FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Sergeant Delbert Grush was assigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion in January 2008 after being medically evacuated from Afghanistan. Grush said that he had been serving with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division when he first developed neurological symptoms that were later diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
Grush will medically retire in April.
At the urging of a squad leader, Grush decided to take information technology classes at the Transition Training Academy. The classes could improve his hiring appeal to prospective employers once he separates from the Army, he said.
The four-week class was a good program that gave him the experience he previously lacked with computers, Grush said.
"The certification holds credentials in the civilian sector," he added. "Everything's going to computers these days so everybody needs to know something about it."
Grush and about 36 other Soldiers and retirees received their graduation certificates at a 2 p.m. ceremony in the Soldier Support Center March 8. It was TTA's first graduation.
The academy provides information technology training for injured servicemembers who transition to civilian life or change their military specialty, said Richard Willis, TTA's manager of instruction.
The course includes computer fundamentals and security, network design and course work in business applications such as Word, spread sheets and accounting and presentation software, among other facets.
Sergeant Christopher Mauro entered the WTB in July 2008, after suffering a static line injury following his return from Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He has since finished an A+ certification class, which is a basic entry certification class for computer technicians. Mauro said that the class costs $1,600 and does not include test-taking fees. Outside of TTA, a Soldier would have to pay out-of-pocket for the courses, he said.
"Them offering these courses saves a lot of frustration and hassle for people who want to learn about this field and get into it," said Mauro, who first joined the Army in 2000.
The WTB commander, Col. Terence McDowell, extolled the virtues of the transition process for wounded Soldiers.
The healing and transition process is a three-legged stool that represents care, physical fitness, and employment education and internships, said McDowell. He added that the process enhances a Soldier's progress.
Grush said he has witnessed the efforts to make WTB a more fluid transition for Soldiers. As one of the first Soldiers assigned to the WTB, Grush said he has seen the unit change.
"It was a rough transition because the unit was just standing up, but since I've been a part of the unit, there's been a lot of progress to make the unit easier," he said.
For more information about WTB programs, visit its Web site at www.woundedwarriorproject.org.
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