Helping Veterans Get Back to Work

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ekpig1BOvk[/youtube]

From the White House Blog:

Tireak Tullock enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in 2000 as a data network systems specialist and served two tours in Iraq. Today, he works as a network engineer for the Long Island Rail Road.

Tullock had trouble finding work when he returned from his second tour of duty in 2005. He said employers were apprehensive to offer him a job because he was still enlisted in the Reserves. Frustrated but hopeful, he took an entry-level position at  Long Island Bus—a position both Tullock and the person who hired him knew he was overqualified for based on his experience in the military. In fact, he earned two promotions in three years before leaving to take a job as a network engineer with the LIRR. 

Tulloc says he knows “firsthand what it’s like to transition home” and about the challenges veterans face finding gainful employment. “We need to do everything we can” to help them, he said. “We need to continue the investment. We spend millions of dollars training us when we’re in combat, why not continue that investment so that when we do leave the military, we can continue to be productive members of society.”

President Obama believe that no veteran that fought for our country should have to fight to find a job once they come home. He’s challenged private sector employers to hire or train 100,000 veterans, and his Administration has introduced a host of initiatives to help connect veterans with job listings and career support. And, the Senate has already passed two key pieces of the American Jobs Act, the Wounded Warriors and Returning Heroes tax credits, which will provide tax credits to businesses that hire veterans.

Read more:

• Read the story of Navy veteran Eric Smith, who has more than five years experience as a military medic, but works today as a hospital janitor.
• Read the story of Maria Canales, an Army veteran who spent nearly four years looking for a job because she had trouble communicating how the skills she learned in the military prepared her to be an excellent employee in the civilian workforce.
• Check out this story from Voice of OC aboutDaniel Foster, a 23-year-old Army veteran of two combat tours — one in Iraq and another in Afghanistan. He was seriously wounded in May 2010 when suicide bombers attacked his outpost in Afghanistan with a truck full of explosives. He has a Silver Star and a Purple Heart but Still Waiting for Benefits.