VA Secretary Announces Initiative

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a new initiative called Fulfilling the Commitment - Coming Home to Work last week at a three-day conference put on by VA to help veterans make the transition from military service to civilian life.

Fulfilling the Commitment - Coming Home to Work is an umbrella initiative, a comprehensive intergovernmental and public-private alliance that will ensure separating Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veterans that they will have employment opportunities when they return home from the war on terrorism.

This initiative focuses on linking OIF/OEF servicemembers to existing resources through local and regional job markets, regardless of where they separate, where they return, or the career or education they pursue.

Some 200,000 servicemembers separate from active military service annually.

This initiative will combine the efforts of federal, state and private sector entities to address their employment needs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in the first three quarters of 2005, almost 15 percent of veterans in the 20-24 year-old age group were unemployed, nearly three times the national rate.

"This conference represents an important crossroads in our nation's history," said R. Allen Pittman, VA's Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration. "The collective efforts of everyone at this conference will help us ensure that unemployment and under-employment are not barriers to the successful transition of servicemembers from the battlefield back to mainstream America."