SELF ASSESSMENT -

The Department of Defense and your local military recruiters would love to convince you that their "free" Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is the only no-cost way to assess your interests and capabilities. DON'T BELIEVE THEM. The ASVAB (see our "Opt Out" page) is designed as #1) a military marketing tool for #2) military occupations. While the DoD claims it is also applicable to civilian/commercial jobs, then why is the veteran unemployment rate so much higher than the non-vet for the same age groups?

There's a wide variety of assessment tools, easily measuring a particular facet, like your personality type, interests (including tests designed by John Holland, the author of the ASVAB series), skills and values. Self-assessment tools are either self-directed or those requiring interpretive assistance (i.e., a counselor). Two websites that can provide a wealth of information and assistance are rileyguide.com and quintcareers.com. Of course, you can also do your own web search for "self assessment tests."

One such site, with five free tests offered, is at "CDDQ.org". If you start with the CDDQ, the results suggest a course of action to follow, including which of the remaining 4 tools to use and the reason for each. It will also note if you really need the assistance of a licensed career counselor to help you in your personal exploration process.

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JOBS -

There is virtually no end to this topic, although for Oregon jobs, schools, etc., a good place to start is here at the Oregon Employment Department, or at this webpage that is maintained by a high school in New York. Googling "alternatives to the military" when this page was originally being assembled, produced 10,800,000 "hits" (although many of them, perhaps around the 3000^th??? hit might start diluting somewhat).

The graphic on the left was published in "Young vets in new fight: finding a job" By Jeanette Steele, San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE, August 13, 2010 at 12:02 a.m., found at signonsandiego.com/news Websites offering employment assistance for veterans: • usajobs.gov • www.caljobs.ca.gov • fedshirevets.gov • communityofveterans.org (must be a veteran and sign up for free Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America membership).

Civilian Job and educational opportunities include Apprentice programs at local community colleges, Americorps and Jobcorp, Bright futures Scholarships for both academics and vocational training, scholarship databases like fasteweb with hundreds of thousands of scholarship opportunities and much more.

Here is a page chock-full of Oregon possibilities!! This Center On Conscience page works alongside the GI Rights organization and has done a very good job of establishing a large number of in-State "alternatives."

While you're still in school, how about looking into the ACCESS Junior Achievement Program? This program reaches between 3,800 and 4,500 kids each year in Jackson and Josephine Counties.

At Habitat for Humanity (habitat.org), you can be a volunteer or apply for a paid position within the U.S. or internationally!

If you can afford volunteer work, or might be able to work at a lower initial pay level to gain valuable experience, here’s an external link to "the domestic Peace Corps, " AmeriCorps.gov, and the local applications of that organization, AmeriCorps Northwest and Oregon Vista.

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APPRENTICESHIPS -

(6) Two other areas for consideration are apprenticeships (there are over 60 registered apprenticeship occupations in Oregon) and private trade schools.
Please note, however, that, while the State of Oregon registered apprenticeships and licensed trade schools may infer acceptability to certain standards, the daily operation of some of these enterprises may fall somewhat short of industry acceptability for graduates. Be sure to do full research on whichever apprenticeship or school you might be interested in and be sure to ask employers of those program graduates if the graduates met their needs.

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START YOUR OWN BUSINESS -

Did you see a reference to the ACCESS Junior Achievement Program mentioned above? 5) Our local business start-up references/processes page, is a hold-over from the local branch of SCORE, for those that have an entreprenaural inclination,

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INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER WORK/INTERNSHIP EXCHANGES -

A brief internal page discussing the opportunities in the Peace Corps and an external link to "the domestic Peace Corps, " AmeriCorps.gov, and the local applications of that organization, AmeriCorps Northwest and Oregon Vista.

International Volunteer Programs Association (IVPA), is an association of non-governmental organizations involved in international volunteer work and internship exchanges as alternatives to the Peace Corps. IVPA is an association of volunteer sending organizations, but does not organize or run its own volunteer programs. Typically, you pay for the volunteer experience, plus airfare, but you can often select the program in which to participate and it is often tax deductable. A list of these volunteer programs can be found here. We do not endorse any of these programs (the websites are listed below), but leave it up to you to better research their viability for your needs. A "checklist" to use in making such a selection can be found here, but we would strongly urge a web seach of pros and cons for each program in which you might be interested.

