Making the transition from army to civilian life can be difficult, especially for those who have spent many years in the military world. But thanks to the Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP), which Serco has managed on behalf of the US Department of Defense since 1990, taking the leap to civvy street is much more manageable. 

ACAP was established by a congressional mandate to provide job-assistance training, counselling and resources to soldiers leaving active duty, to help them find jobs and support their families during the transition. Serco has provided job preparation services for servicemen and women, their families and civilian army personnel for the past 16 years, and recently won a re-compete for a $48 million contract from the Army.

Now-retired brigadier general, Earl Simms, 60, whose military career spanned 32 years, used the ACAP program to learn how to write a resumé, sharpen his interview approach and develop networking skills. “It prepared me very well for life outside the army,” says Simms, who is now Serco's Vice President of Army Programs and Programme Manager for the company's human resources contract. The training he received was so good that he ended up working for the company that provided it, Serco Inc. of Vienna, Virginia, US.

More than 200 Serco staff administer ACAP services at 53 centres in the US, Europe and Korea. The company hosts workshops on benefits and entitlements for which former army personnel are eligible, as well as job search and salary negotiation skills.

Approximately 195,000 active-duty soldiers, their families and civilian army employees make use of the program each year – around 95,000 of them are soldiers in the National Guard or Reserve who have undergone transition from active duty back to reserve status during the Iraq War.