can succeed. god bless. [applause] .. >> that was completed in 1983.

as of may 2014, there are 58, 300 names etched in the wall of the service men including eight women. 1200 of these are listed as missing. and their directory is near podiums so visitors may locate specific names if they are looking were a loved one or someone they know who served in vietnam.

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[inaudible discussions] >> a lot of crowds on the mall. you can see people taking pictures. we also have this veteran's day tweet from representative from florida. she tweeted in army of my husband dexter who volunteered in vietnam and was severely wounded in combat.

>> paul ryan tweeted today and every day we honor those who fought for our freedom. thank you for your service and sacrifice. and nancy pelosi with a statement saying in part on veteran's day we absolusalute t service, sacrifice and freedom for the veterans who serve. we honor the people who protect the nation's highest ideals at home and abroad. you can leave comment on twitter or post them on facebook.com/cspan. >> cultural secretary is leading a summit along with representative from oregon and

alabama, washington and oregon. returning to a form on job opportunities for vets. laura bush and tom perez -- perez took part in what is called hiring our heroes conference. >> i am mike haney. the executive director and i would like to welcome my friend here. i will say first, it is humbling and intimidating to follow president bush. but our job is to spend ten minutes talking about the collective and collaboration that brought us today. a recap of where we have been

relative to vets employment and what may lay ahead. challenges and opportunities both for our transitioning service members, veterans and their families but also for the employer community who has been so supportive of this effort. only because you expect it from me do i have a graph with a bunch of data and things behind me. i am not going to talk to it. only use it as a way to suggest we really have accomplished an awful lot over the last five-seven years in particularly. we have learned a lot through this work. through the coalitions, the hundreds of thousands of jobs

mission, the hiring our heroes coalition here, and because the president did already list off some employers who have made remarkable contributions it gives me an out not to be able to mention any employers by name because i don't want to leave any out and get in trouble later on. but probably at no point in history since world war ii has the private sector stepped in to support the vocational transition of service members. we deserve a lot of credit for that as a community. we built tools and put them into action. we will hear more about tools today that are positioned to move this effort to move this agenda forward. when we put up data, it begs the question and has recently in the context of what is next for this community, is there an

employment challenge and crisis relative to our nation's veterans? i will suggest that because thising questions do make for good dueling op-eds. the only answer that matters to questions like that are the ones that you get when you are standing in front of a veteran who has done everything they need to do to position themselves for post-service employment and tell you whether or not they have been successful finding a job. that is the only answer that matters. we can, as i learned in my first gr graduate statistic class, tell

any story we want. as i transition to mark and let him talk about the tools the imf and him have been building we will get to a place where we are asking more nuance and p perspective questions. one thing that gets us in trouble as we focus on putting our constrained resources to the first best use serving the vocational challenges is we paint the community with one single brush and don't knowledge what exist across the community. you see the two lines. the dark line represents the

longitude view back to 2000 of the gap between post-9/11 civilians and their counterparts. the light blue line is the gap of post-911 veterans relative to their counterparts that are over 35. i could build 25-30 of these. but as i talk to smart economist about how we should be focusing our effort moving forward this idea of identifying and acting on this idea of an employment gap relative to civilian demograph

demographics whether it is age, skill, industry. at the end of the day the value proposition relative to military service is one such that you are better off on the way out. here is one group that by the data it appears we are not delivering on the value proposition. there is lots of reason to explain it. some are inherent in who these folks are. that data highlights that persistently over the course of the last 10-12 years there has been an employment gap between that part of the population and their civilian counterparts. i used this one and i am over,

aren't i? i used this one because i wanted to share this chart. is there cause for sustained action for us moving forward? well, there are the projection separations. dod numbers. this is over the next five years. look at the coher -- coert separated by the highest numbers. what matters most in this discussion is we are asking a different set of questions moving forward so we can focus resources to serve the need where the need is the greatest.

the path forward is about institutionalizing the transition of the idea of collective and collaborative effort between the public and private sector. the coalitions in the work got off the ground as a function of dealing with an immediate crisis. we need better data. the reality is we don't have great visibility into that pipeline that allows positions to be supportive of that transition. the labor market and

demographics is changing dramatically over time. the population of veterans or service members leaving the military is a different populations. we need programs that can be adapted and evolve to changing the demographics. we have to start asking different questions and moving the analysis where we look at veterans as a population and drill in the local and regional area.

the supportive services are local and if we don't start asking questions how about weekend serve and support at the local level -- we can -- i think we miss the opportunity to really institutionalize a focus on employment transition over the long-term. with that, i can transition to mark to actually give him an opportunity to put that call to action, if you will, that i just suggested to action, to demonstrate a tool we have been building along -- they have been building it. we have been helping them see what to build. but something that offers to opportunity to dig in a deeper

and more powerful way rather than understanding where to focus our resources. with that, mike? >> thanks, mark. i have one minute and 34 seconds to go through the slides. i will blaze through this. the president mentioned smart policy. mike mentioned things need to be at the community level. that is the problem set we begin to work with syracuse nine months ago as we honed in on a dynamic model we can evaluate at the local level. we have heard about data-driven decisions. the purpose is to put the data to work and ask the probing questions and get at that regional construct. i can go through this later on. this is an aggregation of the data nationally that can help us depict veteran unemployment down to the county level.

it can help us look at the data by gender, by age, by disability status -- >> i didn't move. >> -- by education. it allows us to capture all of the data sets and we can ask the questions of how can we drill down and look at this and start to reorganize our policy and reallocate resources from the national level to the community level. let me give you a quick example. here we look at two counties, 60 miles apart, in texas. one is a rural community. one is an urban community. you can see the rural community with higher levels of unemployment and lower median income. 60 miles away in an urban community, in harris county, you can see the median income much

higher. you can see the employment much lower. that doesn't necessarily give us an answer. but when we talk about how we allocate resources and programs one might ask if this is an issue of transportation? simply making sure that 60 miles apart, how do we put together resources to get the folks in the rural communities to places where the jobs exist 60 miles away? it might be a transportation issue or it might be a training and skills issue. the president mentioned you can train skills. of course you can. couldn't we leverage the skills in employment 60 miles apart to give opportunity to the veterans? we can do this nationally level. at the county level we can drill down and look at the demographics. it begins to inform the conversation, it begins to allow us to peel back the discussion, and allows us to target

resources and programs to where the greatest need is at the community level. one other piece of the model that we looked at was the highest industries. you will see this chart really depicts the highest growth industries that are in the upper right hand corner by growth rate on the x axis and on the y-axis the total number of jobs available. the size of the bubble represents the size of the veteran population. in the upper right in education and health services, one of the highest growth rate and most jobs, but the smallest number of veterans. you can see in the lower left in the federal space has the greatest number of veterans but it has the lowest growth rate. how do we use data to help us target where we can best allocate resources and target our opportunities for veterans? these models allow us to ask

questions and answer these and make informed decisions for policymakers, veterans, and communities leaders. we are thrilled and excited to be doing this with syracuse. i would say it will take a village. we welcome this and other partnerships to make this work. thank you very much. [applause] >> i was in denial about how bad it was.

