A Boot Camp for Veterans Leaving the Service

Earlier this year, CAEL formed an Illinois-based workgroup to pilot its newest community of practice, dedicated to supporting military-connected learners. Like all the partnerships CAEL builds, the community of practice is designed to benefit its members through the exploration and exchange of best practices honed by diverse experiences with similar challenges and opportunities. 

Members have shared multiple examples of successful strategies regarding their support of military-connected learners. CAEL will be profiling them in a series of blogs to offer insights for its members (and future members!) on how institutions and their stakeholders can provide well-tailored resources to this unique and critical subpopulation of adult learners.

Oakton College, a CAEL institutional member, provides support to military-connected learners before, during, and after their time as students. These efforts have earned the college repeated recognition as a Military Friendly® School by VIQTORY, a veteran-owned military marketing and publishing company. This year marked the ninth time Oakton received that designation and the first time it landed the Gold Award for its performance in the survey-based assessment. 

Brooke Roche is a veterans academic advisor for Oakton College and a participant in the CAEL Illinois community of practice. She recently highlighted for the group the impact a cross-sector partnership among employers, educators, and the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce and Industry is having on career pathway access for veterans and their families. 

The college is among the sponsors of the Veterans Back-to-Work Boot Camp, an annual event now in its eighth year that is orchestrated by the Des Plaines Chamber. To date, the boot camp has helped more than 175 veterans and spouses transition to civilian careers. The 10-week program blends classroom sessions, mentoring, and community service activities to create multiple training and networking opportunities with local business leaders and specialists. Among them are alumni of the boot camp itself, whose presence and participation further bolster the program's capacity to sustain a well-tailored networking and engagement environment. 

“CAEL loves to hear about successful cross-sectoral collaboration,” said Doug Heckman, CAEL’s VP of partnerships. “Due to our growing portfolio of chamber-specific projects, we recognize how important chambers can be to connect employers and higher education institutions. This is a powerful example of how they can lead efforts to support military-connected learners and employees.” 

Boot camp activities also include resume optimization, career coaching, and interview preparation. Each participant receives a high-end personal laptop equipped with a Microsoft Office package and gift cards, which contribute to an overall benefits valuation of more than $10,000.

This year's boot camp runs from Sept. 4 through Nov. 13, concluding with a graduation event and a private reception prior to a career fair at the Des Plaines Public Library, an event that has been pivotal in connecting past participants with new careers. Graduates of the boot camp have gone on to employment at companies including Accenture, Acension, Des Plaines Police Department, LSG Sky Chefs, Jewel-Osco, Mariano's, Search Inc., Edward Jones, Lincolnshire- Riverwoods Fire Protection district, Daily Herald Media Group, American Eagle, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), and Rivers Casino.

Oakton College’s year-round support for military-connected learners is also robust. It offers financial aid assistance to military-connected learners, including help connecting with federal and state military education benefits. There are also veteran-tailored academic advising, counseling, and orientation programs at Oakton. A comprehensive credit for prior learning program, which encompasses military sources, helps students save time and money. Additional flexibility for military-connected learners is found in a policy that doesn't penalize students who must withdraw from class to return to service.