our opinions: ADVICE FROM AN EXPERT
In The
Comfort
Zone
By BRETT HOBSON
CEO Comfort Experts
Comfort Experts – Proud to be offering
jobs to our Local Veterans
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n a perfect world, when a veteran leaves military service the
GI Bill provides training and assistance to give him or her a
leg up while transitioning to the civilian world. According to
Military.com, the GI Bill refers to any Department of Veterans
Affairs education benefit earned by members of Active Duty,
Selected Reserve and National Guard Armed Forces and their
families. The benefit is designed to help service members and
eligible veterans cover the costs associated with getting an
education or training. Because of the variety of postings that
our military service people have experienced, many are not
aware of what’s available to them when they leave our nation’s
service.
While traditional college, by either seeking to earn an asso-
ciates or a bachelor’s degree is the traditional path for some, we
are working hard to make sure that veterans are aware of other
opportunities to train to work in a trade instead, bypassing years
of college and expense, to begin earning for their families faster.
Trades offer good income and honorable careers for those
who have served our country through military service. Many
veterans who are used to commanding companies of men and
managing large budgets for material, supplies and armaments,
come home to joblessness and financial stress when they rejoin
civilian life. In an NBC news story from 2013, this stress is
described as “A fresh fox hole: a debt crater that’s sucking in
entire military families.” The stress is no less six years later with
hundreds of thousands of veterans awaiting payment of benefits
that they have earned while serving their country. “This is —
to be kind — a train wreck,” said Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., the
chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
Benefit snafus aside, the length of time in a trade school
is half of what is expected for a four-year college degree. But
be careful when choosing a trade school and using your hard-
earned benefits. We have found, as we hire people to work for
us, that not all trade schools are created equal. What we offer is
a working education beginning with six weeks of training at our
facility. That is followed by a year-long hands-on work experi-
ence in the field, then another month at our facility for more
intensive training. The third module is an emphasis on home
trade services management to develop mid-level managers who
can lead our companies.
We have been in the HVAC business for 55 years, and we
know what companies like ours are looking for. The graduates
that were coming to us from other trade programs didn’t have
Brett Hobson
the skill set we needed. That’s why five years ago we got into
the HVAC school business. We have had students from Canada
to the Cayman Islands at our facility on Greenwood Road in
Weatherford. We have worked hard to create a school that
graduates students that are effective in the work that we do.
And others have noticed. We have been successful in increas-
ing the skill level of current technicians, many from other HVAC
companies. We are also proud of introducing others to the
HVAC business, making sure they have the skills to be success-
ful in our business.
While not all of our students have a military background,
many of those we have hired as field service personnel are
veterans. We continue to work with other groups to assist those
who leave the military including TAPS, which provides transi-
tion assistance to veterans and the Centurion Military Alliance
(CMA) who provide vetted resources and military-to-civilian
cross-trained expertise. Their group is a nonprofit organization
of veterans. They teach a multidisciplinary curriculum that read-
ies our veterans to not only visit a booth while at a career fair
but visit all of the booths and investigate all of the opportuni-
ties that are available. CEO and Co-Founder Chaunte’ Myers,
a veteran herself, works closely with employers like us, human
resource professionals, and volunteers. CMA’s workshop curric-
ulum is underpinned by the following three pillars addressing:
Financial Literacy, Educational Attainment, and Vocational
Proficiency and are presented such that each component
compliments and supports the overarching end-state goal to
facilitate successful transition of CMA Alumni into the civilian
sector. We are proud to be a part of these important workshops
and this group that is helping veterans throughout the country.
We’ve learned a lot as we’ve set up our school and become
more knowledgeable about military servicemen and women
transitioning to civilian life. If you are someone who has some
questions, or know someone who is making the move from
military to civilian life, please contact us. We’d be glad to share
what we’ve learned. We’re proud of our military and are thank-
ful for the job they do to protect our freedom around the world.
God Bless America!
For information on trade school training and using your
GI Bill benefits, call the Perfect Technician Academy at (817)
678-6949. For more information on the Centurion Military
Alliance or to attend one of their workshops, visit their website
at www.cmawarrior.org.