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Training Provides Guardsmen with 18-Wheeled Opportunities

Students pose for a class picture after completing the first phase of the course leading to their commercial drivers license.

Nearly 20 Georgia National Guardsmen are about start phase two of a training program that is jumpstarting their college careers, leading them down the road toward earning a second military occupation skill and steering them in the direction of a potential full-time job.

With the passing of the Patriot Act shortly after Sept. 11, 2001 , trucks carrying “hazardous materials” must be operated by drivers who have passed a national background check. Every Guardsman, said Lt. Col. Matt Shannon, the Georgia Army National Guard’s education services officer, has already passed that check.

Through a cooperative effort between the Georgia Guard and Indiana-based Vincennes University , Soldiers can put that to work in gaining a commercial driver’s license for operating a semi-tractor trailer rig, Shannon said.

“We not only strengthen the civilian firms that have partnered with us in this effort, but also promote recruiting and retention within the Guard,” he added.

Phase one of the program took place this past month in the classrooms at Macon ’s Regional Training Center . There participants learned the ins and outs of operating the big rigs.

Phase two, which happens this month, takes course participants to the Vincenns campus where they will spend two weeks doing on-the road training. Once completed the Soldiers return with a learning experience that will help toward gaining second MOS as a military truck driver, but also put them in position of gaining employment with companies such as Mohawk, Shaw Industries and Transport America .

The latter, Shannon said, has already offered up 100 jobs here in Georgia .

As the Soldier gains, so does the Guard, he added.

“The service ends up with more qualified drivers, but also Soldiers who have earned 17 college credits for their efforts, have had the school completely paid for and have earned promotion points in the process,” Shannon said. “All that adds up to people who are more inspired to staying in uniform because the organization has made a positive impact on their lives and the lives of their families.”