leverages funding that the Federal land management
agencies contribute, creating a win-win whereby veterans receive
training while accomplishing important hazardous fuels and conservation
projects on public lands.
Also, we have 15 veterans who have participated in a Green Jobs
Academy training program in cooperation with Bucks County Community
College near Philadelphia. This program will expand this year to
include technician training and direct job placement in the wind energy
sector, in cooperation with Gamesa Wind USA, a large wind energy firm,
with facilities on the East Coast. This program is an outstanding
example of a program that provides technical training directly linked
to a real job. With assistance from Veterans Green Jobs, veterans with
technical Military Occupational Specialties are being recruited,
interviewed and hired by Gamesa, then directly placed in the Bucks
County Community program for training, and then graduated into full-
time jobs.
All of our programs represent ``boots on the ground'' for putting
veterans back to work. As a non-profit, our successes have been
accomplished by partnering with a wide array of government, private and
nonprofit entities. We have developed an array of formal partnerships
and teaming agreements with businesses, community colleges, 4-year
educational institutions and other non-profits. Additionally, our
efforts have been supported through charitable giving, to include the
Walmart Foundation, the Sierra Club Foundation and the Call of Duty
Endowment. However, as a non-profit we struggle to sustain these viable
programs for veterans because of the down-turn in the economy which has
directly impacted charitable giving, both corporate and individual, and
other sources of funding.
factors affecting employment transition of veterans
In executing our programs over the past three years we have learned
a great deal about the employment issues facing veterans. There are
numerous organizations and public offices in the space of veterans
support and advocacy. What often sets Veterans Green Jobs apart is our
ability to build partnerships that offer holistic employment assistance
and linkages from training and education to direct job placement--by
working with both veterans and the employers.
In our experiences, the programs with the greatest successes in
serving veterans have incorporated the following elements:
A sense of service that positively impacts veterans
because they gain a sense of pride and accomplishment that transforms
their military service into other forms of national and community
service
A living wage or stipend that allows veterans to support
themselves and their families with some income while earning
certifications and training to prepare them for civilian employment
A direct connection with job placement as a result of
training or education
Well communicated resources that are easy to locate and
access
Personal guidance that helps individual veterans find
training and careers based on their experience and interests
Our experiences have also taught us that some elements do not
provide notable benefit, to include:
So-called ``one stop shops'' or Web sites with numerous
lists and web-based hot-links
Resume banks that only offer standard competitive job
searches
Training with no prospective or direct employment at the
other end that is linked to a specific employer
Shallow employment opportunities and part-time work at a
low wage that are not viewed as meaningful careers
Disconnected services focusing on one aspect of veterans'
needs that do not communicate with other organizations or offices
promoting veteran employment from the battlefield to the workforce
In making some suggestions to the Committee about how you can
assist in enhancing the workforce opportunities for our veterans
returning from military service over the past decade, we offer the
following:
1. Convene immediately a national level workshop, engaging leaders
in government, business and the non-profit sectors, to address
solutions to current veteran employment issues. This workshop should be
directed not toward defining and researching the problem, but rather to
defining concrete solutions, successful models and funding sources.
2. Develop promotional materials targeted to both business-industry
and returning veterans that identify skills by Military Occupational
Specialty and their translation to civilian occupations.
3. Encourage all States to pass legislation that allows veterans to
receive in-state tuition rates. As an example, Colorado has passed the
GI Promise Bill which affords these rates to all veterans returning to
public institutions in the State.
4. Develop federally funded grant opportunities to create veteran-
based environmental restoration and remediation crews to assist in
brown field restoration, mining reclamation, oil spill habitat
restoration, and other environmental cleanup needs. This could include
new legislation that establishes a revolving fund from a taxpayer
return check-off for veterans to work in these areas.
5. Develop guidelines and policy measures that expand the
Corporation for National Service-AmeriCorps Veterans Corps model to
provide national service leadership opportunities to returning veterans
at a livable wage.
6. Take into account the unique veteran demographic when creating
national initiatives that target specific age groups (e.g., JobCorps
and American Great Outdoors Initiative).
7. Provide government incentives to the residential and health care
sectors to enhance the role of veterans in providing energy efficiency
and weatherization of senior care communities, in concert with EPA
Energy Star ratings and initiatives.
8. Develop clear communication and guidelines to education and
training providers about the Post-9/11 GI Bill's ability to support
veterans in non-credited certification and training programs.
conclusion
Chairman Murray, Veterans Green Jobs is a national nonprofit
corporation dedicated to green sector employment for veterans. We are
fully aware of the urgency of the problems facing our veterans as they
exit military service and return to our communities. Our Board of
Directors, Chief Executive Officer and non-profit staff are composed of
professionals, both veteran and non-veteran, who are dedicated to
partnering with others in creative and proactive ways to place veterans
into meaningful employment to the benefit of themselves, their families
and their communities. This concludes my statement. I will be glad to
answer your questions.
Chairman Murray. Thank you very much, Mr. Repenhagen.
Mr. Smith.
STATEMENT OF ERIC SMITH, MEMBER VETERAN, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
VETERANS OF AMERICA
Mr. Smith. Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member Burr and
Members of the Committee, happy Monday, and I thank you all for
inviting me to share my experiences today as a combat veteran
struggling to find employment in this difficult economy.
My name is Eric Smith. I served in the U.S. Navy for 5\1/2\
years as a hospital corpsman. I deployed twice to Iraq. During
my tours I gained valuable experience in the medical field
under the most extreme conditions imaginable.
In spite of my experience and service, I am struggling to
find a job today. I am not alone.
Although mine is just one story, I know that my experiences
are mirrored in the over 200,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans
who are struggling to find work in today's economy.
As a Navy corpsman, I carried enormous responsibility and
acquired a wide range of technical and leadership skills that
in a perfect world would translate into a good job in the
civilian workforce. I enlisted at 17. By age 19, I had skills,
training and responsibilities far beyond those of my civilian
peers in the medical field. As a senior corpsman, I managed a
four-man team for a 20-plus bed ICU and performed procedures
that only the most experienced civilian nurses were trained to
perform, again, the most experienced civilian nurses.
During my deployment to Iraq, I served as the primary
corpsman for an infantry platoon with the 3rd Battalion, 5th
Marine Regiment, who is actually getting back from their
deployment in Afghanistan this week. I performed duties that in
a civilian world are normally left to a physician's assistant.
In this capacity, my medical and leadership training were
beyond reproach.
With my hard-earned experience, I was more than confident
that upon returning home from Iraq I could find an excellent
job doing well what I had done for my entire enlistment. I was
honorably discharged in 2008. I strongly believed that I left
with an impressive resume that would translate well into the
civilian market. However, it has not proven to be the case and
that is why I am here this morning.
In 2009, I applied for a job at a local hospital as a--
rather a certified nursing assistant.
Again, my resume was extensive. My experience throughout
various and differing medical disciplines and procedures, what
have you, it impressed the nurses, the three nurses that I was
interviewing for. They were blown away by not only my youth,
but the experience I had amassed during that time.
They recommended me to the doctors in charge.
I mean, I was more than confident that I had this job in
the bag. I did not get a call back. You know, as it is often
said, you know, almost to the point of nausea even, hindsight
is 20/20. In looking back, I am almost positive that despite my
knowledge and my experience I did not get the job because I did
not have a piece of paper saying so, that civilian
certification saying that I was able to do this by law.
Everything else on that resume, it was hearsay, even though it
was 100 percent true.
So I was disappointed by that. But I was more frustrated by
the fact that despite my graduation from high school to corps
school and years worth of experience provided to me, I did not
get that certification out of hospital corps school. That made
me less competitive than my less experienced civilian peers.
My experience is mirrored across the services.
Far too many combat corpsman are becoming highly skilled in
their trade, yet high operational tempo and multiple
deployments prevent them from obtaining equivalent civilian
certifications. Quite frankly, we are not setting our veterans
up for success.
While assigned to the Marine Corps, I attended the
Transition Assistance Program before leaving the service and
again, as you said, Madam Chairwoman, it is mandatory in the
Marine Corps. One thing, about the only thing I retained from
TAPs class was that I was told that my veteran status and my
experience will put me ahead of the pack when I got out. In
fact--no, despite that, I do not think that I am on a level
playing field with my civilian peers.
In the military, I was more than qualified for the
positions that I applied for in the civilian workforce. As a
civilian, however, my military education and training did not
translate because I did not have, again, that piece of
paperwork saying so. The resume that I thought would put me
ahead of the pack in my opinion put me far behind. Today,
several years later, I am struggling to find a job and utilize
the skills that the Navy spent over $1 million and nearly 6
years giving me.
Unfortunately, my story is not unique, nor is it limited to
veterans seeking work in the medical field. There are
thousands, thousands, of highly skilled veterans with training
far beyond that of their civilian peers that cannot seek
equivalent employment outside of the military.
Additionally, the leadership and management skills that
veterans have obtained in combat are being overlooked by a
civilian workforce that does not understand their experience.
As an Iraq veteran and proven health care provider, I am unable
to continue in that capacity right now without going back to
school to relearn what the Navy already taught me.
Additionally, there is no tool currently that employers can use
to understand my military resume and vice versa, to translate
that my military qualifications into that corporate language.
One is desperately needed, as I think we can all agree on.
To find a solution to this issue, I joined Iraq and
Afghanistan Veterans of America, or IAVA. Two weeks ago, 27 of
my fellow veterans and I came here to Capitol Hill as a part of
IAVA's Storm the Hill 2011. Throughout the week, we met with
117 offices, 57 Members of Congress and staff members to ask
them to commission a study and report about how the military
vocational skills and certifications translate to the civilian
world.
If this tool existed, I believe that I would have been able
to leverage my military training into gainful civilian
employment. If it existed, I believe we also would not be
living in a country where Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are
consistently unemployed at rates that are 2 percent higher than
our civilian peers.
As the civilian unemployment rate declines, joblessness
among new veterans continues to skyrocket. It is unacceptable.
As a country, we must act now to reverse this trend and uphold
the Nation's commitment to our men and women serving in
uniform. It is not too late if we act now.
IAVA's 2011 policy agenda lays out a clear path for the
public and private sectors to work together to end new veteran
unemployment. I am proud of my service and to--rather, I am
proud of my service to my country and also the brothers and
sisters that I fought beside in Iraq. I am just one man, but my
story reflects the struggle of over 200,000 veterans in the
current job market.
I am asking you now to show them that you have their backs.
Thank you for your time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith follows:]
Prepared Statement of Eric Smith, Member Veteran,
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
Madam Chairwoman, ranking member, and Members of the Committee,
thank you for inviting me to share my experiences today as a combat
veteran struggling to find employment in this difficult economy.
My name is Eric Smith. I served in the United States Navy as a
Hospital Corpsman for 5\1/2\ years, deploying twice to Iraq. During my
tours, I gained valuable experience in the medical field under the most
extreme conditions imaginable. In spite of my experience and service,
I'm struggling to find a job today--and I know I am not alone. Although
mine is just one story, I know that my experiences are mirrored in the
over 200,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are struggling to find
work in today's economy.
As a Navy Corpsman, I carried enormous responsibility and acquired
a wide range of technical and leadership skills that should translate
into a good job in the civilian workforce. I enlisted in the Navy when
I was 17 years old. By age 19, I had skills, training and
responsibilities far beyond those of my civilian peers in the medical
field. As a senior corpsman, I lead a 4-man team for a 20+ bed ICU, and
I performed procedures that only the most experienced civilian nurses
were trained to perform.
During my deployment to Iraq, I served as the primary corpsman for
an infantry platoon in the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. In a
combat zone, a platoon's corpsman is their medical lifeline, performing
duties that in the civilian world are normally left to a Physician's
Assistant. In this capacity, my medical and leadership training were
unparalleled.
With this experience, I was confident that upon returning home from
Iraq I could find an excellent job in the medical field. After two
tours, I left military service in 2008. I strongly believed I left with
an impressive resume that would translate well into the civilian
market. This did not prove to be the case.
In 2009, I applied for a job as a Certified Nursing Assistant. By
comparison to the high-tempo environment of my combat tour, this was a
mundane position--but I welcomed the opportunity to keep serving in the
medical field. My corpsman resume was extensive. My experience in
numerous medical disciplines and procedures impressed the three nurses
who interviewed me for the position. When they recommended me to the
doctors in charge of the clinic, I was confident that I would get the
job. However, I never received a call back.
Looking back, I'm almost positive that despite my knowledge and
experience, I was ultimately disqualified from the position for lack of
civilian equivalent certifications. I was disappointed by this outcome.
However, I was more frustrated by the reality that graduation from
Naval Hospital Corps school and years worth of experience provided me
with no certifications that translated into the civilian world. I was
equally frustrated by the lack of a uniform process for acquiring these
civilian certifications while in the military. Presently, the Navy has
systems in place that offer some opportunities to gain these valued
civilian certifications; however, these systems are not standardized
and they are largely driven by a Sailor's own initiative. For example,
certification is easily attainable for a Corpsman who is assigned to a
small command in an outpatient clinic with rigid 9 to 5 hours. He or
she can leave work to attend certification courses. It is an entirely
different scenario for a corpsman who works 12-hour night shifts at a
hospital ward or a ``Greenside'' Corpsman who is preoccupied with back-
to-back combat deployments. The current system is not equitable, nor is
it reflective of a sailor's valuable experience and training. In the
end, I firmly believe this hurts Navy Corpsmen like myself looking to
apply our skills in the civilian medical field. It makes us less
competitive than our less experienced civilian peers.
My experience is mirrored across the services. Far too many combat
Corpsmen are becoming highly skilled in their trade, yet high
operational tempo and multiple deployments prevent them from obtaining
equivalent civilian certifications. Quite frankly, we are not setting
our veterans up for success.
While assigned to the Marine Corps Forces, I attended the
Transition Assistance Program (TAP) before leaving the service. The
military allows you to attend the class as far as 12 months out before
separation. I did so exactly one year out from my separation date and
only weeks away from my second deployment to Iraq. However, as I
prepared to deploy for a second tour, much of the valuable information
offered in the class was not retained. Many servicemembers were in a
similar position. TAP was one less thing to do before we separated and
the earlier we did it the better. Why not shorten that window, so that
more of the information provided through TAP is retained?
If there was one thing I retained from TAP, it was that I was told
my veteran status and military experience would put me ahead of my
civilian peers when I transitioned out. I was told I would be wanted in
the civilian workforce because I had proven myself a reliable leader.
Based on my experience transitioning home, I have not found this to be
the case. In fact, I do not feel I am on a level playing field with my
civilian peers.
In the military I was more than qualified for the positions I
applied for in the civilian workforce. But in the civilian world, my
military education and training did not translate because I didn't have
a piece of paperwork saying so. The resume that I thought would put me
ahead of the pack actually put me behind. Today, several years later, I
am still struggling to find a job and utilize the skills that the Navy
spent over $1 million and six years to give me.
Unfortunately, my story is not unique nor is it limited to veterans
seeking work in the medical field. There are thousands of highly
skilled veterans with training far beyond their civilian peers that
cannot seek equivalent employment outside of the military.
Additionally, the leadership and management skills that veterans have
obtained in combat are being overlooked by a civilian workforce that
does not understand their experience.
As a veteran, it is difficult to understand why my hard-earned
experience in the military is hearsay in the civilian world without
required civilian certifications. I have applied to jobs where I
supposedly had a 'veteran's preference' to no avail. Posting my resume
to sites such as Monster.com and Snag-A-Job.com have proved fruitless.
With no other options, in the past year I have sought part-time work as
a bartender, mail sorter and flatbed trailer tarper. Still, part-time
work has been scarce. I have walked in the early mornings to a 7-11 in
Baltimore to be picked up for day labor. Desperate for income, I have
also volunteered to be a test patient in drug studies. At one point, I
spent over $300 on a round-trip train ticket from Baltimore to
Metropark, NJ to enroll in a study, only to be told within minutes that
I did not qualify.
The time between separation and your final adjustment to civilian
life can be rough and often times very lonely. Save for my father who
is a veteran, there are few people who understand the struggles of
returning combat veterans. Right now, there are just too few services
to help veterans like myself transfer our military skills to the
civilian market. As an Iraq veteran, I have no way of translating my
military vocational skills without going back to school to 're-learn'
what the Navy already taught me. Additionally, there is no tool that
employers can use to understand my military resume and credentials. One
is desperately needed.
To find a solution to this issue, I joined Iraq and Afghanistan
Veterans of America (IAVA). Two weeks ago, 27 of my fellow veterans and
I came here to Capitol Hill to ask Congress for its support in solving
this problem as part of IAVA's Storm the Hill 2011. Throughout the
week, we met with 117 offices and 57 Members of Congress to ask them to
commission a study and report about how military vocational skills and
certifications translate to the civilian world. If this tool existed, I
believe that I would have been able to leverage my military training
into gainful civilian employment when I came home from Iraq in 2008. If
it existed, I believe we also would not be living in a country where
Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are consistently unemployed at rates that
are 2 percent higher than our civilian peers.
As the civilian unemployment rate declines, joblessness among new
veterans continues to skyrocket--this is unacceptable. As a country, we
must act now to reverse this trend and uphold the Nation's commitment
to our men and women serving in uniform. In addition to ordering a
study, we must make the TAP program mandatory throughout all branches,
encourage veterans to start small businesses and promote veteran hiring
through tax incentives. It's not too late if we act now. And IAVA's
2011 Policy Agenda lays out a clear path for the public and private
sectors to work together to end new veteran unemployment. http://
iava.org/policyagenda
I am proud of my service to my country and the brothers and sisters
I fought beside in Iraq. I am just one man. But my story reflects the
struggle of over 200,000 veterans in the current job market. I am
asking you to act now and show them that you have their backs.
______
Posthearing Questions Submitted by Hon. Mark Begich to Eric Smith, OIF
Veteran, representing Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
Mr. Smith, IAVA has put forth a number of recommendations to employ
our returning veterans.
Question 1. One of the IAVA recommendations is to conduct a study
on the similarities and differences between DOD and civilian vocational
certifications and licenses to ease the transition of veterans into the
civilian workforce. Has there been any action taken on such a study?
What would the ideal outcome of such a study be?
Question 2. One of the IAVA recommendations is to create state and
local veterans' preference laws for all levels of government hiring and
contracting. To what extent is this recommendation being implemented
around the Nation?
Question 3. The Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) and
Local Veterans' Employment Representatives (LVER) work with employers
and veterans and advocate for hiring veterans. Were you aware of these
services when you were searching for a job in the medical field
following your separation? If so, did you use these services and were
they helpful?
[Responses were not received within the Committee's
timeframe for publication.]
Chairman Murray. Thank you very much, Mr. Smith.
Admiral McCreary?
STATEMENT OF REAR ADMIRAL T.L. MCCREARY, U.S. NAVY (RET.),
PRESIDENT OF MILITARY.COM
Admiral McCreary. Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member Burr,
Members of the Committee, thank you very much for inviting me
to appear today to talk about veteran employment and thank you
for your comments about supporting our vets and their needs as
they move, particularly as they transition from the service
into the workforce.
Military culture, language and job skills are not always
understood by civilian employers. Many companies have very
little concept of the diverse jobs and valuable skill sets one
can learn in the military. Additionally, our vets are coming
out of the service with little experience in writing a civilian
resume, no exposure to private sector business culture or
language.
As the military looks at reducing end strength, more
veterans will be looking for civilian employment while job
growth is not accelerated as much as hoped. Given the services
these veterans have provided us during war time, we owe them
the best support possible in their post-service life.
With the current economy, the budget issues facing our
Nation and the need to help our vets reassimilate into the
broader workforce, we are really faced with a stark choice of
spending more or spending smarter. I think we should spend our
taxpayer dollars smart.
To do that, I believe the government should focus on
preparing the vet for transition and not duplicate or recreate
what exists in the private sector. In accomplishing this, first
and foremost military personnel need more exposure to the
private sector before they leave the service. That exposure
should happen in the form of a transition assistance program
where the focus should be on the veteran getting ahead rather
than just getting out. It should include specific skill, resume
writing services, information on private sector business
culture, and hands-on training.
Our young men and women use the internet today all the time
and to provide that hands-on training on how to use the online
tools and the wide array of tools that already exist out there
in great abundance. The vast majorities of companies have very
good and generally very efficient ways to find good talent. The
key must be to get the veterans out there into that system in
front of the employers, be identified as vets, network with
others, and compete in the broadest possible job market.
Second, a better understanding of military knowledge,
skills and abilities and how they translate into professional
certifications should be addressed by the Federal Government
with the States.
That a soldier, sailor, airman, Marine or Guardsman can
perform surgery on the battlefield, but not be certified in
EMT, as Petty Officer Smith here testified, without starting
from scratch is just astounding to me. VA, DOD and Labor, along
with the 50 States could probably develop a program as to what
could be transferred or accepted as certification eligible
within all States in a very short testing or accreditation
period.
Military.com knows the private sector and with our parent
company, Monster.com, we can and do specialize in harnessing
the best technology, along with the most effective methods to
connect our servicemembers with employment. While most
employers do not tell us how many vets they hire, we do know
they continually search resumes with veteran status,
continually post hundreds of thousands of their positions on
Military and Monster.com over and over.
If these efforts were not successful, companies would not
continue this practice because they have a vested business
interest in getting the right person into the right job. They
do this because we have the tools to translate military
experience to the commercial world and we do it both on and
offline.
Our veteran career center uses a variety of interactive
tools and resources. Our skills translator, which decodes
military skills into equivalent skill sets, had 250,000
separate visitors in the last year alone using more than 1.5
million pages of that translation process for that population.