• Cross-Cultural Solutions is the first such program that we ran across. (Volunteer Abroad is the most popular program, with the greatest flexibility of locations and start dates. Intern Abroad is for students seeking academic credit, international work experience, or field research. Internship Supervisors facilitate learning experiences. Insight Abroad is a one-week program, an option for those with limited vacation time.)
• Amigos de las Americas, at www.amigoslink.org
• Child Family Health International at www.cfhi.org
• Global Citizens Network at www.globalcitizens.org
• Global Service Corps at www.globalservicecorps.org
• Globe Aware at www.globeaware.org
• Orphanage Outreach at www.orphanage-outreach.org
• Projects Abroad at www.projects-abroad.org
• ProWorld Service Corps at www.myproworld.org
• Travel Alive at www.travelalive.com
• WorldTeach at www.worldteach.org

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FREE MEDICAL SCHOOLING -

Free medical schooling - In view of this cited medical school shortage within the U.S., Cuba is reaching out to 'third world' regions of the US, to train US physicians for cities, reservations and rural areas where medical services are desperately needed." Check out this website http://www.pastorsforpeace.org/ for info on the topic and/or download this brochure, see if you qualify.
"Prospective students who wish to be considered for the US scholarship program at the Latin American School of Medicine must be US citizens (with a US passport), under the age of 30, with proficiency in college-level sciences (a minimum of one year each of biology, physics, general/inorganic chemistry, and organic chemistry (all with lab), and a commitment to practice medicine in low-income and medically under-served communities in the US after graduation. Persons of color and/or persons from low-income backgrounds are especially encouraged to apply."
Controversal within the U.S.? Absolutely! Check out the websites http://babalublog.com/, http://www.cubasolidarity.net/, this http://www.sourcewatch.org/ page on the School of the Americas, this GAO Report and any others you might find, then make up your own mind whether there might not be different sides to any given story.

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COLLEGE -

And, whether you might think you are ready or not, or can "cut the mustard" or not, college is a very viable option and CAN be a broadening experience, even if you work the rest of your life in an "undervalued" profession. The U.S. Census Bureau states that with each higher level of education, your earning potential escalates rapidly(*):

Educational level..............Avg. Weekly earnings......Unemployment Rate
No High School Diploma................$414..............................10.3%
High School Diploma......................$577................................5.4%
Some College..................................$629................................4.4%
Two-Year College Degree..............$719................................3.2%
Four-Year or Higher Degree..........$1039...............................2.2%
* Source: Oregon Careers 2009

* What about Oregon's own SOU, featured in Parade Magazine's A-List for 2010.pdf, PLUS with its on-line degree programs such as highlighted in this SOU Extended Campus.pdf?

* The 'net is a very good place to research schools and programs. One such website, is http://www.usadegreeprograms.com.

* How about looking for a school grant? Try researching this page for example (but these are "sponsored listings" for grants, so beware, particularly of the type that says "1-Hour-Cash-Advances.com"). Also check the sidebar on this page for some specific grant applications.
If our link doesn't work for some reason, go to http://www.bhdefaultparking.com/ and input the word "grants" in the on-site search engine, or simply Google the web for "college grants." Many specialized grants "go begging" each year because no one even applies. Try applying for a number of smaller grants... this may take a bit of time, but they all add up.

* New info on this link --> A page on the student loan process, for those that might think the military is their only option for an education, and

* A chance to get a head start on the first year of college, or to see if you can "hack it" (which may pleasantly surprise you), at a very good cost while still in high school, see this Mail Tribune article (in ".rtf" format).

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REDUCING COLLEGE COSTS - (tips your school counseler may have already given you :-)

* According to this Washington Post article, a growing number of universities are stepping up with "no-loan" aid pledges. "At a handful of private universities with sizable endowments, including Princeton, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, the goal is quite literally to eliminate loan debt for most graduating seniors."

* Most colleges and universities offer merit or non-need-based scholarships to academically talented students.

* The National Merit Scholarship Program awards scholarships to students based upon academic merit.

* Many states offer scholarship assistance to academically talented students.

* Many schools offer scholarships to athletically talented students.

* Special grants or scholarships are offered to students with particular talents such as music, journalism, drama and other categories.

* A state college or university charges lower fees to state residents.