everything inside was dead. it was like it died in iraq. >> every day 22 u.s. veterans commit suicide. that is almost 8,000 a year. a new program could save their lives. it is called save a warrior. >> if this program doesn't work he is going to kill himself. i am literally on my knees right now. >> it was only a five-day program. >> how can i change in five and a half days? >> 13 soldiers. >> the brotherhood is a lot to do with it. >> this is the last house on the block. >> i feel guilty because i have

so much. they feel like they are going to die. >> how many men have you had come through? >> hundred active duty men. >> how many would you guess survive? >> 80-90. >> how many killed themselves? >> none.

thank you. >> good morning. so that clip might lead you to believe that i am going to share a sad story with you. but i will tell you an honest story. veterans who struggle with post traumatic stress and the opportunities that lie on the other side for them and also for us. i started working on this documentary in 2013. i just left cnn to start a media group called star fish media group. my first assignment for cnn was to do a full-length documentary on what happens to veterans and their family members when they returned home but were affected by pdtsd. we embedded with save a warrior, an organization from southern

california, that believed soldiers returning home needed tool to deal with the issue they were facing; depression, anxiety, anger, loss. issues that in the past might have been dealt with using prescription drugs or maybe non-prescription drugs or alcohol. in fact, these tools were teachable, like meditation and even just understanding what others were going through. feeling a connection to other service members. a brotherhood of sorts if you will. undergoing challenges experiences. rope course, rock climbing, meditation, art -- all of these strategies that save a warrior utilized to create a connection between 13 guys who never met but shared a similar story.

many were suicidal and couldn't figure out how to live in the world. you saw one in the clip there, the african-american gentlemen, he is the one who ended as he jumped to the ropes course. he would speak openly with his wife telling them that if this five-day course didn't work he was going to kill himself. he described it for me; the suicidal feeling as being in a burning building. he said it is like the building is on fire and you don't want to jump. you are afraid to jump. but the pain of being in the fire is so intense you feel like you have no other choice but to jump. in may of 2013 i spent five days embedded with save a warrior and several more days interviewing two families and as you saw in the clip the five days were emotional and intense and some

days were miserable and some were thrilling. garret holmes was chosen to be in the documentary because he is the kind of guy who hates to appear in films like this. his disdain for the media was very obvious and he said he didn't trust me to tell his story and challenged be to run what he said uned tiunedited. he said when the stories coming on tv none of us watch. they are all bs. he didn't say bs. he said we never watch these stories because they are not real. he challenged us to get it right and we did. he challenged us to follow them on what happens, for good or

bad, we would tell their story. the program was life-changing in the end. at the beginning of the documentary, a man was drinking several bottles of wine every day and stopped redrinking, r e reengaged with his wife and small children and has been doing well since. and garret whose anger was below the surface changed and i learned more about him. not just his experiences in war, but also his goals and his hopes and his dreams for his life after the service. i learned he wanted to be a photographer and at the end we got to see a bit of his work. i learned he enjoyed, as i discovered many folks who suffer with post traumatic stress, he enjoyed hiding behind the camera

which made him feel more secure in conversation and made him a wonderful student of human nature which turns out to be a good thing if you have a desire to be a photo journalist. his experience in the military, being ultra-observant made him a great and valuable story teller and story recorder. the fact he had wrestled with demons successfully made him a good listen, empathy and sympathetic. and the quality of excellence was built into what he delivered. he was always seeking feedback. no surprise then that my company, star fish media group,

has hired garret after doing a dock documentary on him to be our west coast photo journalist for the projects we do. i hate to say it out loud because people in the audience will want to steal him. the media frames the issue of post traumatic stress as a curse. like some kind of crazy, let's watch this explode sort of thing. that is not the case and what i learneded in the -- learned in the reporting is that post traumatic stress is real. it is not to be ignored or diminished. those people who come out on the other side what they have to offer as employees is valuable

and makes us all better. i think this is a crucial message lost in the reporting about veterans. the contribution and the potential for contributions is huge. i want to introduce you to garret combs who is a great photo journalist, and entrepreneur who served the country and partners with me about telling stories about veterans and others because of his well honeded and excellent eye much of what is due to the time in the military. if you would stand up garret so i can introduce you to the audience i would be grateful. [applause] >> i had a chance to lead some of the panel discussions this afternoon and i am looking forward to tackle this topic.

thank you very much. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the u.s. secretary of labor, thomas perez. [applause] it is an honor to be here. good morning, ms. bush. i had the honor of spending time with president bush behind stage and you set a high bar coming in in terms of serving our veterans and i want to say thank you on behalf of the president, first lady and the vice president. i worked with eric eversole for quite some time. thank you, eric.

and i want to say thank you to the active members and retired members and their spouses. we know it is a joint venture and want to say thank you so much. yesterday would have been my father's 93rd birthday. next monday is the 41st anniversary of his passing. i come from a family where military service was a badge of honor. my father and mother was one of nine immigrating from the dominican republic. all of her uncles served in world war ii. after my father left the service he went to the va hospital in buffalo new york because buffalo, new york and the dominican republic had similar weather and they wanted the warm weather climate in buffalo. my father works at the va hospital until passing and my

brother worked at the va hospital a few years later and my nephew as we speak, are working at the va hospital as a physician. they taught us this is so important to serve our nations. in my previous role at the civil rights division, we had a robust docket of cases on behalf of service members. we recovered over $125 million on behalf of service members who had been victims of wrongful foreclosure. we settled cases for active service duty members who were deploy deployed. we fought to make sure the right to vote was available to service members and their spouses serving overseas. that work was a labor of love and continues to be a labor of

love. at the department of labor, we get the opportunity to work together in partnership with so many of you in the audience to make sure the opportunity for employment is an opportunity available to everyone. half a million veterans and spouses have been hired through this initiative is a remarkable example of our partnership in action. i want to say congratulations and thank you. this has been an on-deck enterprise. the roster of speakers today demonstrates the nation's commitment across the board to making sure we serve our service members. i am so excited to go a job fair in hawaii in a couple weeks to talk about how to get the veterans the jobs they need and deserve. with your efforts, and the effortss of the first lady, we have come a long way.