The key here though is it is directly linked to a Monster
Jobs database where when they type in that skill, civilian
equivalent positions are displayed and show immediate openings
in that person's skill set. We also feature a veterans career
network.
While it is still in beta format for us, it has over a
million members who have raised their hand and signed up to
offer mentorship and guidance to other transitioning vets.
We also engage with job seekers and job providers through
our career expos, sponsored in partnership with the Non-
commissioned Officers Association. In 2010, 15,000 members
attended our 33 career fair events near military facilities.
Government knows government. The private sector knows the
private sector. There needs to be translation between the two
cultures and our free assistance to vets help make that happen.
Finally, in today's environment of continual military
engagement, we now have to see veterans transition and
employment is a rolling responsibility that will remain a
permanent fixture on the national landscape. We can do more. We
must have a public, private partnership that works.
Thank you for your time. I would be pleased to answer any
questions.
[The prepared statement of Admiral McCreary follows:]
Prepared Statement of RADM T.L. McCreary, USN (Ret.),
President of Military.com
Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member Burr, and members of the
Subcommittee: Thank you for inviting me to appear before you today to
discuss veteran employment.
As a 27-year veteran of the Navy and the current President of
Military.com, I have experienced the issue of veteran employment from
both sides. As such, I would like to share with you what our
organization is doing to help veterans find career opportunities as
well as our belief that aligning government and the private sector will
best connect our servicemembers with jobs.
Post-WWII our country experienced what can be called the ``Golden
Age of Higher Education.'' Armed with their GI Bill benefits, 4.4
million servicemembers went to college to build the foundation for a
better life.
While today's veterans and servicemembers in transition are still
pursuing their educational dreams with the enhanced GI Bill, a weakened
economy makes it tougher to find excellent job opportunities. There is
a disconnect with the private sector on the transportability of
military skills and our veterans are finding it more difficult than
ever to translate their total military experience into a civilian
career.
The numbers are disturbing. The unemployment rate for all veterans
remains stubbornly at 9%, the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans
is roughly 11%--higher than the national average. Young male veterans
between the ages of 18 to 24 had an unemployment rate of 21.9% in 2010
and female veterans face unemployment at a rate of 13.5%, versus 8.4%
for non-veteran women.
Many Americans enter the military because of the opportunity to
acquire marketable skills along with the ability for advanced degrees.
Yet when the time comes to transition today, they are not finding as
much opportunity in today's economy. Worse yet, the connection between
unemployment and homelessness is irrefutable. Right now the VA
estimates there are over 100,000 veterans who have no home.
The reality is, as we continue to reduce our troop end strength,
more veterans will be looking for civilian employment while job growth
has not accelerated as much as hoped. Competition will be stiff and we
already know that unemployment is higher for veterans than for
civilians.
Military culture, language and job skills are not easily translated
to the civilian world. Potential employers have very little
understanding of the diverse jobs and skill sets one can learn in the
military. Additionally, our veterans are coming out of the service with
little experience in writing a civilian resume and no exposure to
private sector business culture or language.
There is no doubt that given the service these veterans have
provided us during wartime, we owe them the best support possible in
their post-service life.
So how do we do that?
First, programs that allow those who have served in uniform and who
desire to continue their government service in a civilian capacity
should be embraced. There is great value in the government competing
for these outstanding men and women.
But the majority of transitioning servicemembers do look to the
private sector for employment so focus should be put on public, private
efforts to land veterans jobs.
So to assist, military personnel need more exposure to the private
sector before they leave the service. That exposure needs to happen in
the form of enhanced Transition Assistance Programs where the focus
needs to be on the veteran getting ahead rather than just getting out.
It needs to be taught by human resource professionals from the private
sector with some military knowledge so instructors can provide the best
chance for the military member to find the best opportunity on the
outside. It must include skill-specific resume writing services,
information on private sector business culture and hands-on training on
how to use all available private sector resources so veterans can get
in front of the employers and compete in the human resource networks
that exist in the private sector. And it must teach networking and
where to find those who can help and give our veterans insight into the
marketplace.
Post-service employment preparation should be focused on how to
enter the civilian job market rather than trying to create stand-alone
programs run by the government. The vast majority of companies in the
private sector have very good and generally very efficient ways to find
good talent. The key must be to help the veterans get into that system,
be identified as veterans * * * and compete.
Second, if government wants a program they can sink their teeth
into, it should fund training for those in the field of human resources
on how to understand military skill sets and how those skills apply to
the civilian world. This training needs to include explanations for
primary, secondary and tertiary duties an individual may have had in
the service. The Department of Labor has a basic program around this
but it could be greatly enhanced.
Third, a better understanding of how military certifications
translate to civilian professional certifications should be addressed
with all state governments.
My Military.com director of community outreach visited a number of
military installations overseas in February of this year. During his
visit to Marine Corps Base Camp Butler, he met a Navy Hospital Corpsman
Second Class who had recently returned from his second tour in
Afghanistan. The Navy Corpsman earned a Bronze Star with a Combat ``V''
for his heroic efforts in performing a tracheotomy on a wounded Marine
during a firefight engagement with insurgents. This Navy Corpsman has
the exceptional skills and abilities to perform such a task under
extreme hazardous conditions and do it effectively, yet does not
warrant becoming a qualified emergency medical technician in the
civilian community unless he goes through a full training and
certification program where he probably is more qualified than the
instructor.
It astounds me that a soldier, sailor, airman, Marine or
Coastguardsman can perform surgery on the battlefield but not be
certified an EMT in the civilian world without starting from scratch.
An all-out effort between VA, Labor and DOD with the 50 states could
probably develop a program of what knowledge, skills and abilities
would be accepted as certifications within all states with a very short
testing period.
Finally, leveraging the expertise of private companies like
Monster.com and Military.com is crucial to sustaining any successful,
long-term veteran employment efforts.
Military.com knows the private sector; with our parent company,
Monster.com we can and do specialize in harnessing the best technology
along with the most effective methods to connect our servicemembers
with employers. And while most employers don't tell us how many vets
they hire, we do know they continually search resumes with veteran
status and continually advertise their positions on Monster and
Military.com
While the government assists servicemembers with getting out
through the Transition Assistance Program, we at Monster.com and
Military.com help them get ahead by tapping into our large database of
jobs and providing the guidance needed to enter the civilian job world.
Military.com was founded in 1999 by a young Navy reservist to
revolutionize the way our 30 million Americans with military affinity
stay connected and informed.
Today, Military.com is the largest military and veteran membership
organization with more than 10 million members and we're one of the
largest news destination sites on the Internet. Our free membership
connects servicemembers, military families and veterans to each other
and to all the benefits of service at all stages in their lives--
government benefits, resources and career services, education
information and scholarships, discounts, news and discussion forums to
share the great stories and challenges inherent in military life, and
more.
In 2004, Military.com joined forces with Monster Worldwide to
accelerate our growth and change the playing field for career and
educational opportunities for active duty personnel, as well as Guard
and reservists, veterans and military spouses. We work hard every day
to serve those who serve our country and we're committed to helping our
members find work and enter into career paths that will compliment and
build on the skills they acquired in the military.
We do this both online and offline.
Online, we offer a comprehensive offering of services, resources
and information to support every stage of a military career, from
recruitment to boot camp to promotions, retirement, education and
second careers.
Military.com created a veteran career center using technology to
successfully deliver a personalized experience with a variety of
interactive tools and resources. We offer the largest veteran job board
in the world featuring military-friendly employers as well as hundreds
of thousands of job postings available through our Monster.com
database.
We also offer personalized email alerts for new postings that match
a veteran's resume and job interests, as well as resume writing tools,
education and training information, mentoring through our Veteran
Career Network, and electronic newsletters with news and employer
information.
To help veterans begin their new career search, we developed our
Military Skills Translator. We use the Department of Labor's online
resource known as ``O-Net,'' or Occupational Data Network as a baseline
to translate current and older military occupational specialty codes
into civilian occupations
Then Military.com is taking it one step further. We present the
veteran with equivalent jobs currently posted on the Monster job board,
including those posted by thousands of military employers specifically
looking for veterans. The veteran can immediately apply to one of these
jobs from our site or review the job postings and learn what specific
experiences, skills, education, and training employers are seeking for
this type of position. This information can help the job seeker better
``civilianize'' their military experience on their resume and best
communicate the skill, knowledge, and abilities they acquired while in
service. Over the last year, we had over 250,000 separate individuals
use our translator an average of 4-5 times per person.
Through the Military Skills Translator, not only are veterans
empowered to apply to currently available jobs, they can also see
members of our Military.com's Veteran Career Network who have indicated
they held that same Military Occupational Specialty.
One of our fastest growing services that is still in beta form is
this mentor network that connects veterans seeking new careers with
employed veterans as well as military supporters. Military.com members
who volunteer for this feature create a profile containing details
about their military experience, professional interests, and their
current job position and employer.
Veterans using this feature can find a career network mentor by
company, government agency, career field, industry or geographic
location. Once the veteran job seeker has identified someone with whom
they would like to network, he or she can contact a mentor directly
through our secure Military.com email tool.
Since the implementation of our Veteran Career Network in 2007,
over one million Military.com members have signed on to network with
other veterans and help transitioning servicemembers jumpstart their
civilian careers.
Our members also access financial information and guidance. Our
Finance Channel drew over 450,000 views in March 2011 because of the
comprehensive information VA home loans and our relocation guide which
helps military families through their mandatory moves.
For example, in March 2011 alone we had 3 million views on our
Benefits and Education Channel which includes information on TRICARE,
GI Bill, VA health care, survivor benefits and information on PTSD
resources and support.
We keep our members in touch with the latest information about
their benefits and interests with our email newsletters, of which 35
million are sent each month to our members who subscribe to them. Our
most popular newsletters are the Veterans Insider with over 8 million
subscribers, our Careers newsletters with over 800,000 subscribers and
our Active Duty Insider with over 4 million subscribers. These
newsletters offer tailored content and feature relevant information and
resource links for our audience.
Offline, we actively engage with the communities we serve through
in person events.
Currently we host, in conjunction with our non-profit partner, the
Non-Commissioned Officers Association, over 40 career expos a year. Our
efforts and quality of service have not gone unnoticed. PBS News
recently featured our efforts during a segment on veteran's employment
issues and Sen. Mark Warner has supported our work by acting as an
honorary host for our events in Virginia.
In 2010, over 15,000 members attended our 33 career fair events
across the country. Since January of this year, we have held 11 career
fair events, attended by more than 3500 veterans and transitioning
servicemembers. We have also recently begun hosting Veteran Power
Seeker Workshops in advance of our career fairs to help attendees write
resumes, acquire interviewing and networking skills and research
employers so they are prepared to most successfully engage with
employers at the event.
These career fairs are important because it gives us one to one
interaction with both employers and transitioning servicemembers. Here
we are able to walk job seekers through the interview process, review
resumes and counsel them about the many opportunities outside of the
government that they may not have known they were qualified for.
Conversely we get the chance to meet with employers and ``de-code'' the
military skills or vernacular they are seeing on resumes and point out
what skills sets will best fit their needs.
If you question the ability of the private sector to embrace and
assist our veterans in their job search, look no further than
Military.com and the solid relationships we have created between our
servicemembers, veterans and employers.
In conclusion, we no longer have finite wars with treaties being
signed on the deck of a battleship. Today's changing global environment
means that any time our military can be called to action, tapped for
humanitarian assistance or used to quell instability around the globe.
As such, we have a much longer-term obligation to understand
veterans and the employment they seek. Rather than the ``home from
war'' mentality of previous generations, we now have to see veteran's
employment as a rolling responsibility that will remain a permanent
fixture on our national landscape.
Just as the Post WWII generation enjoyed the ``Golden Age of
Education'' we can and should see this as our opportunity to create the
``Golden Age of Employment'' for those who have served our Nation so
proudly. We are fortunate enough here in our country to have an all-
volunteer force, one that emerges from, and ultimately goes back into
the civilian population.
It stands to reason that a crucial component in ensuring jobs for
those veterans who return to civilian life is leveraging the expertise
and involvement of the private sector.
Madam Chairwoman and members of the Subcommittee, this concludes my
statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
______
Response to Posthearing Questions Submitted by Hon. Jon Tester to
T.L. McCreary, RADM USN (Ret.), President, Military.com
Question 1. A lot of the men and women who join our military, do so
because of the skills and experience they can acquire--something to
serve them well in the job market and make them more attractive to
potential employers. It's clear from your testimony that a major hurdle
has been the fact that military experience is not always understood by
or translated well to civilian employers.
Compounding the problem is the absence of any certifications by DOD
that provide evidence of the specific training and experience acquired
during military service. It seems to me that, if we are going to invest
so much in each of these folks, we could at least provide them with
something that better documents their skills and experience and makes
them more marketable to future employers.
When we chatted in my office, you mentioned Military.com's Military
Skills Translator. Can you speak to this program and any potential
adaptability of the concept by DOD?
ANSWER: In early 2002, The Department of Labor in partnership with
the Department of Defense initiated a program known as the ``United
Services Military Apprenticeship Program'' (USMAP) which was
established to help active duty enlisted servicemembers of the sea
services, Navy, Marine and Coast Guard to earn certification for 125
apprenticable trade skills learned through documented training and work
experience (on-the-job training) and related technical instruction.
In addition the Army created a program in 2005 known as
``Credentialing Opportunities On-Line'' (COOL) which is similar to
USMAP, providing enlisted soldiers with a guided instructional program
on how to obtain civilian credential certification for their military
occupational specialties.
The Air Force also offers a credentialing information program
through the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) program, which is
open to all enlisted Airmen.
These programs still exist today. It is our opinion that they
receive very little marketing efforts within the respective services,
where most servicemembers do not know or have heard anything about
these programs until after they leave active duty. Because these
particularly mentioned programs are only available while on active
duty, it becomes too late for a transitioning servicemember who learns
about the program as he or she departs from active duty.
While these programs do provide some guidance for servicemembers to
learn about the procedures to become credentialed for civilian
certification, most servicemembers feel that what they have learned in
both classroom, on-the-job-training, and practical experience,
especially those who put these skills to practical use in combat and or
operational situations, far exceeds the established credential program,
yet they feel that they have to go through unnecessary steps and
procedures to obtain the civilian credentials.
Ref: USMAP: https://usmap.cnet.navy.mil/usmapss/static/usmap.jsp;
Army COOL Program: https://www.cool.army.mil/overview.htm; CCAF: http:/
/www.au.af.mil/au/ccaf/certifications.asp.
That said, the biggest issue facing our men and women is not just
getting the paperwork, but having states certify that these
qualifications are equivalent to the states' requirements and that the
appropriate testing and certification licenses be issued by the state.
Each service would then have to have the states evaluate their programs
and agree they meet state requirement for certification.
With regard to the Military.com's Military Skills Translator--To
help veterans begin their new career search, we developed our Military
Skills Translator. We use Department of Labor's online resource known
as ``O*Net Occupational Data'' as a baseline to translate current and
older MOS codes into civilian occupations Then Military.com takes it
one step further: we present the veteran with equivalent jobs currently
posted on the Monster job board, including those posted by thousands of
military employers specifically looking for veterans. The veteran can
immediately apply to one of these jobs from our site, or review the job
postings and learn what specific experiences, skills, education and
training employers are seeking for this type of position. This
information can help the job seeker better ``civilianize'' their
military experience on their resume and best communicate the skills,
knowledge and abilities they acquired while in service.
Question 2. In your testimony, I also heard a lot of concerns about
the military's transition assistance program or TAP. It seems to me
that many folks view this as just another box to check as they rush to
get out the door. At a time when they're simply trying to get back home
to their families as quickly as they can, we are throwing a ton of
information at them. I'm sure it can be overwhelming.
It's important information but it's not always digestible. We need
to figure out a better way of making this information available. But we
also need a better way of making it user-friendly and more adaptable to
a veterans' specific situation. Could you speak to the costs and
feasibility of utilizing human resource professionals from the private
sector to aid in the VA's assistance program on military installations?
Response. Post-service employment preparation should be focused on
how to enter the civilian job market. I believe that TAP can be
improved to provide veterans with the skills they need to compete in
the private sector. This will require a paradigm shift in the current
program, which provides veterans with the information they need to
leave the service rather than with the skills they need to get ahead in
the job market.
As to the cost of using private sector human resource personnel, I
believe it would be minimal as it would be taking one set of
instructors and replacing them with others. The contractors that teach
these courses could do that easily and I believe it would enhance the
program. I hope the Committee asks the VA, DOL and DOD to look into it.
Military.com and our parent company Monster.com works with many veteran
friendly employers, maybe these companies could provide someone such as
a retired human resources professional.
I also believe that TAP could be enhanced if the course content
include, skill-specific resume writing services, information on private
sector business culture and hands-on training on how to use all
available private sector resources so veterans can get in front of the
employers and compete in the human resource networks that exist in the
private sector. And it must teach networking and where to find those
who can help and give our veterans insight into the marketplace.
Chairman Murray. Thank you very much, Admiral.
Mr. Yauger.
STATEMENT OF MICHAEL L. YAUGER, PRESIDENT, TEAMSTERS LOCAL
UNION 786, COORDINATOR, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS'
HELMETS TO HARDHATS AND HEROES TO HEALTHCARE PROGRAMS
Mr. Yauger. Chairman Murray, Ranking Member Burr and
distinguished Members of the Committee, the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters welcomes the opportunity to
participate in today's hearing on Veterans Employment:
Improving the Transition from Battlefield to the Workforce.
My name is Mike Yauger. I serve in the capacity of
international coordinator for the Teamster's Helmets to
Hardhats program and the Teamster's Heroes to Health Care
program. As a younger man, I had the honor and the privilege of
serving in America's military as a team leader and Army Ranger
with the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
In the course of that duty, I learned firsthand some very
important lessons about life. My service taught me the meaning
of honor, duty, and commitment. These values form the very
foundation upon which we formed our Teamsters programs around.
For the past 6 years, the Teamsters have been leaders in
actively identifying and developing programs to assist our
veterans in transitioning their military skills into the
civilian sector. A veteran who receives military training for
Class 8 vehicles receives a military license and is exempt from
commercial driver's license requirements imposed by the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Act.
When a veteran is discharged and separates from the
military, the military license is of absolutely no use in the
civilian sector. In order to obtain a CDL license, the veteran
must go through all the State requirements. This may include
another training program, a CDL licensing test and finding and
renting a Class 8 truck to take road skills test. This is a
cumbersome and very costly procedure to impose on someone who
is facing numerous challenges transitioning back to civilian
life.
For example, we have a service person who can drive heavy
vehicles along supply lines in Iraq in 120-degrees heat while
being shot at. Yet, when they return home, their military
driver's license and driving experience does not qualify them
to receive a civilian license for commercial value. To solve
this particular problem, the Teamsters created the Teamsters
Military CDL Licensing Program. It is important to note that we
did not do this in isolation, rather we worked in partnership
with multiple State agencies and the military schoolhouses to
analyze the differentials between Teamster training and the
military curriculum.
The result is a 200-hour course that bridges the gaps
between the two. The course is taught by certified Teamster
trainers at no cost to the veteran. The program is active in
Illinois, and it is currently being developed in Washington
State, Las Vegas, New York, Northern and Southern California.
The Teamsters military licensing program serves as a model for
much of our ongoing efforts in support of our Nation's
veterans. This means a model of bringing all interested parties
together, analyzing the issues and then solving that problem.
While we have overcome many of the challenges, it has not
been easy. In fact, the seemingly logical and straightforward
CDL program was 3 years in the making. During this process, we
realized that our military must overcome certain inherent
impediments and must serve as a strong ally in breaking down
the barriers that currently inhibit a veteran's transition back
to civilian life. This means jobs. Additionally, assisting this
transition would be significantly more successful if there were
an avenue to provide employers with verifiable proof of a
veteran's training and experience acquired while serving in the
military.
Another example of an innovative program to employ veterans
is the National Building and Construction Trades Helmets to
Hardhats program. The Teamsters are active, supporting partners
to the program, and they have assisted in placement of over
40,000 veterans in the construction trades over the past 5
years. Through interaction with veterans over the past 5 years,
we have discovered and identified gaps in the transition
process not specific to only the construction industry.
Another example of an innovative veterans employment
program which the Teamsters have had a pivotal role is within
the health care industry.
Teamsters have been partners to developing the Heroes to
Health Care program. H2HC is a collaborative effort comprised
of State representatives--excuse me, representatives from
service branches, Federal, State, and local governments,
hospitals and health-care sector employers, private sector
leaders, union organizations and their affiliations, non-
profits and academia.
The primary goal of H2HC is to create the framework for
expedited training, licensing and employment of our veterans
who possess the qualified service-related training in the
health-care profession. Unfortunately, it is common for a
veteran who provided life-saving skills on the battlefield to
be offered no more than a position of an orderly in a civilian
hospital. Approximately 8,000 medical corpsmen leave military
service each year with most having served at least one tour in
Iraq or Afghanistan. Some of those transitioning careers are
inclusive to EMTs, lab technicians, radiology technicians,
medical equipment repair specialists and physician assistants.
One group of veterans deserves the country's special
attention and that is our wounded warriors.
The Teamsters have worked closely with and have
participated in extended outreach to our wounded warriors.
Whether their wounds are visible or not, we have worked with
the Departments of Employment Security to put resources in
place to identify specific tools and specific employers who can
work within the confines of their physical and emotional well-
being.
The Boston Teamsters have developed a campaign called IPODS
for Wounded Veterans. This campaign has created a stir
nationally as the project has raised enough funds to supply
wounded warriors in recovery with 117 iPods and growing.
