Education and Employment Crosswalks for Veterans

Programs and initiatives that support education, employment and job skills for U.S. military veterans should be a priority government policy at every level.  Washington State is home to several active military installations of all military branches, so that means a higher veteran population as well. The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs runs a Counseling and Wellness Division, even though many other states do not have one.  A major function of which is to contract with mental health providers to help veterans transition culturally to civilian life, and provide counseling for PTSD trauma and suicide prevention.  The Program Manager for its Veterans Conservation Corps (VCC) is Jason Alves, MPA, who recently took the time to discuss his work and his program’s partnership with the Centers of Excellence.

Mr. Alves explained that VCC is based in Olympia and works with veterans throughout the state to re-integrate them into the community, providing self-directed connection to our state’s natural resources as a means of therapy, including eco-therapy or applied eco-psychology.  To support this the program offers paid internships in natural resources and conservation activities as “crosswalks” to careers in habitat restoration, agriculture, ranching and forestry.  It has formed a consistent productive working relationship with the Agriculture and Natural Resources COE, although that is not the only Center involved intentionally with veterans. The Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy participated in a Smart Grid grant program that helps vets understand what they need to be successful in the clean energy industry. The Information & Computing Technology COE works with veterans on cultural competencies for transitioning to civilian IT work.

While the VCC connects veterans to private industry and employment opportunities, it is focused on the Veterans Affairs components, meaning it has no education infrastructure to teach about soil health or business planning, for example. That’s where the Agriculture and Natural Resource Center of Excellence comes in and offers 2-year certifications or even 4-year degrees for folks just separating from the military. Using their GI Bill benefits for college is a top priority for many of them, and a majority of those are first generation higher ed students, who often do not have access to post-secondary education.

Mr. Alves noted that at veteran outreach events, he has given out hundreds of copies of a COE guide to all agriculture and natural resources learning programs at two-year public colleges in Washington.  The public education system as a whole is another means of providing crosswalks from military training to successful civilian life, and the GI Bill is a valuable COE recruiting tool.  Hands on military experience in piloting, managing and maintaining drones, for example, can be parlayed into earning a certificate for operation, and or maintenance of commercial drones.

Jason described inter-agency collaboration in building clearinghouses for employment opportunities, such as the COE co-hosting the job board at the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Employers that were surveyed find that vets are very dependable and loyal employees. At the same time they may get frustrated with slower, consensus style decision-making in the private sector or civilian government agencies, but that’s something that an emphasis on developing cultural competency is specifically designed to address.  It’s much the same as the challenges of fitting into the campus culture of higher ed.  For that reason both employers and college administrators can take advantage of veteran cultural competency trainings like one offered by Mr. Alves and his State program.  Here’s a link to his slide deck titled, “Engaging in the Second Mission.”

Agriculture is a key sector for veterans in part because 15–20% of all agriculture producers in Washington are veterans themselves.  They are interested in supporting today’s new veterans who may wish to return to the rural communities from which they came before entering the military, with more crosswalks that make sense where they are. One specific example Jason gave is the wine and viticulture industry in Benton County.

Helpful Resources

Slide Deck: “Engaging in the Second Mission” WA State Dept. of Veterans Affairs

U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs: About GI Bill Benefits

WA State Department of Veteran’s Affairs Employment Resources