Making a difference in someone’s life can be a practical and fairly easy thing to do.
Restoring Hope and Purpose to Vets
How It Began…
A little over a year ago my life changed in a drastic way.
I left the USAF as a JTAC/TACP in 1999. I entered the ‘real world’ with little idea how to start a new life. Through hard work plus trial and error I built a career in IT that has spanned almost 20 years now. I fought for and rose to the highest levels and have enjoyed considerable success.
While I was previously running a training company specializing in high-end network engineering training, a fellow JTAC/TACP guy rose to the world stage due to a remarkable recovery from an IED explosion and ambush. Israel Del Toro, or ‘DT’ as we called him, became the first USAF person to return to active duty with 100% disability after an incredible recovery. His motto quickly went viral: “Never F’in Give Up”. This inspired me to create a scholarship for Veterans for a free class.
The seed was planted.
A few months later I began to find out how badly universities, vendors and training companies were ripping off our Vets for their education benefits. So, I set out to create a better deal and by November 2017 I had begun to hear stories directly from Vets every day. It was at that time that I decided I couldn’t go any longer without doing something big to change this. I restructured my company, ETAC Inc., launched our new website www.usveteranjobs.com and began the process of creating the most comprehensive Veteran Mentoring Program for IT to ever hit the market.
Today we have roughly 300 Vets enrolled and are adding more every day. My days and nights are spent talking to Vets. At this point, I have personally talked to over 500 men and women from across almost every state in the US.
Many days I end my calls and sit at my desk and weep.
There are men and women out there that have served for 20+ years and within 3 years of leaving the service they are working jobs as janitors, security guards, delivery guys… many at less than $11 per hour. Many have gone from success in the military to unemployment, bankruptcy and to the brink of absolute despair. I meet people every day that are shallow shells of the people they were a few years earlier.
I wish I could say I haven’t heard stories or received emails and texts saying
“Terry, you have saved my life. I had nothing left and I saw your company name and visited the website and thought maybe I have one more chance.”
“This is my last hope. My plan was to kill myself by my next birthday if I hadn’t found anything.”
“Terry, I have nothing left, I have lost it all, I just want the chance to show people I can do more”.
These men and women are not prepared to write resumes, attend interviews, or even do job searches. The military basic training programs are the best behavior training in the world and there is a reason those programs have not changed in 100’s of years… they work. The goal is to minimize individuality and personality to achieve uniformity, which is necessary in combat. However, in the corporate world we would call this invisibility. Their honesty and integrity prevent them from even applying for jobs. They tell people I have never done that, but I can learn, and the result is they simply don’t out sell the competition.
How We Are Changing Things…
We mentor them, most of our transitioning Vets average between 4 to 6 months before they begin to get confident enough to get employers to take notice. They push to learn advanced network engineering skills and they excel at it. We don’t waste their time with the same old packages sold by the other education organizations which burn through most of their education benefits and leave them with skills most employers find irrelevant. We don’t need them to use their benefits; instead we ask the employers to invest a small annual amount to cover the mentoring and coaching we do to build their skills. The technical training approach used throughout most of the IT market is broken, so we built something that works.
We tell them “shoot higher” and “go for the skills companies need” and they do. We don’t train them, wish them luck and then send them on their way. We help them learn and pass the exams, so they can gain valuable credentials.
So how did I solve it? I put everything I have into this: my life, my finances, my house and 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. I told my wife this has to be set up without an exit plan. It must be a no fail venture, not an investment. The stakes are too high. I have been told by a Vet, “Terry, I trust you more than I have ever trusted any other person in my life, this is my last chance”.
If it fails, I don’t just lose ‘stuff’, I may lose someone’s life. The goal is not profit, it is hope and purpose restored.
A sample of the success…
Patrick came to us in early December. When we met him he was stuck in a dead-end factory job and just squeaking out a living. He was miserable but not the worst case we have seen. I would say he is the typical Veteran we run into. His finances were at a place where he could not pay the membership fee.
Some people think it is wrong that I charge them, so let me explain why I do this. We want them to pay something out of their own pocket. Why? It’s skin in the game meaning it stings more when they get frustrated and want to quit. Finding a job is the most humiliating process you can go through, outside of a divorce, and it takes a lot of rejection before finding the right opportunity. It helps them to know that if they quit we will not give them a refund. This eliminates the welfare mentality that is so destructive with Veteran education benefits.
A few weeks earlier, as I was restructuring the company there were many ongoing family dinner table conversations. My 11-year-old son had just had his birthday on November 4th and came in my office one night and said; “Dad, I want to give all of my birthday money to put a Vet in the program. I want to help one of them get better”. I told him how proud of him I was, but that he didn’t need to give it all and I would let him give $25. He left my office aggravated at me, but I thought that was the end of it. Little did I know, he Face Timed his best friend Benjamin and they hatched a plan. First, they talked to Benjamin’s mom and got her on board. Being my wife’s friend, they then pulled her in. For two weeks they made cookies, cakes and candy.
Then the two boys walked multiple neighborhoods until they had sold it all and had enough to walk into my office with a wad of one dollar bills and say, “We want to put a Vet in the program”. It was one of the many times I have been on the front lines of seeing how good people can be when you give them the opportunity to do the incredible. And it was my son!
