By Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 10, 2006

The Virginia Department of Transportation, usually charged with building roads and bridges, is taking on a new task: helping to build new lives and careers for wounded combat veterans.

The department announced yesterday that it is creating the Wounded Veteran Internship Program, which is intended to find jobs and a place back in everyday life for veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

VDOT will either match veterans with jobs that complement their military specialties, such as mapping, or teach them new skills. The program is the first of its kind in the country for a transportation department.

Nearly 21,000 U.S. service men and women have been wounded in Iraq. But the agency said the program will not be limited to combat veterans with physical wounds. It also seeks to help those who are having trouble readjusting emotionally.

"The program is focused on, but not limited to, veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who may not be able to return to their former positions, whether for physical reasons or emotional reasons,'' said Freddie Jones, VDOT division administrator for civil rights.

Under the best of circumstances, figuring out how to translate military skills into civilian careers can be tough, said Malcolm Munro, a Germantown career coach who has worked with injured veterans. "That's why it's such a tough road, even without a physical disability,'' he said.

The Department of Defense and other federal agencies have employment-related programs for wounded veterans, as do nonprofit groups and other organizations, said Tom Aiello, vice president of http://www.military.com , a Web site for veterans. He said the best of those programs highlight the skills of the veteran, not the compassion of the organization.

"The company should be hiring that person not because it's the right thing to do but because that person will make a difference to their company or organization," Aiello said.

The first of 10 interns for the VDOT program will be selected by the beginning of December. The internships will last from six months to two years, depending on the needs of the veterans, said Sande Snead, a VDOT spokeswoman. The internships will be located near where the veterans live or near where they are receiving rehabilitation services.

"We're calling them internships, but they are essentially hourly positions that will serve as a transition for veterans to develop new skills or refine existing skills that will enable them to return to the job market in full-time positions,'' Jones said.

The program is funded by a $250,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration.

The program has been greeted by an outpouring of offers from VDOT employees, many of them veterans, to serve as mentors. Some of VDOT's 9,000 employees statewide have suggested job placements. One suggested opportunities in aerial photography and mapping, Snead said.

Other possibilities include jobs in planning, finance, project management, security, procurement and quality control.

"This will be a place of transition for the veterans," program coordinator Louis Bromley said in a statement. "These will be meaningful positions. They will not be for just answering the phone or running errands."

Participants in the program could apply for full-time jobs at VDOT or find other opportunities through networking. VDOT said the program also will be promoted to companies that do business with the department.