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Testimony
of Major General Thomas F. Sikora, US Army, Retired and Vice President and Division General Manager, Resource Consultants, Inc. Mr.
Chairman and members of the Subcommittee: It
is my pleasure and honor to address the Subcommittee regarding
challenges our service members face as their military skills are
brought to bear on civilian certification, licensing, accreditation
and apprenticeship requirements. I
represent Resource Consultants, Incorporated.
RCI is a professional services company with 20 years of
government contracting experience.
For
more than eight years, RCI, in partnership with the Army through the
Army Career and Alumni Program, or ACAP, has provided job search and
transition assistance services to more than 800,000 service members
and their families. Together we have trained them in job search
skills, rehearsed them for job interviews, and taught them how to
dress. We have heard
their stories, seen their triumphs, and shared their disappointments.
Prior
to joining RCI in 1996, I spent more than 30 years in the Army as an
Adjutant General Corps officer, principally in the Human Resources
field, as both a commander and a staff officer.
I know from personal experience the fears, aspirations and
daunting challenges faced by our service members, both in service and
as they seek to continue to achieve their career goals in the civilian
sector. Our
service members are bright and ambitious. They want to be
independent—to take charge of their lives. They want to be
successful. But there are
many obstacles to be overcome when the time comes to transition back
to the civilian sector. Through
the Army Career and Alumni Program, the Army has made major strides in
facilitating the progress of transitioning soldiers.
In partnership with DOL, transition workshops, resume writing
and other similar training activities have aided thousands of members
to step into well paying, exciting and career oriented jobs. In
general, employers are anxious to hire veterans.
Our service members are physically fit, highly skilled,
disciplined, reliable, and flexible, with strong leadership and
management skills. Employers
know they are highly desirable candidates and actively seek to employ
them. However, for many
occupations, certification of the scope and content of military
training and experience is insufficient for the demands of the
civilian sector, and when this happens, everyone is frustrated and
disappointed. There
can be no question that certification and licensing policies and
procedures are necessary to the day-to-day needs of our society.
The civilian sector is accountable to a host of agencies and
government activities that generate certification and licensing
requirements to assure the health, safety and welfare of both the
workers themselves, as well as the general population.
In some instances, procedures provide for national
certifications which, once secured, permit individuals to be employed
anywhere. More commonly,
however, standards vary from occupation to occupation and state to
state. Meanwhile, the
military has no inherent need to adhere to many of these standards,
and has few requirements for skill certification beyond completion of
military training. Consequently,
it is not uncommon to find highly trained, qualified and skillful
military personnel who cannot be employed in the private sector at a
level commensurate with their skills and experience because they lack
required credentials. Moreover, in many instances, the veteran is not even
aware of the need to be certified or licensed. All
too often we see soon-to-be-veterans and prospective employers come
together with great expectations only to part frustrated and
dissatisfied. When this
happens, the veteran is forced to accept lower level positions, delay
entry into employment while pursuing further training or exams, or
worse, abandon their expertise and training to pursue other unrelated
employment. A case in
point: in planning his transition, a Navy Hospital Corpsman and
certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) learned that the only
work he was qualified to do in a civilian environment was that of a
nurse’s aid. Unfortunately,
the EMT certification he received, while on active duty, was by way of
a national exam not recognized by the state of California where he was
stationed at the time and intended to remain. California has its own certifying exam, which differs
significantly from the national exam.
This Corpsman was unable to pass the exam, even though he had
been doing the work the test would have qualified him to perform.
After working as a nurse’s aid for a temporary agency for
awhile, he left nursing to become a meter reader.
He abandoned his military training and experience, and the
nation lost a qualified resource in an area of critical need. Similarly,
Army Watercraft Operators (MOS 88K) interested in pursuing careers in
the maritime field are also not qualified.
Although they have attended a Navy firefighting school, this
training is not recognized by the Coast Guard, so at a minimum, an
individual would be required to attend a Coast Guard firefighting
school prior to being eligible to “sit” for the test. These are
only two examples illustrating the dilemma our veterans have
experienced. With
subsequent employment being the door to a successful transition to
civilian life, understanding their own education and training as it
relates to civilian credentialing requirements becomes key to their
future success. I believe
that the fundamentals of a solution lie in the following: 1.
The power of information.
Many occupations have professional associations that manage and
disseminate credentialing information.
Academic institutions, trade unions and other interested
agencies and activities empowered to create credentialing and
licensing standards have a wealth of information available.
The difficulty is that service members don’t have access to
the information, are often unaware of the requirement, and lack the
opportunity to do anything about it.
2.
Personal responsibility.
A second fundamental is that credentialing and licensing must
be an individual, personal responsibility.
We should not expect the armed forces to engage in
credentialing activities when it is not necessarily in their strategic
interests to do so. Credentialing
or licensing is a personal attribute and should be treated
accordingly. The
government, the military and other interested agencies can and should
facilitate the securing of individual credentials or licenses, but
should not be required to incorporate the process into training or
operational activities. 3.
Time and opportunity.
It takes time to determine what credentials are required and to
secure them. It takes
time to study for the required testing and to take the test itself.
No one can create that time but the service members themselves.
The key is to begin the process in sufficient time to be
successful prior to transitioning, or shortly thereafter.
Only by
recognizing and responding to these key fundamentals can we expect
service members to remain in control of their future careers and be
proactive in their transition process. What can be
done to facilitate resolution of this problem?
Several things: 1.
Create and sustain a current database regarding
credentialing and licensing requirements for every known requirement
nationwide. Cross-reference
the data by skill and geographic location, and make it available over
the Internet so that any interested party could easily obtain
pertinent information. Included
should be information regarding the source of reference material,
testing opportunities and locations, and other similar information.
2.
Encourage private industry to partner with DOL in
the creation and management of this database to assure that it
accurately represents the changing interests of industry and the
resources available through academic and other credentialing agencies. Virginia View, created and managed by Virginia Tech, is an
excellent example of the information that can be made readily
available on a national scope. 3.
Encourage the Armed Forces to advertise the value
of obtaining status as a credentialed or licensed service provider
while still on active duty. I
know from experience that soldiers are anxious to improve their
personal skills, academic achievements, and other qualifications.
It is not unreasonable to expect that, once aware of the
benefits of credentialing, they would actively pursue such goals in
their off duty time. Where
this occurs, both the Armed Forces and the service member would
benefit from the effort. 4.
Use existing service providers such as DOL, ACES,
Navy Family Service Centers, Army ACAP and others to advertise both
the value of personal credentialing or licensing and the availability
of the national database. They
also can encourage veterans and soon-to-be-veterans to start early in
obtaining their requisite credentials.
5.
The private sector can assist as well by ensuring
that their requirements for certified and licensed employees are
advertised and evident. Veterans
won’t seek certification unless they know that it is essential to
their future. Consequently,
marketing must be widespread and continuous. Veterans
want good jobs that utilize their experience and training. The
government wants service members to leave active duty proud of their
service to Country and confident in their future.
Industry wants and needs the high caliber character, skill, and
talent that define our veterans.
Through the power of accessible information, timely and
continuous marketing, and an awareness of the benefits of pursuing
appropriate certification, licensure, accreditation, or
apprenticeship, the interests of all parties can be accommodated
utilizing existing resources. Back to Witness List |