Legion job fair a success

Legion job fair a success

Hundreds of veterans, servicemembers and their spouses attended The American Legion-sponsored Hiring Our Heroes job fair at the organization’s national convention Aug. 27 in Houston.

The event featured more than 80 employers from the private and public sectors, including General Electric, Direct Energy, Boeing, Home Depot, Verizon, USAA, Walmart, Waste Management and more. Representatives from the companies accepted résumés, provided career counseling and established networking opportunities.

Besides networking and applying for jobs with employers, attendees also had the opportunity to conduct interviews on-site and to individually sit down with a professional to create a more effective résumé and participate in a mock interview.

In less than three years, Hiring Our Heroes — a joint initiative of The American Legion and U.S. Chamber of Commerce — has helped more than 20,000 veterans, servicemembers and military spouses nationwide find jobs. And the Chamber of Commerce has hosted 60 Hiring Our Heroes career fairs at Legion posts and partnered with the Legion on nearly 600 others. To find a database of job fairs, search the Legion’s database. www.legion.org/careers/jobfairs

In other news:

Commander testifies: National Commander Dan Dellinger testifies before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees on Sept. 10 beginning at 10:15 a.m. in Room G-50 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. All Legion Family members are invited to attend.

System Worth Saving: Staff members of the Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Division met Sept. 5 with John D. Daigh, assistant inspector general for health-care inspections, to discuss the mail-out and in-facility questionnaires for the upcoming System Worth Saving site visits.

Claims: During the week ending Aug. 30, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals reached dispositions on 129 American Legion represented appeals. Of those dispositions, 63.6 percent of the denials were overturned with outcomes favorable to the veteran. In 30 cases, the board granted benefits outright after considering The American Legion’s arguments. In 52 cases, The American Legion was able to point out errors in the development of the veteran’s claims that mandated corrective action under the law. Of the total number of dispositions, 41 (31.8 percent) were outright denials.