As taxpayers, we have invested over $125,000 in
recruitment, screening, testing and just basic training for
every man and woman currently serving in our Armed Forces. Our
military provides the members of our Armed Forces with the
finest equipment, the finest education available anywhere in
the world. Yet upon their honorable completion of their
service, they are given no documentation or accreditation
attesting to the level of their skills. In addition to the
sizable initial investment as taxpayers, when the cost of their
advanced individual training is added to that equation, it
should be apparent to all that we have a strategic resource
much too valuable to overlook.
There was a time when young men and women in this country
could count on the military to learn a marketable skill that
would serve them well on their road to achieving the American
dream. It is now time for our legislatures, military, and
employers to give these fine young men and women who honorably
served credit where credit is due. We have defined and been
partners to an overall program that supports all of the
identified efforts. Partnership with America will work with
them in the industry affiliate and all the affiliated programs
and provide them with the mentorship tools for veterans to
excel in whatever industry they would like to transition to, as
well as educate the industry leaders and human resource
administrators with the tools they will need to implement the
veteran skills into the workforce community.
It has been our experience that failure to address these
critical issues of successful transition to employment will
result in amplifying the incidence of behavioral issues, Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder, alcohol abuse, which is the leading
factor in the increase of suicides. We have at taxpayers'
expense provided the best education with the best technology
and equipment in the world. We must partner to provide support
to better serve those who have honorably served this great
Nation.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to discuss our
experience in helping veterans to transition to the civilian
workforce. We look forward to working with you on this very
important matter.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Yauger follows:]
Prepared Statement of Michael L. Yauger, President, Teamsters Local
Union 786, Coordinator, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Helmets
to Hardhats and Heroes to Health Care Programs
Chairwoman Murray, Ranking Member Burr, and distinguished Members
of the Committee, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters welcomes
the opportunity to participate in today's hearing on ``Veterans'
Employment: Improving the Transition from Battlefield to the
Workforce.''
My name is Mike Yauger. I serve in the capacity of International
Coordinator for the Teamsters Helmets to Hardhats program and the
Teamsters Heroes to Health Care program. As a younger man I had the
honor and the privilege of serving in America's military as an Army
Ranger. In the course of that duty I learned firsthand some very
important lessons about life. My service taught me the meaning of
honor, duty and commitment. These values form the very foundation upon
which Teamsters programs are built.
For the past six years, the Teamsters have been leaders in actively
identifying and developing programs to assist our veterans in
transitioning their military skills into the civilian sector. A veteran
who receives military training for class 8 vehicles receives a military
license and is exempt from commercial drivers' license (CDL)
requirements imposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(FMCSA) and states. When a veteran is discharged and separates from the
military the military license is of no use in the civilian sector. In
order to obtain a CDL license the veteran must go through all of the
state requirements. This may include another training program, a CDL
licensing test, and finding or renting a Class 8 truck to take the road
skills test. This is a cumbersome and very costly procedure to impose
on someone who is facing numerous challenges transitioning back to
civilian life. This effort is complicated by the fact that most of the
training our service people receive is not recognized and/or well
understood by civilian employers. For example, a service person can
drive heavy vehicles along supply lines, in 120 degree heat, while
being shot at; yet when they return home, their military driver's
licenses and driving experience does not qualify them to receive a
civilian commercial driver's license or ``CDL.''
To solve this particular problem, the Teamsters created the
Teamsters/Military CDL Licensing Program. It is important to note that
we did not do this in isolation. Rather, we worked in partnership with
multiple state agencies and the military school houses to analyze the
differentials between Teamsters training and the military curriculum.
The result is a 200 hour course that bridges the gaps between the two.
The course is taught by certified Teamster trainers at no cost to the
veteran. The program is active in Illinois and is currently being
developed in Washington State, Las Vegas, New York, and Northern and
Southern California.
The Teamsters/Military Licensing program serves as the model for
much of our ongoing efforts in support of our Nation's veterans. This
means a model of bringing all interested parties together, analyzing
the issues, and then solving that problem. While the objective of our
programs is to develop and provide gainful career opportunities for our
returning sons and daughters, we have encountered many obstacles and
impediments to their successful transition. While we have overcome many
of these challenges, it has not been easy. In fact, the seemingly
logical and straight-forward CDL program was three years in the making.
During this process, we realized that our military must overcome
certain inherent impediments and must serve as a strong ally in
breaking down the barriers that currently inhibit a veteran's
transition back to civilian life--this means jobs.
Additionally, assisting this transition would be significantly more
successful if there were an avenue to provide employers with verifiable
proof of a veteran's training and experience acquired while serving in
the military. Employers base their hiring decisions upon verification
of work history, educational degrees and state or industry recognized
certifications. Military experience is not well understood by civilian
employers, nor does it equate to civilian certifications. Our
experience has taught us that if the military as a whole would work
with civilian certifying entities to provide courses that attest to
their level of education and qualifications while serving, this would
go a long way toward enhancing employers' understanding and embracing
of military training and experience. This, in turn, would encourage
employers to increasingly recruit and hire veterans.
Another example of an innovative program to employ veterans is the
National Building and Construction Trades Helmets to Hardhats program.
The Teamsters are active supporting partners to the program and have
assisted in placement of over forty thousand veterans in the
construction trades over the past five years. Through interaction with
veterans over the past five years, we have discovered and identified
gaps in the transition process not specific to only the Construction
industry. We have interviewed veteran candidates from across the
country and understand that many of the challenges they are faced with
in transitioning their military skills into the civilian sector.
Two primary challenges exist within every industry that stems from
identifying educational/training and job experience requirements for
each career pathway. For employers this includes identifying pathways
to vocational transition for maintaining and building a high
performance workforce. For the military, the challenges include
supporting their returning veterans who not only are successful
soldiers, but to also be successful in civilian life. Again, this means
jobs.
The answer two both of these challenges is to create an engine for
partnership among the military, labor and employers, the educational/
training community, state certifying agencies and the veterans
themselves. We must work together to identify and create a framework
for expediting training, licensing and certification based on
qualifying service related training and experience. Our country has an
obligation to assist veterans in attaining the certification they need
to achieve employment. This includes creating a methodology for
connecting them to employers and industry experts once they return from
service. This will reduce the number of returning veterans who use
their GI Bill dollars on training and education in areas in which there
will be no jobs
Another example of an innovative veteran's employment program in
which the Teamsters have had a pivotal role is within the healthcare
industry. Teamsters have been partners to developing the Heroes to
HealthCare (H2HC) program. H2HC is a collaborative effort comprised of
representatives from service branches, Federal, state and local
governments, hospitals and health care sector employers, private sector
leaders, union organizations and their affiliates, nonprofits and
academia. The primary goal of H2HC is to create the framework for
expedited training, licensing and employment of veterans who possess
qualified service related training in the healthcare professions.
Unfortunately, it is common for a veteran who provided life saving
skills on the battlefield to be offered no more than the position of an
orderly in civilian hospitals. Approximately 8,000 medical corpsmen
leave military service each year, with most having served at least one
tour in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of those transitioning careers are
inclusive to EMT's, Lab Technicians and Radiology Technicians, Medical
Equipment Repair Specialist and Physician Assistants. H2HC is currently
working with regulatory agencies on the Federal and individual state
levels to design and implement a system of translation of military
experience and qualifications into each states certification scheme--
such as the model used in creating the CDL licensing program.
One group of veterans deserves this country's special attention:
our Wounded Warriors. The Teamsters have worked closely with and have
participated in extended outreach to our Wounded Warriors--whether
their wounds are visible or not. We have worked with Departments of
Employment Security to put resources in place to identify specific
tools and specific employers who can work within the confines of their
physical and emotional well being while still ensuring the highest
quality work result. The Boston Teamsters have developed a campaign
that called ``IPODS for Wounded Veterans'' this campaign has created a
stir nationally as the project has raised enough funds to supply
wounded warriors in recovery with 117 IPods and growing.
We have partnered with universities to bring training and
educational opportunities to veterans in the high growth areas of
energy efficiency, renewable energy and smart grid. These are high
demand, high growth areas; again, this means jobs.
As taxpayers we have invested over $125,000 in recruitment,
screening, testing and basic training for every man and woman currently
serving in our Armed Forces. Our military provides the members of our
Armed Forces with the finest equipment and the finest education
available anywhere in the world. Yet upon the honorable completion of
their service they are given no documentation or accreditation
attesting to the level of their skills. In addition to the sizable
initial investment, when the cost of their advanced individual training
is added to the equation it should be apparent to all that we have a
strategic resource much too valuable to overlook. There was a time when
young men and women could count on the military to learn a marketable
skill that would serve them well on their road to achieving the
American dream. It is now time for our legislators, military and
employers to give these fine young men and women who honorably served
credit where credit is due. We have defined and been partners to an
overall program that supports all of the identified efforts,
Partnership with America (PWA). PWA will work with all of the industry
affiliated programs and provide them with the mentorship tools for
veterans to excel in whatever industry they would like to transition to
as well as educate the industry leaders and human resource
administrators with the tools they will need to implement the veteran's
skills into their workforce community.
It has been our experience that failure to address these critical
issues of successful transition to employment will result in amplifying
the incidence of behavioral issues, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and
incidences of drugs and alcohol abuse which is the leading factor in
the increase of suicides. We have at taxpayers' expense provided the
best education with the best technology and equipment in the world. We
must partner to provide support to better serve those who have
honorably served this great Nation.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to discuss our experience in
helping veterans to transition to the civilian workforce. We look
forward to working with you on this important endeavor.
______
Response to Posthearing Questions Submitted by Hon. Mark Begich to
Michael L. Yauger, President, Teamsters Local Union 786, Coordinator,
International Brotherhood of Teamsters Helmets to Hardhats and Heroes
to Health Care Programs
Mr. Yauger, Alaska's Helmet to Hardhat program gets numerous calls
from active duty short-timers and vets looking for assistance in
obtaining a CDL--for a short time it was great to refer them to AVOTEC
(Army Vocational/Technical Soldier Program). But now they have to tell
them to check with the Education office on post.
Question. What action needs to be taken to get the Teamsters and
VETS and the States to get Veterans their CDLs so they can work?
Response. The Teamsters have discussed this with the Alaska
Teamster Employer Service Training Trust who provides a significant
amount of CDL training and testing in Alaska. They have committed to
provide printed information on CDL training and testing to the various
military education offices around the State of Alaska and to veteran
organizations.
In addition the Teamsters have had active support to their program
from conception and are working with the United States Army Transition
and Policy Committees and Marines for Life National Director, Col.
Joseph Krumm as well as Lt. General Jack Stultz, Chief of the U.S. Army
Reserves. The Army is actually going take on the task of prescreening
army candidates who would like to take advantage of this opportunity.
They will also be identifying the program to those military candidates
that have had a Military CDL License. Inclusive to that outreach we are
working with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of
Employment Security/Workforce Training offices in all states we are
active in and have had outreach in each state with elected officials,
Secretary of State offices and Veteran Service Organizations to assist
in outreach to the veteran community. This protocol can be developed
into any state.
The veteran that would like to obtain a civilian military license
in most states must obtain a permit for the CDL A License typically
provided by the the Secretary of State's (Department of Motor Vehicles)
office. This is a written test and study guides are available through
the Secretary of State's office and now also online via the Teamsters
Training Center www.illinoisteamsterstraining.org a free online study
guide is in place to prepare them to take the written permit test
required by state and Federal guidelines. Illinois Teamsters/Management
and Labor Trust funded the development of the online study guide. This
will assist the veteran in preparing for the written permit exam. Any
Veteran, Reserve or Guard candidate will have the capability to access/
register for the online study guide at no cost. (Specific criteria was
developed to identify them as veterans/military personnel to access
specific log in codes.)
Once the veteran obtains their CDL permit they will then be
eligible to register to take the 200 Hours course (Secretary State
Approved) developed by the Teamsters with approval from the Department
of Veterans Affairs State Approving Agency. As of October 1, 2011, the
Post-9/11 GI Bill Chapter 33 will cover the cost of the training for
veterans as this would fall under the guidelines of vocational
training/tuition assistance. The Illinois Teamsters Trust fund is
funding the first course/class for veterans in June 2011. Teamsters
training centers in Washington State, Northern and Southern California,
New York and Las Vegas are preparing to launch the Teamsters/Military
Licensing program in their states as well. The Teamsters are active in
working with the Army and Marine Corp. to identify specific candidates
that had military occupational skills that match the criteria and would
like to continue driving in the civilian workforce community.
State by state DOT offices should recognize the veterans training
and also cooperate by identifying a veteran's preference to those
veteran candidates that complete the course. In turn the teamsters will
identify the program to their employers who will also have the
opportunity to employ these candidates and other veteran candidates who
are seeking employment in the transportation industry.
This was and continues to be an overall partnership/collaborated
effort with state agencies, Federal agency support, military partners
and the Teamsters. It is necessary to complete this as a state by state
effort due to the state wide regulations specific Federal licensing.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters are the leaders in the
transportation industry and recognized for quality training in every
state. Teamsters/Military CDL Licensing program was the only
alternative solution that made sense to all affiliated entities that
have been seeking solutions for this particular workforce initiative.
Chairman Murray. Thank you very much to all of you for your
very compelling testimony.
Mr. Smith, let me start with you. You served your country
honorably. You had enormous responsibility as a combat medic,
and a huge variety of training and skills during your time of
service, and you came home to apply for a job in the civilian
world. The one thing between you and your job was a piece of
paper, a certification that said you did what you did, correct?
Mr. Smith. Yes, ma'am, that is it. Nothing more to say
about that. It was a piece of paper separating me from that
job, which at that time I desperately needed.
Chairman Murray. Mr. Yauger, I heard you say the same thing
for commercial driver's license, the one thing that separates
men and women who serve in the military is a piece of paper
saying they did what they did?
Mr. Yauger. Yes, ma'am, that is absolutely correct. We have
a need in this country right now for 515,000 CDL license
holders by the year 2015.
Yet it takes them 9 months to 1 year for a transitioning
serviceman just to transition his to a CDL license because we
have laws in this country that say you are not insurable unless
you can prove and validate that you have 3 years of verifiable
experience driving.
Chairman Murray. So the military says to you, Mr. Smith,
you did great, thank you very much, goodbye, but they do not
give you that one piece of paper saying you did what you did
that translates into the civilian world as certification,
correct?
Mr. Smith. Right, it is not a standard set of best
practices, if you will, that allows each and every
servicemember in those specialties to get the same
certification. Now, in the Navy, for instance, you have
opportunities to get on your own time. It's driven basically by
a sailor's own initiative.
You have that ability to get equivalent certifications like
your LVN license, vocational nurse license, your EMT license.
But that's pretty easy for the corpsman that works a fixed
shift, 9 to 5 in a small clinic. He comes into work. He goes
home, you know, plays Xbox and then he goes to study for his
exam.
For a corpsman much like myself who was working 12-hour
shifts in the ICU, or that green side corpsman, that corpsman
that's attached to the Marine Corps side, either they are doing
back-to-back-deployments, where is the time to study up to be
able to take the test to get those qualifications? I will tell
you right now, there is none.
Chairman Murray. There is no ability to do that, so you get
out without that certification?
Mr. Smith. Right.
Chairman Murray. So if you were to go do an equivalent type
of job in your State right now, how much training would you
need? How many years of training to prove to that employer that
you have the necessary experience; do you know?
Mr. Smith. To be perfectly honest, it would not take me any
time at all. You know, there are systems in place, the Smart
Transfer Program that converts my experience into equivalent
credits. That varies throughout each college. It would take me
no time.
Chairman Murray. So you would have to go back and take
classes?
Mr. Smith. Right, absolutely, and I would dip into my G.I.
Bill to do so.
Chairman Murray. So it would cost taxpayer monies.
Mr. Smith. Again.
Chairman Murray. To educate you to do the same thing you
had done before, but just to get a piece of paper.
Mr. Smith. Yes, ma'am.
Chairman Murray. My point is that this is a tremendous cost
to this country to retrain you to do the job you did before,
but for a lack of piece of paper.
Mr. Smith. Yes, ma'am.
Chairman Murray. I think that is a problem we need to
address.
Mr. Reppenhagen, your story is extremely compelling. I'm
really curious. You were a sniper when you were in the
military. How did you make the leap to Green Jobs?
Mr. Reppenhagen. You know, I had a dedication to the
personnel within my platoon; I took care of them. When I
transferred out of the military, they actually gave me as a
going-away gift, they all signed a Mother's Day card. So I knew
that I wanted to continue serving my fellow veterans and
comrades on the other side, to help with that transition.
So, immediately when I got out I got into non-profit work
and started working here in Washington, DC, with Veterans for
America, first, as just a spokesperson and then as I learned
skills among the non-profit world, I started gaining more
management skills and program directing skills. When I located
Veterans Green Jobs, I thought it was a good fit. This was
before the administration change. It seemed like it was
definitely a good way forward and there are a lot of
opportunities for veterans to take these positions.
It basically followed the downturn in the economy, and it
has been a hard fight, I think, for all of us in this current
environment. So there are certainly no transferable skills
between being a sniper in Iraq and working in a non-profit
organization other than having dedication and really wanting to
continue to serve my fellow veterans.
Chairman Murray. It seems to me you do a couple things
really well. One, you train veterans, but you also place them.
How could we replicate what you have done with Green Jobs and
other sectors of the economy?
Mr. Reppenhagen. Well, I think one of the advantages that
we have is that we have a very, very narrow niche of jobs that
we are looking at trying to penetrate, which allows us to look
at holistic programs for the veterans that are interested in
those positions and training in those careers. So we can target
educational institutions and employers that are specifically
fastened in that green economy niche.
We realized right away that we did not have the resources
to build a very broad program, so we immediately started on the
ground developing local partners within city and State
governments, and now even Federal partners, which allow us to
expand those programs. We can only do a certain few things
well, and we rely on the rest of the offices and a lot of the
organizations in this room to provide additional care and
services to make a holistic program. I think that is the key:
really encouraging those partnerships and helping promote them
and rewarding organizations that collaborate and work together
well.
Chairman Murray. Very good. Senator Burr.
Senator Burr. On behalf of all of us, I would like to thank
all four of you for your personal commitment to serve this
country. To some degree it is embarrassing that we are having
to have a hearing on this. Admiral, I thank you for the effort
that you make at Military.com and more importantly, the
integration in the job search process that you go through.
You and I have had an opportunity to talk, and the online
possibilities are unlimited. But it seems like we always come
together and talk about the cookie-cutter programs that we come
up with; the inside-the-box approaches that government always
has to solve a problem that we constantly have a flow of
individuals that come up and tell us does not work.
I think all four of you have done a great job of laying out
for us individual ideas that you think might help to overcome
the challenges that our separated veterans have with
employment.
Let me ask you one simple question. What that we do today
works? Is there anything that we are currently doing out there
that is initiated by government that actually works? Garett?
Mr. Reppenhagen. I think the new G.I. Bill is an incredible
opportunity.
Senator Burr. I agree with you totally, and I think most
Members do, too. Let me just raise an issue.
For-profit institutions are under the crosshairs of the
sniper's rifle in Washington right now. Yet for-profit
institutions are in fact the majority of the institutions that
our veterans choose to go to get the technical skills or the
certification, Eric, that they are looking for. Even though
they might have been a mechanic for 15 years in the military,
they still have to go in before the automobile dealer is going
to hire them at a job of $70,000 a year, but it is 14 months
out of their life. It is paid for, but in the infinite wisdom
that we have, we are beginning to target institutions to
eliminate their ability to spend Federal tuition dollars.
Now, some would tell you that is not targeted to happen
with the G.I. Bill. I would tell you, if you do it with one
side of Federal dollars, the leakage is over to another side of
Federal dollars. It will not benefit our separating veterans.
Are there other specific jobs programs that are out there,
some duplicative, that today helped you or helped somebody that
you know?
Admiral McCreary. I think they are too broad and do not
target the level of someone of where they are coming out of the
service. Somebody who is coming out of the service and retiring
and somebody coming out after their first tour or second tour
have different needs in that market.
Unfortunately, we have not seen any jobs issues around
veterans from a government perspective work, and I think what
we try and do with that is recreate what exists out there, yet
do not prepare the vet to compete in the market. You know, we
do a tremendous amount of training our men and women who serve
for conditions on the battlefield. We ought to apply that same
rigor and training as they are preparing to get out to go and
compete on the job battlefield and compete out there in the
private sector. Take the vets to the employers with the skill
sets they need to explain their qualifications and their jobs
rather than trying to bring, if you will, the employers into
where the vets are and kind of limit the scope of what they
see.
I think until we embrace that and realize that we do not
have to create a specific program for everything but really
apply some very narrow focus to give the talented men and women
that we really discussed earlier the skills to actually go out
and compete, that that is what will make it work.
I have not really seen that happen to date.
Now, I couldn't have said that 6 years ago when I was on
the other side because when you are inside the government, hey,
you know, of course, we can solve every problem, right? You see
that. Now that I have seen it from both sides, and after
talking to several thousand of our 10 million members, I have
an appreciation that until they get out and actually get
adjusted to the culture and learn how to plan it, they are less
successful.
So let's move that skill set prior to them getting out.
Senator Burr. I saw Eric shaking his head. He agreed with
you. Let me just say, Admiral, I wrote down three things from
your testimony--not that the rest of it was not important. But
I noted: transition preparation, something that clearly is not
done today; help writing resumes. You know, I think to some
degree that is overlooked. It is not just a deficiency within
departing vets, it is a deficiency within the next generation
of this country right now.
