ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The Department of Defense (DoD) Transition to Veterans Program Office (TVPO) in collaboration with the Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA), Labor (DOL), Education (ED), Homeland Security (DHS), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) hosted the third annual Military Civilian Transition (MCT 3.0) Summit, February 22, in Alexandria, Virginia.
The focus of MCT 3.0 was community collaboration, resources, and best practices.
To kick off MCT 3.0, Alex Baird, Deputy Director, Defense Personnel and Family Support Center, welcomed a room full of representatives of military and veteran service organizations from across the country.
“This event is about a sharing of ideas, successful practices and diversity of thought. There are so many factors that play into transition, and it truly is important to the DoD that all veterans are successful in their transition as we look forward to the future of the all-volunteer force,” said Baird.
Nearly 30 military service organizations, veteran service organizations, and not-for-profit organizations attended the event, in addition to a wide cross section of representatives from federal agencies.
To spearhead the discussion on military transition, attendees heard remarks from The Honorable James Byrne, General Counsel, Performing the Duties of the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Anthony Kurta, Performing the Duties of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel & Readiness); Sam Shellenberger, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations, DOL VETS and Acting Assistant Secretary for VETS; and Margarita Devlin, Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits, VA.
Attendees were provided a brief overview of changes being made to Transition Assistance Program (TAP) as a result of John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, in addition to the TAP Interagency Partnership definition of “transition,” which was a follow-up to the previous MCT in April 2018.
MCT 3.0 also included a panel discussion with a wide range of speakers from many core areas in the transition realm — employment, access to benefits, education, homelessness and housing.
On the panel was:
Edward DuPass, Veteran Employment Services Manager, Northern Virginia Hampton Roads Veteran Employment Center.
Gary Harter, Executive Director, Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs
Christopher Stout, President and Co-founder, Veterans Community Project
LeNaya Hezel, Director, Veterans Office at Georgetown University
Jim Lorraine, President, America’s Warrior Partnership
“It is our collective efforts and thoughts on successful practice that brings us closer to total support for transitioning service members, veterans, spouses and caregivers as they work to own their transition and accomplish their personal and professional goals in the civilian world,” said Tamre Newton, Director, TVPO.
The panelists also facilitated group break-out sessions, which included leading participants on a thought-provoking discussion on key transition areas of concern including homelessness, higher education and community assistance and integration initiatives.
The goal of MCT 3.0 focused on the statement by former President Ronald Reagan, “there is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
About the Transition to Veterans Program Office:
TVPO provides transition assistance policy and program oversight to promote, advance and instill a culture of career ready service members. This includes the redesign, implementation and evaluation of the DoD TAP. TVPO's mission is to help foster a military culture that returns to America a career-ready veteran which strengthens the all-volunteer force.
For more information on the Transition Assistance Program, contact a TAP Program Manager on any military installation.
Follow the DoD Transition Assistance Program on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/transition-to-veterans-program-office/
Date Taken: | 03.29.2019 |
Date Posted: | 04.02.2019 13:32 |
Story ID: | 316630 |
Location: | US |
Web Views: | 301 |
Downloads: | 1 |
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