WH in Major Push for Vets’ Employment

The White House yesterday announced an ambitious hire-a-vet campaign that calls on the federal government to boost job opportunities for former servicemembers.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order Nov. 9 titled "The Veterans Employment Initiative" which is intended to transform federal government into a model of veterans’ employment.

"Honoring our sacred trust with America’s veterans means doing all we can to help them find work when they come home so they never feel as if the American Dream they fought to defend is out of reach for them and their families," Obama said in a press statement.

But Obama said the initiative is also about filling the federal job ranks with people who have the "skills, dedication, and sense of duty that Americans deserve from their public servants."

The order calls for the formation of an advisory council to make sure the 24 federal agencies tabbed in the initiative do all they can to open doors to vets.

Among those on hand for the signing were Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry.

Shinseki and Napolitano will co-chair the new advisory group, dubbed the "Council on Veterans Employment," while Berry will serve as vice-chairman and the council’s chief operating officer, the White House said.

The council will advise and assist the president and the director of OPM in setting up a coordinated government-wide effort to increase the number of veterans employed by the federal government by enhancing recruitment and training. The council also is intended to serve as a national forum for promoting vets’ employment opportunities in the executive branch.

The agencies represented on the council -- among them the departments of State, Treasury, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Justice and Interior -- have each been ordered to develop plans for promoting veterans employment. Within the next three months each department will have set up a Veterans Employment Program Office with a full-time officer or employee heading it up, the White House said.

The Defense, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security and Labor departments have been ordered to develop and implement counseling and training programs to help vets and service members bound for the civilian world find work in the federal government.

Shinseki, in remarks included in the White House release, underscored the "unmatched dedication" veterans have shown to public service.

"They offer leadership and technical skills that are in high demand, whether in the public or private workforce," he said. "Not only does this initiative present an opportunity for veterans to serve their nation once again, the nation will benefit from the education and training veterans received in the armed forces."