Important Issues for Obama

My name is Dan Yasenko and I am writing with a suggestion to jump start our economy, reward our returning veterans and to rebuild our decaying infrastructure, provide basic preventative medical care and promote peace in our cities. I believe we can accomplish these things by modifying the process by which we retrain and enable our veterans to transition successfully to civilian life. By profession, I have over 20 years of experience as a career and academic counselor and part time instructor for Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg Illinois. I have also served as the advisor for our college’s Veteran population for approximately 15 years.

I consider our returning veterans to be a valuable national resource for our country as we struggle with the implosion of the seminal economic, industrial and social institutions within our society. My suggestion involves the addition of two new transitional programs that would co-exist with the educational and retraining provisions offered in the current GI Bill. The primary objective underlying my suggestion is to address a number of our country’s primary issues, (e.g., basic medical care, infrastructure development, inner city violence) by utilizing our veterans who have addressed many of the same issues in Iraq. Because we are on the precipice of deactivating (and processing) a very significant number of troops, our ability to act quickly is imperative.

This initiative/suggestion would represent a hybrid between the VA’s current training/educational programs and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and WPA (Works Progress Administration) programs used earlier in our country’s history. My hope would be to allow our returning veterans to use their educational benefits available through the GI Bill to fund the “tuition” for the transitional training necessary to apply the skills and experiences they learned from their overseas deployment to our civilian population. These veterans would then be able to enjoy the same monthly benefits (as they retrain for civilian duty) as their counterparts enjoy while pursuing a traditional college degree.

In addition, I would also suggest an expansion of the current educational benefits component of the Montgomery GI Bill. Specifically, I would suggest that we initiate a collaborative process between the training component of the Military and community colleges throughout our country. The objective would be to create a number of “Capstone” or completion programs for Veteran’s who return to civilian life with prior training in high need areas and who aspire to earn an occupational degree or certificate in the field of their Military Occupational Specialty (MOS).

My personal experience with the current educational process is that those Veteran’s who are pursuing an occupational degree or certificate may discover that the completion time for their occupational program may be no different than that of a student who has no prior training or experience in that field or profession. This may occur even after a veteran has been awarded a significant amount of college credit from the American Council of Education, (ACE). The fact is that educational programs and military training are often structured very differently, even though they may share a significant amount of content. Unfortunately, our inability to bridge these differences results in a duplication of training efforts and expense, and blocks the veteran’s ability to transition into full-time employment in a timely manner.

I do not recommend, in any way, that colleges modify their occupational programs in order to graduate Veterans more quickly. I believe that the mission and objective for college occupational programs should remain unique in order to address the regional needs that they were designed to serve. However, I would suggest that a coordinated effort be initiated to develop degree-completion programs targeted at supplementing the Veteran’s military training with the necessary theory and coursework for employment in the civilian sector. These completion programs, which should be based on national program guidelines, would be offered as an option for veterans to consider in addition to their college’s pre-existing curriculum.

Priority for developing completion programs would be determined by targeting occupational fields currently experiencing a shortage of qualified employees. In addition, occupational fields related to our national priorities under the Obama Administration would also be targeted. Priority among occupations generated by these two lists could be established by analyzing potential programs through the lens of the credit patterns awarded by the ACE.

Our country has invested heavily to produce a military that is technologically advanced, well-trained and that is now experienced in rebuilding infrastructure, administering basic services and maintaining peace. These abilities are currently needed in our country, especially in our neglected, urban areas. It is my hope that as a nation, we recognize and utilize the applicable skills and experience that our returning veterans offer more effectively than we have done in our past.

Providing our returning veterans with as much support as possible, including a larger list of contemporary, viable retraining options, is the least that we can do for those who put their lives on the line for our country. Unfortunately, if a returning veteran chooses not to attend college, the prospects for a smooth transition to meaningful employment in our current economy are not promising. Too often, our returning veterans who secure employment are chronically under-employed and their skills, talents and experience are squandered. I am confident that we can accomplish so much more as a nation by recognizing and acting upon these opportunities.

Sincerely,

Dan Yasenko

Dan Yasenko of IL 6:52PM December 03, 2008