By Richard Lawrence
For more photos to go: www.richardlawrencephotography.ca/rlpgalleries/sports/atletico_20230913/index.html
In today’s world, it’s common fact that technology, specifically computers, is required to run almost every aspect of our lives from personal information, infrastructure management, finance and economics, medical, military and anything else you can think of. Because of this, the security of these systems absorbs more and more resources to the point where there are no longer enough individuals with the requisite skills to keep everything safe and develop the software and systems needed to move into the future. It’s projected that in Canada, in the next 12 – 18 months, there may be as many as 147,000 unfilled information technology (IT) jobs. These jobs can’t be filled through immigration alone but also require a significant move in reskilling and retraining existing workforces.
This is where the Coding for Veterans (C4V) organization tries to fill a gap. Their mission is to take military members who are leaving the CAF, and help them transition to civilian life by providing support and training in the IT field, specifically cyber security and software development. Their program started in 2019 with five students and is about to enroll its 500th student shortly. Participants, including some international students, come from all across Canada (as the program is 100% virtual/online). All-in-all, students get a university education and write industry certification exams making the transition from military to civilian life much easier. “From Deployment to Employment” as stated by Jeff Musson, Executive Director of C4V.
This program is open to all CAF veterans. The current average age of students in the program is 39.2 years old with some in their mid-50s as well. For those veterans who have left the military (since 2006) and have at least six years of service, Veterans Affairs Canada, through the Education Transition Benefit, will fund 100% of the tuition in the program. The C4V program partnership with the University of Ottawa-Professional Development Institute allows for classes to be taken 100% online from anywhere in Canada with C4V providing the academic curriculum in conjunction with the needs of their industry partners. The curriculum provided by C4V has been created based on consultation with their industry partners (a “key to [C4V’s] success” says Jeff Musson) and is a living entity in that the partners provide ongoing input on changing needs and C4V adjusts the curriculum to fit those changing requirements. This ensures that the graduating students have skills relevant to the current work environment making it easier to obtain employment, which C4V also helps to facilitate with their placement program.
Surprisingly, the largest group of students is from the infantry/artillery branches. Jeff Musson explains this from the point of view of civilian job equivalencies in that a military pilot has a civilian counterpart in an airline pilot, but soldiers and gunners do not. As with other military personnel, they bring soft skills, discipline, teamwork, attention to detail, attitude, and the ability to work independently. However, they are also familiar with technologies and machinery, making them highly desirable once trained in IT.
Going forward, C4V wishes to expand the model in Canada and other countries. The model was recently picked up by the Veterans Administration in the USA, under their G.I. Bill, with a partnership with the University of Southern California. According to Jeff Musson, “We think this program will have the ability to train veterans throughout NATO by partnering with universities in those NATO countries.” C4V is also looking at diversifying its training to include data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc., to keep on top of industry needs. Currently, there are three cohorts per year: winter (starts January), spring (starts May), and fall (starts September).
C4V also recognizes that the CAF member is successful because s/he has a support system of family and spouses who could also benefit from retraining in these fields. To that end, C4V has partnered with the Ontario Government, Ministry of Training and Skills Development, which will also supply funding for spouses, family members and reservists to participate in the program.
At a recent Atlético Ottawa football (re:soccer) game (13th September), C4V hosted a Military Appreciation Night to raise awareness of the contributions of military members and bring attention to its programs. In attendance for C4V was Jeff Musson, Executive Director of C4V, and doing the coin toss for Atlético and Pacific FC was retired Warrant Officer Corey Bertrand. WO (ret’d) Bertrand had served 25 years with the CAF, having served as a military policeman in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Mexico during his career. He was selected to do the coin toss due to his support of the Atlético team, involvement in the soccer community, and the fact that he had retired only one week prior to the game. Also supporting the coin toss was a representative from the Ottawa Soccer Club – 2010 T1 Bulldogs, who had just won the Kicking in the City soccer championship the previous weekend, and the Military Wives Choir sang the national anthem from center field.
The game was hard fought between the two teams with Pacific FC scoring first around the 29-minute mark in the first half. I’m glad the Pacific team doesn’t play rugby because it seemed that every time there was any incidental contact (and sometimes no contact at all) they took a dive to the ground trying to draw penalties against Atlético. It was embarrassing really. In the second half, Atlético was able to tie up the game at about the 65-minute mark, but that was all the scoring as the game ended 1-1.
So, a hurrah for Coding For Veterans for making the effort to take retiring CAF members and provide them with meaningful training in a quickly changing world which doesn’t wait for that retiring member to get their feet under them as they transition. Congratulations to them in forging partnerships with IT industry players, Veterans Affairs Canada, the University of Ottawa, and for expanding the program past our own borders. Should you have any questions, please visit the Coding For Veterans website at: https://www.codingforveterans.com/
