The Department of Defense’s SkillBridge program is highly valuable and should be utilized by more separating military members, according to Jim Lorraine, president and CEO, America’s Warrior Partnership (AWP).

WorkingNation sat down with Lorraine in Atlanta at the Warrior Community Integration Symposium – an annual convening of veteran serving organizations hosted by AWP.

SkillBridge is hands-on training in civilian jobs for separating military personnel, completed during the last 180 days of their service. The program can only be undertaken with the approval of the service member’s commanding officer. Permission to enter SkillBridge is not always approved. Lorraine says he would like to see that policy change.

“It should be a DOD policy that every person getting out of the Department of Defense gets a six-month SkillBridge. I think it would bridge a lot of the military-civilian divide. I think it would really, really help those that have served and are going to be part of our community,” says Lorraine.

Learn more about America’s Warrior Partnership.
Learn more about SkillBridge.