the unemployment rate is 5% for veterans which is 1.6% lower than it was two years ago when it was 6.6%. post-911 veterans is down compared to last year and double digits in 2011. we are moving in the right direction and have a vast network of partnerships. that is the key. you will hear me say the word partnership so many times because threat is what it is about. making sure it federal partners are working together and we avail ourselves to the leadership of ms. and president bush. working with our friends in the business community. making sure we are learning everything we can. earlier this month i had the privilege to travel to three cities with secretary mcdonald and cosgrove because we were trying to give light to a significant issue we are making

progress on but have more progress and that is veterans homeless. we traveled to houston because they announced a creation of a system in her community that insures all veterans that need housi housing will be linked to supportive help and housing. president obama set forth a goal of ending veterans homelessness by the end of the year and we have invested $38 million in partnerships to help struggling veterans gets jobs. in houston, they have setup a system so that they are well positioned to meet that goal by the end of the year. salt lake city and phoenix have already instilled and installed systems so they have been able to address attacks and effectively end chronic veterans' homelessness. we will continue that work. the thing about this is when i

go to these cities it is not simply the numbers, data and partnerships but it is the people we meet who are most remarkable. in tucson i met a guy named cliff. it wasn't the first time i met cliff. we do a point and time survey to measure how many people are homeless every year. i traveled to tucson and met with cliff. cliff served in the military. when he got out he fell on tough times and was in the criminal justice system. he got out and wanted to better himself and as a result of some of our investments he was able to do that and now he is a counselor working with veterans and he has helped over 400 veterans get back on their feet in the last year. cliff was formally homeless and now he is a leader in preventing homelessness. people like cliff inspire me. people like a woman i net met

named gene vive inspire me. she fell on hard time and experienced homeless ness but with the help of partnerships she is back on her feet. she just got her bachelor in social work and now is getting her masters and she will help other veterans because she has been in their shoes. what she said to me epitomizes where we are. the help she got were not handouts. they were hand phandups. they helped me turn my life around and it is not just about me. it has given my daughter a better future, too. people like this have given the nation so much and we owe it to them to double our efforts. i am grateful for the

partnership and make sure the transition assistance program is working well. it is a joint venture with dod, the va, the department of labor. and we are making it better and better with every passing year because we are learning from our experiences. we are measuring our progress. so for instance, we did a survey of 11,000 par -- participants in the program and 98% said they would use what they learned in the program and 89% reported it enhanced their confidence in transitioning program. that is another area where partnership at work is serving service members at scale. another area we are in on is apprenti apprenticeship. i believe it is the secret weapon for employing so many people across the country and we have been working to make sure

veterans have access. i refer to it as the other college except without the debt. an apprenticeship can be in it, health care, cybersecurity, and so many different areas. we are working together to make sure, and through our grant making, we are giving opportunities for apprenticeship to so many veterans. and veterans able to use the post-9/11 gi bill to supplement the apprenticeship. another thing we have to do and need to do this together and i this first-hand when i worked at the state level. we need to work hard to eliminate barriers to creditinials and licensing. i will ask how many times have

you moved in your career and if you have been there 15 years it is double figures. the challenge is when you move from one state to another and your spouse might be a teacher or another state with licensing that it is hard to get that license in the other states. i will never forget the combat medic i met when i was in maryland. he had served in a war zone and a paramedic there and told by the state of maryland he wasn't good enough. we need to address those licensing barriers. we can all agree it is hard to understand how someone who is explosive ordinance disposal tech in the navy and served two combat tours overseas is not qualified to work demolition on a highway construction crew. that makes no sense. that is the most polite

description i can give of that. a number of states have taken steps to resolve the license barriers and they are critical. in order to encourage this, the president's budget proposes a $15 million investment to help states in those efforts. we know this affects military spouses because again moving cr credintials from state to state to be time consuming and expensive. i want to talk about a resource that has been a linchpin in the effort for progress and that is the 2500 american job centers across the country. when a veteran goes into the job centers they receive priority of service. they go to the front of the line by law because they deserve to

be at the front of the line given all of the service they have provided. american job centers provide expert, personalize services to help you find the right career path, access training opportunities, and put yourself in front of employers. we are working hard to make sure we translate the core competency you have as a service member into a civilian workforce. so often we hear from service members i was an e-6 what am i going to do? the answer is you have game. there is a lot you can do. and what we are doing is serving as that translator so that employers understand the various skills that you bring to the table. it is not only the hard skills but it is the team skills, the essential team work skills, it is showing up on time, understanding how to work under pressure, you know what deaf con one means and you translate that working into the pressure in the workplace. that is what we do in the workforce system.

we are set to become a more potent network because last year the workforce innovation and opportunity act was passed and set to take affect july 1st. the reforms contained in this give job seekers additional tools to punch their ticket to the middle class. we will continue that work. partnerships are continuing. i was with rich from the consumer protection bureau last week and we joined forces to launch a new initiative to provide job coaching. we will provide them with a financial coach who as an understanding of the veterans' community, military families and the challenges they face. these professionals will provide one-on-one free coaching to

craft a personalized plan for financial success. that is critically important; how to manage your money. we are making the one-stop centers truly onetop for all of the needs veterans confront. that is what we are doing. and i want to say in closing -- i want to say thank you. we all play different instruments. president and ms. bush are playing a remarkably important instrument in front of the orchestra. i am a trial lawyer so i drift. i want to appaologize and warn you. the business community is playing a critical role. you keep employing folks. now we are moving into the sector-based industry. so the entire construction industry as opposed to one or two companies made a commitment to hiring veterans. our educators have made a commitment to tailoring programs toward veterans. the stove pipe implosion we are

seeing in the federal government is working for veterans. we are working with our states and local partners to make sure we eliminate those license and credential barriers. and non-profit and faith communities are in this orchestra. we play different instruments but we are all in the same organi orchestra and it is the orchestra of opportunity. with your leadership, and remarkable leaders like president bush, ms. bush, president obama, ms. obama, je b biden, we are commanding an amazing orchestra. we have changed as a nation. i remember the vietnam era. we did not respect our veterans when they returned home and we have changed that as a nation. we owe it to our veterans as a nation. we have specific work to do with

post-9/11 veterans because we have unemployment rates that are elevated still. there is no spike in the football even though the unemployment rate is coming down. we need even more people in the orchestra even though it is already a robust orchestra. you have my assurance we will continue to play our instruments as long as it is necessary to enable our service members who have earned that right to be treated with dignity, to make sure they have a seamless transition to the middle class. america works best when we feel the full team and when we feel the full team of service members our team is the best. at the department of labor, 30% of the hirees are veterans. we see it in the federal

government. and america sees it. that is why i have chronic optimism this project will sustain itself for many years to come. thank you, ms. bush for setting a high bar and keeping it high. thank you, president obama and ms. obama and dr. biden and vice president biden. we honor the memory of beau by making sure we serve the nation's military and giving them opportunities in the aftermath of their service. we have more work to do. there is no letting up. thank you so much for having me. thank you so much to tom donohue and the chamber for your leadership. [applause]

>> good morning, everyone. thank you so much for including mary and me in this important discussion. what a great program that the whole team has put together. i want to thank tom donohue and the chamber for putting us in the chamber. it is a great place to hold this event. we in uniform are really very grateful to the military service initiative and hiring our heroes for arranging this transition event. thank you to eric and miguel for what you have done. and we are grateful to president and ms. bush. your gift of personal attention to this personal effort is deeply important. thank you so much.

