RICHMOND, Va. -- On Wednesday at the Virginia War Memorial, the latest cohort of military service members graduated from NPower SkillBridge.
SkillBridge is a Department of Defense Program managed through the nonprofit Npower which aims to ensure veterans aren’t left behind by equipping them with highly sought-after certifications in the IT and Cybersecurity career field.
“I call it going from defending our nation to protecting our network, said the program’s Executive Director Col. Christopher Starling. “That’s the goal. Seamless transition."
Over 70 graduates attended the ceremony in person and via Zoom representing several branches of the military including the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
During the service keynote speaker, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earl Sears addressed the graduates thanking them for their service and encouraging them to embrace their new lives as private citizens.
“Leaving the corp felt like leaving family and there was anxiety there,” Sears said. “When you’re moving on to the next chapter, you have to be always ready. You’re going to assess, adapt, and overcome.”
The Program consists of a 10-week boot camp for service members during their final six months of active duty. Veterans are not only given classes to gain certifications to allow them to secure high-paying jobs but they’re also given career training and resume-building opportunities to make the transition to civilian life easier.
Recent graduate and 24-year Army veteran Eric Faw says the hand-up is necessary to ensure that a veteran doesn’t just survive after service, but thrives.
"We need this seamless transition because there are a lot of veterans that are unemployed, they are a lot of veterans that are homeless there are a lot of veterans who don’t know where that paycheck, meal is going to come from who have families to support,” Faw said.
Faw graduated from the program earlier this year and now works as Deputy Operations Manager at the 128th Aviation Manager, where he assists in the advanced individual training of soldiers who are learning their operational skills.
He believes that programs like SkillBridge can keep veterans from falling on hard times.
“So with these programs to give these students the Skills and the knowledge they need on the back end, it is the same as teaching a person how to fish versus giving them a fish," Faw said.
The SkillBridge initiative had such an impact on 4-year Air Force Veteran K-Lynn Blacksher, that she’s continuing to dedicate her life to service for those who’ve served.
“I will be helping transitioning veterans get into cyber security,” Blacksher said. “I think it all comes to service before self. It’s one of the pillars we have.”
As a SkillBridge graduate, veterans will continue to have support from the nonprofit’s leadership as part of a continued alumni program which will continue to assist them in their new professions to ensure that the transition to civilian life continues to be stable.
“I think that’s really the heart of a lot of service and serving is that you want to have a good impact and I think that mission aligns with something I want to do in my life,” Blacksher said.
“Trust the process because the light at the end of the tunnel is very bright,” Faw said.
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