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Soldier for Life

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

What is it?

Soldier for Life connects Army, governmental, and community efforts to build relationships that facilitate successful reintegration of Soldiers, retired Soldiers, veterans, and their Families in order to keep them Army Strong.

A Soldier for life is a resilient leader of character committed to a lifetime of service to the nation and the Army, whether active, National Guard or Army Reserve, even after retiring or transitioning from service. Soldier for Life is a holistic shift in how the Army focuses on Soldier support services in all phases of the Soldier lifecycle. The Army ensures Soldiers, past and present, are aware of policies and educational, credentialing and health and wellness services and actively engages with those entities who can provide services to Soldiers and their Families.

What has the Army done?

To date, Soldier for Life has connected over 1,000 private and public organizations to Soldiers and spouses, resulting in more than 1.2 million jobs filled by Army Family members. Families are a critical foundation for professional Soldiers, which is why Soldier for Life advocates for hiring military spouses. The Army is the founding service of the Department of Defense’s Military Spouse Employment Partnership, which has hired over 100,000 military spouses since 2011.

Soldier for Life efforts have also assisted in reducing the veteran unemployment rates to a seven-year low, with current veteran unemployment (4.3 percent) remaining lower than the national average (5 percent).

Army Initial Military Training transforms civilian volunteers into Soldiers competent in a variety of civilian transferable military skills and individuals of character committed to serving the nation. Additionally, Soldiers can earn up to two years of college credit toward a Bachelor’s Degree just by attending Army professional military education courses.

What continued efforts are planned for the future?

Soldier for Life has helped establish over 70 primary apprenticeship programs on 21 installations that provide Soldiers with viable, lifelong skills they can use in both Army and civilian careers. More programs will come. Additionally, the Army identified 580 civilian-recognized equivalent Army credentials and more than 100 credentials for promotion points, with more pending.

Why is this important to the Army?

Retired Soldiers, veterans and their Families are still proud, still serving and still saluting, and the Army will never break faith with these valued members of the Army Family. Soldier for Life resources ensure they maintain enduring access to networks for life.

Soldiers for Life are forever part of a noble profession immersed in the Army Ethic, Army Values, Warrior Ethos, Soldier’s Creed and career skills that will prepare them for exceptional lives, during and after service.

Resources:

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