(From 3BLmedia.com) -- Discovery Communications announced the expansion of its “Discover Your Skills” public affairs job skills program with new resources and programs to support veterans in locating and accessing the training and resources to translate their military skills and experience into civilian job opportunities.

The veterans-focused initiative includes new training and resource information specifically for veterans on www.DiscoverYourSkills.com, as well as on-air public service announcements on Military Channel, featuring Lou Diamond Phillips of Military Channel’s “Officer and a Movie,” to direct viewers to the new resources.

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Tags: news, training, skills, resources, veterans, military

Categories: Learning & Development | News

(From NY1.com) Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is advocating a new law that will provide more jobs and better job training for America's recent veterans at a time when many of them are unemployed.

She spoke in Manhattan to a group of New York City veterans Sunday and announced a push for the Hiring Heroes Act of 2011, which would provide job training skills to former soldiers.

The law would also try to make more job opportunities for veterans returning home, by providing training, personal assessments and workshops and easing federal hiring practices.

The Labor Department estimates that more than 20 percent of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and are currently unemployed.

In New York City, more than 13 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are unemployed.

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Tags: military, job training, public policy, career development, learning and development, military veterans, Minnesota

Categories: Learning & Development | News

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken (D-Minn.) recently announced that more than $800,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will go to Minnesota organizations to provide for job training for veterans. The funds are awarded through DOL’s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program and Veterans Workforce Investment Program and will provide training to help area veterans succeed in civilian careers.

“When our soldiers sign up for service, there isn't a waiting line and there shouldn't be a waiting line when they come home and need a job,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “This funding will provide our Minnesota veterans with job training and other important services that can help put them on the path to success in the civilian workforce.”

“We owe our veterans an enormous debt of gratitude and, when they come home, they deserve better than a life of joblessness and homelessness,” said Sen Franken. “This funding will help to prepare Minnesota’s veterans to return to the civilian workforce, establish careers, and build fulfilling lives here at home.”

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Tags: military, job training, public policy, career development, learning and development, military veterans, Minnesota

Categories: News

(From CapFlyer.com) WASHINGTON -- As part of an interagency effort to support America's veterans, the Labor Department announced $37 million in grants to provide job training for about 21,000 veterans, many of them homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis announced the grants June 1, awarded to continue successful programs into their second and third years.

Twenty-two grants totaling more than $9 million will provide job training to about 4,000 veterans to help them succeed in civilian careers, Labor Department officials said.

Those funds, provided through the Veterans Workforce Investment Program, emphasize training in "green" jobs related to energy efficiency and renewable energy, modern electric power development and clean vehicles.

"Our veterans sacrifice so much for our country, so it is important that we provide assistance to them when they return home from active duty," Secretary Solis said. "These grants will help veterans access the resources they need to find good jobs and build a bright future for themselves and their families."

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Tags: military, job training, public policy, career development, learning and development, military veterans

Categories: News

One hundred San Bernardino County military veterans will have an opportunity to receive job training in the solar and wind energy fields under a new program approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

Under a contract with the Kern County Employment Training Resource Department, the San Bernardino County Workforce Development Department will perform outreach and marketing activities and provide job training and case management services to veterans residing in the county until June 30, 2012, at a cost of $643,500.

Funding for the program was made possible by a grant from the state Veterans Employment-Related Assistance Program awarded to Kern County on May 18.

The job training and employment services are mainly geared to veterans who have recently returned from active duty and have not been dishonorably discharged.

"We're focusing on people returning from the war with no job opportunities," said Jeanette Hill, program analyst for the county Workforce Development Department. "Right now with the job market, it's pretty difficult for them to enter the work force."

With dozens of geothermal, solar and wind energy projects planned for the High Desert and the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, the clean energy fields seemed the most ideal to tap into for veterans seeking employment, Hill said.

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Tags: California, San Bernadino County, veterans, military, job training, green jobs

Categories: News

(From citizen-times.com) WASHINGTON — At a recent White House forum of the U.S. Interagency Council of Homelessness, Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis announced 97 grants, totaling more than $24 million, to provide approximately 14,000 veterans with job training to help them succeed in civilian careers.  The grants are being awarded under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.

“This administration is committed to ending homelessness. Achieving that goal is crucial to restoring the strength of our economy and the right thing to do for our nation as a whole,” said Secretary Solis.  “These grants will help more than 14,000 homeless veterans across the country find meaningful employment, and they will help ensure that these remarkable individuals never face homelessness again.”

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Tags: training, federal grants, military, veterans, federal government, Department of Labor

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(From DefenseSystems.com) General Dynamics Corp. will provide a variety of technical support and training advisory services to the Army under a five-year contract that could be worth as much as $387 million.

Under the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract from the Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI), the General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) business unit will provide technical, management and professional engineering support services for the procurement and fielding of constructive training systems.

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Tags: training, business news, military, public sector

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An Army program developed partly as a response to an increase in soldier suicides will test all active duty, National Guard and Reserve soldiers to determine how they handle stress, assess their resiliency and require follow-up training.

Data collected on drug use and dismissals from service have shown that some soldiers stressed by frequent combat deployments could use a hand in coping with the emotional toll, Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, chief of comprehensive soldier fitness, said Wednesday.

"Our younger people are having more trouble than anybody else," said Cornum, who is overseeing the new program.

Beginning Oct. 1, all active duty and reserve soldiers will take an online, 170-question assessment of their resiliency, starting with recruits and going through Army's basic training. The test is repeated every two years.

Commanders won't know how their soldiers scored on the test, but will be notified if they have taken it and participated in the follow-up training, Cornum said.

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Tags: military, training, stress, assessment

Categories: News

(RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, TX) -- The Air Force has a heritage rooted in technology and innovation. From our earliest days, Airmen have sought to find a better way to dominate the domains in which we operate -- air, space, and now, cyberspace. Developing superior capabilities which enable global vigilance, global reach and global power have proven vital to our nation's security. Leading learning innovation is the key to developing our future Airmen and these superior capabilities.

Gen. Stephen R. Lorenz, Commander, Air Education and Training Command, recently stated that, in addition to recruiting, education and training, innovation must be one of our core competencies. He believes, as a global leader, our education and training programs must be "cutting edge."

So just how is AETC pursuing innovation today to establish cutting edge learning programs? We started with General Lorenz' vision, "Deliver unrivaled air, space and cyberspace education and training," and used that as our guiding principle. Next, we developed new learning concepts -- knowledge management, continuous learning and precision learning -- which will guide the development of our future Airmen. Finally, we've begun to innovate by pursuing creative new ways to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of our learning programs. Let me give you some examples of how AETC is leading the way to learning innovation.

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Tags: learning, innovation, military

Categories: News

WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service) -- Defense Department officials are developing a new training program that will teach military members and civilians how to be culturally competent and aware when interacting with people from different lands, a senior official told reporters here today.

Cross-cultural competence is “something that we want to bring to the department as a critical piece of training that we think needs to be incorporated into our overall training establishment,” Gail H. McGinn, deputy undersecretary of defense for plans, said during an interview with Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service reporters.

Among her many responsibilities, which include performing the duties of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, McGinn also is the senior language authority for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. She is responsible for improving foreign language capability within the department and also oversees policy development for the diversity and equal opportunity programs.

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Tags: military, training, diversity

Categories: News