I thought for the first time somebody actually identified
in your statement what needs to be done: coordination between
military, government, and States to set up a certification
process that applies to everybody. I know, Mr. Yauger, the
unions have tried to do this in the limited capacity that you
have.
Mr. Yauger. Well, actually, Senator, we have an advantage
because we already have companies that are signatory to our
bargaining-unit agreements and who are very patriotic people
and believe in the skill sets of our military. We have proven
to them that these drivers that come out of the military have
the necessary skills. They were willing to take a chance, and
that is why we have been so successful in transitioning them
into the construction trades.
For example, a combat engineer that trains at Fort Leonard
Wood, MI, not only trains how to drive a truck, he trains on
how to drive a bulldozer, a Bobcat. He is trained on how to do
surveying. He is a well-rounded individual. His only decision
when he gets out is going to be choosing what he wants to be.
Do I want to be a welder, a surveyor, an HVAC specialist?
The mentorship that we give them there steers them in that
direction.
Senator Burr. But even that individual who did electricians
work for 15 years, in all likelihood is subject to the State he
chooses to go to as to how hard the certification is going to
be, and that is just wrong.
Mr. Yauger. Well, what happens is in the civilian sector,
when you go to college for 4 years, they give you a diploma
when you get out and you take that diploma and you bring it to
your job interview and the prospective company that you are
going to go work for, he looks at that, your H.R. guy, and he
sees this as having real value. This is proof that you have
been exposed to a certain course of education.
A young man gets out of the military, shows up with his DD-
214 and they look at that and the first thing they want to look
at, does this guy have any emotional problems? Does this guy
have this? Does this guy have that?
The fact of the matter is, and this is what really
aggravates probably all the people sitting at this table, we
have the best and the brightest military we have ever had in
our lives. The cream of the crop of America's youth serve in
our military. When they enter the military, they raised their
right hand and they swear an oath to the people of this country
in front of God that they will be willing to give their life in
the defense of our country, our citizens, and our way of life.
Then, when they get out, we betray their trust.
We trusted them to protect us, and then we betray their
trust by letting them flounder out there. In a time where we
have so many Reservists and National Guardsmen doing logistical
command work, we not only have those soldiers, sailors, airmen
and Coast Guardsmen and Marines, we have their families to deal
with. And when you do not find gainful employment opportunities
for these people, the divorce rate goes up, the behavioral
problems increase, the incidences of post-traumatic stress
increase.
I want to remind you, we are in a pretty bad time. I don't
have to tell you guys that. We live in a time when you have to
roll your sleeves up. You have to use it up, and you have to
wear it out. When you already spend that much money training
these young men and women, and then you get out and you have to
support them for a year and add more money to the budget to pay
for the G.I. Bill, this is money badly spent twice.
We need to take that investment that we make, roll it over,
build on it. Give our taxpayers in this country a return on
their investment. Nobody deserves--these are our sons and
daughters that are going in harm's way for us. These are not
some strangers. We already gave them the best equipment, the
best training in the world. We should give them a bite of that
American apple.
Senator Burr. These are also our future leaders.
Mr. Yauger. That is exactly right.
Senator Burr. I have gone over my time. The Chairman has
been gracious. Let me just say, one might conclude that I
condemned every program that the Federal Government has for
employment for veterans. There are programs that work; let me
State that.
Mr. Yauger. Yes, there are.
Senator Burr. But I hope that for the programs that do not
measure outcomes, that you are as disgusted as I am that we
would continue to fund those efforts. It is impossible for me
to believe that we will solve this problem if we are not held
accountable for an increase in the number of veterans that do
not have jobs, and I think I speak for the Committee when I say
we will continue to enlist your suggestions as to things that
we can do.
Maybe some of them are a bridge too far, but I am convinced
that we will be willing to do anything we can to make sure that
these heroes are rewarded with a job. We appreciate them. Thank
you.
Chairman Murray. Thank you very much. Senator Tester.
Senator Tester. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I too want to
express my appreciation for each and every one of your service
to this country. I am just going to go right down the line.
Probably I will start with you, Garett.
You talked about in your testimony taxpayer checkoffs to do
some environmental clean up, and we have a ton of old mines in
Montana, and I know there are issues in the Gulf Coast. You
listed many of them. I think it is an interesting concept. How
far have you taken it as an organization?
Mr. Reppenhagen. We haven't. I mean, we are still
investigating creative ideas. We are certainly not an advocacy
organization. We typically do not spend a lot of time here on
Capitol Hill or even within our State offices advocating for
any sort of changes.
I think if we gave the public an option to really invest in
our veterans, I think we will see an increase in money coming
to us, whether it is through employment funds or through direct
taxation. I think our citizens will elect to give more to
veterans to help us out.
Senator Tester. I actually agree with that assessment a
lot, and I think it is an interesting concept. I think it needs
some fleshing out to potentially move forward with it. I think
it has merit.
Eric, I guess the first question is, do you want to move to
Montana?
[Laughter.]
Mr. Smith. If I can bring my whole entire family along with
me.
Senator Tester. Yeah, well, I will tell you, there are a
couple of things that--I mean, your testimony, as well as
everybody's testimony, pointed out the lack of coordination
from military to civilian life. Often times--and I will get to
this with you Mr. Yauger--often times I think it may be
government-to-government. I mean, you are talking about a CDL
license. That is not private sector. The people who give those
CDL licenses are government once again. So we need to do some
work there.
I wish the director of the VA was here, because I can tell
you in Montana, we are looking for medical professionals all
the time, all the time. It has always been my assumption that
VA looked to veterans first and if they do not, they should. So
we will visit about that, I am sure, at hearings in this
Committee.
But I mean, you point out in very real terms what needs to
be done, I think, as far as transferring the knowledge that you
have gained on the field of battle and in the theater of war to
what goes on in our hospitals around here. I cannot believe--
because medical professionals are in demand--I will give you an
example: my daughter is an RN. I do not care if you are an LPN,
a CNA, RN, she could have picked her spot to go to. You should
be in that same boat, absolutely, unequivocally.
I want to talk to you about the TAP program though, Mr.
Smith. You have been through it. Is it effective? If you were
going to change something in it, what would you change?
Mr. Smith. Well, to start, as was stated by Madam
Chairwoman, it is only mandatory right now in the Marine Corps.
However, you are able to take the TAP class up to 12 months out
from your separation.
Now, me personally, I took the TAP class exactly 12 months
out and about maybe 2 or 3 weeks before I deployed to Iraq. It
is pretty much, if you talk to any guy, you know, that is ready
to get out. It is basically asking what is the quickest way to
get all this stuff checked off my list to get me out of here?
That was my thought process going into it.
This is one less thing to do a year from now when I am
ready to check out. You know, like I said, I deployed to Iraq
weeks after I took that class and, of course, none of that is
going to be retained in that capacity because all I am thinking
about are much more important pressing matters like the lives
of my Marines. So all that's, you know I bring them,
everything.
I think that one, you should shorten that window. You know,
90 days is the magic number when you are separating out of the
military. You know, 90 days is when the clock starts, so to
speak. Shorten TAP down to 90 days out. It should not be that
big of a gap between the time you are taking the class.
Another thing is, we need to update TAP period.
The TAP curriculum as it stands right now is 19-years old.
The job market has changed 10, 20, 30 times since that time
period. The thing is that everybody receives the same class. It
does not matter whether it is a captain that graduated West
Point or a PFC from Montana, they are getting that same class,
but they have separate needs.
The West Point grad is not going to get out and flip
burgers at McDonalds. He is probably going to look toward the
corporate sector. He needs a TAP class that targets his special
needs and what he can provide to the workforce. The same for
that PFC. You know, you need a TAP class that is specific to
what he is able to do and what he is able to provide to the
civilian workforce.
Senator Tester. Thank you. I have run out of time, so I am
not going to ask my other questions, but may put them in
writing. First of all, thank you for your work, Admiral. Thanks
for being in the office yesterday to visit about it.
You do a great job at getting the information out to
businesses. Do we need to do more education of the businesses
and how do we do that?
Do we do that through NFIB? Do we do that through their
trade groups? How do we do that?
The other thing, Mr. Yauger, first of all, I appreciate the
work the Teamsters is doing. I think it is good work, and you
get all the kudos in the world for working to get our vets
employed, whether it is in medical care or driving trucks or
whatever it be. But the issue of CDL conversion--I want to say
big-truck driving in the military's conversion to CDL, I think,
has to be done on a State legislative basis.
Mr. Yauger. That is exactly what we are trying to do. What
we do, we put together a program where we could train and
actually go to military bases, Reserves and Guards.
Senator Tester. I think that the work is easily
transferable and should be transferable, and it is ridiculous
that it is not. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Chairman Murray. Thank you very much. Just one quick
follow-up on the TAP, the Transitional Assistance Program. It
is not mandatory, that is correct? It is old. It needs to be
changed. But the timing of when to do it has been a critical
question that I have discussed with veterans numerous times.
You say, Mr. Smith, yours was too soon, before you even
deployed. It did not mean anything to you when you came back.
You probably do not even remember what they said. We have other
veterans who tell us all they wanted to do is get out. It is a
check-the-box thing. They do not even pay attention; just take
the class and be gone.
When is the ideal time, and where is the ideal place to do
it?
Mr. Smith. The ideal time, like I said, is 90 days out. The
ideal place to do it is, I guess I would say, somewhere
official.
Chairman Murray. I have talked to veterans who come home,
and they got their TAP program in North Carolina, but where
they are going to is Seattle, WA, or Montana. Different job
markets, completely different jobs available.
The private sector is not involved, so they do not even
know the kinds of skills that are going to be looked for where
they return.
Mr. Smith. I do not think that location matters as much as
the content. I think with good content, it does not matter
where you go. I mean, there is a certain set of things that are
universal. You are just going to find it everywhere. The
corporate lingo, it does not change from Maryland to Montana or
from Maryland to California. That is always going to be there.
You need to change the content, bottom line, not the
location.
Chairman Murray. Mr. McCreary, you want to comment?
Admiral McCreary. Madam Chairman, I think it really depends
on the type of job, but anywhere from 3 to 6 months ahead of
time is the best time. But the problem is right now what we do
is we do it all offline really, and we hand people information
and it goes back into the locker. If we went into the tools of
the trade that are out there, where people could actually look
through jobs, help write resumes, learn to do that online, I
guarantee you there would be more touch points in that 3- to 6-
month period before somebody gets out.
Chairman Murray. So they could go back and relook at it.
Admiral McCreary. Because they can keep getting online.
They can keep going back and using all the commercial sites
that are available out there, I mean, all of them. You know,
one is not going to work for somebody and it is going to work
for somebody else, so let's teach the tools to go out there,
show everybody where those assets are available and put the
resources into that so that people can go back and touch it
often in that period.
Chairman Murray. It is basic education training. You
cannot----
Admiral McCreary. There you go.
Chairman Murray [continuing]. Give a lecture for an hour
and expect anybody to retain that information. There has to be
ways that they can relook at it other times and absorb it in
different ways.
Admiral McCreary. Yes, ma'am.
Chairman Murray. Excellent point. I have other questions I
want to submit for the record. The record will remain open for
questions. I want to really thank all of you for your testimony
this morning, and we will now move to the next panel. I will
introduce them as you all move out and they move into their
chairs here. [Pause.]
Coming up on our second panel, we are going to be--if I can
have the Committee's attention--I am going to be introducing
our panelists, as they sit down.
We are going to proceed to the second panel.
We will be hearing from Hon. Ray Jefferson, who is the
Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training
Services. If we could have everybody take their conversations
out of the Committee hearing room so we can move on.
Following Secretary Jefferson is the Honorable John Berry,
who is director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Our
final witness this morning is John Campbell, deputy assistant
secretary of defense for Wounded Warrior Care and Transition
Policy.
Secretary Jefferson, we want to welcome you back to this
Committee and appreciate your testimony and your willingness to
be here today. Secretary Jefferson.
STATEMENT OF RAYMOND M. JEFFERSON, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR
VETERANS' EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Mr. Jefferson. Senator Tester, thank you for the
opportunity to talk about what we are doing with vets to help
veterans and transitioning servicemembers. I ask that my full
written testimony be made part of the record.
I want to thank the first panel for the comments that they
made and also acknowledge the tremendous partnership that we
are working in with OPM, DOD, VA, the SVAC and the HVAC, as
well as our partners with the veterans service organizations,
the private sector, and the non-profits.
We have three primary responsibilities at the Veterans'
Employment and Training Service. The first one is preparing
servicemembers for meaningful careers, and the primary way to
do that is through the Transition Assistance Program. This
program is in radical need of being completely transformed and
reengineered, and we are doing that this year, and we are on
time table to have that done by Veterans Day.
There are six major problems with the TAP program as it
stands right now. One, it is one size fits all. No
customization, no segmentation. Two, the content is outdated.
Three, it is taught primarily by PowerPoint. Four, it does not
leverage online technology. Five, there is no follow-up
services to embed what you learn and six, there is completely
no metrics.
We will be working with some of the national and
international best practices. We have one of the leading
experts on TAP who is here today from Harvard Business School
who has been advising us on how to create a world-class
program. We are on record--we are timelined to have that done
by Veterans Day.
Also, spouses are eligible for TAP, but last year, less
than 2,500 participated. So we are forming a partnership with
DOD's Military Spouse Employment Program. It has gotten jobs
for 90,000 spouses. We are also partnering with the Services
Transition Programs, such as ACAP, with the Army.
Second, a major responsibility we have is providing access
to meaningful careers. We have a new model of employer
outreach. Vets used to meet with employers one at a time. Now
we are working with them 100 at a time, hundreds at a time. We
launched phase one last year. We are now going to phase two
with the U.S. Chamber. This is going to consist of 100 mega-
hiring fairs around the Nation. We launched our first one in
Chicago. We had over 120 employers, over 1,000 veterans there.
One employer--as we get the outcomes coming back, one employer
has hired six veterans. They are all working already.
We have four more that one employer is looking to hire. The
U.S. Chamber brings the employers to the table. VETS, with
their partners, bring the veterans to the table. So we have 99
more of those which are going to be rolling out over the next
year across the Nation. We are also replicating our pilot
program with the Society for Human Resource Management. So we
will be addressing rooms full of hundreds of H.R. executives on
why to hire veterans, and how to hire them.
We are doing this with support from Fortune and Forbes and
Business Week magazines, so employers are going to get the
message as to why to hire veterans. We have commitments from
Business Week, Forbes and Fortune to do that this year. One
article on veterans employment is read by 30 million unique
visitors out of Business Week.
The Federal hiring initiative--I know Director Berry will
talk about that. We are now hiring more veterans into the
Federal Government than ever before, and we have individuals
whose sole job is to liaison with veterans, to make sure that
they are hired in the most efficient, effective manner.
We have 2,000 employee representatives around America in
our JVSG, Jobs for Veterans State Grant Program. They serve
624,000 veterans a year. We find jobs for 200,000 veterans and
with our partners at ETA, that number goes up to 480,000. But
there has been no internal assessment to look at how the
program can be improved since it began in 2002.
So, we are doing an internal assessment right now to get
ideas for best-practice improvements, number 1. Number 2, we
are going to leverage IT to create an online community of
practice so an employee representative in Washington State can
share best practices with an employment representative in North
Carolina or in Montana.
Our Job Corps pilot for the youngest veterans 20- to 24-
years old, this is a fully-funded residential program. We will
transport them to the site that will give them a lifelong
license or credential or certificate, a job, and 21 months of
post-employment support. We have 300 slots in the pilot. Job
Corps serves 44,000 clients a year. So once we do proof of
concept, we can increase the number of slots. We have over 120
enrolled now.
I would be grateful for this Committee's support to raise
awareness of it in the communities to get the other 180 filled.
We also have a very effective rural veterans outreach
pilot. We have launched that in Washington State. We were
hoping to have 10 percent participation. That was our success
metric. We have over 90 percent participation. Over 4,000 rural
veterans are participating in that program. It is a tremendous
success.
There is much more that we can talk about. I want to be
respectful of my time. I look forward to answering your
questions. There is much more to do. We are trying to get all
of it done as quickly as possible at VETS.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Jefferson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Raymond M. Jefferson, Assistant Secretary for
Veterans' Employment and Training, U.S. Department of Labor
Chairman Murray, Ranking Member Burr, and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to appear as a witness before the
Committee and speak to you about Veterans' employment and what the
Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Services (VETS)
is doing to facilitate a smooth, efficient and effective transition of
our Servicemembers and their spouses from the military into the
civilian workforce.
VETS' mission is to proudly serve Veterans and transitioning
Servicemembers by providing resources and expertise to assist and
prepare them to obtain meaningful careers, maximize their employment
opportunities and protect their employment rights. We do that through
the following four major programs that are an integral part of
Secretary Solis's vision of ``Good Jobs for Everyone:''
The Jobs for Veterans State Grants (JVSG);
The Transition Assistance Program Employment Workshops
(TAP);
The Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program (HVRP); and
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights
Act (USERRA).
VETS also continues to partner with the Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) which shares goals for providing services to
Veterans, including transitioning Servicemembers and eligible spouses
through a variety of employment and training programs, which allows the
opportunity to leverage resources for these populations.
Since being confirmed, I've incorporated stakeholder feedback into
the development of five aspirations that VETS will pursue during my
tenure as Assistant Secretary in order to achieve our desired outcomes:
1. Serving as the National focal point for Veterans' employment and
training.
2. Increased engagement with employers, with a particular emphasis
on the private sector.
3. Helping Servicemembers transition seamlessly into meaningful
employment and careers, with a particular emphasis on emerging
industries such as green jobs.
4. Boosting USERRA's impact by increasing awareness of and
commitment to it.
5. Investing in VETS' team members to further develop their
potential and better serve our clients.
Over the past year and a half, VETS has prioritized our efforts to
transform TAP, implement a new approach to employer outreach, and
better serve rural Veterans.
For the purposes of this hearing today, I would like to elaborate
more on these efforts and other initiatives we have to assist our
Servicemembers in transitioning from the military into the civilian
workforce.
transforming and redesigning the transition assistance program
Our primary program for assisting individuals with their transition
is the Transition Assistance Program (TAP). TAP is an interagency
program delivered via a partnership involving the Department of Defense
(DOD), DOL VETS, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS). TAP has four components:
1. Pre-separation counseling--this is mandatory for all
transitioning Servicemembers and is provided by the military services;
2. TAP employment workshop--this is voluntary on the part of the
transitioning Servicemember and is administered through DOL VETS and
its state partners;
3. VA benefits briefing--this briefing is also voluntary and
administered by the VA; and
4. Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP)--also voluntary
and administered by the VA.
Since 1991, when VETS began providing employment workshops pursuant
to section 502 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 1991 (P.L. 101-510), we've provided employment and job training
assistance and other transitional services to over two and a half
million separating and retiring Serve Members and their spouses. Our
goal is to provide TAP at every location requested by the Armed
Services or National Guard and Reserve Components.
VETS' employment workshop is a comprehensive two and a half day
program during which participants are supposed to learn relevant skills
and information, such as job search techniques, career decisionmaking
processes, and current labor market conditions. Practical exercises are
conducted in resume writing and interviewing techniques. Participants
are also provided an evaluation of their employability relative to the
job market and receive information on the most current Veterans'
benefits available. Components of the employment workshop include:
career self-assessment, resume development, job search and interview
techniques, U.S. labor market information, civilian workforce
requirements and documentation of military skills.
The current workshop also includes discussion about additional
services available at the over 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers. By
connecting over 1.8 million Veterans to the workforce investment system
this past program year, One-Stop Career Centers are helping to provide
the support Veterans need to be successful and competitive in today's
workforce. Building on this success, VETS partners with the ETA to
increase Veterans' awareness of, access to, and use of the One-Stop
service delivery system including ETA's suite of on-line electronic
tools.
To maintain quality in service delivery and ensure uniformity among
locations, all workshops use a common workbook and standard program of
instruction. In addition, all facilitators are trained and certified by
the National Veterans' Training Institute.
In the FY 2012 Budget proposal, VETS requests that the Transition
Assistance Program be funded at $9,000,000, renewing our FY 2011
request to fund this as a separate activity. This is $2,000,000 above
the level for FY 2010. VETS anticipates increased demand for TAP
Employment Workshops in connection with the Department of Defense's
Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, and in providing workshops to
retiring Reserve and National Guard members.
In the current TAP workshop, we have identified six primary
opportunities for improvement. Therefore, VETS is taking the
unprecedented step of completely redesigning and transforming the TAP
employment workshop. We are creating experiential, effective, and
enduring solutions for a successful transition from military to
civilian life and employment. The new TAP is based on established best
practices in career transition. Many of its components have never been
a part of the employment workshop and are being introduced for the
first time.
The first improvement opportunity we've identified is that the
current TAP workshop does not include any type of assessment of an
individual prior to a person attending the workshop. As a result, there
is no customization to an individual's needs or readiness for
employment. Presently, Servicemembers and other TAP participants (e.g.,
spouses) with different transition needs and degrees of employment
readiness are all grouped together. As an example, when a senior non-
commissioned officer with a bachelor's degree attends the same workshop
as a junior enlisted member with a high school diploma, each has a
different readiness level and transition needs. Therefore, to be most
effective, the workshop content should be customized for each
participant's employment readiness situation. Previously, there was no
way to accomplish this goal. One solution could be ``pre-work''--
multiple employment-readiness assessments completed before attending
TAP. The redesign will assess each individual's readiness for
employment and their career interests before attending the workshop via
online surveys. The pre-work process will then assess and place each
TAP participant in one of three categories of employment readiness: 1)
high, 2) moderate, and 3) entry-level. When a Servicemember attends
TAP, they will so do with a cohort of peers at the same readiness level
and, additionally, receive materials tailored to their specific level.
