Photo by Sharon Renee Taylor Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry briefs members of the Walter Reed community Monday in Bldg. 1’s Vorder Bruegge Auditorium, about a new federal hiring initiative designed to increase the ranks of veterans and their families in the federal work force.

“The president has made it clear, there is no higher priority than honoring the commitment to our veterans of this nation,” Berry said.

The OPM director explained the agency examined how they were treating returning veterans who sought federal employment. “Just giving the five points, 10 points, and then wishing them luck was not the right way to do it,” Berry said.

OPM plans to play a more aggressive role, more like a headhunting role, attempting to marry the interest and skill of the veteran with the job in the federal government, bridge the person into the job and support them once they are there, according to Berry.

“It’s not just about getting them to the door, but getting them through it,” Berry said.

On the last leg of a tour that included visits to several military installations, the OPM director explained the goal of the Walter Reed visit was to solicit focus group thoughts and comments on the final draft of the new initiative. Berry said he hopes the president will green-light the effort by executive order before Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

“Imagine a person at every agency, a person dedicated to youÖthat’s what this program will do for you,” said Joseph Kennedy, a deputy associate director at OPM.

The new program will be open to all veterans: those who served years ago and transitioning servicemembers seeking civilian employment. The current scope of the proposed program also extends services to spouses and family members of veterans.

Kennedy said the comprehensive government-wide veteran recruitment and hiring strategic plan involved collaboration with the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Veterans Affairs and other agencies. The program is designed to help all veterans, including enlisted servicemembers without degrees.

The plan calls for a full-time veteran contact at each agency to engage enlisted personnel before they leave the service, Kennedy said. Staffed “for vets by vets,” the program will help them figure out how to apply for federal jobs, provide employment counseling, and align the talents and aspirations of veterans and transitioning servicemembers with career opportunities within the federal government.

The new initiative also calls for a marketing campaign targeting veterans and transitioning servicemembers to continue their service with the federal government. Marketing plans include a campaign directed to hiring officials on how veterans can meet skill demands in their organizations.

“I don’t want to see all that talent go to the private sector. We want that talent to stay within the civil service because it maximizes the investment,” Kennedy told the audience at the WRAMC forum. “You already have a leap ahead of so many other candidates that we’re looking at. You’ve got leadership, you’ve got passion, [and] you’ve got IT skills.”

Maj. Ken Robbins, an active duty Soldier selected for a fellowship at OPM, helped develop a separate portal for veterans at the USAJOBS Web site for the new program. The single-source Web site will consolidate all veteran employment information, such as training, education and other resources, for use by veterans, human resource professionals and hiring officials.

“Accountability is built into the bottom line,” for the proposed veteran employment program, Berry said. Kennedy explained it was not an OPM program but a shared vision across the federal government with a focus and commitment from the highest levels.

The proposed executive order issued by the president would create an oversight council for the employment initiative, chaired by Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki and Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, will report the number of veterans hired by federal agencies to the president on an annual basis. Berry will serve as chief operating officer of the operation.

Although more than 25 percent of federal employees are veterans, most federal agencies are below this percent, with several agencies under 10 percent, according to Kennedy. He explained a recent Department of Labor report showed an unemployment rate of 11.3 percent for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, up from 5.9 percent one year ago, and above the overall U.S. average. Kennedy said the veteran initiative will bring the skills and talent of former servicemembers before the agencies that hire 98 percent of the federal civilian workforce.

Berry said he hopes the new veteran employment initiative becomes his legacy during his tenure at the agency where he is responsible for recruiting, hiring and setting benefits policies for 1.9 million federal civilian employees.

Since April, the director said he’s been reforming the federal hiring process for everyone, ridding the bureau of confusing acronyms and terms, reducing lengthy job descriptions and simplifying the federal hiring process. Berry plans to eliminate the use of knowledge, skills and ability (KSA) narratives in federal job applications and replace it with a resume-based system.