Disabled veterans find careers in tech

Joint efforts of many groups provide services to help with transition, retraining and reemployment

Nearly 2,500 vets in the VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment service are currently working toward IT-related program goals. 1,483 disabled veterans were helped into technical jobs last year

By Monique Rizer
Contributing Editor

Many organizations are helping veterans with service-related disabilities transition out of the service and into technical careers. Whether service members are hurt in combat, during training or off duty, most receive an evaluation and disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA, Washington, DC) when they separate from the military. A 10 percent or higher rating designates a veteran as disabled, qualified for monthly payments and also for Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) and other services of the VA’s benefits admin.

Last year VR&E helped 1,483 disabled veterans get into technical jobs. This year nearly 2,500 veterans in VR&E have an IT-related program goal.

“Many disabled vets have already gained excellent IT skills in the military, but they may need additional training and certification to be successful in the civilian market,” says Ruth Fanning, director of VR&E. “We can bridge that gap, build on the skills they have and help them get whatever academic credentials they need to qualify for one of those in-demand technical jobs.”

Working with the VA
Fanning’s team works closely with the VA’s Veterans Employment Coordination Service (VECS), which recruits veterans for internal positions at the VA. More than eight percent of the VA’s 278,000 employees are disabled veterans.

The VA launched VECS as part of its human resources management department in 2007. Originally VECS focused on vets who were severely injured in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The service sent letters to some 2,300 of those vets, inviting them to consider a career with the VA. “We wanted to show that we continue to lead efforts to hire veterans,” says Dennis May, director of VECS.

“Regional coordinators have a more intense relationship with disabled veterans,” he explains, “but we will assist any veteran interested in employment with the VA.” Of 163 vets hired so far through VECS, twelve are in IT .

VECS is supported by nine employment coordinators, all with service-connected disabilities. They attend the services’ Wounded Warrior career fairs, as well as conventions of organizations like the League of United Latin-American Citizens (lulac.org) and the Tuskegee Airmen.

DOD prepares the wounded for careers
In 2005 the Department of Defense (DOD) launched Operation Warfighter (OWF) to match convalescing service members with short-term internships. Service members gain experience in the civilian world while continuing to draw their military pay; for that reason, the program currently places service members only with the DOD and other federal agencies.

“It’s a way for service members to return to work in a supportive environment,” states Patrick Brick, OWF program director. “No one turns us away. Everyone is interested in supporting this population!”

More than a hundred organizations participate in OWF and about 300 service members are placed in these temporary jobs each year, Brick reports. About half the service members eventually leave the military; the other half return to service. The program was initially based in the Washington, DC area, but has recently been expanded nationally.

Working with the NGA
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency began working with OWF last year and has found the perspective of service members to be valuable to its mission. “We are tapping the vast intellect, courage and experiences of these true American heroes who have firsthand knowledge of our foes and know precisely what geospatial intelligence our warfighters need,” says Army Brig Gen Brian A. Keller, director of military support for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

“It’s a win-win scenario by any measure, and one we are very proud to contribute to.”

Raytheon’s Op Phoenix supports the transition
Raytheon Missile Systems (Tucson, AZ) has its own program to support transitioning warriors injured in combat. Its Operation Phoenix is co-led by Derek Duplisea, who was severely wounded by a suicide bomber in Iraq in 2006, just two weeks before he was scheduled to return home from his
second tour.

His right arm and leg were shattered and a piece of shrapnel pierced his helmet and skull. Multiple surgeries saved his arm and leg, which are now anchored by titanium rods and plates. It took two years for him to recover and decide what to do next, a common challenge for wounded vets, he says. Eventually he retired on medical grounds and worked
at Booz Allen Hamilton before he moved into the recruiting job at Raytheon. The dry Arizona climate was better for his injuries and he wanted to help other wounded warriors like himself find their way to new careers.