The second improvement opportunity we've identified is that the TAP
Employment Workshop content is outdated--the material has not been
significantly updated in 19 years. Therefore, the transformation and
redesign will bring in best practice content in the area of career
transition.
As a result of the pre-work assessment, the content will be
customized based on employment readiness and will cover topics such as
the following:
1. Life and career planning
2. Transitioning from a military to a civilian work environment
3. Stress reduction techniques
4. Mental resiliency training
5. How to create a network
6. Storytelling (articulating one's value proposition)
7. Peer-support techniques
8. Entrepreneurship.
Although TAP will continue to cover the traditional topics like
resume writing, interviewing, and dressing for success, an important
new emphasis in TAP will be the creation of an Individual Transition
Plan that will serve as a roadmap for the ``next steps'' to be taken in
each participant's transition to civilian employment.
The third improvement opportunity we've identified is that TAP is
presently being facilitated by a mixed cadre with different skill
levels and training (e.g. contractors, VETS Federal staff, State
Disabled Veteran Outreach Program specialists, and Local Veterans
Employment Representatives). Our solution to this is to shift to only
using skilled and experienced contract facilitators who are trained to
standards developed as part of the redesign. They will provide
experiential learning and interactive facilitation that is customized
to a participant's readiness level. This represents a significant shift
away from a reliance on PowerPoint slides. Evidence has shown that
skilled contract facilitators produce the best results of the current
mix of TAP facilitators. Having the facilitator contracted directly to
VETS will enhance their performance accountability.
The fourth improvement opportunity we've identified is the
limitation in what the current TAP employment workshop can cover and
who can attend. The solution to this is an online platform. The TAP
transformation and redesign will include an online, e-learning platform
that will contain the entire TAP Workshop--including the pre-work
assessment tools--in an engaging, dramatized format and serve as a
comprehensive toolbox for wounded warriors, spouses, Guard and
Reservists. Having an online platform will allow Servicemembers,
Veterans, and spouses to access all of the content provided in TAP,
including the workshop, at any time. Additionally, it will provide
comprehensive content on entrepreneurship and Federal employment.
Furthermore, a Veteran who went through TAP many years ago--or who
never went through it--can go online and access the best-practice
content of the new TAP. Finally, this solution will allow us to receive
feedback from online users and track how many there are.
The fifth improvement opportunity we've identified with the current
program is that there are no follow-up services for its participants.
Currently, when a transitioning Servicemember or spouse attends TAP,
they leave with whatever they received in those two and a half days.
Our solution to this is an innovation called ``After-TAP Support.'' In
the redesigned TAP, after attending a workshop, each participant will
have 60-day access to individualized phone and online support with
``live'' person-to-person contact that will focus primarily on
assisting participants with implementing their own Individual
Transition Plan.
The sixth improvement opportunity we've identified is that TAP has
no performance metrics to evaluate its effectiveness. During the 19
years since the TAP employment workshop has been in existence, we
estimate that more than 2.5 million people have gone through the TAP
program. However, there is no accumulated data measuring the program's
effectiveness. Therefore the redesign will include performance metrics.
The new program will gather evaluation input from TAP participants at
``three moments of truth'':
1. When the TAP Employment Workshop concludes--attendees will
evaluate the delivery, content, resources, and setting;
2. During the job search process--attendees will evaluate the value
and relevancy of the workshop's content; and
3. After becoming employed--attendees will evaluate the program's
effectiveness in helping them to assimilate into a new culture,
minimize the time it takes for them to begin contributing, and provide
feedback on the overall value of the new TAP and its usefulness in
obtaining a job.
employer outreach through jobs for veterans state grants program
The Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP) and the Local Veterans
Employment Representatives (LVER) program are known collectively as the
Jobs for Veterans State Grants program (JVSG). Over time, the
responsibilities of DVOPs and LVERs have merged. However, VETS realizes
that their function and value are very different, and it is critical
that these positions maintain their distinct roles.
DVOP specialists provide intensive employment services and
assistance to meet the employment needs of eligible Veterans. DVOPs do
this primarily at the Nation's One-Stop Career Centers funded through
the Workforce Investment Act and at the VA's Vocational Rehabilitation
and Employment (VR&E) offices. They also provide recovery and
employment assistance to wounded and injured Servicemembers receiving
care at Department of Defense military treatment facilities and Warrior
Transition Units through the Recovery & Employment Assistance Lifelines
(REALifelines) program. DVOPs focus their services on disabled
Veterans. DVOPs also provide services through the Homeless Veterans'
Reintegration Program, Veterans' Workforce Investment Program,
Transition Assistance Program, and the Incarcerated Veterans'
Transition Program.
The LVER program is a State grant program authorized by Section
4104, Title 38, United States Code. LVER staff conduct outreach to
employers and engage in advocacy efforts with hiring executives to
increase employment opportunities for Veterans, encourage the hiring of
disabled Veterans, and generally assist Veterans to gain and retain
employment. They are often members of One Stop Career Center business
development teams. LVERs also conduct seminars for employers and job
search workshops for Veterans seeking employment, and facilitate the
provision of employment, training, and placement services to Veterans
by all staff of the employment service delivery system. In addition,
LVER staff seek to maintain cooperative working relationships with
community organizations that provide complementary services and
referral.
employer outreach through partnerships
VETS created, and is implementing, a new approach to employer
outreach that involves a pilot program and partnership with the U.S.
Chamber Of Commerce. The official launch of the program was October 1,
2010. This partnership is giving us much broader access to employers so
that we can communicate the value of hiring a Veteran and how to access
this extraordinary source of talent. It also allows us to educate
employers about the unique skills Veterans bring with them based on
their military experience.
Phase 1 of the pilot program included the formalized coordination,
through a Memorandum of Understanding, between the U.S. Chamber's
affiliated chambers of commerce in 14 states with our State Directors
(DVETS) and local staff there. VETS and the U.S. Chamber's affiliates
worked to connect Veterans seeking employment with companies who were
hiring. Connecting the talent pool with the many companies looking to
hire Veterans allowed for a more efficient hiring process for many
Veterans and employers. We gained valuable information from Phase 1 of
the pilot that we'll be applying to Phase 2, a nationwide initiative to
help Veterans find jobs in local communities across the country.
In this pilot program, VETS works with Mr. Kevin Schmiegel, the
U.S. Chamber's Vice President for Veterans Employment and a Veteran of
the U.S. Marine Corps. Mr. Schmiegel has been a steadfast advocate of
Veterans' employment and an enthusiastic proponent of both the pilot
and VETS.
As part of the Chamber's commitment to VETS, they recently hosted a
meeting with their Top 100 Chambers from across the country, with
representation from all 50 states. During this meeting, the Chamber
enlisted support from a vast majority of these Top 100 Chambers to
volunteer to host hiring fairs exclusively for Veterans, transitioning
Servicemembers and their spouses in their respective cities. In the
partnership, the U.S. Chamber and its affiliates focus primarily on
securing the participation of employers while the VETS team focuses on
obtaining participation by Veterans, transitioning Servicemembers and
their spouses. The DVETS, along with DVOPs and LVERs in hiring fair
locales, connect with the local affiliated chambers participating to
coordinate outreach to both employers and the Veteran community.
The larger hiring fairs are titled ``Mega-Hiring Fairs.'' An
example was Phase 2's kickoff hiring fair in Chicago on March 24, 2011
that connected over 100 employers with over 1,000 Veterans,
Servicemembers and spouses. The Chicago hiring fair began Phase 2 of
our pilot program--a nationwide initiative to help Veterans find jobs
in local communities across the country. Participating employers must
have current vacancies to fill in their organization. We are now
working to replicate the Chicago Hiring Fair model with the remaining
99 of the Top 100 Chambers, and are finalizing locations and dates for
future Mega-Hiring fairs. This pilot represents a new approach to
employer outreach for VETS and is an effective and efficient way to
connect employers and Veterans.
job corps
VETS and the Employment and Training Administration's (ETA) Job
Corps program developed a demonstration project in June 2010 to offer
additional educational and career technical training to Veterans and
Transitioning Servicemembers at one of three specific Job Corps
centers. These include the Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center in
Morganfield, KY, Excelsior Springs Job Corps Center in Excelsior
Springs, MO, and Atterbury Job Corps Center in Edinburgh, IN. Each of
these three centers has 100 dedicated slots for Veterans to live and
train together.
While Veterans currently benefit from priority enrollment into Job
Corps, this partnership also provides them with priority in entering
the academic and career technical training of their choice.
This is 100 percent free for enrolled Veterans. The program
includes transportation to and from the Job Corps center, housing,
meals, basic medical services, academic and career technical training,
bi-weekly living allowance, job placement services and post-enrollment
support.
We have worked with Job Corps to streamline the program so that it
recognizes the maturity and life experience that our Veterans have
gained from their military experience. Job Corps employs a
comprehensive career development training approach that teaches
academic, career technical, employability skills, and social
competencies in an integrated manner through a combination of
classroom, practical and work-based learning experiences to prepare
participants for stable, long-term employment in high-demand jobs. Job
Corps graduates have the opportunity to earn an industry-recognized
certification or credential that supports the skills and knowledge
gained through career training.
One of the Job Corps program's key benefits is its post-enrollment
support. When Veterans are ready to begin transitioning into their
career, Job Corps staff will assist them in job searching, resume
drafting, and job interviewing skills.
Job Corps provides graduates with transition services for up to 21
months after graduation, including assistance with housing,
transportation, and other support services. Upon completion of
training, Veterans will be assigned to a career transition counselor to
assist them with job placement or enrollment in higher education.
We have incorporated information about this demonstration project
and have created outreach materials to be distributed in our TAP
Employment Workshops all over the world. TAP facilitators discuss this
initiative in class and Job Corps personnel visit selected sites to
answer questions and initiate applications from interested Veterans.
This is a great opportunity for Veterans 20 to 24 years old--the cohort
with the highest unemployment--and we are utilizing various methods,
including discussing it before this Committee today, in order to get
the word out.
rural veterans outreach pilot program
Finally, VETS is developing an innovative national initiative that
will allow us and states to greatly improve outreach to rural Veterans;
provide them access to better programs, services and information; and
connect them to a wide variety of services. Rural service is a
challenge governmentwide because of the cost of serving Americans that
live a great distance away from government programs and infrastructure.
During this economically difficult time, it is even more complicated to
increase services in these areas. VETS' initiative aims to overcome
this barrier by leveraging low cost volunteer capacity that exists in
communities. VETS, working with state and local government, will
provide the initial outreach to rural Veterans and proactively connect
them to the workforce system.
VETS chose Washington State to be the first pilot state for this
initiative for the following reasons:
1. A proven history of innovation in employment and Veteran
programming;
2. A track record of providing strong employment services to the
Veteran population and a commitment from the leadership in the state
government to continue providing a high level of service to the state's
large community of Veterans;
3. A strong network of Veteran service organizations committed to
volunteering their time and energy to support their fellow Veteran;
4. A geographically diverse state with significant rural Veteran
population and a well managed statewide network for launching a new
initiative; and
5. Senior Congressional leadership in Washington, DC, and
leadership in the Governor's Office have both expressed their support
for this initiative.
The core service involves a team of volunteers who will initiate
contact with Veterans, check on how their careers are going and, if
needed, make them aware of additional support available from government
and non-government organizations. The initiative is created to connect
Veterans to Veteran specialists in the state workforce agency.
The pilot is working in 22 rural counties in Washington State, with
approximately 40,000 Veterans identified in this area. Of this
population, 15,000 have not been in contact with employment services in
the last five years. This is the baseline for the outreach effort.
Based on these numbers, VETS has identified approximately 5-20
community driven Veteran volunteers, and government funded volunteer
organizations, to perform the outreach activities. Some volunteer
organizations currently work in multiple counties and will be covering
more than one county as a volunteer organization.
VETS has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Washington
State Employment Security Department (ESD), the Washington Department
of Veterans Affairs (WDVA), and the Washington State National Guard (J-
9). VETS formally launched the program in Seattle on October 26, 2010.
From December 2010 through March 2011, the Labor Market and
Economic Analysis Division (LMEA), a division of the ESD, conducted
outreach to Veterans and contacted all Veterans who positively
responded to the LMEA outreach requesting additional information on
employment services. For those Veterans who requested additional
information, LMEA will make up to three attempts to contact each of
these Veterans to provide more information. Simultaneously, the WDVA,
in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service
(CNCS) organized volunteers, are mailing postcards to Veterans where
there is no phone information available. This will allow the Veteran to
contact LMEA to arrange personal contact.
As part of the model, the National Veterans Training Institute
(NVTI) trains ESD employees and leaders from the volunteer
organizations on how to provide outreach service to Veterans. Volunteer
organizations are taught to understand government programs and provide
employment program related information when asked. Also, they are
trained in working from scripts created by LMEA on how to structure
their conversations with Veterans.
LMEA will record which Veterans request additional support during
the personal interview. They will provide this information to the State
workforce agency who will coordinate a volunteer to provide this
additional support in person.
The goal is to facilitate a meeting within three weeks of the
outreach activity between the Veteran and the volunteer. The volunteer
will provide information on programs that exist at the Federal, state
and local level and contact information of the nearest DVOP or LVER in
their area to continue the support until employment is found for the
Veteran.
We have seen extremely positive results thus far in the program.
Our metric for success was having 10 percent of the Veterans
participate--their actual participation rate is in excess of 90
percent.
conclusion
Chairman Murray, Ranking Member Burr, and Distinguished Members of
the Committee on Veterans Affairs, I reaffirm my commitment to work
closely with you, the outstanding team at VETS, and our partners and
stakeholders to provide Veterans and transitioning Servicemembers the
best possible services and programs. Our success will be measured by
the impact our programs have on helping our Veterans find and keep good
jobs in today's modern economy.
We will continue to work tirelessly and innovatively to help our
Veterans and transitioning Servicemembers create meaningful lives,
develop rewarding careers and become productive citizens and leaders in
their communities.
Thank you again for your unwavering commitment to Veterans and for
the support that you've been providing to us.
I appreciate the opportunity to testify before you today and look
forward to answering your questions.
______
Posthearing Questions Submitted by Hon. Patty Murray to Hon. Raymond M.
Jefferson, Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training,
U.S. Department of Labor
Question 1. In your oral testimony you discussed improvements to
the Transition Assistance Program. One of the key components to
improving TAP is the use of metrics to measure the outcomes of TAP. Do
you intend to follow up with veterans once they have left the service
to measure the success of TAP and gage what other employment assistance
veterans may have?
Question 2. Please describe any work that has been done with state
or national accrediting bodies in order to ease a servicemember's
transition to civilian employment.
Question 3. As the agency statutorily responsible for job and job
training intensive services program, an employment placement service
program, and a job training placement service program for eligible
veterans, how often does the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment
and Training Service coordinate meetings with other Agencies involved
in veterans' employment and training? Please describe the nature of
these meetings. How does VETS make certain that all Agencies are
regularly and freely informing each other of new initiatives that
involve veterans' employment and training?
______
Posthearing Questions from Hon. Richard Burr to Hon. Raymond M.
Jefferson, Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training,
U.S. Department of Labor
Question 1. In a recent report, the Government Accountability
Office noted that ''[l]ittle is known about the effectiveness of
[Federal] employment and training programs * * * because only five
reported demonstrating whether outcomes can be attributed to the
program through an impact study.'' That report also notes that ''[the
Department of] Labor is conducting an impact evaluation of [certain]
services, to be completed in 2015.''
A. Are the programs administered by the Veterans' Employment and
Training Service being evaluated as part of that study? If not, is
there a separate impact study underway dealing with those veteran-
specific programs?
B. If an impact study is being conducted with respect to employment
programs targeting veterans, how many veterans who participate in each
of those programs are expected to be involved in the study?
C. If an impact study is being conducted with respect to employment
programs targeting veterans, what are the major milestones of that
study and when will the study be completed?
Question 2. The Veterans' Employment and Training Service is
involved with a number of new initiatives, including a demonstration
project with Jobs Corps, outreach to rural veterans, and outreach to
employers.
A. What performance measures are being used to gauge the usefulness
of each of those initiatives?
b. how much in total has been expended for purposes of those
initiatives?
C. How many veterans have obtained jobs or better jobs as a result
of these initiatives?
______
Posthearing Questions Submitted by Hon. Jon Tester to Hon. Raymond M.
Jefferson, Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training,
U.S. Department of Labor
Question 1. I was encouraged to see your office launch a pilot
program that provided outreach to unemployed rural veterans. It's
critically important that we get a better idea of what services they
could best utilize to get back into the workforce. I've raised this
issue with you in the past and I certainly think it's a step in the
right direction. I understand the challenges that come with budgeting.
But I'm still hopeful that Montana veterans have some input during this
process. I think it's important.
What are some of the early results of the pilot? What have
you learned about ways we can better reach folks in frontier areas and
reservations across the country? Because I can tell you that it's not
currently being done.
Question 2. As you know, American Indians serve in our Armed Forces
in greater numbers than any other ethnic group, proportionally. However
in Montana, reservation unemployment rates often exceed 50 percent. We
can improve that number if we can put vets to work in those
communities.
What are you doing to reach those folks? And when do you
anticipate moving forward in developing a more comprehensive or
national strategy to address rural veterans unemployment overall?
Question 3. I only have good things to say about the Disabled
Veterans Opportunity Program specialists and the Local Veterans
Employment Representatives in Montana. They provide a critical set of
services to veterans across my state. The problem is that we don't have
enough of them.
The current funding formula ensures that we only get a handful of
employment trainers and counselors for a state as geographically large
as the entire northeastern corridor of the United States. This reality
makes it extremely difficult to adequately serve our veterans.
Can you speak to any efforts in VETS to acknowledge the
shortcoming of the funding formula issue? Are there any efforts
underway to change this formula to better reflect the needs of rural
veterans in states like Montana? How can we use better use technology
to reach rural areas?
______
Posthearing Questions Submitted by Hon. Mark Begich to Hon. Raymond M.
Jefferson, Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training,
U.S. Department of Labor
Question 1. As you know, outreach to the Alaska Native community is
best accomplished through the tribal entities.
Can you discuss any specific outreach efforts that VETS
has made to reach out to the Alaska Native veteran community?
Question 2. When you were in Alaska in February of last year, you
mentioned that you wanted to explore the value of e-commerce for
veterans in rural America. The concept you spoke of was for veterans to
create internet-based home businesses.
How is that concept progressing?
Question 3. You discussed the stovepipes inhibiting communications
between the critical government agencies responsible for business
development. You wanted to break down those stovepipes to bring
organizations such as the Department of Commerce, Small Business
Administration, and the Minority Business and Development Agency
together to form a synergistic team.
Do you feel you have been successful in accomplishing this
goal?
What areas of concern still remain?
How can we help you in accomplishing this goal?
Question 4. In Alaska, there are around 1,500 servicemembers
transitioning to the civilian sector each year.
Has there been an evaluation of the effectiveness of the
DOL' DVOPs?
How much outreach outside of the office do they do?
Question 5. You stated during our Alaska field hearings last year
that Alaska has 5-6 USERRA complaints a year. These types of issues are
the last thing our returning veterans should have to deal with in the
work place.
What does VETS do to better educate prospective and
current employers on USERRA?
Are there issues with USERRA that Congress can address?
Does this pose challenges that would have to be addressed
by Congress?
[Responses were not received within the Committee's
timeframe for publication.]
Chairman Murray. Thank you very much.
Mr. Berry?
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BERRY, DIRECTOR,
U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
Mr. Berry. Madam Chair, thank you, and Members of the
Committee, if I could just go off the testimony for just a
second. I told Eric Smith I want to meet with him before next
Friday. My commitment to you is I will do everything I can to
see if we could use him as a real face example of some of the
programs I am going to talk to you about in more detail here in
our testimony.
But it is crazy that we do not recognize medical expertise
and talent when we are desperate. Just as you said Senator
Tester, we cannot hire enough nurses in our hospitals around
the country. We need to take full advantage of this and make
sure we take the skills of these valued, experienced, and
trained individuals and bring them into our government.
I asked Eric Smith if his schedule would allow, since I
want to meet with him before next Friday to see if we could use
him as the real case example to make this work and to show the
Committee that we are passionate about this.
I want to thank you again for the opportunity to talk to
you a little bit about the President's Veterans Employment
Initiative that we are doing within the Federal Government.
This is the most comprehensive high-level initiative ever to
keep our returning heroes in public service and our initial
success for our first year is looking pretty encouraging.
In fiscal year 2010, we saw an improvement at 21 out of 24
agencies across the government. Overall, our agencies hired a
total of over 2,000 more vets in 2010 than in fiscal year 2009,
even while we hired 11,000 less Federal employees overall. The
other important thing to note is of the vets who were hired, of
our total of over 70,000 vets that were employed in the Federal
Government, 2,700 more disabled vets were hired in fiscal year
2010, more than were than were in fiscal year 2009.
I also want to tell you I take this seriously. OPM is
leading by example. I am very proud. OPM's first this year had
the highest percentage of disabled vets hired in the entire
Federal Government, more than DOD, more than VA, more than
anybody, and we are a pretty small agency. So we take this
seriously, and we are driving this.
A little history: the President launched this Veterans
Employment Initiative by Executive Order in 2009. It provides
the highest level of leadership on this issue in history. It
creates a council chaired by Secretary Shinseki at the VA and
Secretary Solis at Labor. I am the Chief Operating Officer of
the council. Twenty-four agencies across the government are
represented on the council.