thank yous to all of you for being here. -- thanks to -- and thanks for your endearing support to our veterans including recognizing their potential as employees once they transition out of the military. these men and women have raised their right hand and volunteered. they have dawned the cloth of our nation, gained valuable training and experience, breathed in a culture of integity and hard work, and are leaders under stressful conditions and many have sacrificed for the country. they have grown like nobody's business. and they and their spouses are a tremendous win-win opportunity that should be everybody's business. as much as we would like to keep them all and as with those in the many generations before them, huge numbers of them, are shifting back into the civilian life and are eager to find honest work. as president bush said over the

next five years over a million of these volunteers are going to make this transition. despite the sea of good will generated by the thousands of non-profits and service organizes dedicated to helping with their transition too many are still finding to difficult to find a job. the overall veterans' unemployment rate has fallen before the national average the post-9/11 rate is not there yet. but there are good reasons by businesses should hire our yvette clahire our veterans. our recruiting statistics show most people entered the military because they want to do something important. that is a signature characteristic of the millennial generation.

the number one reason was pride, self esteem, honor for joining the military followed by better their lives and duty and obligation to country. i would want to hire someone who is mature enough at a young age to think of country before self. americans can count on the self we only added to that maturity over their time in uniform. i was exposed to this in college when i became friends a fellow who flunked out of college and joined the war during vietnam. after leaving the military, he came to george tech and aced the mechanical engineering program i was in. we talk about what good business it is to hire a veteran. we have invested a lot in these people including additional education for those who have

taken advantage of it. in many cases they offer technical expertise in the job they are applying. or others wise they offer the ability to learn in a similar trade or even thought similar they know how to learn. it confers on sufferings service members and skills that are sought after. it is a diverse workforce that made the cut to get in the military in the first place in a generation in which only 3-10 young people qualify. over 40 years of peer reviewed academic articles from several fields suggest there are key at things that are needed to make it in business that you learn in the military.

trust, leveraging their training, and their ability to learn, being comfortable and adaptive in working in discontinuance environment, team building skills, strong levels of organizational commitment, leverages cross cultural experiences. who would not want these characteristics in their workforce? and that is before the tax credits available for hiring a veteran. third, these young men and women bring values vital to any organization including loyalty, integrity and team work. employers often cite character flaws rather than gaps in skills for employees released.

we are good at ironing at character flaws. a study done by the corporate executive board aimed at capturing the value of veteran employees and found veteran performance is 4% higher and veterans experience 3% less turnover. when you apply the workforce is only 25% veterans that translates into an extra percent or two in annual revenue. a monster survey reported 99% of employees believe their veterans perform better or as well as non-veteran peers. those of you in business have already helped veterans and you have seen the adaptability, personal skills, and ability to perform under pressure, and go the extra mile when it is required. we need to insure the folks are getting a job that is the right

fit because we want to make sure they are successful on their first try. now to be sure there are other imperatives about hiring vets that don't translate into the bottom line. i would ask we advocate not looking upon hiring a veteran as an act of charity but it can be an act of patriotic because it contribu contributes to the future. the next generation of service members will be influenced by how well those before them are treated. one of the most important drivers for a young person signing up in the first place is key influencers who served in the military before. a positive narrative from one of these veterans can open the door to others willingness to serve. what are we doing in the military to help our members with transitioning? we redesigned the transition

assistance program to provide relevant and mandatory tools and training to insure civs members prepared for civilian life. they mean grab on to whatever equivalent certifications we can find. we recognize briefing people as they walk out the door will not lead to success. but this model is designed to make sure member's careers are aligned with their goals and highlight things they should address before separating. successful transitioning requires planning and execution. the road map you will hear about later and i believe you have a copy of, dos amigos will probably talk about it, can be

helpful and we need to propagate it. i believe it will take a while to get our program right. we definitely need your feedback. what we are looking for is continuous improvement over time. even with such a program, veterans face stereotypes that can build barriers to find employment. many perspective employers are scared off by the misimpression that veterans suffer from post traumatic stress. indeed, 48% of those probes by the society of human resource management said ptsd and mental health were barriers to hiring veterans. what a shame. a small minority of veterans do experience ptsd but their susceptibility to it is no greater than the average american. these conditions could be

treated and they may have been treated for some veterans than any other sector of society. so i would side with pete crel in saying there is much more we can do. there is no data that links ptsd with a propensity for violence. i will close by saying all americans should take an interest in successfully transitioning our nation's veterans.

this is a brougham full of passionate advocates a powerful coalition and an amazing network, and as a member of that network -- i would like to include helen who i'm so proud to see here today whose husband will be our next chairman. it's so important to have you in this audience today. thank you for being here. [applause] this is a powerful network all you have to do is see the connections made in the many familiar faces that we have seen in so many venues and its

passionate and caring for our military members and veterans is incredible. so thank you for your continued support for our men and women both in and out of uniform. we have much more to do but you are making a big difference and may god bless the soldiers, sailors, airmen, coast guard and marines who are watchful this morning across the globe protecting the nation. thank you very much. [applause] mrs. laura bush. [applause] this has been very interesting to hear so far but now i'm going

to talk about a little bit what's coming but what's coming up in the next panel and that's some people we don't want to leave outcome of the military spouses. i know what it's like to be the spouse of a leader. thanks to the u.s. chamber and the commander for hosting this mission transition created the update at the bush institute with our military service initiative. as the kernel and many of the service men and women gather here today know, you aren't the only members of your family that serve. your spouse serves as well. while our servicemen and women are deployed, their spouses are the ones that take care of the families. they care for the children, they manage the finances, and they

pray that their husbands and wives will return home safely. master sergeant rodriguez and his wife marlene joined us at the range in 2013 and 2014 for the bush center's annual warrior 100 bike ride. when marlene talked about the years of service in the air force, she said we served 25 years. i lived every deployment within. every trial and tribulation. but today i said yes to him i didn't realize the impact it was going to have on me and that's why it's so important to make sure while the servicemen and women receive the support they need that we care for their families as well. as we heard this morning, employment support is the perfect place to start. studies show that post-9/11

veterans face higher rates of unemployment than their civilian counterparts and the consequences of that unemployment or underemployment aren't only financial. and of course when one family member is suffering, the entire family suffers. military spouses with a similar set of challenges studies show that their primary concern is their own. active military spouses are yet to have young children at home. they may spend their marriage moving their children around the country or even around the world. moving makes it hard to maintain a consistent and employment. on average military families moved to a new community every two to three years. this displacement causes periods of unemployment. among female military spouses

aged 18 to 44, the unemployment rate is almost three times higher than their civilian counterparts. the department of defense takes it 25% of military spouses who are unemployed and roughly 40% are underemployed and go the spouses are highly educated, they also earn less, 38% less than civilians on average. fortunately, many military spouses use their own experience to help advise other spouses. amy is the program manager for blue star careers for she provides career and education support to military spouses. amy holds a masters in nonprofit management and philanthropy. but even with her impressive skill set because of her husband's changes of duty

