Photo By Sarah Gauvin | Students of the Machining Skills Certification Preparation pose for a picture at the...... read more read more
Former Soldier Jnai Foreman – a mortuary affairs technician by military occupational specialty – was recently met with an opportunity that took her far beyond the realm of her previous career field, but one that, nonetheless, created prospects she never imagined.
“It was completely different than anything I’ve ever done,” said the 25-year-old once assigned to the 111th Quartermaster Company here. “It’s a great opportunity, and I learned a lot in a short amount of time.”
Foreman is scheduled to attend her Machining Skills Certification Preparation graduation today at Emporia’s Southside Virginia Education Center. She is among seven Soldiers and one other veteran who worked their way through several weeks of online study and nearly 13 weeks of hands-on training to earn certifications that may lead to employment.
“I have been offered a couple of positions already, and now I’m just weighing my options,” said Foreman, who closed out her active duty military career earlier this summer. “Virginia has a lot of opportunities in this field.”
The state’s manufacturing sector – which includes Rolls-Royce, Canon and Alcoa to name a few – has long sounded the call for more skilled workers. A state-supported industry partnership, the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing, has launched several initiatives to satisfy that demand. It includes the MCSP, a pilot program developed in collaboration with CASCOM and Fort Lee to provide training opportunities for transitioning Soldiers.
“CCAM wanted to help veterans,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Calvin R. Cohen, credentialing and transition readiness officer, CASCOM Soldier for Life Office. “We were able to leverage Department of Defense instructions issued in 2014 that allowed such a program to be developed for transitioning service members.”
Subsequently, added Cohen, the Department of the Army “issued detailed guidance on how to develop, approve and implement” such a program. CCAM presented a program of instruction. The Crater Regional Planning District provided funding through federal grants, and CASCOM marketed the opportunity to transitioning Soldiers and veterans. The program was finalized in early spring.
“It all happened really fast,” said Cohen, “but everything we needed was already in place, and we wanted to do it.”
So did CCAM. It cited studies indicating the manufacturing sector has 100,000-400,000 jobs available across the country and is projected for continued growth. CCAM aims to ensure the state has in place an infrastructure to attract, train and retain a skilled workforce. Veterans are an important part of its plans, said Bruce Sobczak, director, Workforce Development, CCAM.
“Veterans are a population that manufacturing is interested in,” he said. “If their service is done, we would love to keep them in Virginia, in U.S. manufacturing. We need them because there are a lot of parallels between the military and advanced manufacturing.”
Discipline, the ability to work within a team and a familiarity with the process of continuous improvement are some of the attributes associated with military service that employers value, said Scott Edwards, senior human resource generalist at Enclos, a building facade engineering company with locations in Virginia.
“Probably 70-80 percent of the people I lose comes down to attendance,” he said. “Employers have no effect on attendance. No one can make you wake up, show up to work on time or even show up to work. That has to come from the individual and a huge part of that is discipline. The guys in this program have seen that discipline.”
Edwards said his company has interviewed at least two of the students in the program and will probably interview more for five machinist positions.
“I can tell with us they will probably make $18-$22 an hour,” he said.
Furthermore, Edwards said the area is generally opportunity-rich in manufacturing jobs, noting Enclos also has a number of assembly jobs available and Prince George-based Rolls-Royce intends to hire “about 100 machinists by the end of next year.”
CASCOM intends to support one more pilot, set to start in October, and then lay the groundwork for an enduring effort, said Cohen.
“The goal is to have three courses per year with 12 people enrolled in each one,” he said.
CCAM has plans to add two other trades to the training program and aims to expand to the Hampton Roads area, said Sobczak.
| Date Taken: | 09.02.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.02.2015 15:59 |
| Story ID: | 175052 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Soldiers, veterans earn certifications in pilot machinist program, by Terrance Bell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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