According to a recent survey of 1,000 military veterans, 33% of veterans listed finding a job as the largest hurdle when leaving the military. Sonoran Desert Institute (SDI) has a unique approach to helping veterans find their next career through trade school. SDI is an online school that helps students learn the skills and techniques they’ll need to be successful in the firearms and unmanned technology industries.
SDI’s Approach: Bringing Trade Skills to Veterans Online
Jarred McNeely, U.S. Army Veteran, Chief Academic Officer, and Dean of the School of Firearms Technology at SDI shared about SDI’s unique approach to working with students. He explained, “SDI takes that trade school idea of taking really good knowledge that a student needs to gain and then adding the practical application to it, so we deliver the knowledge, and you know, the lecture material and that background knowledge via the internet, which means I can turn a classroom into anywhere.”
Classes can be done from anywhere on students’ schedules. For practical, hands-on application, SDI ships kits to students, allowing them to learn a basic task or skill. Students then demonstrate the activity through pictures and videos, which are sent back to the school for instructor evaluation. This approach allows SDI to operate without the constraints of a traditional classroom, enabling students to participate from anywhere.
A Veteran-Supportive Campus and Career Services
SDI has been classified as a veteran-supportive campus. This means that veterans can use their Post 9/11 GI Bill to help pay for classes. They also have a Military and Veteran Services Group that works with their veterans to get them through school. SDI also offers a Career Services Department available to all students, which teaches skills such as resume writing, interview techniques, and more—skills that Jarred did not learn in the military. He recalled, “One of the things that when I came out of the military, other than going to a promotion board, I really hadn’t interviewed for anything for eight or nine years, and so I wasn’t I wasn’t good at it. I was rusty at it. And so that’s one of those things that our Career Services Department offers up as an opportunity for all students, veteran or not, and so we do those, those types of things.”
Building Community: The Rucksack Event
SDI also offers a Rucksack event approximately every six weeks where students can come and ask questions while having a panel of experts in the Zoom conference who can help them. This event was initially designed for veteran students, but SDI found it was beneficial for all students. It also allowed veterans to meet non-veteran students and develop teamwork skills they will need in the civilian workforce.
Current Programs and New Offerings
SDI currently offers various programs including an Associate of Science in Firearms Technology and two certification Firearms and one certification in Uncrewed Technology. But SDI continues to grow and is excited to add a new program—an Associate of Science in Uncrewed Technology, with first classes starting in December.
A Message to Veterans: Using Military Skills for Civilian Success
Jarred wants veterans to know this: “As a veteran, you come out of the service with some great skills—leadership, time management, task orientation, problem-solving. Take those skills, whether it’s with SDI or another trade school, and apply those valuable soft skills to something that interests you. Whether it’s gunsmithing, uncrewed technology at SDI, or plumbing, those skills can be applied successfully across various fields.”