location, amy had difficulty finding employment herself. even with a masters and years of work experience at one station, the only job she could find was as a receptionist at a local baptist church. now the blue star careers, amy is using her experience to help the spouses of our military find meaningful employment. the self-described rehab partner to her husband who was injured in afghanistan in 2011. an injured husband with many needs rachel couldn't seek other employment but when the captain's condition improved, rachel found a job at the quality of life foundation. now as the executive director, rachel works with other caregivers who give dalia substantial care to severely

wounded veterans just as she has done. because houses are typically subject to their servicemembers and flexible schedules, they develop developed an entrepreneurial spirit and sometimes see careers through self-employment. patricia, a military spouse and a small-business owner and grace to this entrepreneurial spirit when she started. ten years ago they helped the chief petty officer told her that light streamed through cheese cloth are privacy screen around his. so pat was at the garage of the home and so a home and so a better curtain. she began displaying the changes at the events and online. it's a brick and mortar operation based in georgia and

the curtains are sold directly to the navy ships, submarines, coast guard's, military sealift command as well as the individual servicemen. pat attributes her success to the training and skills she learned while her husband served in the navy. her story is the testament to the resilience and determination and ingenuity of our military spouse community. amy, rachel and pat represents many military spouses who gave years of steadfast support and devotion to our men and women in uniform. their commitment to their marriages, to their families and to our country is an inspiration to us all. it's our duty to support the men and women who volunteer to defend our country who risk their lives and too often gave their lives so the rest of us

might not know her again and to support their loved ones who are here at home. thank you all very much. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please welcome [inaudible] [applause] >> we are going to transition because i think the format is changing a little bit. now we are getting to the power

session. if you really want to know what's happening, this is one of my favorite subjects and before we get started asking these ladies about their experiences i want to give a shout out to the chamber i remember four years ago working at the time we were talking about the employment conference and then we did one is over caregivers and their number the first one for caregivers we could count on one hand we did it in the basement of a hotel by walter reed. the number of participants that came in and there was one who came in. she walked right out and was in tears. i go into the room and i said what did you say to her and found out she was in tears because it was the first time someone had actually thought of her and what she was going for and i was looking at how to make

it work for her. stuff comes so that comes from the basement having a handful of spouses with incredible experience getting to where we are now having you all care it's fabulous. i recently had an opportunity to go down to dallas and derek took me around at la quinta and it was the coolest thing. i went to the ceo office and on his board he had gold stars and silver stars and sometimes all you need is a job and those are the silver stars sometimes you need to move up in the companies and those are the gold stars and they would move back and forth. sometimes you need a job and sometimes you want to make a career and it's just one of the many examples out there so thank you for the special emphasis on the military spouses. mrs. bush already told you some

of the statistics about the average, there are no average military spouses, so i won't go over some of those to say other than it is hard for us to find a career that we can transfer. i was very fortunate i worked for a defense contractor for many years. they had offices around the world and they were very proactive working with me but for many out there this is not the case. the really strong point we are going to talk about have made us very unique that we are more active volunteers and our civilian counterparts. four times more. we don't have time. we are usually in a any place for two years. we get in and we take over the finances of any organization. we get it done where a lot of times our civilian counterparts

are going to be there and take their time so i think that's one of our strong characteristics as well and we are very flexible at whatever comes our way but we are talking about transitioning and military into military spouses and employment and agree to listen to their responses because the transition is soon and so if there's any ideas out there from the audience in the current job you closely worked with spouses who are transitioning the service members that were transitioning. why do you feel it was important for those spouses to find employment and keep their employment clacks >> employment is vital for the well-being of a family and particularly during this time of transition as many of the speakers have mentioned. it's going to increase

stability. when that family begins the transition, they are going to go through a challenge of insurance is going to change, financial obligations. it doesn't exist in the civilian sector. so if the spouse has been able to grow and develop skill sets throughout their servicemembers career, they are going to be able to take that and hold that transition for the family. and so i think that is very vital for the success of our transition service members that when a spouse has the skill set in the position. for the active duty i think it is vital for the careers as the servicemembers continue to serve and at some point in the conversation, as an active-duty spouse how are we going to maintain the top talent and these leaders who have experience? and when that question comes up

in the home, do i stay in or get out it's going to be a lot easier to say let's stay in and continue to serve the country when that spouse has been able to find meaningful employment and skill sets. so i think it's twofold. we have to look at the transition member and also the families that are currently serving as they continue their career. >> and i would agree it isn't only stability for the family as it reduces the financial pressure which could also translate into some situations in the family that are not good for the military. but if they can find -- throughout my time being married to the military, you see a lot of families where it becomes a stress i am. the job, the military spouse, whether she would keep her job or find a meaningful employment when she moves on.

what's transition to the skill set of our military spouses and caregivers and what do you feel that they have to offer? >> caregivers and spouses both have a tremendous amount of experience working with collaborative teams. the same thing is true on the traditional career path. creativity. i'm from texas and we are trying all kinds of things that we are going to get to how to we make this work. and i think that goes back to not necessarily the skill set is what the president mentioned in his remarks and that's the core value of how do we make this

happen. >> agree 100%. >> so you were stationed at fort post and set while you were there you have a hard time finding corporate america. >> can you explain that and tell us maybe what helped clacks >> my husband was returning from his fifth deployment and i knew to keep our family together i was going to have to make this move to louisiana. i had an amazing position i was traveling the country, just very meaningful work and i learned very quickly there were no positions are contract positions and they were clear you just

answer the phones, so it took about a year and i ended up working as a contractor and i started the position as a counselor working with the soldiers. within about a month of me in that position and the position became available, a liaison officer. the two supervisors told me don't apply, your new. so i kind of the tiered from it. but thankfully now something said applied and i did and i picture butte to that manager because she saw something in my skill set and she took that chance with me if you will. it's as the battle mandate.

we have the employees that come in and of the military isn't going to wait around. they need to be advocates for themselves. and so that they are applying for the next position to move up even if it hasn't been a month or maybe it's six months that you really look at their skill set and drive and talent because with the contribution came into the company they are able to create products sometimes about quicker than the counterparts because they know time is of the essence, so they are driven. my main point with that is understand or talent base. don't under utilize it. and i was thankfully able to access path but i think that is a challenge a lot espouses space is that entry-level jobs they are not able to progress and its a disservice to corporate america because you could be tapping into a greater skill set if you understood and downgraded

the talent is there. >> thankfully she felt through all that and so she had a really good thing here. >> hopefully. >> something i can't answer that i hope the panelists can is what is it like to be a millennial? >> there is some negative stereotypes out there. some things we are known for prioritizing education and career aspirations and in some ways to connect with that either say flexibility is very important and the certainly resonate with the military spouse or caregiver, whether that is starting in that position in an office and then looking to transition. and i think the important thing to remember as far as millennial

stuff it might be number two, the most important thing about the job is the quality of what you're doing. do you feel like you're giving back this meaningful work? so that works out being open to moving companies to virtual position once you start it and you touched a little bit on development opportunities. colonial's really want to learn and grow and get a lot of things and we know we need that we know we need development because we are not quite there yet. so i'm grateful for in my position and i know program management and caregivers, i didn't know much about management. and my president said okay i will work with you and really took some time out and said okay we are going to invest upfront and that really worked well for our organization and i'm grateful for that opportunity investment. >> i see a lot of our staffers may not even be no one else but there's a lot that are exactly the same.

