Career Watch: Using IT to give disabled vets a boost

Fresh Start for Disabled Veterans

Thanks to a program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, dozens of veterans are being trained to become Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technicians.

The project was initiated in April 2005, when U.S. Army officials discovered that soldiers were getting discharged with very few job skills, says Carl Stephenson, a contractor from Axiom Resource Management Inc. who was assigned to Walter Reed as the IT training program coordinator/ instructor and designer. So Walter Reed partnered with Microsoft on a training initiative, and pilot classes began in October 2006.

Early on, Stephenson realized that Microsoft's training materials were written for people with one to three years of previous computer experience, whereas most of the injured veterans in the program knew only how to surf the Web and send e-mail. To bridge the gap, Stephenson redesigned the hands-on lab guide, adding more screenshots and steps for each lab. He also changed the layout of the guide so students could more easily follow the flow of each exercise.

The program was a success, with several servicemen and servicewomen passing their first exams for the MCDST certification. But another problem soon became apparent: Many of those participants were unable to complete advanced levels because they had been discharged from the hospital and had moved out of the area.

In response, Stephenson created a distance-learning program, using WebEx Communications Inc.'s virtual classroom software and other collaboration tools. "We had classes with three students who were on convalescent leave, and it was incredibly successful," says Stephenson.

He says Walter Reed expects to have 100 students in the program by this fall. And Stephenson is now involved in a pilot program with the Veterans Administration to allow participation by students who were discharged before the program began.

"It means so much to be able to help so many soldiers ... and not allow them to fall through the cracks," says Stephenson. -- Thomas Hoffman

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