“The program is about giving the wounded warrior a chance at a second career after the military, based on training, experience and skills, and this can be a challenge,” Duplisea says. “The wounded warrior population is small and you have to consider how many are willing to relocate away from their support systems. Sometimes it takes a year or two for someone to
go through recovery and make a decision.”

The Army helps with AW2
Duplisea found Raytheon through the Army Wounded Warrior program (AW2), established in 2004 to provide personal advocates for severely wounded soldiers and their families. Advocates are found around the country, and last year the Army added four regional career coordinators to work on job placement.

“I’ve learned at AW2 that our country is generous and employers want to help our veterans, but sometimes they just don’t know how,” says Rose Marie Tinker, AW2 career coordinator, whose father was a career soldier and Vietnam vet. “The AW2 is a good fit for employers too, because it’s a one-stop shop. We can refer them directly to our most severely wounded soldiers.”

AW2 has generated relationships with Raytheon, Disney (Burbank, CA), Northrop Grumman (Los Angeles, CA) and others, as well as schools with retraining programs and a variety of government agencies.

“Veterans have phenomenal skill sets,” Tinker says. “They have experience learning quickly, and working under pressure and with advanced technology. These are things any employer would want, and we help the vets highlight those skills.”

The Navy’s Safe Harbor: “a perfect match”
The Navy’s Safe Harbor program provides non-medical types of care to severely wounded, ill and injured sailors and Coast Guard members. The program began in 2005 in response to the increasing number of wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan. And though relatively fewer Navy people are wounded in combat, they still sustain accidental injuries, notes Safe Harbor commander Capt Key Watkins.

Safe Harbor recently enrolled twenty sailors in a digital forensics program offered at no cost through Mississippi State University. Watkins says technical jobs like these are a great opportunity for wounded vets.

“Working at the DOD CIO’s office I saw how important it is to have skilled people in the technical force, not only for our national defense but for our economy in general,” he says.
“I see a perfect match between our wounded, ill and injured population and the IT industry
at large.”

Transition Training Academy
Some programs have emerged through collaboration. Three years ago Cisco Systems (San Jose, CA) approached the Naval Medical Center San Diego
(San Diego, CA) to form Transition Training Academy (TTA), a technical training program for convalescing service members. A twelve-week pilot program was successfully launched in 2006.

Since then classes have spread to Brooke Army Medical Center (Fort Sam Houston, TX), Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton (Camp Pendleton, CA) and Eisenhower Army Medical Center (Fort Gordon, GA).

The classes are six weeks long and designed to dovetail with medical appointments. More
than 1,300 service members have taken the course, which is now managed by the nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project (WWP, Jacksonville, FL) on behalf of the Department of Labor’s REALifelines program. Cisco, which has donated $500,000 to the program, continues its support.

“The course is similar to a Microsoft certification,” says Chris Roberts, TTA program director at WWP. “Our hope is that they take the information from this course and go on for more. We’ll link them with a local college if they want to continue.”

Anthony Gilkes: back to IT at Northrop Grumman
WWP also connects veterans with jobs. That’s how one vet found a career in IT at Northrop Grumman.

Anthony Gilkes always wanted to work in IT. When he joined the Army in 2001 he had already earned IEEE and GSEC certificates, and he hoped to gain more IT experience in the service.

Instead, he was assigned to the infantry. “Not exactly what I had planned,” he says. After 9/11 his unit was sent to Ground Zero, and in 2004 he deployed to Iraq for a yearlong tour.

On the way back from a reconnaissance mission in Baghdad, Gilkes was manning the 50-caliber machine gun mounted on top of his Humvee. As his driver passed an Iraqi vehicle the car exploded, causing a serious concussion and shrapnel wounds. Gilkes was blinded in the right eye and spent two years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (Washington, DC) undergoing surgeries and evaluating whether he could remain in the service. He was medically retired from the Army in 2007.