we want to be leaving our work. >> we want to be read and what me than what we are doing. so that kind of rolls into what corporate america could potentially do and how can they help us to make this stronger? >> i have a couple things on it. i think setting up clear goals i heard 100,000 jobs, and her 200,000, i've heard percentages i think last time i checked. the other thing i would say with that is how you make your organization friendly toiletry families. some take their wedding rings off during an interview because they are afraid they will get asked questions. it happens, right and the guard could talk to us for days about that. but enterprises, my corporate sponsor for my organization kindly let me use pictures of

their military affiliated employees with their service member in uniform and i thought what a tremendous thing if you walk into an interview and you see something like that. this organization really values my lifestyles and they don't look at me as a liability. they see me as an asset and it's just some more kind of tangible -- a lot of us have student loan repayment, reimbursement for any kind of certification transfer. you are an insurance company and and have a nurse on staff reviewing claims and she's moving to consider reversing him or her? so those are some things we can look out and we talked about development for maybe educational stipends as well. >> big thing we are starting to realize that's a vital as we've lived in the world but there's a lot of transition going on so currently right now i work for blue star families and the model i find is so what's the word --

it works with the military lifestyle. that is a majority of the positions. so, wherever this military spouse is, she's able to work for the blue star families and continue her career is potentially grow with this organization and so there's larger companies that are using this model, too. so with the wealth of technology we have now and as that continues to grow him how can corporate america tap into the positions but also financially backs is it more financially viable for the organizations and companies to have their employees work in the telecommunication positions where they are working out of their home versus office space etc.? so it's something to look at and review on the model how can i be financially viable for the company and also how that is going to allow military spouses to work for your company and

then grow with that organization. i'm a true belief or if a spouse who potentially starts off at a cold center who's to say after a 20 year military career supporting her military spouse but that's spouse doesn't end up a vp or president of the company lacks each place they go they can gain the skill sets and develop and so for companies to be able to tap into that even at the entry level position you could potentially be looking at the next vp in the future for ceo. >> you never know who is walking through your door. on the military side i did want to give a shout out to lisa and gone to be scrubbed on who will be running the air force. so it's really important. thank you all for being here because it's important that i think our more junior spouses

not just on the active-duty side but it is something that espouses take very seriously and want to make that connection as well and held out help out in any way so thank you for being here. anything else in closing that you would like to add to this? >> hi you're a military spouse. >> but then grow and develop. >> good. thank you. [applause] [inaudible] today we pay tribute to americans who place themselves in the fight. >> there are troops getting fought back and those are your brothers. you either get them out a live of live or die trying. stack patrol is on foot heading into a village and the lights go out and that's when it happens.

about iowa way, dakota and the staff sergeant security -- over the radio. they are a nation a firestorm and everything for vicious fire from all sides. >> they have mortar grenades. >> four times they asked permission to go in. the story of what he did next will they did next will be told for generations. we are going and you do they jumped into a humvee and they were defining orders but they were doing what they thought was right. >> exposed to a blizzard of fire rounds were heading and i kept going back left and right. >> when they finally got the trapped americans dakota jumped out. to all those bullets and smoke and chaos dakota carried them out one by one. >> because of your courage for fallen american heroes came home. so the highest military decoration.

>> i'm not a hero, the heroes are the men and women still serving. >> the medal of honor. [applause] thank you. i want to thank the chamber, the foundation, the bush institute, the military service initiative are inviting me today and allowing me to speak. i always grateful for the opportunity to talk about not only my experience that the experience of so many of us veterans are facing today. we are blessed to live in the greatest country on the face of the earth founded by principles of freedom, independence, and a quality. it is these principles that continue to make the nation

strong and i'm proud to have worn the uniform of such a great nation. signing up was by far one of the greatest decisions i ever made in my life. and still i will tell you the truth. while joining the marines at 17 just like a lot of us i thought i had all the answers. as some of you know, they drilled out out of you. [laughter] but in my time in the marine corps more than anything else that taught me this, you are never going to know what everything that you should always be able to handle anything. though whatever it takes attitude. and this is the mindset i would need only in the core in a battle but once i left the military as well. when i got out, i had no idea what i was going to do. i just remembered thinking what company is going to be looking for a sniper. i see now that i was looking at it wrong. in the marine corps i was much more than just a sniper.

i led the teams and managed projects and used my communication skills and more. i advised and planned and strategized all skills companies are looking for. so, to be honest maybe more companies should be looking for snipers. [laughter] our curriculum was just as strong as higher education courses. physics, target intelligence assessments, less than systems and mission planning. instead of the poet got a but a special designation. and this designation is something that no civilian and few marines will ever have. in spite of all this, the toughest fights we veterans will ever face is figuring out what we are going to do when we take off the uniform. hundreds of thousands of service members leave and are returning to the communities every year. fortunately many of them struggle because you know it is

a challenging time. if there's any group of people that is known for rising to an occasion, it's our men and women who wore the uniform in the armed forces. all they need is the resources and opportunities that your organizations have provided for them. many of the employers in this room have responded to the call of the veterans by recruiting veterans and military spouses into the ranks. you decided to meet the needs with an opportunity and death decision has that decision has paid off for those companies tenfold. still, there are just as many companies out there that are yet to experience this benefit. to those businesses, i say this. it doesn't matter whether you are recruiting for a large corporation or a small business. i can guarantee that your company wants candidates that have the highest qualifications and the utmost character. the private sector stepped up

and will continue to step up in the coming years. the transition process is something that we as veterans have gone. it's something that we have to be prepared if possible to make the jump from the military to the civilian world community because of the preparation is doing exactly what we did in the military and being able to show the skills to the employers. outstanding resumes that just say logistics were intel or sniper those words alone don't mean anything to employers. they don't demonstrate the amount of skills and readiness veterans possess. we need to start thinking of the military service as a personal brand. we are men and women with world-class training in medicine, logistics, information systems and other critical bills. we also have those intangible skills like problem solving, reliability and resourcefulness.