* Attend a community college for 1 or 2 years, and then transfer to a 4-year school.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009, PARADE MAGAZINE, featuring J. Noah Brown as president and CEO of the Association of Community College Trustees, which represents the leaders of more than 1200 schools nationwide:

Q. The President has pledged $12 billion to community colleges over 10 years. Why should we invest in two-year schools?
A. Data suggest that increasing the number of Americans with a college degree would help our economy recover faster and help the U.S. recover its competitive edge. Ten years ago, the U.S. had the highest percentage worldwide of adults with college degrees. Now we're 10th.

Q. How do you answer those who say community colleges offer a lower quality of education than four-year schools?
A. I'd say that they should sit in a classroom and then make a decision. Community college professors aren't distracted. They don't do research—they're there to teach. We have to get over the bias in this country that a four-year college is better for everyone. The great tragedy of American higher ed is that we see many graduates of four-year colleges come to community colleges after graduation for training in an actual field.

* Living at home can save as much as $6,000 per year.

* In exchange for a certain number of hours of work each week, students may be able to get a free room and board.

* Cooperative education programs allow students to alternate between working full time and studying full time and can earn as much as $7,000 per year.

* Take an examination in a particular subject and receives college credit under the programs such as the Advanced Placement Program (APP), the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), and the Provenience Examination Program (PEP).

* Some colleges give credit for life experiences. Check with the college for further information. You can also write to Distance Education and Training Council at 1601 18th(eighteenth) Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009, or call (202) 234-5100.

* One of the most obvious ways of reducing college costs is to attend a low-cost school.

* Some schools offer combined degree programs or 3-year programs, thereby eliminating 1 year's educational expenses.

* Partial tuition remission for the children of alumni is a common practice.

* Some colleges and universities offer special discounts if more than one child from the same family is enrolled.

* Some schools offer reduced tuition rates to families if the major wage earner is unemployed.

* Some colleges and universities have special funds set aside for families who do not qualify for federal or state funding.

* NOTE: Regardless of your college major, textbooks will be a significant cost (engineering and the sciences are probably the highest on the $ list). Textbooks do not have a high volume, so they have to have a higher unit price for an author and publisher to make it worth while to get the book into the marketplace. (The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that textbook prices increased 186 % from 1986 to 2004, while inflation rose 72%.) However, ways to decrease this impact are used and rented books from web searches. Some lesser-known places to look: maketextbooksaffordable.org or chegg.com (both rent books), campusbookrentals.com, half.com, bookfinder.com and even alibris.com.

HINT: Be sure you get the exact edition of the books specified by the course professor... many professors like to teach from their own textbook (academia's "publish or perish" syndrome), but often have to revise it from student-found errors. :-)

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OTHER ALTERNATIVES SOURCES -

There's no sense in "re-inventing the wheel," so here are some very good "outside" sources of alternatives:

(1) The Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities (Project YANO) provides young people with an alternative point of view about military enlistment. "Many of our members are armed forces veterans who believe that high school students are getting a distorted picture of the military and war from recruiting ads and marketing. We are concerned that many low-income students and students of color are being diverted away from higher education and into the military, where they are found in disproportionate numbers. Our goal is to help young people make educated decisions about their future. We encourage them to think critically, search for more information, and then make up their own minds."

(2) Here is a website http://www.yayanetwork.org/alternatives that links to tons of alternatives.

(3) From: http://www.objector.org/before-you-enlist/alternatives.html This site provides a link to obtaining an informative CD at ftp://ftp.igc.apc.org/pub/Choices/chcs1w3.exe. You do, however, have to provide a user name and password.

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MILITARY EDUCATION BENEFITS -

MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL TRAINING -

From the standpoint of military speciality/occupational training, from from http://www.afn.org/~vetpeace/parents.htm:

*** Mangum and Ball, Ohio State researchers, who received funding from the military, found that only 12% of male veterans and 6% of female veterans surveyed made any use of skills learned in the military in their civilian jobs (Military Skill Training: Some Evidence Of Transferability, Armed Forces & Society Spring 1987 13: 425-441). Yes, this is a comparatively old study, but, DoD arguments not withstanding, it doesn'take a lot of thinking to see that it is only logical that military-oriented occupations would have a vry low level of transferability into civilian occupations.

