Many of the United States military men and women who have sustained serious combat-related injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan want to invest some of their recuperation time in gaining new technical skills to help support themselves and their families. Some will use these technical skills to secure new roles in the military, while others need technical skills to effectively transition to jobs or further educational programs in civilian life. Due to the demands placed on them by their medical treatment and other responsibilities, it is often difficult for these veterans to attend traditional classes or vocational training programs. Needed: a flexible technical-skills and career planning program implemented at low cost in multiple military hospital facilities across the United States and, potentially, around the world.
Career Training for Recovering Veterans
Working with the U.S. Department of Labor, Cisco led the development of a 12-week pilot program devoted to preparing recovering veterans for entry-level jobs in the information technology industry. The Transition Training Academy program consists of 18 hours of classroom instruction and 18 to 24 hours of web-based instruction in networking, computers, and desktop applications, along with career planning and assistance. Principal partners include Cisco, Wounded Warriors, Teachers Without Borders, Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) Career Transition Center and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service. Cisco has invested $500,000 in the program since it began in 2006.
Progress to Date
Of the 15 students who completed the pilot program at NMCSD in August 2007, six received job offers immediately. The program is currently offered at NMCSD and also at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. A second class of 15 students graduated from the program in February 2008, and the third class of 51 students graduated in July. Two-thirds of the students have found employment following separation from the service, have returned to the service in an IT-related military occupation specialty, or are pursuing further education. The remaining students are continuing their recovery programs. The majority of the graduates who completed rehabilitation and actively sought employment in the civilian sector are now employed.
Turning a Negative into a Positive
While Gorman Penn was rehabilitating from serious head and spinal injuries that he sustained while unloading a truck during a windstorm in Iraq, he was devastated to learn of his impending medical discharge from the U.S. Navy. “It was like they were taking my life away,” he recalls. Besides having to leave his military career, the heavy equipment operator would not be able to work at a similar civilian job because of his injuries. But after building his IT skills in the Transition Training Academy program, he benefited from a Cisco effort that matches available talent to Cisco channel partners looking for qualified employees. “I’ve taken a negative and turned it into a positive,” Penn says. “My company wants to make me an engineer. The sky is the limit.”