we can do a launch with little. we can lead teams and accomplish complex. less than 8% of americans can point to their military service on their resumes. i think it's time for the military that we start emphasizing on this and helping veterans tell the stories is exactly what we had in mind when the chamber hiring heroes tonight of the resume engine and online tool that takes a service member's military career and turns it into an effective civilian resume. we want to help service members talk about their background and take advantage of the opportunities that they have earned. i'm a small business owner myself, and i will be honest i'm not going to just hire anyone. i'm going to hire someone who demonstrates their values, someone that can show the skills they bring to the table. the best advice i can give those

that are about to transition and become a veteran is to own your transition. there are so many great resources out there right now for the transitioning service members and veterans but we have to be the ones to take advantage of it. unlike any mission we've ever prepared for in the military to the military to identify your objectives and develop a plan to achieve it. do the research and understand everything that we have to offer these companies that are willing to help, then get out there and execute. thank you all so much. i appreciate it. [applause] when you offered you wanted the home court advantage but that's

okay. you were out playing football and we are out there fighting the nations for. [applause] how many years has it been? [inaudible] [laughter] we actually have a lot in common. some consider us twins. i am arnold schwarzenegger and ur danny devito. [laughter] we started we do have a lot in common we both started with our respective organizations about two years ago and we had the good fortune of learning a lot from each other and a lot of the people here in this room and you know, as we were learning about this issue and trying to get smarter about it, we started to

-- [inaudible] [laughter] we really started to ask the three basic questions in the two are at a who servicemembers we are trying to serve and second what are the challenges and then how do we help them navigate to find those best of class resources? but one thing that we do from the beginning is key and i wouldn't figure that out on our own. >> the transitioning servicemembers and veterans may be in big trouble. but as the secretary of labor talks about the there's a great team that already exists. so very early on they said we would like to host the next hiring heroes event at the center but we don't want it to just be the hiring heroes group. we want to bring in the full business leaders that have been focused on this issue for the next five to seven years.

so he wanted to include j.p. morgan hiring 100,000 jobs initiative and the major independents like wal-mart and bank of america and others. but there's also been tremendous work in the nonprofit space and so folks like the institute of institute of military families and the henry jackson foundation and some of the other great organizations that the president mentioned as well. but critically was to have our government partners who've been leading the effort from joining forces to the dod to the services to the labor and va. so the prophet expertise and leadership into the bush institute to focus on these three core questions. spin again i think we learned quickly who are they and their is no one size that fits all of this and there are various segments. but we saw young enlisted service members under the age of 35. most of them had some

postsecondary education but they didn't have a degree or certification. but those are the ones that are facing high unemployed and greater unimplemented greater than 11% said it was the target population. in the second question -- >> what are some of the major challenges they face and we heard starting with the president. one is the cultural gap barrier between jobseeking veterans and the transitioning service spouses and you do great business community the great business community that want to and need them. second the effort by the dod who have advanced the transition assistance program as well as the great public private partnerships that young servicemen and women are still generally not compared for that transition. they don't yet know what they don't even know. and how to attack and is

planning and leverage the best in class tools and resources that dakota just talked about. spin it and that really led us to the third question. how do we help them navigate and for so many great resources out there that's really one of the roadmap coming and it's a collective effort. but we really wanted our young service members to really have a guidebook that helps them navigate the process and place them in their actions of great resources that exist across the space. now we didn't want to have a one-size-fits-all approach and we certainly didn't want to take that. but we did see some commonality between the transition process among all classes of service members and their families. spin it that writers and a central element to every veterans transition regardless of where they find themselves on that spectrum. and so, we continue to work in this great coalition to develop the tools that we are releasing today and we worked all the way up until last night quite

frankly on the tools that you have before you great and so it really captures and consolidates the processes and there are three phases. first is to prepare. part of that preparation is the benefit analysis and it is a tremendous benefit at federal cost eight and local levels. it is really working through that and then the fuel assessment. what we bring to the table is transitioning service numbers and military spouses. and then come at a store that strategic process and how to work through that. but then takes us through the second phase which is transition command that starts with a value proposition dakota talked about. what is the skill set and how do i bring value to your business's and to your company. and that is the ability through marketing networking to articulate the value you get whether it is through a great resume, elevator pitch and interview skills and processes.

but then from there you go to take it into a targeting process, the target to combined as opportunities to negotiate which is certainly a new skill set and then decide and through that process mentors play a critical role. but it's at that point that we cannot declare victory as transitioning servicemembers and veterans because that's where it really starts and that's where lead and succeed comes into play in the third phase of the operation. and so there has to be cultural. we preferred to go to places i i care back in afghanistan and we have to prepare for the business environment that we are moving into. and from there it's connecting with the new team and businesses but also in the communities. and finally, we have to continue to succeed and take ownership and management for our success within our new business environment whether that means more directly taking control and responsible duty for training and education or also for our career advancement.

>> we wanted to be a workbook so that's where you get to the meat and potatoes of this guide of the transition roadmap to help service members and their families regardless of where they are in the transition process to learn the checklist of sorts so they can go back and forth and pick up where they may have left off because of their busy lives. but more importantly as people see in this guide is actually great resources because that can be overwhelming to a lot of young service members and servicemembers in general, soap these are best in class resources that represent all the great resources that exist in this space that many of you contribute to. >> that's right so what we are releasing today is not designed to replace anything that already exists. it's a way to help aggregate and consolidates all of that. so that our men and women who need the great services resources and organizations represented in the room can better find and navigate through the process. so we are also asking for your

assistance today in two ways. first, you want your feedback. to this first generation of this important toolkit to better arm and empower our servicemembers and veterans and families. and we also need your help getting it out and pushing it out to the population that very much needs it. so you can find the toolkit here at the website hiring heroes.org and the bushcenter.org resource. >> we are running out of time but i want to make one last quick point. this isn't the last roadmap. we know there are other populations that have challenges and we want to make sure that we have a similar road path for the military spouses and injured caregiver population as well as the guard and reserve members cost to thank thank you all very much. we look forward to continuing the collaboration. [applause]

my name is steve and i'm the president and ceo of the national franchise association. we represent nearly 9 million jobs in this country come 800,000 establishment in over 2 trillion in economic output annually. and it was four years ago in this very building on veterans day, 2011 at the international franchise association made a commitment to higher 80,000 hire 80,000 veterans, military spouses and wounded warriors as part of the hiring heroes program and for the first ladies joining forces initiative by the end of 2014. i'm happy to report that we met that goal and exceeded it by the

end of 2013. and in fact, just through may the now hired in the franchise industry 243,000 folks in our industry in over 6,000 franchise business owners that are veterans, military spouses and wounded warriors, so we are very proud of the compass. [applause] >> and we knew we had a shot at meeting that goal because we already knew we had 66,000 that are in own franchise businesses employed 815,000 people and the great into the great thing about the veterans as you will know is that they tend to hire veterans. so, without i want to give a special thank you to tom donohue for his great leadership in the chamber in so many ways including this initiative. my friend who is maniacally focused on the mission each and every day in terms of getting

