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Vets Learn Degree Key To Good Jobs

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By LINDSAY PETERSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 15, 2007

TAMPA - Marine Sgt. Scott Hinson was grateful that Sam's Club held his job open while he was in Iraq in 2004. But back home in Brandon, he felt strange driving a forklift, after manning a .50-caliber machine gun on a vehicle carrying troops in to battle.

Hinson came to a military jobs fair Wednesday hoping to find an employer who would recognize the skills he acquired after being deployed to Iraq at 20; the skills that "don't show up on paper," he said.

He left a little discouraged.

"All the good jobs here require a four-year degree," he said. "I don't have that, but I do have qualifications."

About 60 companies set up booths at the jobs fair at Raymond James Stadium, sponsored by the Military Officers Association of America, which is holding its annual meeting in Tampa this week.

The event included weapons makers, communications companies, insurance sellers, law enforcement agencies and contractors offering high-paying, nonmilitary work back in Iraq and Afghanistan.

About 800 people came to check out the opportunities. Many, wearing their active-duty fatigues, are about to leave the service. Many have been out of the military for years.

They crowded around the recruiters for the CIA and construction and service company KBR, which is the U.S. Army's largest contractor.

Wil Lash, of KBR, said at least 100 people came by his booth to ask about jobs and he collected about 12 resumes. "That's a very good day," he said. "We found some people with some very useful skills."

Melissa Rose, who served in the Army in Afghanistan managing supplies, came to the fair looking for a job in town doing something similar, perhaps in the medical field. She didn't find it. "These are out-of-town companies," she said.

"There's work here if you want to go back or carry a gun," said Marine Sgt. Aaron Oakes of Orlando. "If you don't, you need to have a four-year degree."

Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be reached at lpeterson@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7834.

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