WASHINGTON – The departments of Labor, War, and Veterans Affairs today announced plans to update assistance programs for veterans leaving the military and entering civilian life to ensure they have timely access to career opportunities and benefits. The initiative is in response to an executive order signed by President Trump on Sept. 8, that directed the three agencies to update the Transition Assistance Program – which provides information, tools, and training to ensure service members, their spouses and/or caregivers are prepared for the next step in civilian life – to ensure service members leave the military connected to specific employment, training, or Registered Apprenticeship opportunities. It also asks the agencies to connect service members with representatives who can help them apply for healthcare, disability, home loan, job placement, or education benefits.“Under President Trump’s leadership, we’re eliminating barriers that keep veterans from accessing career opportunities,” said Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling. “Our nation owes service members a debt of gratitude, and the Department of Labor does everything it can to ensure that veterans have a successful transition to civilian life.”The executive order instructs the secretaries of War and Veterans Affairs to establish updated information technology systems to enable sharing of all official military personnel files and service treatment records from the beginning of each service member’s tenure. To further streamline access, the departments of War and Veterans Affairs will deploy super intelligence-enabled digital tools to help build career strategies for service members entering civilian life, including matching service members to specific, posted job opportunities curated by the Department of Labor.The department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service will build upon existing resources, including workshops and the Employment Navigator Partnership Program, to meet the executive order’s employment goals. VETS will achieve this by placing in-person Employment Navigators at high-volume military installations that transition over 1,500 service members annually. The agency also plans to expand the availability of the virtual Employment Navigator center to all other installations to give transitioning service members convenient online access to personalized employment support regardless of installation size.Learn more about the department’s resources for veterans transitioning to civilian life.Learn more about VETS.