veterans hired on to do great jobs at the chamber does. i also want to thank our friends at capital one who's been great partners with us and as well as the bush institute and great leadership of the secretary spelling when she was here running the foundation. and now the bush institute. so, with that please draw your attention to the video presented by capital one. thank you. ♪ >> we partnered to launch the hiring 500,000 heroes campaign. we want businesses of all sizes across the country to make a commitment to hire veterans coming of a very spouses out very spouses and transitioning servicemembers and provide them the tools and resources to compass the commission. >> we have hundreds of thousand of men and women who served reentering the civilian workforce. it's a perfect time for us to try to influence other companies to recognize the talent these men and women have. >> together with capital one to for the june 2015 we surpassed

the hires. spinning veterans make up the enterprise and the spouses do as well. their experiences, their participation to community, since a selfless service of these are all traits that companies like starbucks and many others want more of in their company. >> my role in the army army is not only spells but caretaker, taxicab driver, being a military spouse is a lot more than waiting for someone at home. hispanic is about working with businesses of all sizes, large or small. i hear and maintain great military spouses. >> one of the great partners in the international franchise association, not only have they helped many veterans and military spouses find meaningful careers in the franchise, they've also created opportunities for those those burdens of military spouses. >> it's important to have support because obviously getting out of the military environment is different by having people that have made transition previously and that

can help you through it but obviously making that transition all easier for all the military folks. >> we have a lot more work in front of us. one of the biggest transition from the military we need to make sure the private sector is ready. >> i think anyone anywhere should set the initiative to hire a veteran. first and foremost because it is the right thing to do. >> they bring skills with them and personal value and competency like leadership, how they work together, the persistence to overcome obstacles and the ingenuity to solve complex problems. [applause] in this session we are going to be discussing a private sector leadership and i will introduce to you the two panelists.

there's more information on them. sitting next to me careless responsible for the capital one award-winning national community investment strategy as the president of the capital one foundation she also leads the initiatives that fester the link between quality education and community economic development outcomes with both capital one and the capital one foundation investing and creating economic opportunities in communities where the company operates including support for education and jobs and financial literacy through grants and volunteering at a signature programming. in 2012 she assumed leadership of the capital markets network partnering with local executives to represent the companies said the contrast in the market throughout the footprint and of course focusing at all times on pressing community needs. it's so nice to be with you this morning. >> also with me the vice president for servicemembers

bears for the capital one financial corporation. he joined in 1999 and leads the servicemembers bears office where he is responsible for providing products and services tailored to the unique needs of military customers into this includes the development and the inclination and ongoing leadership of an enterprisewide program. before this role he went digital and male channel. he was in the army reserve has a platoon leader and executive officer and intelligence staff officer with several middle east deployments. it's nice to have you as well. so the video i think really laid out the issues we've been discussing all morning why was it so important for capital one to be part of this and how successful has it been? >> in 2012 when literally hundreds of thousands of service members were returning home are

there was an enormous issue that needed addressed so there was both service both the need and opportunity for us to get engaged in meaningful employment of servicemembers and in our community work is always in a way where we first look at what can we give and then what are the particular needs and where is there a match. we've always been in the business as you said that educating people for jobs that provide meaningful progress of employment and this then became natural to us so we said can we make a meaningful difference into the answer was yes we can make a meaningful difference and so we turned to our great partners at the chamber foundation and talked together about what kind of the difference we could make. >> what is the impact on the business side? >> i need the big business operations and capital one and my team started with the best people in if you are looking for

the best people and i know every company is or should be you should be looking for those that come from veterans and military spouses with a very successful veteran military spouse hiring. he saw the video the chief counsel is a navy veteran or cio air force veteran in every part of the company at every level of the company. >> we heard someone in the videocassette what's the right thing to do but of course i know with a lot of confidence people that are businesses are like yes that's important. but it also has to make sense for us you to tell me about the impact of small business. >> first of all, seven out of ten jobs created in this country come from small business, and small businesses have just as much of a need as big businesses to hire great people but have a great skill set so number one there is that piece of it.

the other thing that's important, and it was mentioned earlier is that the skills that one learns our great entrepreneurial skills so there is a role that we can all play in educating them in the weight of the digital world for examples of it's not necessarily just enough to have expertise in the product that your business makes but also you need eight set of digital skills that are unprecedented and so that is another place where we can be helpful. >> private sector. why is leadership in the private sector so important? there's a lot of debate about who should be leading the way. >> i will tell you again, i -- if you have a big company or small company, you are looking for the best talent. veterans and the between spouses

have the best talent. we talk about the skills and abilities they have leadership team work, alicia solve complex problems. that's what we are looking for. that's what every company is looking for. and we find it right there in the military spouse that are in community. it's been mac i could imagine it's more flexible, too but you can turn on a dime and maybe the way that the government no disrespect, cannot necessarily make that decision and really create new initiatives. >> we create a new initiatives all the time. companies need to reinvent themselves all the time to read companies need the kind of talent that can read and then themselves all the time, which clearly the population has. and so i think number one is that employment set. the stats the folks gave about the retention of the former military members is incredible and i think that also the giving

back sense of caring for community the former military members have is incredible, so there's a story of a gentleman that works at capital one, and he is a former trainer for former marine and he trained afghan units on skills like medical issues, logistics, communications operations. is there if you ask a person like that what their skill set is committing an enormous skills that translate into the business and he never thought about capital one and we never thought about him and through the u.s. chambers.

through the networking we learned about each other and he's not only an incredibly successful leader. they are leaning towards the military spouses so there is that sense of giving that is incredible. have there been challenges you had to solve that have your perspective is considered to be cut fixing this challenge is? >> the skills i learned i had a chance to practice and head up the military leadership team work created those were the skills that made me successful in the military and the same skills that made me successful in the business world. it's a full transition into the corporate world doesn't stop with the hiring.

we have a transition program and specific training and mentoring for the military network for the veterans and military spouses we are having affinity for the military. it doesn't stop with a hire. >> that is a great point because often measured and not all the way through the goal was 500,000. what happened, are you done? >> 250,000 more returning now. we saw the highest gap in jobs for 18 to 24-year-old veterans. he had have something to interview to that end we are looking to interview to that. >> from capital one, think you. ' ladies and gentlemen played

we are going to go live to the war memorial taking a look at the memorial that is near the lincoln memorial here in washington. it was dedicated on july 27, 1995 honoring the over 170,000 americans killed, wounded, captured or still missing from the conflict. there's a new wall and 19 statutes that represent the squad of the patrol. you can see some of them there. they are from each branch of the armed forces, 14 of the figures from the armies and three from the marine corps and one is a

navy corpsmen and the other air force. they are dressed in combat gear and dispersed among the strips of granite and bushes that represent the rugged terrain of korea. today is the 11th month. it's celebrated in other countries marking the anniversary of the end of world war i on this date in 1918. over 315,000 americans were killed or wounded and about 37 million casualties worldwide in the great war. they are celebrated as armistice day here in the u.s. it was renamed veterans day in 1954 rated the day now honors all u.s. veterans.