*** Prominent labor policy specialist Stephen Barley found that the average recent Veteran will earn between 11% and 19% less than non-veterans from comparable socioeconomic backgrounds

While the above studies are somewhat old, the fact is that today unemployment among veterans is quite a bit higher than non-veterans, approximately 30% of our homeless population consists of veterans and employment recruiters generally have a harder time "selling" veterans than non-veterans.

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IN-SERVICE COLLEGE EDUCATION -

In-Service College Education:

There may not be too many people that are aware that there really are possibilities of advancing your college education level while in the military (but not very often through "military training" :-). Yes, it might be difficult because of locations, long duty hours, non-sympathetic "superiors," etc., but it is possible with sufficient persistence! At one time there was the United States Armed Forces Institute (USAFI) that contracted with various schools to provide correspondence and on-site classes. Today, the plethora of on-line schools willing to provide college-level instruction is rapidly expanding, with the USAF generally considered to be the best in this area for in-service schooling, followed by the Navy.

While we do not endorse any of the following, here are some possibilities to check out: Allied Schools at 888-501-5221, or American Military University at 877-755-2787.

Also to investigate are in-service education and commissioning programs that generally require a candidate to have at least two years of college toward a degree needed by that particular service (science and engineering preferred).

(Also from: http://www.afn.org/~vetpeace/parents.htm)

*** While many students are exposed to military recruiting at their schools, sometimes on a daily basis, they may not be aware of all the alternative career opportunities for education, training, travel, and community service available to civilians.

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EDUCATION, GI BILL -

***According to the US Veterans Administration, under the Montgomery GI Bill, only 35% of veterans receive GI Bill funds for college and training, while 70% of students who apply for civilian financial aid (Pell grants and Stafford loans) receive help paying for college and job training. All first Year recruits have 1200$ deducted from their pay towards the GI Bill, but 65% never get to use that money for their education and there is no refund.

VFP Chapter 156 Update on the new post-9/11 GI Bill: The newer, post 9/11 GI Bill has a lot of promise, but, since each applicant's case is so individualized, it appears that, in practice, this bill has been a real bucket of worms to decipher.

The post WWII GI Bill played an extremely strong roll in providing a well-educated work force and building America's middle class after that war but, while this post 9/11 bill is supposed to be emulating that, it appears that no one really took it apart to examine the many variables that resulted from a fractured and highly partisan Congress. This GI Bill is a very complex modification to the Montgomery GI Bill and the VA has been having a lot of trouble deciphering it. It has numerous shortcomings with respect to at-distance learning (which is gaining strong popularity), strongly dissimilar allowances for various adjacent states, and other variables.

You, as the enlistee, will get ONE SHOT at selecting the GI Bill that is best for you for whenever you complete your active duty obligation, so it is highly advisable to compare the respective individual benefits before selecting the program you want, or possible even before you enlist! (See http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/07/13/gibill - also read the comments on that article - and endorsed by military.com, a DoD-sponsored website, at http://military-education.military.com/2009/07/gi-bill-no-longer-one-size-fits-all.html?ESRC=education.nl.)

Specifically, there are six provisions being worked on by some members of congress that will likely have the greatest impact on current and future student veterans:

1. Members of the National Guard and Reserve who were inadvertently omitted from inclusion would be fully eligible for benefits.

2. Include all vocational programs, OJT and apprenticeship training, flight, all types of non-college degree training and more. Effectively eliminating the need to make an irreversible decision as to whether or not to receive benefits under the old Montgomery GI Bill or under the new program.

3. Eliminate the complicated, confusing and, in some cases, inequitable calculation of State-by-State tuition and fee caps to determine benefits for individuals enrolled in degree programs. Effectively ensuring that individuals enrolled in degree granting programs of study at public colleges and universities in the U.S. would pay little, if any, out of pocket. Those enrolled in private colleges and universities would receive the national average cost of education.

4. Provide a modified living stipend to students who are enrolled in distance learning (online education) programs.

5. Make active duty and their spouses eligible for the $1,000 annual book allowance.

6. Eliminate the need for veterans to choose between Voc-Rehab and the Post-9/11 GI Bill enabling service-connected disabled OEF/OIF veterans to elect the program from which to receive their subsistence allowance. Ensuring that veterans would not be forced to pass on valuable counseling and support services to access the more generous Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.

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