After leaving Walter Reed, Gilkes took a job with Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, MD) working on proposals. He was eager to get back to his original career plan, and delighted when a rep from WWP contacted him about an opportunity at Northrop Grumman.

“The hiring manager asked what I was able to do,” he recalls. “I explained my IT background and what I would like to accomplish.” In 2008 Northrop Grumman brought Gilkes in as a computer security analyst. He troubleshoots security issues and monitors for security breaches from his location in Annapolis Junction, MD.

Gilkes loves his job. “I’m happy where I’m at right now; I’m learning a lot,” he says. He plans to start evening classes at the University of Maryland and pursue a BSCE using his GI Bill benefits.

Northrop Grumman’s Op IMPACT & the Network of Champions
Northrop Grumman places disabled veterans through partners like WWP.
The company also runs its own program, Operation IMPACT (Injured Military Pursuing Assisted Career Transition).

A Northrop Grumman employee planted the seeds for Op IMPACT when a family friend was seriously injured in Iraq and could not find a job when he finally returned home. With the support of Northrop Grumman leadership, Op IMPACT began in 2005. It has expanded into a mentoring program and a partnership with
more than fifty other companies: the Network of Champions. If Northrop Grumman doesn’t have a current opening for a vet with a service-related disability, it forwards the vet’s resume to its partners.

Northrop Grumman recruiters attend DOD career fairs and work with the VA’s VR&E staff at major military hospitals in DC and Tampa, FL. Karen Stang, Op IMPACT program manager, reports that forty-plus vets have been hired through the program so far.

The vets have a range of disabilities, from injuries, illnesses and amputations to posttraumatic stress disorder, but Northrop Grumman doesn’t focus on the disability. “These men and women bring so much more to the table with the abilities they have,” Stang declares. “There really is no disability we can’t accommodate. The assistive technology out there is just amazing.”

For its work, Northrop Grumman was given the New Freedom Initiative award of the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy in 2006. The New Freedom Initiative is a government-wide effort working toward full inclusion of people with disabilities
in American life. And this year the company was recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Service with the 2009 VetSuccess Private Employer of the Year Award.

Navy nuclear tech Clay McCreary: a new career at Rockwell Collins
Clay McCreary, a Navy nuclear electronics technician, is a senior electronics tech at Rockwell Collins and working on a PhD.

McCreary joined the Navy out of high school. He scored a perfect ninety-nine on the Armed Services Vocational Battery Test (ASVAB), an exam that evaluates which jobs a military recruit is eligible for. That made him a candidate to become a nuclear electronics technician.

The job promised higher pay and swift promotions, and he was good at it. But one night in 1997 he was thrown from the passenger’s seat in a vehicle rollover and the car flipped onto him. The injury left him with post concussive disorder which resulted in cognitive difficulties, memory loss, headaches and degradation of fine motor skills. The Navy placed him on temporary disability and discharged him in 1998.

With help from the VA, McCreary leveraged his five years of electronics experience to land a job at Dictaphone. In 2001 he moved to Rockwell Collins (Cedar Rapids, IA) as an avionics technician, then senior electronics technician, at its Melbourne, FL facility. In 2006 he completed a BS in software engineering from Colorado Technical University, and went on to an MSEE from Florida Institute of Technology in 2008. Now he’s working on a PhD in EE.

Today McCreary is an electrical hardware design engineer for Rockwell Collins. He works on distance-measuring equipment made by Rockwell Collins’ commercial systems business unit. He’s also working on the design of a system to protect airplane equipment from lighting strikes.

It was a hard but rewarding road. “When you leave the military with a career-ending injury, you’re leaving something you trained really hard for and devoted a big portion of your life to,” he says. “You just have to take it one step at a time and one day you’ll get back to where
you were.”

There, and perhaps beyond, for the prospective Dr McCreary.

