The San Diego-based nonprofit has aided nearly 700 service members/veterans since 2010 founding. Posted by Hoa Quách (Editor), 

 

When Edward Erickson completes 20 years in the Navy on May 31—he’ll be ready for corporate America, he says.

Erickson—who has served in Kuwait and Iraq—said he’ll be ready because he recently graduated from REBOOT, a 3-week program within the San Diego-based nonprofit National Veterans Transition Services that provides service members and veterans guidance on transitioning into civilian life.

“REBOOT is personal,” he said. “I can do anything I set my mind to because that’s what REBOOT tells you.”

Erickson is one of nearly 700 service members/veterans who have completed the course since its founding in 2010. But the program—founded by former Call of Duty Endowment adviser Maurice Wilson and retired Rear Adm. Ronne Froman in 2010—currently has a backlog of 149 students and expects about 15,000 service members to be released from the military in the next year.

The program is free for service members but typically costs the organization about $2,500 per student. It was created from scratch by Wilson and Froman complete with textbooks designed specifically for service members.

“Because of our past experiences, we are able to avoid the typical mistakes made when starting a new nonprofit,” Wilson said. “But most importantly, because the REBOOT model is the missing link in military to civilian transition, it virtually sells itself.”

It’s a program that’s needed for service members transitioning back into civilian life, said Erickson.

Erickson—who spoke about knowing a sailor who committed suicide in 2002 and another who left the service in chains because officials feared he would hurt himself—said the program addresses personal issues that isn’t addressed in the requiredTransition Assistance Program offered by the Department of Labor.

“I tell my friends, ‘You need to sign up for REBOOT’ and if I could, I would go to all the classes again,” he said.

Kelly Price Noble is the nonprofit’s business development director and also teaches a career transition class.

“REBOOT exists so guys and gals can have a smoother transition into civilian life,” Price Noble said. “We are literally rebooting their system.”

The nonprofit does face challenges as it works to expand to areas outside of its five main offices in an effort to cater to those beingwithdrawn from the war. Wilson said the biggest challenge is raising funds to keep the program viable.

But with the sacrifices service members have made, Price Noble said it’s a program that deserves the support and she’s working on securing different sponsors and funding.

“These guys and gals carried people off the field—they did a lot of carrying and now we need to take care of them,” she said.