thedrifter
03-30-08, 06:37 AM
Training programs help veterans translate skills to civilian jobs
By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
New Hampshire Sunday News Staff
StePHen Longacre joined the Marines when he was 19 years old. He became a heavy equipment engineer and spent six months in Iraq in 2003, "building pretty much anything."
When he left active duty, he started looking for a job in his native California. "I was actually kind of surprised how many people, to be honest, didn't really care about my military experience," he said. "I got a lot of no's."
Longacre was interested in a program called Helmets to Hardhats that brings veterans into the building trades, and tried to contact the group on the West Coast but never heard back.
After his family moved to New Hampshire in late 2006, he decided to give it another shot.
Richie Eckler, the Northeast Regional Director for Helmets to Hardhats, called him right back.
"It just makes for a good fit," Eckler explained. "Why wouldn't you hire this person who has all the core values that they're taught in the service?
"You're drug free, you're dependable, you're reliable and you have a good work habit, and you're willing to learn."
The program nationally has placed nearly 40,000 veterans in union jobs across 15 building trades, Eckler said.
Longacre, 26, is now an apprentice sheet metal worker, working full-time for a Boston company. With three children and another on the way, it's a relief to feel proud and secure about his future, he said.
"I've already learned a lot," he said. "I just want to be a craftsman in sheet metal. It's a really great trade."
For other veterans, it's the classroom that beckons.
After 30 years in the Navy, Gary Lovgren retired and moved with his wife to North Conway. He found out about the Troops to Teachers program, which provides mentorship, financial, educational and job placement help to veterans.
After getting certified and teaching in his local high school, Lovgren is now running the program in New Hampshire. There are currently 41 veterans looking for teaching jobs here in the fall.
Lovgren noted this is the only state that allows service members to earn their teaching certification online so they can move more quickly into the classroom. "I have two (soldiers) in Afghanistan that are using that right now," he said.
A service member's experience often is good preparation for the classroom, Lovgren said. "A lot of what they do is training those young 17- and 18-year-olds. And guess what? That's the same thing they're going to do in a high school."
The slogan for Troops to Teachers is "proud to serve again," he noted.
"They got into the service the first time to do something for more than just themselves. And that's what you do as a teacher."
On the Web:
helmetstohardhats.org; proudtoserveagain.org.
Ellie
By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
New Hampshire Sunday News Staff
StePHen Longacre joined the Marines when he was 19 years old. He became a heavy equipment engineer and spent six months in Iraq in 2003, "building pretty much anything."
When he left active duty, he started looking for a job in his native California. "I was actually kind of surprised how many people, to be honest, didn't really care about my military experience," he said. "I got a lot of no's."
Longacre was interested in a program called Helmets to Hardhats that brings veterans into the building trades, and tried to contact the group on the West Coast but never heard back.
After his family moved to New Hampshire in late 2006, he decided to give it another shot.
Richie Eckler, the Northeast Regional Director for Helmets to Hardhats, called him right back.
"It just makes for a good fit," Eckler explained. "Why wouldn't you hire this person who has all the core values that they're taught in the service?
"You're drug free, you're dependable, you're reliable and you have a good work habit, and you're willing to learn."
The program nationally has placed nearly 40,000 veterans in union jobs across 15 building trades, Eckler said.
Longacre, 26, is now an apprentice sheet metal worker, working full-time for a Boston company. With three children and another on the way, it's a relief to feel proud and secure about his future, he said.
"I've already learned a lot," he said. "I just want to be a craftsman in sheet metal. It's a really great trade."
For other veterans, it's the classroom that beckons.
After 30 years in the Navy, Gary Lovgren retired and moved with his wife to North Conway. He found out about the Troops to Teachers program, which provides mentorship, financial, educational and job placement help to veterans.
After getting certified and teaching in his local high school, Lovgren is now running the program in New Hampshire. There are currently 41 veterans looking for teaching jobs here in the fall.
Lovgren noted this is the only state that allows service members to earn their teaching certification online so they can move more quickly into the classroom. "I have two (soldiers) in Afghanistan that are using that right now," he said.
A service member's experience often is good preparation for the classroom, Lovgren said. "A lot of what they do is training those young 17- and 18-year-olds. And guess what? That's the same thing they're going to do in a high school."
The slogan for Troops to Teachers is "proud to serve again," he noted.
"They got into the service the first time to do something for more than just themselves. And that's what you do as a teacher."
On the Web:
helmetstohardhats.org; proudtoserveagain.org.
Ellie