By Army National Guard Spc. Cory Grogan
Oregon National Guard
SALEM, Ore. (11/16/11) – The Oregon National Guard Joint Transition Assistance Program and U.S. Chamber of Commerce are scheduled to join businesses and service providers in Oregon’s first Hiring Our Heroes Job Fairs at Clackamas Community College and Blue Mountain Community College, Saturday.
More than 70 employers ready to hire will be in attendance at the CCC event.
There will also be post-deployment events for Oregon National Guard soldiers and Oregon Sailors at CCC, with another Oregon National Guard post-deployment event taking place at BMCC.
When Oregon National Guard re-integration program started, Oregon was the only state combining re-integration efforts with a jobs program called the Career Transition Assistance Program, said Plans and Operations Reintegration Manager, Master Sgt. Vince Jacques.
An initial conversation between Jacques, after he had recently returned from Iraq, and Army Brig. Gen. Mike Caldwell, deputy director of the Oregon Military Department, sparked an idea that has now become a joint service team of 16 working with an elaborate network service providers reaching out to service members, families and veterans across the state, Jacques said.
Jacques said Oregon National Guard soldiers bonded by catastrophic injuries and lost loved ones started the effort in Oregon. Jacques was forced to leave Iraq in 2004 after he and his gunner were seriously wounded. His driver was killed.