March 10, 2015 – Our club received a very timely message this week from Lt. Col. Phillip Woody (USMC Retired) who spoke on the topic of hiring veterans. Col. Woody stressed through his introduction that the only relevant aspect of his curriculum vitae was his status as a veteran. Speaking even though he was hoarse from participating in a “mud run” with fellow marines at Parris Island recently, he strongly urged members as leaders of the Charleston business community to hire veterans transitioning to the civilian sector. At the outset he enlisted the aid of four volunteers from our club to give a demonstration. He gave each a different color marker and asked them to put a mark on a piece of paper taped to the wall as high as they could without jumping. He then told them that he had a $20 bill he would give to whoever was able to increase his mark on a second try. After the winner of that competition was determined, he then gave a $50 bill to the contestant who was the closest to the second attempt on the first attempt – our own President Elect Paul Stoney. The point was that veterans are already motivated to reach their highest potential even before they are told of monetary incentives.
To further illustrate his point, Col. Woody relayed the story of a battle in which he participated in Fallujah, Iraq. A sniper was firing at the marines from a mosque and in deference to the religious nature of the structure, they we prohibited from taking action against the sniper which might damage the building. Col. Woody visited a young marine in a fighting position. The young man was bobbing his head up and down and Col. Woody could see he had no headphones on. He asked what the young man was doing and the marine replied, “Listening to the music in my head.” Col. Woody asked the marine if he needed anything and the marine paused and answered, “Only more ammo.” This is the type of dedication to duty, Col. Woody said, this young marine and other veterans can bring to the civilian workforce.
Col. Woody also relayed the story of a young female marine who had been captured. Somehow through the creativity and improvisational skills she learned as a marine, she was able to evade her captors and return safely to her unit. This ability to adapt and overcome is yet another skill that Col. Woody stressed makes veterans such valuable prospective employees.
All the services stress integrity – one of the greatest skills a veteran can bring from the military to the civilian workforce. Teamwork is another skill the military instills in veterans which can clearly make veterans a stellar choice for a new hire.
Leadership and responsibility also are traits military service brings out in veterans. Col. Woody relayed how at 18 years of age he was responsible for equipment worth millions of dollars.
As if the skill set a veteran brings to employment were not enough reason to hire them, there are other incentives for businesses which hire veterans. First Col. Woody noted that business get a tax credit of up $4,800.00 for hiring a veteran. Additionally, if the veteran needs additional training for the job, there are ways that the training can be obtained at no cost to the business. Veterans can avail themselves of their benefits under the GI Bill. Additionally the VA has programs which can provide financial assistance for schooling costs if a veteran has exhausted his or her GI Bill benefits.
Col. Woody made a point of mentioning PTSD. While the news would seem to indicate that veterans are facing PTSD issues which might make their employment less advisable, Col. Woody believes such issues are highly exaggerated in the media. Everyone goes through trauma in life and most are able to process such trauma without exhibiting debilitating or dangerous symptoms. Only an extremely small number of returning veterans have PTSD problems which might require them to seek help and even for those veterans, there are programs available to help them. One particular program Col. Woody mentioned was the Palmetto Warrior Connection, which is supported by our own club.
In answering questions from our members, Col. Woody noted that veterans bring with them to their employment high levels of education. Most have post-high-school educations. As an example, Col. Woody had to obtain a master’s degree in order to qualify for service as a major. Even non-commissioned officers generally have a bachelor degree. As for how to find veterans in need of employment, Col. Woody again mentioned the Palmetto Warrior Connection as well as the VA.
– Alex Dallis