Army, Division of Personnel, Launch PaYS Program To Guarantee Job Interviews For Returning Veterans

Lieutenant General Maria Gervais, deputy commanding general and chief of staff of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, on Friday introduced the Partnership for Your Success Program (PaYS), a collaboration with the Virgin Islands' Division of Personnel, aimed at ensuring employment opportunities for veterans after their service.

“When you hire a veteran, you're getting an individual who understands discipline, established values, you'll also get someone who is trustworthy, who you want to have on your team,” said Lt. Gen. Gervais.

The program guarantees soldiers interviews and possible employment after leaving the Army. “It allows us to connect our soldiers to the civilian workforce, provides employers with a pool of highly skilled, credentialed, motivated and responsible prospective teammates, and the army benefits by gaining valuable industry partners who acknowledge that the army is a quality producer of skilled employees,” said Lt. Gen. Gervais. She described the program as a way to connect both soldiers and employers with opportunities neither party may have known exist, ways to ensure that highly skilled and trained veterans have the chance to utilize their transferable skills once they are back in the civilian world.

Partnering with the Division of Personnel in this manner was a logical step, said the senior Army official. “The Virgin Islands government has a need for expertise in so many things such as administration, law enforcement, construction, transportation, signal management, and the list goes on. And the Veteran Center is transitioning the soldiers that are transitioning out and these veterans, they have those skill sets, and they're looking forward and they're hungry to apply,” Lt. General Gervais remarked, noting that 75 veterans came home to the Virgin Islands last year alone.