NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md. (NNS) -- More than 100 wounded warriors and disabled veterans attended NAVAIR's first Wounded Warrior Career Day at the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum in Lexington Park, Md., Dec. 6.
"Employing wounded warriors and veterans is one of our highest priorities at NAVAIR. We know full well the value of this effort," said NAVAIR Commander Vice Adm. David Architzel.
The event included a career fair with 38 exhibitors and 30 NAVAIR hiring managers. Guest speaker Edward Crenshaw, author of "The PERCEVD Principles: Preparing Employers to Reintegrate Combat Exposed Veterans with Disabilities," listed strategies on how to support veterans in the civilian workplace, including being flexible and accommodating and acknowledging their achievements.
Mentoring programs and focus groups are part of the infrastructure needed to retain veterans, he said. "Mentoring programs go a long way toward making our veterans feel they are not alone," he said.
Most important, managers need to perform a self-assessment to determine what they are doing right in the recruitment and retaining process and how they can improve.
"I challenge you to evolve, change, restructure, rethink," Crenshaw said.
The event kicked off with a meet-and-greet and informal dinner for the 28 disabled veterans who traveled from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, to Patuxent River Dec. 5. NAVAIR has formed a strong partnership with the medical center and will serve as the primary hiring funnel for wounded warriors transitioning out of that facility, helping both government and private industry hire and support these veterans. A formal memorandum of agreement will be signed in January 2012.
Natashia Turner, an Army human resources specialist, was injured while stationed in England and is undergoing treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center. She said she is inspired by the many amputees she meets, comparing them to superheroes.
"It teaches you that there is life after your injury and to stay positive and motivated, because attitude is everything," she said.
David Regan, a NAVAIR logistics management specialist, can speak to having a positive attitude. His story is nothing short of a medical miracle.
On his second Iraq tour as an Army sergeant combat engineer, Regan's vehicle was hit by an explosively formed projectile. The projectile burned through the side of the vehicle, hit Regan's head and burned through and exited his skull before blazing through the other side of the vehicle. He was in a coma for nearly three months and was not expected to survive.
Three weeks after he awoke from his coma, he ran a mile on the hospital's treadmill and eventually competed in the 2011 Wounded Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo. That's where he first learned about NAVAIR and applied to its four-year Naval Acquisition Development Program.
Within this program, Regan said he has enjoyed rotating positions and learning about all facets of the business.
He encouraged veterans to initiate conversations and ask employers what they need and what they are looking for.
"NAVAIR can offer this great program, but the transitioning veterans have to really want it and go after it," he said. "This is not a job fair; this is not NAVAIR offering jobs. This is NAVAIR offering careers."
One theme at the event was clear: Veterans offer a wealth of attributes that are transferrable to the civilian work world, including resilience, leadership, love of country, discipline, drive and teamwork.
"I think the best thing that the Army has ever taught me is being able to know how to treat your fellow comrade, co-worker," said job seeker Qwenolyn Kendle. "That's something that has changed my life."
Kendle, who was injured in Afghanistan, advised her fellow wounded warriors to stay proactive. "Just because you're missing a limb, it doesn't mean that you can't do it," she said. "You just have another way of rethinking things. Reinvent yourself."
The mission of NAVAIR's Wounded Warrior Program is to recruit, hire, train and retain wounded warriors from across the United States. In fiscal year 2011, NAVAIR hired 586 veterans, 155 of whom were disabled.
"With a mission to honor and empower wounded warriors and all veterans, NAVAIR is joining the many national programs which encourage warriors to push through their external and internal wounds, to adjust to their new normal and to achieve new triumphs," said NAVAIR Vice Commander Rear Adm. Steve Eastburg.
NAVAIR also works with NAVSEA, SPAWAR and the Director, Naval Acquisition Career Management, as well as private sector organizations, to maximize wounded warrior employment, training and transitioning opportunities nationwide.
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