Why the Conversion of Military Skills to Civilian Needs are Necessary

The majority of American veterans do not wish a “hand-out” or to be dependent upon anyone except themselves but today’s “go-getters” seem determined to ignore the veteran’s need for dignity and think that just by throwing money at them, they will soon melt away.  Many “go-getters” seemed determined to not fix the problems faced by veterans because what would they have to run on if they do.  Much that could be done to restore a veteran’s dignity and possible reduce suicides, homelessness and high unemployment among the very group many claim to support, is not being done and one has got to wonder why.  This desire to just sit on your hands and complain instead of doing all that you can do to make real change has now infected many who served or are currently serving. 

Consider these situations:  A Marine with over 9 years in Law Enforcement is seems not as an equal to a civilian with 3 years.  The civilian will be featured first for any top job within law enforcement while that Marine will be asked to start again at the beginning.  A soldier who was greatly sought after on the battle fields of Iraq and Afghanistan to interpret is denied preforming that same task after discharge because he could not provide adequate documentation that he could perform the job.  A Navy corpsman, whose importance upon any battlefield and crucial duties is high on any engaged force list of people to protect, is not even able to get a job as an ambulance attendant.  If you ask any civilian, they will tell you that the skills they learned over a number of years is valuable and should never be ignored or minimized when leaving one employer and going to another.  So why does this not apply to veterans who have not only done the work but done so under the most stressful of situations ever? 

Many employers use the phrase “educational requirement” to deny someone a job but like all others much of that is mute when it comes to practical application.  One need not spend years in a classroom if he/she has been doing that very job outside of it.  Well not any more, The Military Occupational Skills Conversion Institute or MOSCI has been established as a private, veteran only school to answer that excuse but because many veterans have now become to believe that the skills they learned in service is not as valuable as those same skills learned by any civilian so we fail to take advantage and get the credit we so rightly earned and deserve.

In order to achieve an A.A. (Associate of Arts) or an A.A.S. (Associate of Applied Science) Degree, one would have to “complete a coursework of 60 hours, including courses in general education and other courses related to the degree program”.  This is equal to seven and a half days if working 8 hour shift, two and a half days if working 24 hour shift and five days if working 12 hour shift in that field.  The same can be said to obtain a Master’s Degree.  For a Bachelor’s the student must complete that which is “equivalent to 120 semester hours”, which means fifteen days if working 8 hour shifts, ten days if working 12 hour shifts or in five days if working 24 hour shifts.  So why do our veterans choose to not take advantage of this opportunity?  Maybe because they have come to believe that even this is a “hand-out” instead of a “hand-up” and something they do not deserve even though we all know that they more than earned it.