Local Initiatives
Helping Wounded Vets Find Jobs
Many U.S. veterans who have done battle against 9/11 architect Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda are facing another challenge: unemployment. The jobless rate among returning veterans tops 12 percent, higher than the national average, and those numbers are likely higher for the some 45,700 wounded warriors.
U.S. Army Maj. General James O. Barclay III advises business executives on supporting wounded veterans returning to civilian life. (Photo By: Northrop Grumman)
Just like they answered the call for service on Sept. 11, 2001, some electric co-ops are honoring those wounded warriors by joining a national jobs network to hire wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars.
The National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp., Dulles, Va., is coordinating co-ops’ participation in the Network of Champions, a project formed in 2008 by defense contractor Northrop Grumman to help wounded soldiers return to civilian life.
More than 70 employers, including General Motors and SunTrust Bank, participate in the network, which is dedicated to hiring vets suffering from injuries or illnesses incurred while deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom.
Returning soldiers, especially those with major injuries, have a particularly hard time finding jobs. And co-ops’ variety of locales make them a good fit for the network, said Tony Lawrence, a vice president at CFC.
“Many, when they return, would like to return to their home states or don’t want to relocate to the coasts for a job. Our rural cooperatives provide a great network across locations,” said Lawrence, a former aircraft catapult operator on the USS Ranger. “The network offers a pool of candidates that are well-trained for leadership, teamwork, diversity inclusion, performance under pressure and integrity.”
Besides CFC, the other three co-ops to join the jobs network are Rio Grande Electric Co-op, Brackettville, Texas; Flint Energies, Reynolds, Ga.; and Sullivan County REC, Forksville, Pa.
“We joined because we thought it would be the right thing to do,” said Trish Taylor, director of Human Resources at Rio Grande Electric Co-op, which serves two military bases.
So far this year, network members have hired 13 veterans, most of whom were deployed in ground combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. Northrop Grumman, which runs its own jobs program for injured vets, refers applicants to the network with the candidates’ permission. Resumes are reviewed among network members via monthly teleconferences.
The network also sponsors an annual symposium “designed to provide education and networking opportunities for our members. All of these efforts are focused on helping our members understand the challenges faced by our wounded warriors as they transition” from military to civilian life, said Duane Hardesty, the network’s outreach ambassador and a Vietnam veteran.
And those challenges are many. Job applicants typically have disabilities in one or more categories that substantially affect one or more major life functions. Disabilities include blindness and hearing loss, loss of limb, severe burns, paralysis or traumatic brain injury.
“The only thing we ask is that there’s a true commitment to hiring a wounded warrior,” said Michael Sullivan, project manager of Operation IMPACT at Northrop Grumman.
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Tags: Co-op News, Commitment to Community, HR, Local Initiatives