The initiative also requires every agency in the government
to set up a full-time veterans employment officer. That has
never happened before. It has always been collateral duty, and
therefore, as you know, that means it gets short shrift
attention. We are now giving it full-time attention and that
has created a network across the government so that if someone
comes in to Labor, for example, who is an accountant, and
Labor's slots are filled right now. That professional can call
their counterparts in other agencies and say, ``Boy, I have a
super accountant here; do you have a slot?'', and build that
network of informal communication. We have been trying to do
that. We are building that and it is growing. It is really
wonderful.
The Web site which we launched this year, Fedshirevets.gov,
has gotten over two million hits and is a wonderful, wonderful
program. There is special hiring authorities for veterans. This
Committee is familiar with this. We are using this as one of
the easy avenues to get in. But we are also creating--and I
wanted to spend a little bit of my remaining time to talk about
two programs then get into more of the specifics of the first
panel.
Recognizing that this transition is important, we are
starting with two professions that have easily transferable
skills, but the paperwork is standing in the way. The first is
acquisition programs. We are in desperate need of contract
officers and specialists in the Federal Government. We have
people who are doing this is in the military and they are doing
wonderful jobs of it. With the right training and right
certification, we can slot them into these jobs.
So we have created a veterans acquisition intern program
where they will come in at an entry-level program. We will
employ them. They will have the time to be able to go and take
the training courses and certification programs that they need
to get into the program, and then they can be converted into
the permanent Career Civil Service and have a career trajectory
that can go as high as GS-15.
So we are trying to create real jobs and bring people in at
the GS-3, 4, 5 level, but give them a career trajectory so they
would have a real opportunity in their life.
The second program, and it is very on point with the first
panel, is we are doing the exact same thing with nursing, the
nursing career track. We are trying to wrestle to the ground
the certification program problem, because these people, as you
heard so admirably and eloquently from the first panel, have
got the skills. We just have to figure out how to transfer them
in and make sure we do not let paperwork stand in the way.
Madam Chairman, I apologize, my time is expired. The rest
of my testimony, I have it. I will give it to you and stand
ready to answer any questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Berry follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. John Berry, Director,
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Madam Chair, Senator Burr, and Members of the Committee: Thank you
for inviting me to this important hearing on veterans' employment in
the Federal Government and for the chance to speak with you about the
Office of Personnel Management's (OPM's) leadership of the
Administration's Veterans Employment Initiative.
One of the best ways for us to honor the service of the brave men
and women in our Armed Forces is to make sure they have ample
opportunities for civilian employment in the Federal Government. They
are valued, experienced, and trained. In doing so, we are not only
demonstrating appreciation for their service and sacrifice; we are
making it possible for the Nation to continue to benefit from their
talents, dedication, and training. As I have said many times, hiring
veterans makes good business sense.
veterans employment initiative
Recognizing this, President Mama launched the Veterans Employment
Initiative in November 2009, when he issued Executive Order 13518. The
order created the Council on Veterans Employment to advise and assist
the President on improving employment opportunities for veterans in the
Federal Government. The Council is co-chaired by the Secretaries of
Labor and Veterans Affairs. As Director of OPM, I serve as Vice Chair.
Twenty-four agencies are represented on the Council.
More than a year ago, the Veterans Employment Council published the
first ever Strategic Plan for Government-wide Veterans Recruitment and
Employment. The Strategic Plan, which covers the period from FY 2010
through FY 2012, maps a comprehensive assault on barriers to veterans'
employment in the areas of leadership commitment, skills development,
marketing employment opportunities for veterans, and creation of a
single-source information gateway for disseminating veterans'
employment information.
One key action required by the executive order was the
establishment of a Veterans Employment Program Office (VEPO) within
each of the 24 agencies represented on the Council. The mission of each
of these offices is to support the Veterans Employment Initiative and
provide employment assistance to veterans at the agency level. OPM's
VEPO provides a full range of support to transitioning servicemembers,
other veterans--including disabled veterans--and their family members
who seek information on employment in the Federal Government. In
November 2010, the physical space for OPM's VEPO with assistive
technology was officially opened to assist disabled veterans in their
Federal job search.
progress in veterans' employment
The past year has yielded significant progress. Last September, the
Council on Veterans Employment adopted a hiring model that established
aggressive, but realistic, goals for veterans' hiring by agencies in
the current fiscal year. At the most recent meeting of the Council last
month, all agencies indicated they are making good progress toward
meeting these goals. Executive branch agencies increased their hiring
of veterans by a total of nearly 2,000 from FY 2009 to FY 2010, even
though their total hiring fell by 11,000 during that same period.
Specifically, veterans' hiring grew from 70,170 in FY 2009 to 72,133 in
FY 2010, which comprised more than a quarter of new hires in the
executive branch. Moreover, agencies hired nearly 2,700 more disabled
veterans in FY 2010 than in 2009. While the Governmentwide results are
promising, more progress is needed.
OPM, as an agency, has worked hard to provide employment
opportunities for veterans. We hired 229 veterans in FY 2010, compared
to 171 veterans in FY 2009. In both years, veterans constituted
approximately 27 percent of OPM's total new hires. In FY 2010, we hired
113 disabled veterans--41 more than in the previous year. Disabled
veterans made up more than 13 percent of OPM's total new hires last
year--more than any other agency's percentage of hires.
use of special hiring authorities for veterans
We continue to encourage agencies to make full use of the various
hiring authorities that can facilitate veterans' employment. For
example, the Veterans Recruitment Act authorizes noncompetitive
appointment for eligible veterans to positions up to the GS-11 level,
or equivalent. The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) can be
used to appoint those entitled to veterans' preference or veterans who
have at least 3 years of active military service to permanent positions
in the competitive civil service. Hiring of veterans under the VEOA
increased from about 20,200 in 2009 to more than 20,750 in 2010.
Veterans Recruitment Act appointments grew from 6,659 to nearly 7,000
during the same period, and the special hiring authority for veterans
who are 30 percent or more disabled accounted for more than 2,000 hires
last year, compared to 1,727 in 2009.
veterans acquisition intern program
One element of the Veterans Employment Initiative we are
particularly excited about is the new Veterans Acquisition Intern
Program, which we will launch later this year as a pilot. This is an
inter-agency program designed to recruit student veterans and support
their career development once they are hired. It will offer veterans
who are students the opportunity to gain valuable on-the-job training
and work experience in the acquisition field while continuing their
education.
Those who are selected for the program will be assigned a mentor,
and a robust Individual Development Plan will be used to track their
progress. Upon completion of the program, these interns will be
eligible for non-competitive conversion to permanent positions in the
competitive civil service as contract specialists.
OPM will determine the eligibility criteria for this program and
select applicants for agencies to consider. We will provide career
counseling for applicants, establish metrics and an assessment process,
approve each agency's implementation plan, and evaluate the program. If
the Veterans Acquisition Intern Program is as successful as we hope, we
will explore the possibility of extending the concept to other
occupations. One of the most exciting features of this approach is that
it offers veterans opportunities for careers in Government, not just
jobs, and builds on the Government's investment in their military
training and experience.
veterans nursing career track initiative
During an OPM Veterans Service Organization (VSO) Coalition meeting
last fall, several veteran representatives expressed concern over the
difficulty they experienced trying to convert their military medical
training and experience as Army medics or Navy Corpsmen to assist in
their quest for employment as Federal nurses. Although several medical
intake positions exist which easily allow a former medic or Corpsman to
enter the medical field based on their level of training and
experience, these positions were not in the Federal nursing series such
as Registered Nurse (RN) (0610) or Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
(0620).
On March 29, 2011, OPM hosted a mini-summit of representatives from
Federal agencies, military medical organizations, credentialing bodies,
and academia to identify and address issues affecting transitioning
servicemembers and veterans seeking Federal nursing positions in order
to create an effective career track for veterans. During the forum, the
VA stated that it hires LPNs who are provided an opportunity to finish
their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree to become an RN. This
program may serve as an excellent vehicle to bring young medics and
Corpsmen into Federal service while they complete their academic
studies. This information is very encouraging as we assist more
veterans in securing Federal nursing positions in this mission-critical
area.
veterans employment training modules
The executive order establishing the Veterans Employment Initiative
required OPM to develop mandatory training for human resources
personnel and Federal hiring managers on veterans' employment,
including veterans' preference and special hiring authorities. We are
currently developing an interactive web-based E-Learning application on
veterans' employment, which will enable us to track the progress of
those who take the courses. The training will cover veterans'
preference, special hiring authorities for veterans, non-competitive
appointment eligibility for military spouses, and the Uniformed
Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
hiring reform and veterans
More than two years ago, we embarked on a broad initiative to
reform the entire Federal hiring process. Along the way, we have
attempted to address broad systemic problems such as reducing long job
announcements and allowing resumes and. cover letters as applications.
However, where appropriate, we have taken on targeted approaches, as
with veterans' employment, to improving the recruitment and hiring of
talented men and women to represent the diversity of our Nation and our
workforce. This intersection of these various reform initiatives is
creating a veterans-friendly employment environment that is unmatched
in the private sector.
Hiring Reform, at large, has several major components, all of
which, in one way or another, create opportunities to improve veterans'
employment. The President issued a memo to make the process easier for
talented candidates to apply for Federal employment. Veterans can now
navigate the process with greater ease and ensure their veteran's
preference is applied fairly and consistently.
Additionally, I am proud of the work OPM and other Federal agencies
have done in implementing President Obama's executive order on hiring
more people with disabilities. As many members of the military return
from combat with serious disabilities, it is our duty as an employer to
create opportunities for these men and women to transition into Federal
employment.
The Student Pathways framework is another significant part of
Hiring Reform. The Student Pathways Initiative, like the Veterans
Employment Initiative, was launched by President Obama in an executive
order. Executive Order 13562 of December 27, 2010, established three
streamlined pathways into Federal service for students and recent
graduates, consolidating a confusing patchwork of programs into one
Internship Program, a Recent Graduates Program, and the Presidential
Management Fellows Program. We expect to issue proposed regulations
implementing this initiative in the near future.
The Student Pathways framework was the product of an inter-agency
study spearheaded by OPM, which concluded that the Government was at a
serious competitive disadvantage compared to the private sector in its
ability to recruit and hire students and recent graduates. The inter-
agency team recommended the consolidated pathways approach as a way to
overcome this disadvantage. The Internship Program will target students
enrolled in institutions at all levels, ranging from high school to
doctoral programs. The Recent Graduates Program will be designed for
recent graduates of trade and vocational schools, community colleges,
and universities. The Presidential Management Fellows Program will
include modest enhancements to the current leadership development
program for advance degree candidates. Veterans' preference will apply
to selections made under all three of the pathways.
The Recent Graduates Program, in particular, can be helpful to
veterans in gaining access to Federal employment. It will target recent
graduates of trade and vocational schools, community colleges,
universities, and other qualifying institutions. This program will be
open to those who apply within two years after completing their
degrees; however, veterans who cannot apply within the two-year window
because of their military service obligation will be able to apply as
much as six years after finishing their degrees. Applicants who are
accepted into the Recent Graduates Program will be placed in a two-year
development program with a cohort of peers hired during timeframes
aligned with academic calendars. Those who successfully complete the
program will be considered for placement into permanent jobs.
Our simultaneous pursuit of four major initiatives demonstrates
that many overlapping goals can be pursued in concert.
special appointment eligibility for military spouses
Our concern is not only for returning veterans who are seeking
jobs, but also for the spouses of those permanently disabled or killed
during military service. Just last month, OPM published a proposed
regulation to extend a special hiring authority for spouses of deceased
and 100 percent disabled veterans. Currently, these spouses may be
appointed, without competition, to a Federal job within two years after
their spouse dies or becomes fully disabled. However, we recognize that
many spouses are not prepared to enter the workforce during this two-
year period because they are still grieving, or are enrolled in
educational or training programs, or may be caring for children or for
their disabled spouse. The change we recently proposed will remove the
two-year time limit on this appointment eligibility so that these
spouses will have as much time as they need to consider seeking
employment in the Federal Government.
fedshirevets.gov
Finally, I wanted to tell you about a special Web site for
veterans. In January 2010, FedsHireVets.gov became operational to
support the information needs of transitioning servicemembers,
veterans, and military spouses seeking employment in the Federal
Government. Besides posting updates on important Veterans Employment
Initiative activities, the Web site provides useful information on
veterans' preference, special veterans appointing authorities, and
agency-specific Veteran Employment Program Manager contact data. A
special feature of the Web site provides answers to Frequently Asked
Questions and offers an opportunity to ask a question not addressed.
Additionally, the associated Facebook and Twitter accounts promote real
time social contact on employment opportunities and special events.
Since its creation, FedsHireVets.gov has registered well over 1 million
hits.
conclusion
To conclude, I would say that our Veterans Employment Initiative is
off to a great start. We are pleased with the initial progress we have
made, both within OPM and working with the other agencies on the
Veterans Employment Council. We are building a strong program to
enhance employment opportunities for veterans, which we believe can
serve as a model for private sector employers as well. Although we know
we have accomplished a great deal in a short time, we are also very
aware of how much work lies ahead, and we are eager to take it on.
Again, I appreciate your inviting me here today. I would be happy
to respond to any questions you may have.
______
Response to Posthearing Questions Submitted by Hon.Richard Burr to
Hon. John Berry, Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Question 1. Executive Order 13518 established the Veterans
Employment Initiative to help increase the number of veterans employed
by the Federal Government and required each of the 24 Chief Human
Capital Officers Act agencies to create a Veterans Employment Program
Office.
A. What specific functions are performed by those offices?
Response. Executive Order 13518 requires agency Veterans Employment
Program Offices to do the following:
Enhance employment opportunities for veterans within their
respective agencies
Develop and implement the agency's Operational Plan
Establish veterans recruitment programs
Establish, as appropriate, training programs for disabled
veterans
Coordinate job opportunities for veterans
Provide employment counseling to support the career
aspirations of veterans
B. What performance measures are used to determine whether these
offices are effective?
Response. In September 2010, the Council on Veterans Employment
approved a hiring percentage model to assess the effectiveness of the
Veterans Employment Initiative.
Each agency established a hiring percentage goal using this model
for Total Veteran New Hires and Total Disabled Veteran New Hires for FY
2011.
The Veteran Employment Program Office is a key enabler for the
agency in meeting their hiring goal.
Attached, please find a memorandum I issued to the Council on
Veterans Employment, which includes a tiered model which will guide
agency goal setting based on the agency's FY 2009 percentage of
Veterans hired.
C. Have any performance metrics been collected regarding these
offices? If so, please provide a summary of the performance of those
offices. If not, what is the time-frame for beginning to collect
performance statistics?
Response. Agency veteran hiring percentage goals for FY 2011 are
based on their FY 2009 veterans' employment data which serves as the
baseline. Government-wide veteran employment data is typically
available after the second quarter following the close of the fiscal
year. This data will be released and posted on Fedshirevets.gov.
______
Chairman Murray. All of your testimony will be included in
the record, so thank you very much.
Mr. Campbell.
STATEMENT OF JOHN R. CAMPBELL, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF
DEFENSE, WOUNDED WARRIOR CARE AND TRANSITION POLICY, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Mr. Campbell. Good morning, Chairman Murray, Ranking Member
Burr, and Senator Tester. Thank you for the opportunity to be
here this morning with Director Berry and Assistant Secretary
Jefferson from Labor.
I am pleased to discuss the role DOD plays in helping
servicemembers successfully transition from active duty to
civilian life. The department focuses on providing separating
servicemembers useful information, resources, and assistance in
all aspects of the transition process, including, but not
limited to preparation for post-military employment. It is
crucial to the transition process that servicemembers take
advantage of their military experience in order to achieve
their full employment potential after they leave the military.
The Transition Assistance Program, better known as TAP, is
a collaborative effort among DOD, the Department of Labor,
Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security. It remains the primary
platform used to deliver an extensive array of services and
benefits to separating servicemembers. However, we recognize
the current program has been in place for nearly two decades
without major enhancements.
To strengthen and improve TAP for the 21st Century, each
agency, Defense, Labor, and Veterans Affairs, is improving its
component of TAP through a number of initiatives. We are
leveraging technology, modernizing curriculum, improving field
staff training, and developing ways to improve access to
information relating to a successful transition.
Although the traditional brick and mortar classrooms will
still be available, I am really excited about how we are moving
TAP into a virtual setting. We started a virtual learning
series on March 1 of this year. Five hundred thirty-one
individuals have registered for six webinars. We have had an
additional 177 registered for May and the May schedule has only
been available since April 1.
On a personal note, I actually participated in one last
week. We had over 100 participants. It started at 8 a.m., ran
for an hour. It was all about resume writing. I would invite
any Member of the Committee or any member of the staff to
participate in further webinars. Those are really powerful.
That is the great thing about technology. We are not bound
by the constraints of the more traditional learning
environments. We can also reach more people at the same time. A
major part of our use of technology and the movement to a
virtual TAP environment is the Career Decision Toolkit. The
toolkit, in both CD and online format, is a cornerstone of
transforming TAP into a blended career transition training
tool. It takes advantage of online digital resources, virtual
classrooms, and social media that compliment the traditional
brick and mortar TAP classes. A copy of the CD with
accompanying fact sheet has been provided to each Member of the
Committee.
DOD and the military services have also significantly
increased their focus on licensure and certification by
providing such information in a wide range of ways and in
different formats to appeal to individual learning styles. For
example, the Career Decision Toolkit contains a wealth of
information on both. A key component of effective licensure and
certification is introducing the information to the
servicemember early in their careers, not just at the time of
separation. Waiting until the end of military service to
educate the war fighter on licensure and certification is too
late.
Our servicemembers have unlimited access to online
credentialing and credentialing opportunities and information
from a COOL Web site created by the Army and the Navy. COOL is
Credentialing Opportunities Online. Our airmen have similar
opportunities provided by the Air Force called CERT,
Credentialing and Education Research Tool. These resources are
used in concert with military education and training
opportunities throughout the military life cycle. Key efforts
include analysis to identify potential gaps between military
training and civilian credentialing requirements, along with
providing extensive information on resources available to fill
those gaps. I am pleased to see that the States like Washington
and Utah are making great progress legislatively in recognizing
military training in the certification and licensing process.
In closing, I would like to emphasize that the end State
for the enhanced TAP of the 21st Century will be servicemembers
having the knowledge, skills and abilities to empower
themselves to make informed career decisions, be competitive in
the global marketplace and become positive contributors to
their community as they transition from military to civilian
life.
The measure of a successful transition does not focus
solely on TAP, but rather is shared with military leadership at
every level within the command structure and degree of personal
involvement by the servicemember and his or her family.
Madam Chair, this concludes my statement. On behalf of the
men and women of the military today and the families, I thank
you and the Members of the Committee for your steadfast support
and leadership in this area. I will be happy to answer any
questions you and the Committee members might have at this
time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Campbell follows:]
Prepared Statement of John R. Campbell, Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Defense (Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy), U.S. Department
of Defense
Madam Chairman and Members of the Committee: Thank you for the
opportunity to discuss the role the Department of Defense (DOD) plays
in helping Servicemembers successfully transition from active duty to
civilian life. Education and training are keys to obtaining meaningful
employment and a better quality of life after a Servicemember retires
or separates from the military. Servicemembers are encouraged to take
full advantage of all educational opportunities and training programs
afforded while they are on active duty, such as tuition assistance and
the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The Department also focuses on providing
separating Servicemembers useful information and assistance in all
aspects of the transition process, including preparation for post-
military employment. It is crucial to the transition process that
Servicemembers take full advantage of their military experience in
order to reach and achieve their full employment potential after they
leave the military.
transition assistance program (tap)
TAP is a collaborative partnership among DOD, the Departments of
Labor (DOL), Veterans Affairs (VA), and Homeland Security (DHS) and
remains the primary platform used to deliver an extensive array of
services and benefits information to separating Servicemembers.
Servicemembers are required by statute to commence pre-separation
counseling no later than 90 days prior to active duty separation but
are strongly advised and encouraged to start the process 12 months
before separation, or 24 months before retirement. In addition to the
mandatory pre-separation counseling, DOD counselors make every effort
to encourage transitioning Servicemembers to participate in the
voluntary TAP components (which are VA's Benefits Briefing, Disabled
Transition Assistance Program (DTAP) and DOL's TAP Employment
Workshop). Each agency is responsible for providing its portion of TAP
to Servicemembers.
Taking full advantage of what TAP has to offer enables
Servicemembers to be strong competitors for career opportunities in the
civilian workforce. During mandatory pre-separation counseling,
Servicemembers review and complete an extensive checklist with a
counselor. After Servicemembers complete the pre-separation counseling
portion of TAP, they receive a copy of the checklist (DD Form 2648 for
Active Duty and DD Form 2648-1 for the National Guard and Reserves) so
they can refer back to it and look up web sites and other information
to reinforce what they received during the pre-separation counseling
session. The checklists have all the topics required by statute that a
counselor must address during the pre-separation counseling session.
The forms are used by separating Servicemembers and their spouses to
record that pre-separation counseling was conducted.
If the Servicemember desires more information on any topic on the
pre-separation counseling checklist, that exceeds the general knowledge
of the counselor, then the member checks a ``YES'' block next to the
item on the form, and the counselor refers the Servicemember to a
subject matter expert who is able to assist the member with the desired
information, or get the answers to questions which the transition
counselor may not have been able to answer. The subject matter expert
may be a family support transition or education counselor located at
the installation, or it may be a DOL or VA representative who provides
TAP support at the installation.