Patrick was the person we put in with the money and he worked hard. I think he must have talked to over 100 recruiters and companies. He took my advice to interview for anything, continue practicing and get good at it. He was confident it wouldn’t take long at all, but soon he ran into the same wall everyone does and a month turned into three.
He managed to get invited to a local CIO forum and dressed to impress to keep his confidence high for the event. He worked the room and ended up being invited to an interview with a local Atlanta based company where he quickly went through several stages and even talked to the CFO directly. I remember him calling excited and saying, “It’s a done deal, I got it”. I told him to just take a breath because I knew the hardest part was yet to come: the dead silence.
A few days later he was going into the dark hole that Vets always go in to as they feel the humiliation from all that hard work and yet they are still falling short. When in reality, it was Easter weekend and we later found out the key person had left for a vacation.
I encouraged him to keep interviewing while he was waiting for the response. So he did, progressing with two other companies to the final stages. The next week came and he learned a whole new level of stress. He ended up being in a spot where he had 3 separate offers.
I remember smiling and thinking God’s timing is odd, but good. So, we began talking through the opportunities and the pros and cons of each. One position happened to be in Boston with a great company, Technium. As we discussed it I asked him if he had ever been to Boston? He replied no, so I said, “Why not go, it could be fun, an adventure”. So, ultimately, this is where he decided to accept an offer of employment.
Patrick went from a guy stuck in a dead end job to a new salary at $60K in an exciting new city meaning a fresh start. This is what we are trying to do. I do not believe any Vet is entitled or owed anything for their service. They volunteered the same as I did. But I do think they have more than earned the right to get a break, a chance to prove themselves.
If only employers would realize that while they may be short on some corporate skills, they are incredible people coming to the table. These men and women have learned skills and many have performed them under gun fire. Some of these skills are so technical many of the engineers I know would struggle to learn them. All they need is a chance to prove that to you and they will. With the right mentoring and coaching they will excel and they will do so quickly.
A Call To Action…
I hope I can inspire many executives, managers and employers across this nation to simply stand up and give them that chance. I have created a company to mentor and incubate them while they work with you and I will walk beside both the employers and the Vets to make sure it works. I just need those that can to extend the opportunities to help me restore hope and purpose to an incredible group of people.
The alternative is to continue to “thank them for their service” through lip service as they walk around and try to survive in a way very similar to convicts recently released from prison. This is broken and should be every American’s problem… they didn’t do anything wrong, they did everything right.
If you are an employer that wants to get involved checkout our Employer Portal.
The Vet Fund
We established the Vet Fund to be able to provide for costs that many of the transitioning Vets can’t afford. Things you and I take for granted, but without these things they can’t break free.
Items such as:
Simple Laptops
Internet Access
Phone Service or Cell Phones
Interview Clothing
Funds To Offset Unexpected Healthcare with No Insurance Coverage
Funds for Living Expenses, Gas, Transportation, Housing
Exam Fees ($150-400 each)
Birthday, Christmas, etc. -This is a very stressful situation while they are unemployed
When Steve Durgin, ETAC’s COO, is not helping me grow this business he is out on the road conducting events with the non-profit he founded, Victory For Veterans Foundation. VFVF focuses specifically on trying to make a dent in the lives of people fighting PTSD, TBI and overall Veteran suicide.
Our two organizations and personalities naturally pulled us together into a newly formed lifelong friendship. Not all of the money VFVF raises goes to ETAC but we have partnered to raise money for this Vet Fund. We also provide supplemental scholarships for those enrolled in our IT Apprenticeship. This doesn’t pay for the program completely because we still want skin in the game but it helps to offset the costs so more can take advantage of it.
RIDE22
Over the next several weeks around the country VFVF will be hosting RIDE22. This is a motorcycle rally where all proceeds will go towards programs like the Vet Fund. If you have a motorcycle and want to support Vets, a simple $22 donation (whether you ride or not) will help change someone’s life by giving them a practical way of changing their destiny.
I encourage you to visit our website to learn more about the IT job placement, training and mentoring, and employer programs designed to change how Veterans and the IT world interact. Our programs solve the hiring problem in the market today:
Veteran and IT Employer Placement Services – No Placement Fees
Job Seeker Resources – We are the eHarmony of the Veteran IT world
Transition Training and Mentoring – Get that CCNA today
Advanced and CCIE Level Training – We leverage the best INE, NetworkDoJo and CloudMyLab
Unique Mentoring Opportunities – No more wasted time
While there contact us if you can help with any of the items or donations listed above.
We’ve been busy building our newest version of the site and platform, stay tuned for new updates each day over the next two weeks.
But at least pump up those tires, gas up those Hogs and join a bunch of others for loud pipes and wind in your face while you are helping to give a Vet a break they deserve.
Learn more or register at https://secure.qgiv.com/event/ride22
Rides start happening as early as tomorrow. See the locations below and go have some fun while doing a great thing. Can’t ride you can still donate.
Allegany, NY
Augusta, ME
Casper, WY
Castle Rock, CO
Cleveland, TN
Knoxville, TN
San Antonio, TX
Washington, DC
Comments