BAC Apprenticeship Offers Quality Career Path for U.S. Veterans

JOURNAL: ISSUE 2 - 2014

From left, H2H Executive Director Darrell Roberts, U.S. Army Major Ryan Roberts, PCC Pre-job student, veteran and soon-to-be Local 2 NY/VT apprentice Cris White, Assistant Secretary of DOLS’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) Keith Kelly, BAC President James Boland, Local 5 PA apprentice bricklayer and veteran Dustin Brill, U.S. Army Colonel Kevin Hicks, BAC Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer, and IMI National Director of Apprenticeship and Training Bob Arnold.

The brave men and women of the U.S. armed forces face innumerable challenges while on active duty. Since 2001, however, unemployment statistics tell us that among the greatest challenges they face as they re-enter civilian life is finding a decent job. Thanks to revved up participation in programs such as the national building trades’ Helmets to Hardhats (H2H) along with heightened inter-governmental teamwork, BAC and IMI are making progress in expanding pathways to BAC apprenticeship and IMI/local training programs for veterans transitioning to civilian careers.

BAC Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer, right, shares a few pointers with Local 5 PA apprentice Dustin Brill.

Keith Kelly, DOL Assistant Secretary of VETS and a decorated Vietnam War veteran, impressed everyone at the Flynn Center with his bricklaying acumen.

With this goal in mind, on March 19th, U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary of the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service Keith Kelly, joined by U.S. Army Col. Kevin Hicks and Major Ryan Roberts, and H2H Executive Director Darrell Roberts, toured the Flynn Center in Bowie, MD where they also met with BAC President James Boland, Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer and IMI National Director of Apprenticeship and Training Bob Arnold. The group discussed tangible ways to recruit soon-to-be or recently separated veterans into BAC apprenticeships. One such step has been closer collaboration between government agencies such as VETS and the Pentagon with H2H and building trades affiliates. Col. Hicks and Major Roberts also outlined a recently introduced policy that allows Army personnel to join union apprenticeship programs up to six-months prior to their formal separation from the Army.

“BAC is fully committed to supporting our military and our nation’s veterans by providing access to the best training and employment opportunities the trowel trades industry has to offer  and the opportunities they need and deserve to succeed in the civilian workforce,” said President Boland.