During pre-separation counseling, the counselor is required to
explain and discuss ``Licensing, Certification and Apprenticeship
Information'' with transitioning Servicemembers. Additionally,
Servicemembers are always encouraged to do research on the internet and
it is recommended they start with CareerOneStop, the DOL web site on
exploring careers, salary and benefits, education and training, resume
and interviews, and licensure and certification (http://
www.careeronestop.org). The Workforce Credentials Information Center,
within the America's Career InfoNet part of this site, provides a
wealth of licensure and certification information. The member can also
access the Occupational Information Network called O*NET
(www.onlineonetcenter.org) and the skills profiler which also falls
under the purview of our partners at DOL. This site is considered the
Nation's primary source of occupational and industry information. Using
O*NET allows the Servicemember to do a crosswalk between his or her
Military Occupational Code and the civilian equivalency of that code,
linking the member to the Standard Occupational Classifications in the
civilian workforce.
The information received during the pre-separation counseling
portion of TAP is reinforced during the other three voluntary
components of TAP: DOL's TAP Employment Workshop, VA's Benefits
Briefing, and the Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP).
National Guard and Reserve personnel receive a Uniformed Services
Employment and Re-Employment Rights Act (USERRA) briefing during
demobilization processing. DOL has notified each state's Adjutant
General of the opportunity to receive TAP employment workshops whenever
and wherever desired. Transitioning Servicemembers, including National
Guard and Reserve personnel, are strongly encouraged to visit one of
approximately 3,000 DOL One-Stop Career Centers, where they receive
priority service consisting of help with translating their military
skills to civilian occupations, receiving a skills assessment, and
getting assistance in finding a job. In addition to receiving
information on licensure and certification, Servicemembers can also
receive information on apprenticeship resources.
enhanced tap for the 21st century
Initially developed in the late 1980s and implemented in the early
1990s, the current program has been in place for nearly two decades
without major enhancements. To strengthen and improve TAP, DOD, DOL and
VA are collaborating to re-engineer, redesign, and transform the
current program in a way that will better meet the needs of
Servicemembers and their families in the 21st Century. The ``enhanced
TAP'' is a collaborative effort where each agency will improve its
component of TAP through a number of initiatives, to include leveraging
technology, improving curriculum, better staff (counselors/
facilitators, etc.) training, and developing ways to access TAP so that
the information is accessible 24/7.
DOD is moving TAP from an end of military career event to a
military lifecycle process. We are developing a robust blended delivery
of TAP information and services via online, brick and mortar, and
multi-media. An example of this is Virtual TAP, an online delivery
system that will allow Servicemembers and their families to access and
receive information on education, scholarships, employment, financial
and career planning, and other transition-related areas any time. A
major part of Virtual TAP is the Career Decision Toolkit, which can be
accessed at www.turbotap.org. The toolkit, in both CD and online
format, is a cornerstone of transitioning TAP into a blended career
transition training model that takes advantage of online and digital
resources, virtual classrooms, social media and other platforms that
compliment the traditional ``brick and mortar'' TAP classes that most
Servicemembers now attend.
We are also improving staff training to better inform
Servicemembers of the benefits, resources and enhanced online tools
available, as well as to improve the experience of Servicemembers
attending the traditional ``brick and mortar'' sessions which will
still be available. Increased use of social media will also enhance
DOD's ability to connect with the 21st Century Servicemember.
In addition to DOD's efforts, DOL is redesigning and transforming
its TAP Employment Workshop to make it more relevant to Servicemembers
and spouses. VA's re-engineering initiative involves a three phase
effort to develop a self-serve, online mechanism for Servicemembers to
have the option of completing the VA benefits briefing electronically
within their own timeframe prior to discharge. DOL will speak more to
their redesign of TAP for the 21st Century in their testimony.
other employment initiatives
Operation Warfighter (OWF)
OWF is a DOD-sponsored internship program that offers recuperating
wounded, ill and injured Servicemembers meaningful activity that
positively impacts wellness and offers a process of transitioning back
to duty or entering into the civilian workforce. The main objective of
OWF is to place recuperating Servicemembers in supportive work settings
that positively benefit the recuperation process.
OWF represents a great opportunity for transitioning Servicemembers
to augment their employment readiness by building their resumes,
exploring employment interests, developing job skills, benefiting from
both formal and on-the-job training opportunities, and gaining valuable
Federal Government work experience that will help prepare them for the
future. The program strives to demonstrate to participants that the
skills they have obtained in the military are transferable into
civilian employment. For Servicemembers who will return to duty, the
program enables these participants to maintain their skill sets and
provides the opportunity for additional training and experience that
can subsequently benefit the military. OWF simultaneously enables
Federal employers to better familiarize themselves with the skill sets
of wounded, ill and injured Servicemembers as well as benefit from the
considerable talent and dedication of these transitioning
Servicemembers.
To date, the program has placed approximately 1,800 Servicemembers
across more than 100 different Federal employers and sub-components.
The program currently has 390 active internship placements.
The Veterans Employment Initiative (VEI)
The VEI, created by Executive Order 13518, aims to aggressively
enhance recruitment strategies and promote employment opportunities
which will lead to an increase in the number of veterans in the Federal
Government. DOD is a strategic partner on the Steering Committee for
this initiative, along with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM),
VA, DOL, and DHS. The Order established an interagency Council on
Veterans Employment that advises the President and the Director of OPM
on the initiative. The Council serves as a national forum to promote
veterans' employment opportunities in the executive branch and develops
performance measures to assess the effectiveness of the VEI. DOD
implemented an agency-specific DOD Veterans Strategic Plan, which
includes performance measures and expected outcomes. Agencies covered
by the VEI have established Veterans Employment Program Offices or
designated a full-time staff person dedicated to providing employment
services to veterans. The DOD Veterans Employment Program Office
assists Veterans with navigating the application process in their
search for employment. Veterans and the public may also access the
VEI's helpful Web site at www.fedshirevets.gov.
Education and Employment Initiative (E2I)
Contributing factors to unemployment among wounded warriors include
the lack of a focused employment, educational, and rehabilitation
process that engages Servicemembers as soon as they begin treatment at
a Medical Treatment Facility (MTF), as well as a lack of qualified
career counselors who can administer career assessments and match
Servicemembers to careers. DOD, in collaboration with VA, DOL, and the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM), is developing E2I to address
these shortfalls. E2I will leverage best practices and the good work
already being done from existing employment and training initiatives in
both Federal and private sectors. The first phase is a tiered pilot
program scheduled to launch in May 2011.
The goal of the E2I pilot is to engage Servicemembers early in
their recovery to identify skills they have, the skills they need and
the employment opportunities where those skills can be matched and put
to good use. The E2I process will begin within 30-90 days of a
Recovering Servicemember (RSM) arriving at a MTF, taking advantage of a
recovery time that averages 311 days but can be as long as five years.
At the very beginning of the E2I process, all applicants will be
administered a comprehensive skills assessment to include understanding
their current disability, current Military Occupational Specialty (MOS)
experience, career desires, education and training background, and
special accommodations that may be required for a particular type of
position. This assessment will be provided by a highly trained career
and vocation counselor who has extensive knowledge of the issues facing
wounded warriors.
The E2I counselor will work with the RSM from the initial stages of
creating an individual development plan (IDP) goal setting, course
selection or education requirements, through the completion of
training/certification to return to duty or alternate job placement. A
Mentor and Coach will be assigned to all E2I applicants at the
beginning of the process to provide personalized assistance and
guidance throughout the E2I process from recruitment at the MTF into
the program, through placement in their new MOS or chosen career.
Our plan is to evaluate the E2I program over the next 12 months to
18 months and refine the E2I process with new ideas and best practices.
Once this evaluation is complete, our plan is to continue our E2I roll-
out, which will include partnering with OPM, VA and DOL to ensure we
have standardized practices and comprehensive handoffs as the RSM
leaves the responsibility of the DOD.
conclusion
The Department understands there is a strong consensus within
Congress and the Veterans' community that more needs to be done to help
Servicemembers successfully transition to civilian life. There are
proponents who believe DOD should be responsible for finding jobs for
transitioning Servicemembers. However, we do not believe that is an
appropriate role of DOD. Rather our responsibility, which we take very
seriously, is to help prepare transitioning Servicemembers to find a
job by connecting them to the vast resources of the DOL and VA
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services which have dedicated
programs and training to help transitioning Servicemembers find
employment. As we empower Servicemembers to take charge of their
transition, we must recognize that their success rests largely on their
implementation and utilization of the skills, tools, and resources made
available to them, starting with pre-separation counseling and
continuing throughout the transition process. The success is further
reinforced by active engagement, reinforcement, and motivation by unit/
command leadership.
The measure of a successful transition does not focus solely on
TAP, but rather is shared with military leadership at every level
within the command structure and the degree of personal involvement by
the Servicemember and his or her family. We must continue to find new
ways to not only reach our Servicemembers and provide useful
information to them, but also to strive to ensure they are armed and
prepared to address all the various challenges and opportunities in
their transition to civilian life. It is through their success that we
measure ours and continually look for better ways to provide the help
they need.
In summary, the end-state for the enhanced TAP for the 21st Century
by DOD, DOL, and the VA will consist of a population of Servicemembers
who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to empower themselves to
make informed career decisions, be competitive in the global workforce
and become positive contributors to their community as they transition
from the military to civilian life. Madam Chairman, this concludes my
statement. On behalf of the men and women in the military today and
their families, I thank you and the Members of this Committee for your
steadfast support.
______
Posthearing Questions Submitted by Hon. Patty Murray to John R.
Campbell, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Wounded Warrior
Care and Transition Policy, Department of Defense
Question 1. Why is additional legislation in order for the Services
to provide certification of a servicemember's specific military
training and experience prior to discharge?
Question 2. Why is DOD relying on each service to make TAP
mandatory, rather than making TAP mandatory for all services?
Question 3. I am interested in more information on the Education
and Employment Initiative pilot program you describe in your written
testimony. Have you chosen test sites where the program will launch in
May 2011? How do you plan to evaluate the success of this program? Your
written testimony signals your plan to continue rolling out the program
after only 18 months, even though you say that the average recovery
time is 311 days but can be as long as five years. Given that there may
not be enough participants who have completed the program to do a
complete study, how can you be sure that it can be successfully
replicated at all sites?
[Responses were not received within the Committee's
timeframe for publication.]
Chairman Murray. Thank you very much to all three of you
for your testimony. I love your enthusiasm and cheerleading and
great words, but I got to tell you, 27 percent of our veterans
ages 20 to 24 are unemployed. Senator Burr mentioned the word
``accountability'' in making sure that things are working and I
have to just say I am--Secretary Jefferson, when you came in
and we confirmed you, I think it was a year and a half ago, I
loved the enthusiasm, but I want to see it translated into
something that is not 27 percent of our veterans who are 20- to
24-years old are unemployed.
You heard the panel in front of us. You have heard the
frustration. I hear it everywhere I go. I am positive every one
of my colleagues here has heard it. It is not right that
somebody comes out of the military and faces the issues that
they do today. Yeah, it is a tough economy, but 27 percent?
That is just unacceptable.
So Secretary Jefferson, let me start with you.
At your confirmation hearing, you said success was going to
be measured by the impact the programs have helping veterans.
How can we be here a year and one-half later and we are looking
at these high numbers of unemployment?
Mr. Jefferson. Sure. Madam Chairman, I think that is
exactly because the problems that we are dealing with have
taken place over a period in some cases of 20 years and we are
on track to address all of them by Veterans Day this year. Over
the last 18 months, let me just start with the TAP program.
That program was extremely broken, so I wanted to first figure
out what are all the problems, what are the best solutions for
those problems, and then to implement those.
As an example, two and a half million people have gone
through TAP. There is not one performance metric. So we are on
track to have that contract awarded on June 6. That is our
projected date.
Chairman Murray. The contract awarded to do what?
Mr. Jefferson. The contract for the new TAP.
The entire redesign and transformation of our Transition
Assistance Program, we are planning to award that on June 6--
that is our projected timeline now as of today--and to have the
new class starting by Veterans Day, Madam Chairman.
Chairman Murray. So veterans will be participating in that
new TAP program?
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, Madam Chairman. Our goal is for the new
class, for the servicemembers to go into the new class of TAP
by Veterans Day this year. It has taken 20 years. The program
has been outdated for 20 years. We are working to get that done
this year by Veterans Day, and measure the outcomes.
Chairman Murray. OK, we want to see that.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes.
Chairman Murray. I mean, it has been a long, slow process
and we need to see more results from that.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, Madam Chairman.
Chairman Murray. So I appreciate that.
Mr. Campbell, we heard from witnesses on the first panel
that servicemembers do not get proof of certification, that
they receive training and perform medical procedures during
their time in the military, and we saw without just that piece
of paper in their hand that says they did what they did and it
is real, they cannot get a job.
Can the Department of Defense make that information
available to a servicemember when they are discharged so that
they have some kind of piece of paper saying that they did what
they did that actually relates to the civilian world?
Mr. Campbell. I believe that we can.
Chairman Murray. What is the barrier? Does Congress need to
pass legislation? Does the military just need to do it? What is
the barrier to that happening? Because this is not new. I do
not think any of us are hearing this for the first time. We
have been hearing it since soldiers first started coming back
from Iraq.
Mr. Campbell. Yes, ma'am. We are probably going to need to
have some legislation to make that work. We do not at present
have the capability to provide more than we do on the DD-214,
and so if there is some legislation that would change that to
put more information on there that would allow the States to
take a look at what the extent of the experience of these young
men and women are, that would be one answer.
Mr. Berry. Madam Chair, could I add to this as well? It may
be that these intern programs that we are setting up, and I
think specifically the nursing one especially, because we have
found that these certification programs and--you know, we want
to be careful. We are not saying that we are asking to lower
the bar for anybody. These folks can meet the bar, we just need
to make sure that their training counts, and that if there are
gaps, we can fill in those gaps and make sure we fill them in.
So I think what is going to be important in this,
especially the nursing intern program, is that if legislation
is needed, where would it have the most targeted impact? So, my
commitment to you is we will keep in touch with you and your
staff and as we move forward on that program, if we find the
weak spots, it may be that we can collaborate the sort of State
and Federal certifications that can solve this without the need
for more law.
But if we can't, then we will certainly identify for you
where those changes would be in order.
Chairman Murray. How long will that take?
Mr. Berry. This program is underway this year. We are
working with the VSOs right now, with VA, Labor, and DOD, and I
think we will have the learning experience this year to be able
to inform, to get back to the Committee on if we need
additional legislation in that area.
Chairman Murray. Well, Mr. Campbell, let me go back to you.
Can the Department of Defense certify that someone actually
performs medic--does the actual classes and does medic work or
anything, can the Department of Defense certify? Can we get
them to move to doing that?
Mr. Campbell. Sure. [Pause.]
I am told that we cannot certify that.
Chairman Murray. OK.
Mr. Jefferson. Madam Chairman, can I make a comment about
the role of TAP?
Chairman Murray. Yes.
Mr. Jefferson. I respectfully disagree with a member of the
previous panel. After doing a lot of due diligence on this, we
feel that it is important that the servicemembers participate
in TAP as early as possible prior to their transition. One of
the reasons is we are revamping the new TAP to make it a one-
stop solution for everything to a primary portal for
entrepreneurship training, resources, et cetera, and also to
make it a resource for apprenticeships.
So as servicemembers come to TAP, they are going to get
awareness on what are the apprenticeship and credentialing
needs they have.
There is already a COOL----
Chairman Murray. Are you referring to the testimony about
having it within 90 days?
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, that is exactly what I am referring to,
Madam Chairman. So as a servicemember has an awareness, he or
she then has 1 year before ETS or 2 years before retirement to
go back and use resources and DOD like the military
apprenticeship program, to get those credentialing and
certifications.
As we move to transform TAP this year, we want to bring
awareness of all of those apprenticeship programs into that.
Chairman Murray. I think the testimony that Mr. Smith
talked about was the fact that he went through the TAP program.
Grant it, it is the old one.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes.
Chairman Murray. You are talking about a new one; I
understand that. But then he went and deployed to Iraq. Life
changed and he came back and whatever he heard was different.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, and that is why I have a few things.
Number 1, servicemembers can go through TAP a second time. Two,
we are going to have an e-learning platform. Three, when they
finish TAP, each servicemember for the first time ever is going
to have an individual transition plan followed by 60 days of
post-TAP support where they----
Chairman Murray. Mandatory? Is it going to be mandatory?
Mr. Jefferson. I will defer to DOD for that, but I will say
this. I believe every servicemember will benefit through going
through the new Transition Assistance Program the way we are
revamping it.
Chairman Murray. OK. Senator Burr?
Senator Burr. I am going to ask a simple question. We have
had some tough ones. Who should be held responsible for the
pitiful placement of our country's veterans, which agency? Who
is in charge?
Mr. Jefferson. Sir, I will step up and take responsibility
for serving as a focal point for veterans employment. When I
came here 18 months by confirmation hearing, I made a variety
of promises about things that we would do to prepare, provide
and protect.
Senator Burr. Is it statutorily the Department of Labor's
responsibility?
Mr. Jefferson. We have the congressional mandate for
veterans employment as the lead agency in the Federal
Government.
Senator Burr. My question would be this. Why aren't you
driving all aspects of employment of veterans within OPM,
within VA, within everywhere else? Why is everybody sort of
creating their own little world that they deal in?
Mr. Jefferson. Sir, I would offer that if we look at what
has actually happened over the last year, there has been more
integration and collaboration than ever before. Let me share
two quick examples.
For the Federal Hiring Initiative, Director Berry, myself,
and VA have been doing that. For the TAP transformation, with
the e-learning platform, that is a VA--that is a DOD/Labor
collaboration like never before. For the new approach to
employer outreach, that is vets, ESG, all out of DOD, as well
as the private sector via the U.S. Chamber. So we are working
to change long-standing problems.
I welcome the assistance of yourself, sir, and your staffs,
but we are making progress. I am trying to get it all done
yesterday. It does take some time to change.
Senator Burr. Will the new TAP program have performance
measures----
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Burr [continuing]. That look at employment
outcomes?
Mr. Jefferson. Sir, we are going to have performance
metrics at three moments of truth, one when----
Senator Burr. If we still have programs out there that do
not have performance measures today, why have we continued them
for the last year and a half? Why does it take a GAO report
that tells us about the duplication, the number of agencies
that are involved, the lack of coordination that exists; why
are they still in existence?
Mr. Jefferson. Sir, I began the TAP transformation process
on day one. I cannot comment as to what happened before I was
there. I also know that we have 160----
Senator Burr. What do you say to the GAO report that--let
me just pull up their quote.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Burr. GAO noted, ``overlap among federally-funded
employment and training programs raise questions about the
efficiency and effective use of the resources and program
overlap might hinder people from seeking assistance and
frustrated employers and program administrators.''
Now, did you disagree with their assessment?
Mr. Jefferson. Sir, that was one of the reasons why I am
trying to push forward so hard. We need a program in place for
those 160,000 servicemembers who are getting out until the new
program is in effect. But we are also partnering, as an
example, with DOD Army forming a TAP/ACAP partnership, so for
the first time ever, a servicemember in the Army will go
through TAP and then transition into the ACAP program.
We are also partnering with the Military Spouse Employment
Program that has got jobs for 90,000 spouses. That has never
been done before.
Senator Burr. Let me ask you, Mr. Campbell, is it possible
before an active duty servicemember separates, at the post that
they separate from, could we have them take the certification
examination for that State for whatever technical skill they
have worked in the military?
Mr. Campbell. I don't see any reason why we couldn't.
Senator Burr. I don't either, and I know the military
cannot do a certification. The military, I believe, could and
should list the expansive experience that a separated member
has. But maybe if we could have them take the certification
exam, we have put them a little further down the road.
Mr. Campbell. Yes, sir. I would just say that Secretary
Jefferson talked about the new TAP. In terms of TAP--the
virtual TAP that DOD is rolling out for pre-separation
counseling piece of it which is congressionally mandated--we
will have the capability to have that kind of testing on the
site so that service men and women who are interested in the
certification of whatever the mandated--or whatever level of
interest they have in a particular skill set, they could take
the exam right there.
Senator Burr. Would it surprise any of you that a corpsman,
5 years of experience?----
Mr. Campbell. Yes, sir.
Senator Burr. Ten years of experience----
Mr. Campbell. I mean, I was----
Senator Burr [continuing]. Separate from the military and
could not be hired at Womack Hospital in Fayetteville, at Fort
Bragg?
Mr. Campbell. Sir, I was a platoon commander in Vietnam. I
mean, I know what corpsmen can do, and it's very surprising and
disappointing that this is the case.
Senator Burr. I mean, this is within the DOD family.
Mr. Campbell. Yes, sir.
Senator Burr. That there is not a mechanism that allows the
experience derived over 5-10 years in the military to even put
them in line for consideration of an equivalent job at a
military hospital. There is something wrong here. This is not
difficult.
I think what Mr. Jefferson is attempting to do is much more
difficult. And I might say to you, Mr. Berry, truthfully, we
will never be able to employ enough veterans, given the budget
situation in the U.S. Government, that it will make a dent in
the mass of 27 percent unemployment. I applaud you for the
effort. I applaud the administration for focusing government
attention on this.
I wish we could focus as much on the inability of Federal
agencies when those individuals are called up for active duty
to actually follow the rules that we have in place for every
private sector employer, because it was the Federal agencies
that flunked that side of it, continue to do it today, and it
is agency by agency.
So let me assure you, the model of the way forward is not
to replicate what we have been doing. It is to actually listen
to what these veterans said. They did not bring up tough
issues. A transition program. Clearly the one at DOD they have
assessed does not work or they did not know it existed, because
in every case, all four said you know what, we need a
transition program before we get out.
