Masonry Magazine June 1971 Page. 18
Operation
A cooperative program designed to train returning Viet Nam veterans and other servicemen in the basics of bricklaying.
The National Association of Home Builders in cooperation with the Mason Contractors Association of America and the Bricklayers, Masons & Plasterers International Union are training Viet Nam veterans and other servicemen as bricklayers under a contract with the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare and the U.S. Department of Labor. With the cooperation of the Department of Defense, the trainees are given six weeks of pre-apprenticeship training at 11 military posts across the country before they are discharged from the service. When he graduates from the Transition program course, the trainee has a marketable civilian skill and is ready to go to work in his home-town or the area of his choice.
The MCAA, the Bricklayers, Masons and Plasterers International Union of America and NAHB worked together to develop the training and curriculum. The three organizations are also cooperating in placing these veterans.
Briefly, the program produces a skilled, motivated trainee. With considerable trowel practice and the basics of bricklaying already under his belt, the trainee can start laying bricks to the line the first day on the job site.
Inquiries coming into MCAA indicate a growing interest from members in information about hiring these men.
Transition
WASHINGTON-The Defense Department has issued a directive to the Armed Forces to beef up their programs for improving employment opportunities for separating servicemen.
The Transition and Referral programs are being expanded to all overseas bases, including locations in Vietnam where practicable. Previously, these programs were limited to bases in the U. S.
Under the new directive, military installations are required to establish facilities for assisting separating servicemen in finding civilian employment.
Another innovation is opening up the Transition program to commissioned officers. The program has up to now been limited to enlisted personnel.
The Transition Program is aimed at counseling and training servicemen for civilian occupations during their last six months in the Armed Forces and helping them get jobs as they are about to be separated. Referral is a counseling and computerized man-job matching system for career servicemen retiring after 20 or more years of active duty.
Here are some answers:
Q. Is he ready to produce?
A. Yes. He knows he has to. TRANSITION training is especially for those men who had no civilian skill prior to the service and for infantrymen and artillerymen who learned no marketable civilian skill while serving their country. This trainee has chosen bricklaying as the skill he must use to earn his living in society. He knows he must produce or be unemployed.
Q. Is he reliable?
A. Yes. After two, three, or four years in the service, he is a mature adult familiar to the world of work, willing to take orders and do a job. He is not a directionless, confused youngster off the street.
Q. Can he handle heavy brick and block work?
A. After a year in Viet Nam, he's lean, tough and strong. Before leaving the service, he had a final physical exam that pronounced him in good health.
Q. Why should I hire this man?
A. First he's a veteran. He has served his country and he deserves to come home to share in the rewards.