Labor Dept. Training Disabled Vets in IT Work

Suitable employment opportunities are among the many needs of our disabled vets returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

With a focus on the number of dead, it is easy to lose sight of the much larger number of wounded. Due to medical progress, many of them have survived severe injuries that would have killed them in earlier wars.

The Pilot Program

The US Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment — an agency that works to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities — and its Veterans’ Employment & Training Service, with private funding from Cisco, have established a pilot program, The Transition Training Academy (TTA) to prepare disabled veterans returning from Afghanistan or Iraq for job opportunities by honing their IT skills and providing them with a CISCO certification.

The first class of 20 sailors and marines graduated in early August; each student was exposed to a variety of technology disciplines, received Cisco certification, and was introduced to companies at a private job fair.

Educational Content

The program offers Web-based exercises and online training support (via email and chat rooms) that provides an opportunity for continued learning after completion of formal classroom instruction.

Courses include: networking, computer and software support and Small Office Home Office (SOHO) support, at levels ranging from beginner to advanced levels of experience.

Hopes to Expand

The hope is to replicate the program at medial treatment facilities across the country and expand it to include training in other career fields.

Telework Option Promoted

The idea is that the IT work for which this program qualifies disabled vets is suitable to telework arrangements from home or telework centers, which may be preferable or better suited to many of them.

As part of the US Department of Labor’s commitment to helping all Americans with disabilities enter and remain in the workforce, the Office of Disability Employment sees telework as a viable employment option for people with disabilities, particularly returning disabled service members and older disabled veterans.