Employer Partners make an impact for disabled veterans

By Olivia Cobiskey
Director of Marketing - Media

Employer Partnership Initiative

QUANTICO, Va. - The buzz of hopeful and excited voices permeated the air at the Clubs at Quantico Tuesday. Nearly 250 people filled the room two hours into the five-hour career fair sponsored by Marine For Life, Wounded Warrior Regiment, and Marine Corps Community Services.

The first hour was dedicated to wounded warriors and Purple Heart recipients.

Denyse S. Gordon, Diversity and Disabled Veteran Recruiter for CACI/Recruiting Operations said CACI International, is committed to empowering disabled veterans.

"In 2007, the CEO said we really need to start giving back," said Gordon, who was a information manager = AFSC 3A071 in the Air Force. "He understood how talented veterans are - hardworking, adaptive, and highly skilled – he know that veterans would be an ideal resource."

As part of that commitment the company launched its Deploying Talent, Creating Careers program in August to recruit more qualified and provide meaningful careers for talented veterans with disabilities. A year later, it partnered with the Army Reserve Employer Partnership Initiative to expand that goal.

More than 40,000 wounded and disabled U.S. veterans have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report by Department of Veterans' Affairs in October 2008.

As a member of the Air Force Reserves Gordon understands personally what a rich resource wounded warriors can be.

"Disabled veterans can take everything they’ve learned and build a new and meaningful career with CACI," said Gordon.

Another Employer Partner, CSC, focused on military spouses.

“The reason our company does this is to show support for the department of defense,” said Andrea Hall, the CSC/ASEP liaison.

Hall said CSC has a network of 33 companies that share resumes to help find military spouses employment. The Department of Defense is CSC’s largest clients and it also is partnered with Employment Readiness Program Managers (ERPM) on Army bases across the United States. Together these programs offer resume and interview coaching, job alerts, and career events to help spouses find jobs when the service member is relocated, Hall said.

Who’s hiring

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the economy lost 63,000 jobs in February. However, there was none of that doom and gloom at the career fair, employers had positions to fill. In fact, half a dozen employers, who wanted to attend the job fair were turned down because there just want enough room at the club, Michael Brinkley, employment coordinator for the Wounded Warrior Regiment, one of the event's sponsors.

EG&G Division was looking for a broad range of experience.

“We do everything from operations to maintenance to engineers who develop weapons systems,” said Tonia Burton-Bouchard, Recruiter for Engineering and Technology Services with EG&G. “There are a broad range of jobs but not everything is locally.”

Burton-Bouchard said candidates would have more options if they are willing to relocate.

“That’s always a challenge trying to find something they want in a location that they want,” she added.

Lockheed Martin, another Employer Partner, was looking for subcontract administrators and information technology professionals, said Damian Herring, the subcontract program manager.

Like CACI, Martin launched the Seamless Transition Apprenticeship Program for veterans in 2006. The apprenticeship program provides a combination of mentoring, on-the-job learning, and classroom instruction in areas such as financial management, project management, and business law.

Like many of the Employer Partners Lockheed Martin has more than 30,000 employees with prior military service. Veterans possess key knowledge of Department of Defense systems and the required skills to meet the critical needs of Lockheed Martin’s customers, said Herring a STAP participant.

“I retired on a Friday and started work on a Monday,” said Herring, who helped stand up the Wounded Warrior Program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2007. “Being a Soldier myself, I can relate to the challenge and help them translate it into a positive, skill set and job.”

Measuring success

Members of the Wounded Warrior Regiment, one of the event’s sponsors, was excited by the companies eagerness to hire disabled veterans.

"Many of our employers have initiatives of their own to hire disabled veterans," Michael Brinkley, employment coordinator for the Wounded Warrior Regiment.

The Regiment plans to maximize on those initiatives.

"That’s important to us and our mission at the Wounded Warrior Regiment, to take care of these Marines at each stage of their recovery," said Marine Capt. Leticia Reyes, spokesperson for the regiment. "This is our chance to take care of our Marines and capitalize on what these organizations offer our wounded, ill, and injured."

However, ultimately the success of the event will be determined by how many attendees find jobs, said Brinkley. He’d like to see five to 10 percent of Tuesday’s job seekers employed by the 65 companies that attend the career fair.