Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy | Army Col. Diana Craun, chief of the Education, Incentives and Employment Division at...... read more read more
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WASHINGTON -- While skills learned in the military have long been valued by many employers, Army National Guard soldiers can now obtain apprenticeship certifications through the Guard Apprenticeship Program Initiative, which will allow those same skills to translate more easily into requirements many employers are seeking.
The program, which launched in a ceremony, Monday, Dec. 13, partners with the Department of Labor to provide for national apprenticeship certification in a variety of military occupational specialties, said Army Maj. Robert A. Lee, program manager at the National Guard Bureau, adding that it gives Guard sSoldiers another advantage in the civilian workforce.
"The advantage is, it takes 2,000 to 6,000 clock hours of instructional time and on-the-job training to get the license or certificate," Lee said. "With the Department of Labor having already signed off on it, soldiers could be spotted up to two years of credit (toward those apprenticeship requirements)."
The specific requirements and credits awarded vary between each MOS and its associated civilian apprenticeship program. The amount of time or experience a soldier is credited with will be based on time of service, schools attended and other factors that will be reviewed during an initial assessment when entering the program, said Lee.
Currently more than 100 MOSs qualify for apprenticeship credit-most falling within the trades such as mechanics and engineers as well as healthcare fields- though Lee said he hopes to grow that list in the future.
As an added benefit, soldiers may also be able to take advantage of GI Bill education benefits as they continue to work through the apprenticeship program.
"Most soldiers will get to pull parts of their GI Bill that many don't know exist for on-the-job training," Lee said. "When you say GI Bill most soldiers think school or college. They don't think on-the-job training."
The program also provides many long-term benefits for the soldier.
"Those who complete an apprentice program, on average, earn about $54,000 a year, which is far and above the results of many other training interventions," said John Ladd, of the Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship.
The program also benefits employers.
"Now the employer doesn't have to train a person. They're getting a person who is already experienced," Lee said. "Plus, we're drug-free, used to executing orders and working with intensity under stress."
Soldiers who wish to take part in the program need to first contact their state's Education Support Office, said Lee, adding that it may take some time for the program to become fully implemented in each state.
"The states are going to own their programs, we just gave them the guidelines."
The Department of Labor has regional directors and under them they have folks that can assist soldiers, too.
In the end, it comes back to taking care of soldiers, said Lee.
"The program is going to benefit the soldier," he said. The soldier is going to see a greater value in him or herself and that all the schools we're sending them to, they can now capitalize directly on it on the civilian side and go to an employer who can put them into an apprenticeship program."
| Date Taken: | 12.13.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 12.14.2010 15:05 |
| Story ID: | 61967 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 386 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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