Veteran Vision

I’ve never held a gun. Never crawled on my belly through searing desert heat waiting for a bullet to rip through my flesh. Never led a platoon of soldiers into combat. Never cradled a fallen comrade as bombs rained down around me.

But many of our servicepeople have had such experiences and are forced to make life-and-death decisions every day. And then hopefully they return home, where they face the transition back to everyday life with their families. The lucky ones return to a job; others face the difficult task of finding work in a broken economy that doesn’t offer much opportunity, particularly for those now missing limbs and suffering from injuries such as Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

That’s where training—and corporate America—comes in. Programs such as the Wounded Warrior Project and United Association Veterans in Piping program help veterans to find jobs and learn new skills. And companies such as AlliedBarton partner with these programs to let veterans know about job opportunities in their organizations.

“World-class leadership training happens in the military 
process, and we’re very much attracted to that employee population,” says Jim Gillece, chief people officer at security services firm AlliedBarton. “They come to AlliedBarton with significant experience, a sense of accountability and responsibility, and a can-do attitude. They can hit the ground running and bring a lot to our training and our organization.”

Consider this issue’s cover story, “Warriors to Workers,” a call to action. See how your company can help veterans transition back to the 
civilian workforce. And veterans, see what training and resources are available to you and your fellow warriors.

Whether you’re a veteran or civilian, one of the best resources comes in the form of professional connections. And these days, that means social networking—both in terms of job hunting and training. As part of this issue’s technology focus, we look at how four Training Top 125 winners are utilizing social networking to share knowledge, provide pre- and post-course support, and communicate with employees (see “Are You LinkedIn?”)

No technology issue would be complete without a look at the latest learning management system innovations (see “LMS Lessons”), plus we asked three 2010 Top Young Trainers to share their experiences with implementing new LMS systems and functionalities.

As we head into fall and cooler weather (something I only have a vague recollection of after multiple strings of what seemed like 105-degree days here in New York), remember that winter is on the way and you’ll definitely want to be scheduling a few days in a warmer clime in February. So be sure to register for the 
Training 2011 Conference & Expo (www.TrainingConference.com), to be held February 7 to 9 in San Diego. Conference Sensei and 3-D learning guru Tony O’Driscoll will help you make connections, put your new knowledge to practical use, and get the most out of your Training 2011 experience. 
California, here we come!

Lorri Freifeld

lorri@trainingmag.com