Soldiers benefit from changes in ACAP

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

01.28.2013

Story by Sgt. Kyle Fisch 

14th Public Affairs Detachment

FORT HOOD, Texas - As the Army plans to reduce its numbers of service members in the near future, significant changes to the Army Career and Alumni Program have been made to make the transition from military to civilian for soldiers as smooth and efficient as possible.

An executive order issued in 2011 by Army Secretary John McHugh requires active-duty soldiers to begin the ACAP process one year before their day of separation, and the commanders of these Soldiers to actively oversee this process.

“The ACAP program here has evolved over the years.” said Linda Christ, the transitioning services manager for the ACAP program. “It started out with a law by Congress that stated, ‘All separating service members were required to get a pre-separation briefing, upon transitioning out of the Army.’”

As part of the changes to ACAP, a five-day Veterans Opportunity to Work Program is mandatory for all transitioning soldiers. This program replaces the Department of Labor’s three-day Transition Assistance Program, Christ said.

The VOW program does more for soldiers transitioning out of the Army, Christ said, as it gives strict timelines for soldiers to accomplish all the different aspects of the program.

Before VOW, soldiers would want to attend the different aspects of the training program, but because of conflicting unit training events commanders could not allow them to do so, Christ said.

Now, soldiers begin the transition process no later than 12 months before their expiration, term of service date. For retiring Soldiers, that timeline is extended to two years before their date of retirement.

The longer timeline is especially beneficial to Fort Hood, considering the large population of soldiers.

“We average approximately 900 soldiers transitioning out of the Army every month here,” said Deidra Brown, the contract installation manager for the ACAP program. With Fort Hood being home to 10 percent of the Army’s population, normally we have more soldiers transitioning out of the Army than other installations.”

One Soldier said he feels ACAP has set him up for success as he leaves the Army.

“It is definitely a rather unique experience,” said Sgt. Michael Cunningham, a transitioning soldier with the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. “I can’t speak for the old Army ACAP program, because I was not transitioning out of the Army then, but I definitely feel like I’m well prepared to transition to a new job outside of the Army with the current program.”

Besides VOW and a variety of other opportunities through ACAP, Fort Hood regularly hosts two ACAP-sponsored job fairs at Club Hood each year. This year, the job fair in January was cancelled because of conflicting schedules, Brown said. The next regularly-scheduled job fair is slated for June 19 at Club Hood, but a smaller job fair, sponsored by the American Freedom Foundation, is scheduled for 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Fort Hood Community Events Center.

Additionally, Brown said, every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, ACAP offers employer visits by organizations looking for transitioning soldiers to hire.

• Date Taken: 01.28.2013
• Date Posted: 02.12.2013 17:45
• Story ID: 101874
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US