The U.S. Department of Labor’s Assistant Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, James D. Rodriguez, toured the Fort Hood Soldier Recovery Unit and met with Soldiers participating in the Career Education Readiness Program, Feb. 27.
Col. Daniel Moore, commander, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, and the SRU command team accompanied Rodriguez through the Soldiers barracks, the Adaptive Reconditioning Program facility, and the Soldier and Family Assistance Center before sitting down to hear the Soldiers’ experiences, seeking to find how to better assist them with the transition process.
A transitioning Soldier in the group discussion, 1st Sgt. Christopher Fogleman described his transition in the program as, “being comfortable and just feeling right while being around like-minded military individuals.”
“The biggest challenge that military members face when transitioning into the civilian workforce is trying to find the same cultural fit they have in the military,” Rodriguez said. “When the military member accepts that fact, then they can really have a better transition.”
According to the assistant secretary, data shows that on average military members leave their first three jobs within the year after leaving the force.
One of the biggest things that we are working on in labor is to help military members get more information about the process, so they are prepared to make that transition, he added.
The Army Recovery Care Program provides oversight to the SRU and partners with the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure Soldiers have immediate access to all veteran benefits and health care programs once they enter veteran status. The SRU Veteran Track platoon focuses on career and education readiness and provides resources that prepares Soldiers for the transition to veteran status.
During his visit, Rodriguez met with Soldiers in military occupational skills ranging from mechanic to medical. They described the Transition Assistance Program as very beneficial in many different aspects.
TAP is a program that provides information, resources and tools to service members and their loved ones to help prepare them for their transition from military to civilian life.
Soldiers recovering in an SRU follow a Comprehensive Recovery Plan. The CRP is a dynamic plan of actions, focusing on the Soldier’s future. It establishes goals that are mapped to the Soldier’s transition plan in six domains: career, physical, emotional, social, family, and spiritual.
“It’s definitely a reality check when you go through the classes and realize that you want to maintain the same level of income that you currently have when you transition out,” said Sgt. Gavin Lawson, patriot missile operator and technician.
There’s a tremendous amount of resources and programs at the Soldiers’ disposal that they don’t know or aren’t educated enough about, and don’t understand their value or don’t take advantage of them, Rodriguez said.
He encouraged the group to network, not only with organizations, but with other veterans that have transitioned out, and to apply for veteran administration resources like the PACT Act, a new law that expands VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances.
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