Bill Would Help Connect Veterans to Jobs

WASHINGTON (April 21) -- Jason Hansman figured his college degree and eight-plus years as an Army Reservist, including a tour of duty overseeing construction projects in Iraq, would help him land a good job when he returned to civilian life in the fall of 2008.

Joe Tryon, a West Point graduate now living in Arlington, Va., thought his MBA in health administration and the leadership skills he gained during six years as an infantry officer would impress prospective civilian employers.

Both men found they were mistaken, as prospective employers showed little interest in their military experience. Hansman, 27, couldn't get so much as a job interview in five months of writing letters and distributing resumes; after that, he worked nights for a few months as a security guard before finding a position with a veterans aid organization. Tryon, 32 and out of the Army for 14 months now, still is looking for work.

The two are among thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who've come home to find their military training of little apparent value in today's civilian economy. Despite signs that the recession has ended and unemployment has leveled off, the jobless rate among young vets is 21.2 percent, according to the Labor Department.

And it's getting worse -- in 2008, just 14 percent of vets age 18 to 24 were jobless.

"One in five of our nation's heroes, dedicated and disciplined workers, can't find a job to support their families, don't have an income that gives them stability," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Tuesday. "How can this be?"

Murray led a bipartisan group of senators Tuesday in introducing legislation to provide special job training and placement assistance to new veterans. Her "Veterans Employment Act of 2010" would:

• Extend the "Post 9/11 GI Bill," passed in 2008 to cover the cost of apprenticeship and vocational training programs for veterans. The law currently pays only the cost of tuition and living expenses for veterans pursuing a college degree.
• Create a Veteran Business Center in the federal Small Business Administration to give vets training and counseling in starting their own small businesses.
• Create pilot programs to help veterans market the technical skills they gain in the military to get civilian jobs.
• Create a pair of grant programs to help connect veterans to new "green jobs" on environmental and alternative energy projects.

Murray said the legislation grows out of conversations she had with veterans and employers in her state during a recent congressional recess. She said she was startled to find that some vets avoid mentioning their service on their resumes, fearful that prospective employers will assume that their military experience has scarred them physically or emotionally.

Other vets lose out because they don't speak the language of the civilian work force and can't articulate how the leadership and technical skills they acquired in uniform will make them better civilian workers, Murray suggested.

Tryon said his experience leading troops, which required him to think on his feet and solve problems creatively, has not impressed prospective employers. "They want individuals with experiences in certain skill sets that they've already developed," he said, rather than the fresh perspective of someone "taking on a new challenge and learning a new job."

While the bill's broad range of aid programs could bring it under the jurisdiction of three Senate committees, slowing down prospects for action this year, Murray said she's working on rounding up enough bipartisan backing to get it on a fast track. Congressional Budget Office analysts are working on a cost estimate, she added.

The legislation also may get an assist from the political calendar. Veterans aid bills generally command broad public support, particularly important to lawmakers during election years; Murray and her principal Republican co-sponsor, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, both are up for re-election this fall.