Kaine’s Troop Talent Act Legislation Added to Defense Bill, Heads to Obama for Signature

Provisions from Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) proposed Troop Talent Act — a bill that seeks to more closely align specialty skills acquired in the military with civilian credentials — was added to another bill, which passed the U.S. Congress and is now on its way to President Barack Obama’s desk where it can be signed into law.

Kaine got the provisions added to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014 in June. The provisions are as follows:

Information on civilian credentialing opportunities must be made available to service members at every stage of their military training

Information on military training and experience must be provided, upon request, to civilian credentialing agencies and other approved entitiesHe was also able to secure an amendment to the NDAA that ensures Department of Defense programs meet the same standards currently required for other educational federal funding, like Pell Grants.

“It will now be the law to provide active duty servicemembers with the tools they need to more easily receive credentials for the skills they acquire through military training, greatly easing their transition to a civilian career,” Kaine said in a statement. “This is a small but important step to help whittle away at the unacceptably high rate of veterans’ unemployment — particularly among those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan — and I remain committed to exploring all avenues to address this issue.”

Among the groups that have come out in support of the provisions in the Troop Talent Act are the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Student Veterans of America, the Military Officers Association of America and the Association of the United States Navy.

“These provisions of the Troop Talent Act will enable Veterans to make the transition to the private sector more easily and help our businesses thrive at the same time,” said Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who was the lead sponsor of the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Kaine spoke with WYDaily in November about the legislation when he stopped in Williamsburg for a Veterans Day ceremony. He announced another bill at that time, the Servicemember Education Reform and Vocational Enhancement Act of 2013, which seeks to improve the quality of education servicemembers and veterans receive so that they can find higher quality jobs when they get out of the military. It requires that institutions that accept education benefits from the Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense to offer academic or career counseling to students who have served.

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