Role and Company
Vocational Rehab/Emp. Specialist, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Expertise
1 years experience
Location
New York, NY
About Aaron
I currently work for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, New York Harbor as a Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist.
President Obama and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki have set a goal of ending homelessness among our Nation’s veterans. Employment is one of the six pillars of this initiative and supported employment provides individual vocational assistance, job development, job placement and on-going employment supports designed to improve employment outcomes among veterans. Over 370 Vocational Rehabilitation Specialists (VRSs) have been hired throughout the Department of Veterans Affairs’ facilities. The vast majority of these Vocational Rehabilitation Specialists (VRSs) are veterans.
I matricalted at New York University’s undergraduate School of Buiness and Public Administration majoring in Finance before enlisting in the United States Air Force in August 1990.
For eight yerars in the Air Force (1990 to 1997), my career field was a Project Manager for Communications and Computer Systems. I was stationed in the United States during Gulf War I at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albququerque, New Mexico. While at Kirtland AFB, I was awarded 542nd Crew Training Wing Airman of the Year. For the last two years of my enlistment I was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn, Ohio. During my assignment at Wright-Patterson, I had the opportunity to be selected to serve on a Source Selection Technical Panel. The panel evaluated Request for Proposals for procurement of computer systems, a contract valued at $55 million for commercial off-the-shelf computer hardware and software to support the Military Health Services System.
After my enlistment, I moved back to New York City and have worked as Adjunct Computer Instructor/Program Operations Specialist at LaGuardia Community College School of Adult and Continuing Education from 1998 to 2000. After September 11, 2001 I had the opportunity to work as an administitive specialist for an architectural & engineering (A&E) firm that was hired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide financial assistance to public applicants after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. While at the firm I was promoted to Accounting Manager and left 2006.