By Tim Cherry
Staff writer
Thursday, August 2, 2012

Congress, the Department of Defense, and the Army are implementing the most significant changes in the 20-year history of the Army Career and Alumni Program to help separating and retiring Soldiers experience a successful transition to include finding jobs once they leave the Army.

New legislation and Headquarters Department of the Army Executive Order 054-12 have created a much more thorough and responsive program. The executive order requires that all Soldiers begin their preseparation at least 12 months before they leave the military rather than the previous requirement that they begin this process 3 months before separating.

The extra time allows Soldiers to do a couple of things — prepare for a successful transition and to network for their new transitioned lives, according to Vernita Pryor-Holifield, ACAP transition services manager.

“It’s to help our heroes coming home transition back to society where they’ll have a choice in selecting their new career path,” she said.

Another major change to the new approach is it requires active and direct involvement by commanders and other senior leaders. This means commanders are responsible for ensuring Soldiers receive pre-separation counseling on time as well as meet other goals as they move through the process of leaving the Army. Commanders must ensure Soldiers receive an ACAP briefing from an ACAP counselor or a retention NCO within the first 60 days of arrival to their first assignment.

“Now that commanders will be directly involved in ensuring their Soldiers participate, I believe it will help Soldiers recognize the value of early preparation and make a smooth and successful transition from the military to corporate America,” Pryor-Holifield said.

A hallmark of the new program is that many important transition-related courses and workshops that were optional will now become mandatory and will be tracked through the Soldiers’ chain of command.

Among these are:

1. Soldiers must receive U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs briefing which covers all benefits for which they may be eligible;

2. Soldiers must attend the Employment Assistance Workshop where they will learn everything about the job search process and utilize laptops to write their resumes;

3. Attend a VA Disability Transition Assistance Program seminar where transitioning members will learn about, and file a claim if applicable; and

4. Attend a financial counseling seminar to understand and assess their level of financial preparedness.

ACAP provides Soldiers ample amount of resources, including workshops, seminars and counseling, that will enhance their transition experience and ultimately help them find jobs, said Pryor-Holifield.

The assistance focuses on topics such as resume and cover letter writing, financial planning, employee benefits and salary negotiation, franchise, how to work a job fair, networking, marketing yourself for a second career seminar, Small Business Administration Classes, post 9-11 GI Bill seminar, job preparation, finding employers committed to hiring veterans, educating Soldiers to entitlements and other topics of interest.

ACAP counselors will assist Soldiers in transferring their existing skills to language easily understood by civilian recruiters and hiring managers, added Pryor-Holifield. This is very important because the military speaks a different language in terms of skill sets and achievements than the private sector.

“You have to write your military track record in civilian terminology. If you don’t, you won’t get a job because civilians won’t select you for a job because they won’t be able to determine what skills you possess,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Crystal Wallace, 701st Military Police Group, Criminal Investigations Command. Wallace, a Soldier for 21 years, is retiring in two years and has started her transitioning using Belvoir’s ACAP program.

Wallace said the civilian workforce use of terms such as job titles and work history varies from the military which can hinder Soldiers who don’t know how to rewrite their career history.

Wallace said ACAP counseling is helping her transfer skills and the command sergeant major recommends Soldiers use ACAP’s resources.

“Every Soldier leaving the military should go to ACAP,” she added.

The Employment Assistance Workshop, taught by Carl Floyd, Virginia Employment Commission veteran’s employment representative, offers participants information on preparing for interviewing, networking, evaluating job offers, employers, social media, job hunting and tapping into the hidden job market and more.

Participants also network with recruiters, according to the Department of Labor, 80 percent of all jobs are found through networking.

“ACAP services will open the eyes and ears to things available to transitioning members while in service,” Floyd said.

Pryor-Holifield said the changes are a direct response to the draw down of Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq and the current unemployment rate amongst veterans which is worse than the national average.

She believes the new changes give Soldiers ample time to work on post military life before separation, which in some cases may lead to Soldiers finding new jobs before separating.

For more information on the ACAP programs and services, contact Pryor-Holifield (703) 805-9247.