Sgt. Dakota Meyer presents military transition workshop aboard Combat Center

Photo By Cpl. Julio McGraw | Sgt. Dakota Meyer, Medal of Honor recipient, teaches the ‘Hiring our Heroes’ employment and education workshop at the Mameluke Officer’s Club, May 6, 2015. The event was sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Meyer and the Toyota Motor Corp. (Official Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Julio McGraw/Released)  

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

05.06.2015

Story by Lance Cpl. Julio McGraw 

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER, Calif. - Medal of Honor recipient, Sgt. Dakota Meyer visited the Combat Center May 6, 2015 to teach a ‘Hiring Our Heroes’ employment and education workshop at the Mameluke Officer’s Club.

‘Hiring Our Heroes’ is a program, which began in 2014 and is sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Meyer and the Toyota Motor Corp., and is designed to help service members better prepare for the transition into the civilian world after their End of Active Service.

Meyer and Tech. Sgt. Virginia Brewer, co-facilitator, ‘Hiring our Heroes,’ taught a series of classes throughout the day, to more than 200 service members on the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of transitioning into the civilian workforce, based on their own first-hand experiences.

“Boot camp took 12 weeks to transition you from civilian to Marine and that was a hard transition,” Meyer said. “The same process will eventually occur when transitioning from Marine to civilian and preparation is key.”

The Career Resource Office aboard the Combat Center provides service members and their spouses with programs such as the Transition Readiness Seminar and the Spouse Transition and Readiness Seminar along with many other classes and workshops to help service members and their families.

“All the programs we offer here can only help the service members and their families,” said Virginia Sulick, Manager, Career Resource Office. “Everyone needs a plan with an end goal in mind and we are here to help create a starting point.”

According to Sulick, starting these steps early helps create more professional Marines and helps them realize what benefits are available. In addition, it shows them how their Military Occupational Specialty certifications and training transfer into the civilian workforce.

“Veterans are some of the greatest people in society,” Meyer said. “They make up less than one percent of the population, [of that one percent] fewer of them are Marines. Those are the people who stood up and chose to sacrifice and defend the greatest nation; those are the type of people coming to the table preparing to become part of the workforce.”

For more information on the transition programs available, call the Career Resource Office at
760-830-7225

• Date Taken: 05.06.2015
• Date Posted: 05.13.2015 22:10
• Story ID: 163261
• Location: MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, US