Madam Chairwoman and distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present my experience with the Transition Assistance Program or TAP.

I have been in the Air Force for 21 years and will be retiring at the end of this year. Since the Air Force has been my only career since the age of 18, I’ve never had the opportunity to gain the experience my civilian counterparts have with conducting a job search, preparing a resume or holding a job interview. Although my military career has allowed me to grow and develop into a leader who will be successful in any job I hold, the TAP workshop provided me with the fine tuning I needed to effectively market myself to a potential civilian employer.

Over the past few years I had numerous friends who went to TAP workshops here at Ellsworth Air Force Base and overseas at Osan Air Base in the Republic of Korea and every one of them couldn’t say enough about the program. Although I had heard wonderful things about TAP over the past few years, I kept putting it off because something would come up. Finally in May of this year I realized I needed to figure out how I was going to start searching for a job after retirement, so I finally signed up for the 3-day June workshop through the Ellsworth Air Force Base Airmen and Family Readiness Center. This was the best decision of my career. Now I can’t stop talking about the workshop to everyone I know who is separating or even thinking about retiring.

During the TAP workshop, we not only learned how to write a resume, conduct ourselves during a job interview, and what veterans programs and benefits are available, but we were also provided opportunities to speak with real civilian employers. The employers provided us opportunities to discuss with them what they are looking for in potential employees, how they view resumes and their tips on conducting an interview. Once they finished briefing the whole group, we were provided one-on-one opportunities to meet with the employers for further individualized feedback. One final aspect I really appreciated was the volume of reference materials we were provided. From websites to magazines to books all covering different aspects of the job search. One of the most priceless reference websites showed me how to convert military terminology into the equivalent civilian terminology which allows my resume to be competitive.

Some people would argue why offer a career workshop which costs time and money the Department of Defense doesn’t have when an individual could just go to a local college and pay for a similar class. I would argue that a local college can’t provide a class designed to meet the unique and specific needs of our military culture. Only a program created for and run by both veterans and the military can meet the unique needs of transitioning military personnel. I truly believe this was one of the most comprehensive and informative workshops I have ever taken throughout my life and believe it will continue to help make a big difference in the lives of all military personnel. Thank you again for allowing me the opportunity to present my experience with the Transition Assistance Program.