IT experience in the Marines leads Clark Moiles to the IRS
Clark Moiles is an IT specialist with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS, Washington, DC). He started in technology when he joined the Marine Corps in 2000 and was assigned as a small-computer specialist. This military occupation specialty involves work in areas like network admin and managing email servers and user accounts for a battalion. After boot camp the Marines sent Moiles to a computer training school, and he later shipped to Okinawa, Japan for a year.

Moiles separated from the Marines in 2004 following a serious back injury. He fell from a height while training for a deployment to Iraq, fracturing two vertebrae in his lower back. He was assigned to light duty and separated when his time was up.

Returning home, he worked for a temp agency which put him on a contract to work for the IRS. Then the IRS hired him directly to work on its cyber security team, where he’s currently putting all his experience to use.

“I’m happy with what I’m doing,” he says. “I like taking someone’s idea and sitting down and saying, ‘How can we make this work,’ or ‘Why can’t this work.’ It’s problem-solving and I really enjoy it.”

IRS goes with vets
“Reaching out to veterans is a critical component of our overall recruitment strategy,” says Susan Greer, director of the IRS centralized recruitment office.

The agency has ramped up efforts under a new commissioner, launching a vets’ employee group called Military Outreach for Service IRS; it has participated in Op War Fighter since the program’s inception.

The IRS also recruits through several associations, such as the Paralyzed Veterans of America (Washington, DC), the Blinded Veterans Assn (Washington, DC) and the Disabled Veterans of America (Cold Spring, KY), and participates in the VA’s vocational rehab and employment program. Last year the IRS hired 231 vets with disabilities; so far this year about one in fourteen new hires has been a vet, some with, some without disabilities.

The IRS has a range of employment opportunities: IS specialist, computer ops, database admin, security admin and telecom. “We have hundreds of different careers here,” Greer declares, “and we’ve placed veterans in nearly every occupation.”

Ex-Marine George Solhan: deputy chief at the ONR
George Solhan served in the Marine Corps from 1968 to 1989. He was wounded in Vietnam his first year, but went on to many more years of service as a Marine infantryman. Today he has severe arthritis, and over a career ranging from Ranger School to jumping out of airplanes, “Everything from my hearing to my joints has been affected,” he says. “I limp a little but otherwise you don’t see it.”

Today Solhan is deputy chief of naval research for expeditionary maneuver warfare and combating terrorism science and technology at the Office of Naval Research (ONR, Arlington, VA). He joined ONR in 1999 after serving as deputy director of technology for the Marine Corps systems command, and has been in the senior executive service since 2004. He’s also been a senior research scientist at Battelle Memorial Institute (Columbus, OH) and a member of the physics faculty at the Naval Academy Preparatory School (Newport, RI).

In his current role he directs research in technologies that combat terrorism and develop lightweight materials for troops, who often carry 100 pounds of gear or more in combat. Solhan also oversees research in human performance, helping service members prepare better for the rigors of combat: something he knows firsthand.

His military service gave him an appreciation for the camaraderie he finds in the federal service, but he credits his 1968 BSME from the University of Maryland for his career in technology and science. He also has an MS in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, a component of the National Defense University (Washington, DC).

“The Marine Corps gave me a world view and commitment to service,” Solhan says. “For anyone just starting to think about going to college, I say go technical. I can’t overemphasize the value of having a marketable degree.”

Perry Pierce, a retired sailor, is an Ensco systems engineer
Perry Pierce is a data-link systems engineer at Ensco (Falls Church, VA), an engineering, science and technology firm that works on contracts for both the government and private industry. Based in Endicott, NY, he provides subject matter expertise to the company’s data-link integrated solutions group, advising customers on Link-16 and other systems integration.

One of his projects was the successful integration of the Situation Awareness Data Link/Improved Data Modem capability on the A-10C aircraft. “These technologies are
vital for today’s combat forces in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he notes. “They reduce the chances
of friendly-fire engagements by providing more secure communications between air and ground forces.”

Pierce has twenty-one years of experience working with data-link systems for the Navy. His last assignment in the service was as operations specialist first class in the combat information center on the USS Mahan DDG-72 out of Norfolk, VA.

