• Maria urges three federal agencies to make it easier for #veterans to qualify for aviation maintenance #jobs

Army Times – A key senator is pushing three federal agencies to make it easier for veterans to qualify for aviation maintenance jobs.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., chairwoman of the Senate Commerce Committee’s aviation operations panel, is asking the Defense Department, Veterans Affairs Department and Federal Aviation Administration to work together to make it easier for people who spent years maintaining military aircraft to fill openings in commercial aviation maintenance.

In a letter dated Tuesday, Cantwell called on the federal government to create the same streamlined path to civilian jobs for aviation maintenance workers that exists today for military pilots.

“For pilots who are active-duty service members, the path for transitioning from a military career to a civilian one flying aircraft is defined,” she said, but “barriers” prevent enlisted maintenance crews form following a similar path.

For example, to “make it quicker, easier and less expensive” for veterans to be certified by the FAA, Cantwell said DoD could change the description on the DD 214 certificate of separation to better explain the aircraft maintenance skills for those who worked on airframes and powerplants. VA and DoD officials could work with the FAA to provide details about military-learned aviation maintenance skills in a format the FAA could understand, she said. And, DoD could encourage people performing maintenance, repair and overhaul of military aircraft to take FAA-approved correspondence courses that would help them get airframe and powerplant licenses when they get out of the military, she said.

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