Two, resumes, I mean there is the first thing that the
private sector looks at if you are really serious--and I
applaud you for putting it into the TAP program. Geez, why
wasn't it there before? These are not revelations that have
just popped up. These are elementary to employment
opportunities regardless of whether you are a servicemember or
a graduate out of high school.
How many vets do you intend to hire in the Federal
Government; what is the target?
Mr. Berry. Well, what we have done, sir, is the point of
this----
Senator Burr. What is the number?
Mr. Berry. Well, I can give you--what we have done, sir, is
create a percentage model, and it is based on each agency's
performance. So we have come up with a unique metric on this,
which I think you will be impressed with.
If you are already hiring between 20 and 25 percent, all
right, if you are already in the good camp, we are asking you
to do a little bit more, do a 1 or 2 percent increase. But if
you are below 10 percent, we are asking you to do a 5 to 6
percent increase. If you are in the middle, if you are between
10 and 20, we are asking you to do a 3 and 4 percent increase.
Senator Burr. What is that number?
Mr. Berry. I will work out the totals. I have not worked
out the totals. But what that does is it gives--and I can tell
you each agency now has a specific goal to which they are being
held accountable. Each goal is significantly more than what it
was the year before, so even though last year--you know, we did
not have enough months in the year to do that metric. What we
did was we told everybody do better, and we did better.
We did 2,000 more vets better. We did 2,700 more disabled
vets better.
This will--I believe this will keep that going and that
trajectory going, sir.
Senator Burr. I applaud you for that increase.
I want to repeat something that you said and I am
paraphrasing, so you correct me if I was wrong. You said we got
a new program and we are going to hire separated servicemembers
at an entry-level position. You said, I cannot remember the
grade.
Mr. Berry. A GS-3, 4, or 5.
Senator Burr. GS-3, 4, or 5, to get the education and the
certification needed to make a career. Now, I just ask you to
pause for a second and think about the testimony that you heard
in the last panel. That was not what they were asking for. They
were asking to apply their experience into a certification
because they had a very difficult time going back to acquire
the education needed to fit within the system we designed.
I can understand how this is sort of moving the goalpost is
something that the Federal Government is doing positively. But
to me, having just heard the witnesses testify, I have to think
if they are still here, they are sitting out there saying, did
they listen?
Our problem is not creating new programs. It should be
reforming some and again, I applaud you for TAP. Our problem
today is putting veterans in a job. It is enabling them to get
a paycheck and to feel the worth of the service that they
committed to and the opportunity that they want to have from
thereon out. If not, quite honestly, none of you are
responsible for the next part. It falls in our laps in this
Committee. It is veterans homelessness. It is substance abuse.
It is all the things we know we are going to run into if in
fact we have not provided them one simple thing, the means to
take care of their family and themselves, and that is a
paycheck.
So as elaborate as some of the things sound as they are
described, my only recommendation to each one of you is make
this simple. If we have not gotten something simple, we will
not have the level of participation to drive down a 27 percent
unemployment rate in the veterans community, no matter how
creative the private sector is, whether it is Military.com or
whether it is the Initiative for Green Jobs for Vets, we are
not going to make a dent in this if in fact we cannot get
everybody on the pathway of having the simple things that these
guys have described for us, resumes, a transition program that
is understandable, a pathway to certification.
I will be honest with you; I would love to hire one of the
electricians coming out of the military. It would probably be a
hell of a lot more reasonable cost.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Berry. They are well trained, well trained.
Senator Burr. So how can we all admit how well trained they
are, and the only thing that separates them from where they are
today and a job is a certificate saying that they have 15 years
as an electrician? Something is crazy wrong with this. I am not
sure that any of the things I have heard today is going to
solve that little simple piece.
I would ask you, Ray, to figure out what Department of
Labor can do.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Burr. To find that level of agreement between the
Federal Government, between the military, between the States,
between localities that says, you know what, we can all agree
on some fast-track certification. If you have X amount of years
of experience, whether it is driving a truck or stringing wire,
with a simple 30-day refresher course, you can take an exam and
if you pass, you get your certification. If you don't, then you
go through the laborious process of going back to school.
I am going to tell you, for most of these kids, there is a
reason they went in the military over and above serving their
country. It was because they were tired of education. Education
was not the centerpiece of their life. They had gotten it up to
here.
Now if they are career, they are getting a lot of education
while they are in the military, but the education that the
young ones are getting, they do not realize it. We are spending
a lot of money to make them proficient on some of the world's
greatest technology, and it is just a shame that we are not
tapping into that investment that we make.
The Chair has been very gracious to me. Once again, I want
to applaud you for what each one of you in your departments and
agencies do every day, but I also want you to leave
understanding we have not solved this problem yet.
We have a long way to go. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Senator Tester [presiding]. Thanks, Senator Burr. I am
going to start with you, Director Berry.
During Eric Smith's testimony you were obviously paying
attention. The only thing I would say is if one Eric Smith is
in this position, gosh knows how many more are out there. This
one is a slam dunk, from my point of view anyway; so anything
you can do in that particular area throughout the military is
critically important.
Mr. Campbell, there was a question that the Chairman asked
of you that the gentleman behind you, you originally said you
could certify and the gentleman behind you said no, you cannot.
I understand that. I have staff too that tell me what to say.
The question is, and if you cannot answer this now, we can
certainly get it in writing, but why can't the military certify
the jobs that the people in the military have done? Is there
some rule or regulation stopping it from doing that?
Mr. Campbell. I will have to take that for the record,
Senator.
Senator Tester. I would love to know that because there is
nobody that knows what the soldier is doing in the field any
better than the people that are serving with him and that is
the military.
For them not to be able to certify, I think unless you can
tell me a reason why not, that is a major, major problem.
Assistant Secretary Jefferson, it is always good to see
you. I appreciate the work all of you do.
When we talk about TAP, and we talk about revamping TAP so
it meets the needs of the soldiers, whether it is done before
they are deployed or whether it is done after they are
deployed, one of the strengths that you bring to this job, from
my opinion having never served, one of strengths that you bring
is that you have served and that you have sacrificed and that
you know the mindset going in and you know the mindset coming
off.
I think that is a critically important perspective to have
when you are setting up these programs.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. You know--I mean, any teacher knows there
is an opportunity to get through at a certain moment in time
and if you do not take advantage of that moment in time, it is
gone, and if you are doing it before or you are doing it after
is not nearly as effective.
So all I would ask you to do--this is just a statement--is
when you are advising programs, put yourself back as that 18-
year-old or 20-year-old kid that you were, young man that you
were when you went in and before you got deployed and say, all
right, would this have worked, you know----
Mr. Jefferson. For me.
Senator Tester. Yeah. That is all. Because that is one of
your skill sets that I think is critically important to bring
to the table.
Mr. Jefferson. Thank you, sir.
Senator Tester. I have to ask a question about the
outreach, the pilot program you talked about, and we did get a
response back and it was because of budgetary reasons that you
have not been able to expand that program. I understand that.
Mr. Jefferson. Sir, did you get the update on that as well?
Senator Tester. Go ahead.
Mr. Jefferson. One of the resources, on a loan to expand
that into phase two, six States, as we had hoped to do, but I
am trying to see if we can bring an interagency innovation, in
fact the collaboration together to allow it to continue. It is
very effective, as you know.
Senator Tester. Yeah.
Mr. Jefferson. So I am working on that right now to see if
we can maybe bring some other partners in, give us some
additional capacity.
Senator Tester. Have you been able to put any numbers
together at this period--it is pretty early in this program--as
to numbers of dollars invested versus number of dollars back?
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir. It is very minimal.
We are only paying for phone charges, mailings. It is
$140,000.
Senator Tester. Yeah, and have you been able to do any cost
benefit analysis on that as to what is being returned with the
money that you spent?
Mr. Jefferson. Oh, yes, sir. We have about 90 percent
participation. That is about--over 4,000 veterans right now are
in the program. Some want employment access and services. Some
want health, some want education.
We have over 26 percent wanting employment, 818 have
enrolled in a formal course and we have gotten jobs for 23
already. Now, we believe that a lot more than 23 have found
jobs, but we have that lacking indicator. So the feedback from
the veterans is this is a big hit.
Senator Tester. We have talked about American Indians. They
have a high rate of enlist----
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. They also have an incredibly high rate of
unemployment in the State of Montana. I only speak for that
because that is what I know. It may be the same around the
country; I do not know that.
Is there anything we can do to reach those folks? Is there
anything you are able to do to reach the folks in Indian
country that--I mean, it makes 27 percent look like full
employment. That is the kind of numbers we are talking.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir. Sir, Secretary Solis and the
Department of Labor have a particular commitment to the Native
American community. We have brought Native American leaders
into the department to look at how we can better serve them. I
have asked my State directors to go above and beyond what they
have been doing before to get our 2,000 employee
representatives on the ground. I would welcome the continued
dialog with your office, and I am hopeful that we can find a
way to expand this because, as you know, many Native American
Indians are also living in rural America.
Senator Tester. Last question, and I am going to turn to
Senator Boozman. It can be for any of the three of you. There
are a wide variety of veterans jobs programs out there. I
cannot help to think that there is not a lot of overlap.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. We are in tough budgetary times. Is anybody
doing an analysis? I know it means giving up turf on some
people's parts and taking turf on other people's parts. Is
anybody doing an analysis on overlap and how we can be more
efficient and more effective?
Quite frankly, from my perspective, the less overlap you
have, the more efficient the program, the more effective it is
too. Is anybody doing any analysis on that?
Mr. Jefferson. Sir, I would--if I may substitute the word
``action'' for analysis, we have been stepping into this, going
over to DOD, working with John Campbell's shop, the ESGR
executive director, the veterans employment folks over at the
Army G-1's office, bringing them together with the U.S.
Chamber, reaching out to the Society for Human Resource
Management as well, to look at how we can collaborate more
effectively.
The 100 mega hiring fairs are an example of that. We are
also going to be working to create a toolkit for employers on
how to find onboard and assimilate veterans.
Senator Tester. One of the things that the President has
talked about in every program is that you cut down the silos,
you work across alliances, reduce duplication, and you become
more efficient. And you set aside your egos to do it. I would
just encourage you to do it in this particular case. I think it
reduces confusion in a big way.
Senator Boozman?
Senator Boozman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you all
for being here. We really do appreciate your hard work.
Mr. Jefferson, what percentage of people go through TAP?
Mr. Jefferson. Sir, we have about 160,000 to 165,000
servicemembers who leave the service every year. We capture
about 80 percent of them every year. Last year we served
134,000 servicemembers. That included 2,500 spouses.
Senator Boozman. You and I agree that it is very important
to go through that program, but the reality is, the DOD has a
lot to do with whether or not an individual actually goes
through it----
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Boozman [continuing]. With allowing them the time
to do that. So something that we might consider doing, Mr.
Chairman, is I would really like--and I will visit with--but I
think at some point we really need to have DOD in the room with
these folks in the sense of again, like with the TAP program, I
mean, that is a joint effort.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Boozman. I would very much like to see it as 100
percent. I know you would.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Boozman. But we need to figure out where the 20
percent is getting by.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Boozman. I apologize for not being here earlier. I
missed the earlier discussion, but I really feel like that the
TAP needs to be done early.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Boozman. We need to get rid of the stigma of going
through it because I have had the opportunity to go and
actually hear some of the old program, which was actually
pretty good, in the sense that so many of those individuals do
not realize the benefits that they are getting. I mean, they do
not realize how much health care is going to cost them in the
future and all of these different things, which they have to
plan for.
You cannot do that in a very short period of time. So we do
need to get that sorted out.
Senator Tester. Senator Boozman, just so you know, Mr.
Campbell is from DOD.
Senator Boozman. OK, I'm sorry.
Mr. Campbell. Senator, that is OK.
Senator Boozman. Well, again, the----
Mr. Campbell. Let me just say that there is one piece of
the entire TAP process, which is pre-separation counseling,
which is DOD, congressionally mandated. Within the four
services, the Marines make it mandatory. Air Force----
Senator Boozman. So what has happened with the 20 percent?
I really am late getting here in that sense, but tell me what
has happened with the 20 percent slippage.
Mr. Campbell. Well, we got----
Senator Boozman. It serves one out of five.
Mr. Campbell [continuing]. A service or two that does not
make it mandatory, so it is really up to the servicemember
whether he or she wants to take it. There is----
Senator Boozman. So is it merely that, or is it more just
guys being--again, we have all the deployments going on. It is
tough out there. Is it that they do not want to take it or is
it just the numbers are so tight?
Mr. Campbell. I will be honest, Senator, I think they want
to take it. Whether they think it is valuable or not, that is a
question. Both Secretary Jefferson and I are both working hard
at trying to make sure that the new TAP process is really going
to be valuable to them and in a medium that they understand,
the web. So we are working on that.
Senator Boozman. In regard to the certification, I think
that is really important. The appropriate time to do that would
be if a young man or woman has completed truck driving school
in the military; that would be the time to take the
certification course.
I do not care who you are, I am an optometrist and
practiced for 24 years and I was pretty good at what I did when
I left, but I could not have passed a test, you know, at that
point, and truly, getting squared away. So that would be the
time to do it, so we do need cooperation there.
The other differences, there is a difference in
certification and licensure and our States determine licensure,
so you have to figure out that component of it also.
But one of the blowbacks that we have had in the past is
that DOD, I think, has felt like if you do those kind of
things, then you are going to lose force. You know, at the
conclusion of training and they have this certification which
can lead to licensure, then that is really not that great of
thing in the sense that some of these people will have the
option then of getting out and going into the--so that is
another area I think that we have to break down and see if that
really is a problem.
The other thing is, can you all comment on what effect are
the frequent deployments having on employment?
Mr. Jefferson. Sure. So as we hear from employers, they are
doing overall a tremendous job of supporting servicemembers and
their families. The First Lady yesterday----
Senator Boozman. I understand that. I do not mean to
interrupt. He is going to cut me off.
Mr. Jefferson. OK.
Senator Boozman. I understand. Our employers are doing a
tremendous job. On the other hand, if you have--if you are from
a small town, which many of these individuals are, and you are
a small business and you have five employees, and you have had
the experience that you are going to lose one of these guys and
what do you do, because they are going to obey the law, they
are going to take them back, but that really does leave you in
a bind. Is that having a significant effect on employment?
Mr. Jefferson. It is having an effect, sir, on the small
businesses. Obviously, we have the annual ceremony, the Freedom
Awards, for the Guard and Reserve, and those businesses, which
I personally often find the most inspiring, are those small
ones who still strive to take care and honor their employment
rights in the face of a repeated deployments where they have
very small staffs. So that is a challenge, sir. I just have to
acknowledge that very openly.
Senator Boozman. One last thing, with your indulgence. You
mention that we need to measure and more.
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Boozman. We need metrics. What do you all feel is
important to measure?
Mr. Jefferson. Three things, sir. The first is with this
TAP--let me talk about the TAP program first. When a
servicemember finishes the program, right then, where they can
get their feedback and assess how useful they found the
program, thumbs up, thumbs down, because that is what they are
going to go back to their units and tell their colleagues,
their partners.
Number 2, when they are applying the content, which is if
they go to TAP 1 year before ETS or 2 years before retirement,
there may be a period of time in which they deploy before they
apply the content. So that is the second moment of truth where
we get performance metrics.
The third is when they have actually found a job. How
helpful are we at helping them to quickly assimilate into a new
culture on board and become a contributor?
So those are the three metrics, the three moments of truth,
that we are going to track with the new TAP program.
Senator Boozman. One other thing is I wish we had some
ability to be a little bit more flexible. A number of the
people, we actually visited with them after they got through
doing the TAP. It was amazing the percentage of people that
were going into franchises, things like that, and it would be
so nice and we tried--we explored the possibility of maybe
breaking off the education component of the franchise fee----
Mr. Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Boozman [continuing]. And allowing them to get
credit in that manner versus----
Mr. Jefferson. Can I comment on that for a second, sir?
Sir, the new TAP would be a primary portal for entrepreneurship
programs, services, support, and I will use their phrase
``inspiration.'' So we are building all of that into the new
TAP. We are also partnering with SBA and an interagency task
force to bring all that content into the new TAP.
So a servicemember may want to do something similar to what
they did in the military, or very different, or become an
entrepreneur and start his or her own company.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and
thank you, Mr. Campbell, for being here.
Senator Tester. I want to thank the first panel and this
panel. I appreciate taking your time to be here to testify in
front of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
We are adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:05 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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Prepared Statement of Robert W. Madden, Assistant Director,
National Economic Commission, The American Legion
Today men and women come back from combat with multiple skills and
areas of expertise. These servicemembers are considered highly
qualified individuals who are ready for employment. The American Legion
has found is these men and women serving our country are finding it
hard to take the skills that they learned from the military and
translate those skills into civilian terms. In addition, servicemembers
with certain specific training, such as medical care, find they do not
possess the licenses and certifications from their military service
that the private sector needs in order to employ them.
These disparities lead to unemployment and underemployment for
transitioning servicemembers and veterans and puts them a step behind
their civilian counterparts. The military invests hundreds of thousands
of dollars in training its servicemembers making them highly qualified
for a vast array of civilian jobs, yet these highly trained, highly
skilled veterans often cannot do the same job they were prepared for in
the military in the private sector. Often, this is due to a lack of
recognition by the credentialing agencies and employers of the
equivalency of military training, education, and experience. This
failure to recognize the military acquired skills and education is a
disservice to servicemembers and veterans alike and must be remedied.
employment barriers
The barriers that exist to ensuring that servicemembers have the
civilian licenses and certifications they need for the civilian
workforce are multi-faceted. A key barrier is a lack of information on
the part of both servicemembers and credentialing agencies. Often
servicemembers are unaware until they transition out of the service
there are credentialing requirements associated with the civilian
counterparts of their military jobs until they transition out of the
service. At that point, it may be difficult to meet the eligibility
requirements for the credential without significant delays in
employment. Similarly, credentialing agencies may not be aware that
military education, training, and experience are often comparable to
that in the civilian sector. Military leaders should combat these
informational challenges by an early dissemination of information to
servicemembers on credentialing requirements during their transition
process and through marketing campaigns to civilian credentialing
boards to create awareness of the transferability of military skills
and the quality of military education, training and experience. The
American Legion also recommends that credentialing agencies develop
military-specific credential requirements that recognize military
training and education. For example, some universities and colleges
note military training and award college credits to veterans based on
the amount of training they underwent. This could apply to
credentialing as well.
There are some military occupations, such as the medical care and
aviation field, for which gaps between military education, training, or
experience and civilian credential or job requirements can be remedied
with minimal additional training or experience. However, for other
military occupations, the gaps are fairly substantial and it will be
difficult to get the required additional training and education in
order to position a servicemember to be ready for employment once they
exit the military. We allow servicemembers to fight for our freedoms
and the least we should do is prepare them for employment in the
private sector as part of the transitioning process.
This transitional phase of a servicemember from military to
civilian live can be very unstructured and can be a stressful period.
One way we can assist servicemembers is to provide a comprehensive
Transition Assistance Program (TAP) during their outprocessing period
from the military. A lot of criticism of the TAP program was mentioned
at the Employment Roundtable last month. In order to fix this problem
an overhaul of the TAP program is due. One way to improve the program
is to ensure that every servicemember enters and completes the program.
Making this program a mandatory part of a servicemember's transition
will ensure they are leaving the military better informed and trained.
One major difficulty servicemembers have is translating their
skills and experience from military lingo to civilian lingo. Countless
resumes that are inaccurate or do not properly give insight into what a
veteran has to offer come across my desk every day. In order to battle
this conflict of translation, the TAP program should be a resource that
describes the job duties of every military occupation and the
equivalent civilian terminology in order to allow a servicemember to
draft the best possible resume for seeking civilian employment.
With over 180,000 active duty, Reserve, and National Guard
servicemembers exiting every year, TAP and other transition programs
need to be formatted to give the appropriate guidance and training to
all transitioning servicemembers and their families. In addition, those
skills that they learn through their military training should be
translated not only in language onto a resume, but servicemembers need
to be given opportunities to obtain the civilian licensing and
certifications that attest to their qualifications while they are in
the military. The American Legion notes that appropriate Federal
agencies are re-defining the TAP program, for the first time in over 17
years, which should go a long way to designing an education/employment
specific level of expertise to guide servicemembers in their transition
from military to civilian.
employment solutions
Public Law 111-377, Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance
Improvements Act of 2010, affords eligible veterans with educational
opportunities that will assist veterans in their transition. The Post-
9/11 GI Bill allows veterans to receive their education at non-degree
granting institutions, such as vocational school. This added benefit
will allow those who want to capitalize on their military education and
pursue a vocational/apprenticeship program leading them to jobs that do
not require a traditional 2/4-year school to gain a degree, thus
minimizing their time being unemployed.
The American Legion sponsored a study in the mid-1990s to
understand the barriers to employment that exist for servicemembers as
they exit the military, specifically as related to health care and
aviation licensing and certification. That study represented the first
systematic research into licensing and certification barriers and the
impact they have on the ability of transitioning servicemembers and
veterans to obtain employment commensurate with their skills. This
continues to be a high priority for The American Legion with the
upcoming National Summit that will be hosted in 2011. Unemployment is
an issue which we understand, and by examining the barriers and
proposing best practice solutions that we have recommended today we
hope to contribute transitioning servicemembers and their families a
easier pathway to employment in the civilian economy. Thank you for
allowing The American Legion to submit testimony today.