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Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Richard Holcomb, left, and U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (Va.-1) look on as Maj. Gen. James Kessler, commander of Marine Corps Installations Command, addresses the audience at the National Museum of the Marine Corps on Dec. 17.

Photo by Mike DiCicco

DMV celebrates a year of vet-friendly programs

17 Dec 2012 | Mike DiCicco Marine Corps Base Quantico

While the national unemployment level stands at 7.9 percent, the rate among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is at a “disgraceful” 11.2 percent, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Richard Holcomb told a gathering of military, state and industry leaders outside the National Museum of the Marine Corps on Dec. 17.

“We have an immediate need, an immediate requirement to take action,” Holcomb said.

He and the other officials gathered to highlight the actions the DMV has taken this year to employ veterans as commercial drivers, as well as other partnerships between the state agency and the military.

The DMV’s Troops to Trucks program allows the road test required for a commercial driver’s license to be waived for veterans who have been trained and certified to operate commercial vehicles.

Since July, 71 veterans have had their road tests waived through the program, Holcomb said.

Troops to Trucks also provides on-base commercial vehicle training for veterans and active duty service members who did not get such training as part of their military careers, and it allows testing for and issuance of the commercial driver’s license to be carried out on base.

“We’re the only state in the union certified to do additional testing so that wounded warriors can also participate in the program,” Holcomb added, referring to the fact that the commercial drivers license examiners are certified to evaluate drivers with missing or impaired limbs.

After service members are credentialed, the DMV then shops them out through the Virginia Trucking Association, the Virginia Motor Coach Association and the Virginia Association of Pupil Transportation to identify at least three potential employers.

Holcomb said his department is also working to further expand the program, working with community colleges to reach veterans who are more than 90 days out of the service.

“Troops for Trucks is not the only way we support the military,” Holcomb said, noting that the DMV also regularly sends its mobile units out to military installations and has full-service offices at the Pentagon and the Army’s Fort Lee in Prince George County, Va., making its services more available to military personnel.

The DMV2Go units have served more than 500 customers at Quantico since they started making appearances a year ago.

Holcomb noted that the DMV also began issuing veterans identification cards this year, which help veterans get the military discounts they’re entitled to. Since the first card was issued in May, another 30,000 have been provided, three times as many as expected, he said.

“They are tremendous programs and are serving us very well,” said Maj. Gen. James Kessler, commander of Marine Corps Installations Command. The Troops to Trucks program, he said, has already demonstrated its value not only to service members but also to their communities and industries that rely on commercial drivers.

U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (Va.-1) said Troops to Trucks is just one example of many potential partnerships between states, the military and the private sector to help military veterans transition into the civilian world.

“I believe this is our obligation as a nation to the men and women who serve,” Wittman said. Of Troops to Trucks, he said, “this is an idea, I think, that can be repeated throughout the nation.”

Holcomb said Virginia is an ideal state for the launch of such programs, with more than 20 major military installations, more than 823,000 veterans and about 63,000 active duty service members. He said the state is “well on our way to being the most veteran-friendly state in the nation.”

— Writer: mdicicco@quanticosentryonline.com


Marine Corps Base Quantico