But twenty years of standing and running on steel ship floors in the Navy took its toll on his knees, and he’s undergone three surgeries to repair a tendon in his right knee. He also suffered an eye injury during physical training which resulted in vision loss that was improved with surgery.

He retired in 2003 and went to work at EG&G, a division of URS Corp (San Francisco, CA). He provided technical expertise to support integration of Link-16 into Navy helicopters. In 2005 he joined Ensco.

Pierce says his time in the Navy gave him invaluable expertise. “When I joined the Navy, they didn’t have sea schools for my kind of work, and we learned along with the contractors who developed the systems,” he says. Twenty years of working with IT systems and their upgrades has made him an expert in the field.

IT specialist Cody Powers brings firsthand experience to the DIA
Cody Powers is an IT specialist in the network ops center at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA, Arlington, VA). His team manages thousands of
VoIP phones and desktop video teleconferencing systems from his office in
the Washington, DC area.

Powers joined the Army in 2002, right after high school. His aim was to get professional experience quickly, and he knew the military would help. He
was trained on operating systems and received the military equivalent of A+, N+ and other certifications.

He spent the last three years of his military career as a project manager on the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) presidential traveling team. This joint military team provides communications for the president wherever he goes. “Any phone or radio he touches goes through WHCA,” Powers says.

Powers traveled all over the world on that job, visiting Vietnam, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Australia, Russia, the U.K. and more, working for Presidents Bush and Obama.

He was separated in 2009 because of a torn disc in his back. He found his new career in the civilian world through the Operation Warfighter (OWF) program. “I think my work experience helped,” he says with a smile.

DIA is active in OWF
Thirteen wounded service members are currently on temporary assignments at DIA through Operation War Fighter, and fourteen more are in the security clearance process, reports DIA program manager Ginny Cwalina. DIA has participated in the OWF program since 2006.

“The program is open to any service member on medical hold status who is assigned to a warrior transition unit,” Cwalina explains. “The average length of the temporary assignment is three to five months for up to twenty hours per week. The work schedules are flexible so as not to interfere with their medical treatment or their recuperation.” There is no promise of employment at the completion of an OWF assignment, but OWF service members who are released from military service are considered candidates for full-time employment at DIA.

“DIA wholeheartedly supports the OWF initiative,” says Scott Raye, recruitment division chief. “We are committed to helping wounded service members and disabled veterans make the transition back into the civilian or military workforce.

Nyree Williams is an emergency communications manager at the VA
Nyree Williams joined the Army in 1995 and was trained as an electronics technician working on military intelligence communications. This specialized field requires a top-secret security clearance and forty-four weeks of classroom instruction following basic training; some of the longest training
in the Army.

Williams began as a systems admin and later became an instructor and staff sergeant. She served in Korea, Fort Huachuca, AZ and other duty stations.

About five years after joining the service Williams began to experience symptoms of fibromyalgia. The resulting chronic pain and fatigue made it increasingly hard to do the required physical training, and in 2005 she was medically separated from the Army.

While Williams was being treated at a local military hospital she met a VA rep who suggested that she apply there for a job. She had the technical skills, and her security clearance made her immediately available for a sensitive position. She was hired as a program manager for emergency communications and satellite services.

It’s Williams’ job to ensure that all VA facilities are equipped with emergency communications and trained staff. Williams’ work is 24-7 duty, but it accommodates her disability. She’s able
to telecommute or take personal days when her symptoms are bad, but stays on call when needed to support VA facilities, including data centers, outpatient clinics and hospitals around the world.

“The only way I can do this job is with assistance from my office, which has been very supportive,” she notes.

Williams walks with a cane but is otherwise mobile. She enjoys her new career. “I consider working at the VA a continuation of my service,” she says with pride.

D/C

Monique Rizer is a freelance writer. She lives in Alexandria, VA.

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