Transition Assistance Program – the First Step in “taking care of our Veterans”

Each year, the U.S. Military spends billions of dollars of tax payer’s money training men and women from all walks of life to become Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen, but spend very little in comparison as our service members exit the military. When Johnny or Joanie joins the military, they can expect to spend at least 12 to as many as 52 weeks in training learning the intricacies of becoming a tactically and technically proficient service member. But when Johnny or Joanie’s time in service is almost over, and before they’re tossed headlong back into the civilian sector, the military gives them a cursory 5 days in a Department of Labor transition class assisting them in becoming a civilian again: five days - after some service members have spent most (if not all) of their adult lives serving this great nation in the military.

During the 5-day mandatory class given by the Department of Labor, service members spend hour upon hour listening to Power Point presentations, briefings, and work through a 250 page government transition workbook. Some bases invite guest speakers to come in right before or after lunch; other military bases interpret Department of Labor guidance differently and do not allow employment or education guest speakers. I believe Retired Command Sergeant Major Mike Pritt stated it best in his article when he said, “Making something mandatory does not make it important or worthwhile, but somehow this point is lost in the Army.” Just like all mandatory training conducted in the military, the useful nature of it is lost. I have personally attended Power Point briefings at several military installations that sounded like Ben Stein was giving the presentation, “Bueller, Bueller, Bueller….” Death by Power Point.

Some of the transition offices employ recently retired service members or are full of young 20 somethings fresh out of college with their Masters degrees counseling our transitioning service members on how to start their next careers. These fine people are serving America’s Heroes, but we should be hiring individuals with extensive experience in hiring practices, career assessments, and resume/cover letter writing, not people who have little or no experience in the civilian world. Imagine sitting across from a young twenty something who went to college while our warriors went to war, and while this is that young 20 something’s first job since completing grad school, they are counseling our warriors on how to get a job. Or imagine listening to the retiree who hasn’t worked in the private sector in over 20 years explaining the pitfalls of procuring gainful employment. Something just seems wrong with that.

While the Department of Defense, the Department of Labor, and the Veterans Administration pour billions of dollars into military transition classes, veteran unemployment is still higher than their civilian counterpart. According to Syracuse University, “The population of younger veterans who were discharged and having the toughest time are those in the 20 – 29 year-old age bracket hitting an unemployment rate of 35% in March of 2013.” The unemployment rate for veterans of that same age group has stayed above 20% for over 2 years, even though the government continues to dump money into the program.

As Mike Grice pointed out in his article on May 1, 2013, the answers to this pressing issue are right in front of the military, but no one is paying attention. During my time in the Army, we always conducted an After Action Review (AAR) at the completion of an exercise and identified things we did right, discovered what we could have done better by identifying training deficiencies, then implemented needed changes to training or doctrine prior to the next exercise. The issue is that no one is contacting our veterans after they leave the military to see if the Transition class helped them in their quest to find employment, aided them in landing that job they wanted, or get feedback from employers on the effectiveness of the resume they put together and submitted to the potential employer. What is working in the Transition class and what isn’t?

We know the Department of Labor has made great strides in improving military transition over the years including the changes in recent years by putting service members on tracks for success such as education, career technical, and entrepreneur. But without letting the private sector get involved, it will never evolve into a successful program for our service members. The Transition course should not be a one-time 5 day course; it should be tailored to veteran’s needs and monitored to ensure that the course remains relevant to today’s changing business trends and remain current with the latest technological advances. It needs to be updated and be tailored to meet the needs of the individual based upon education and experience - not just rank centric. God forbid we let a Specialist/Corporal or Sergeant with experience and a degree sit in the same classroom as Captains and Lieutenants.

How can we fix it? I believe it can be fixed by implementing a flexible transition course that can be changed as business changes dictate without dumping millions of tax dollars back into a broken system:

The Department of Labor should develop partnerships with the private sector. The DOL would then be able to partner with a private firm(s) that have the needed expertise to write up-to-date resumes, federal resumes, cover letters, and teach interview techniques thereby enhancing each departing service member’s ability to acquire gainful employment. An annual contract would be awarded based upon veterans finding jobs, and contractors achieving and maintaining satisfactory scores from After Action Reports. Also:

1. Hire transition counselors that have personnel and human resource experience - not just degrees.
2. The transition class needs to be a 2 or 3 week course so briefings from the Veteran’s Administration as well as other agencies will have the necessary time to speak at length about their many programs designed to benefit veteran’s young and old, and entertain questions at the end of each briefing.
3. Invite corporate recruiters to come in and talk about opportunities in their organizations and conduct interviews. Walmart, Home Depot, and many organizations have promised to hire veterans; what better way to give them the opportunity than at transition class? Let’s also hold them to their word and monitor how many veterans they are actually hiring. Anyone who serves honorably deserves a shot, a real shot – not a corporate or company slogan about hiring Veterans, but a real interview with the intention of being hired.  
4. Allow an education day or include college or trade school representatives throughout the course for those veterans looking to speak with different schools. The issue is by directive; military bases will only allow those schools with education contracts on that installation to talk to service members. This limits the service member’s options as they select what school fits best for their future plans.
5. Allow time for Veteran Service Organizations to present those programs their organization offers and what they do on a national level. Once the Soldier, Sailor, Marine, or Airmen leaves the installation, no one from their former chain of command is thinking of them. This is where the VSOs need to step in and assist all transitioning veterans.
6. Currently, the entrepreneur portion of transition is being taught by the transition class instructor. Unless this person has opened a small business or franchise, from what experience could they be speaking? The right thing to do is bring in small business owners or franchise representatives to talk about what it takes to start up a business. Our service members do not need to have this read to them from a Power Point slide deck from someone with no experience.

In January 2015 the American Legion recommended some changes that are listed below, among others:

            Focus on soft skills - By “soft skills” we mean personal qualities, habits, attitudes, and social graces that can make an individual employable. Human resource staff value ‘soft skills’ because research shows that these skills are an important indicator of job performance. 

            Accessing “Higher Education” - that would enhance every transitioning service member’s opportunity to attend a higher education program of their choice. 

            Improvement on the TAP Facilitators contracts – TAP facilitators are evaluated based on a limited scope of performance measures that only involve the administration of their programs, and as such, there is a lack of incentive for them to work outside the parameters.

The American Legion Concluded:

“The American Legion believes strongly that the new TAP program represents an important step toward providing transitioning service members with the information that they need to become successful and productive members of society once they complete their military service.  While there exist some shortcomings that require attention, the program overall appears to be successful, and the implementation has been commendable.” 

While I agree that we are far better off with this Transition Assistance Program than where we were over the last 3 decades there is much work to be done to fix the Transition Assistance Program thus lowering the burgeoning Veteran unemployment percentage.