Photo By Edzel Butac | William Noland proudly shows off the certificate awarded to Joint Base...... read more read more
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. -- Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s Career Skills Center, or Skillbridge, has been named the best in the Department of Defense at a symposium in Fort Knox, Kentucky, Sept 29. This is the third-consecutive time JBLM CSP has been recognized for the biyearly award.
William Noland, JBLM CSP installation coordinator, attributes the success of the program to the variety of services they offer.
“We really have a smart mixture of programs,” Noland said. “One of them is the Work-Ex program, which I know no other installations have, speeds the process up for transition. And the reason why it’s unique is they can build internships for any service member of any rank, and they can send them to any job field, which is great.”
Work-Ex is an Army-approved partnership with local chambers of commerce that arrange for internships matching transitioning service members with local employers.
Noland shared a couple of success stories about the internship program.
A senior neurosurgeon at Madigan came to CSP and said he needed to do an internship, since he became an administrator and hadn’t held a scalpel in years. He needed to practice his skillset as a surgeon, and CSP was able to partner with Harborview Hospital for the additional training. After the training, the neurosurgeon was able to find employment.
Another example on the trade side was a noncommissioned officer who wanted to become a welder. He went through the Work-Ex program and CSP found him a custom-motorcycle fabrication shop to work as a welder fabricator to keep his welder skillset. After his internship, he went on to work in a civilian capacity making his own street rods.
In addition to the internship programs, JBLM CSP have 17 other pathways for service members.
“There are so many programs out there that there’s something for everybody,” said Frank Handoe, transition service specialist at CSP. “You don’t know what you don’t know until you come in here and talk to somebody. We have 17 programs, so there’s got to be something there for you to be interested in that will benefit you as you transition in the civilian workforce.”
CSP also generated the first of its kind post-Army Skillbridge program called Public Private Partnership Office (P3O-S) in concert with the office of the Chief of the Army Reserve earlier this year.
The importance of this program is twofold, according to Noland. Individually, service members that did not participate in an active-duty CSP can take on a funded, Reserve CSP leading to employment with the agreement of a three-year, nondeployable contract being signed.
Secondly, this offers commanders, in both components, a means to retain Soldiers to the Army with a job that is in high demand, keeping their experience and training in the force and maintaining their security clearance versus losing them outright in the transition process.
“I know service members that join and start our program, and around 34% actually stay on and re-enlist on active duty or join the Reserve or National Guard,” said Handoe. “It’s one of those things that is not mentioned enough about CSP, but we actually help with retention, too.”
Noland has some advice for service members who are about to enter the transition phase of their military career.
“The number one thing I tell them is they must start researching what they want to do,” he said. “Get in the field, shake hands, go build that LinkedIn account – but you must own your transition.”
| Date Taken: | 11.10.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.10.2022 15:18 |
| Story ID: | 433104 |
| Location: | TACOMA, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 163 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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