MEDIA RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki today unveiled a new portal on their departments’ websites designed to help military veterans find jobs in the transportation industry.
“Our transportation industry needs pilots, controllers, mechanics and drivers – the very kinds of skills that our military is known for developing,†Secretary LaHood said. “This new web link will help repay the debt we owe our veterans for their service to our country.â€
“Veterans have the skills, knowledge and attributes that American businesses need to help rebuild an economy that will last,” said Secretary Shinseki. “These men and women bring exceptional leadership to any position. They are uniquely qualified for jobs as pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers, commercial drivers and emergency medical technicians because many of them have performed these roles in combat.”
The portal on the U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs websites will link to the Veterans Transportation Career Center, where former members of the armed forces can enter their specific military work experience and see how it translates to jobs in the civilian working world. The site will guide veterans to jobs in five categories: aviation pilot, aviation maintenance technician, air traffic controller, commercial motor vehicle driver and emergency medical services. Job seekers can find what training and certification is needed for civilian jobs, determine what career fits best with their background, and search for available jobs in their field. The portals are available at www.dot.gov and www.va.gov.
Secretaries LaHood and Shinseki announced the new portal at an aviation-workforce management conference held at DOT headquarters in Washington. The conference on labor-management relations was first formed in response to a recommendation made by the Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC), which was convened by Secretary LaHood in 2010. The FAAC recommended that DOT hold events like this to bolster labor-management relations.
Our latest initiatives to put veterans back to work are really great in helping us to turn around what is has been a historically bad situation for this population. As it is now young veterans have an unemployment rate of 29%, and with the May jobs report being so weak(http://1.usa.gov/GDq1fm), they will face a lot of challenges as the economy tries to pick itself back up against a number of odds. We should be doing everything in our power to make the transition from military life to civilian life easier for those who have fought so hard for us already.