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Finding a civilian job after serving in the military can be daunting. For former Army cavalry scout Jose Gallegos, the task was even more complicated because his spouse, Aleksandra Balinska-Gallegos, also needed a new position. Through Heroes MAKE America—a Manufacturing Institute program that builds connections between the military community and the manufacturing industry—both Gallegos and Balinska-Gallegos found rewarding roles in Pennsylvania with food and industrial manufacturer Cargill.

The program: Heroes MAKE America provides integrated certification and career-readiness training in partnership with local community colleges to prepare transitioning service members, veterans, National Guard members, reservists and military spouses for rewarding careers in the manufacturing and supply chain industries.

• “The program not only introduces you to the manufacturing world—it prepares you for everything that is around it,” said Balinska-Gallegos. “How to correctly write your resume, how to match a military background with civilian life, how to translate military vocabulary to civilian vocabulary. And from writing a resume to emailing with potential employers and preparing for interviews—it was a little bit of everything.”

The benefit: The program helped both spouses at the same time—a huge benefit for Gallegos, who was looking for opportunities in the civilian world, and for Balinska-Gallegos, who had arrived with Gallegos from Lithuania and was worried about navigating the U.S. job market.

• “I was a completely new fresh military spouse,” said Balinska-Gallegos. “When Jose told me that there was an opportunity not only for him to go to the manufacturing program, but to also take his spouse—I was over the moon.”

Read the full story here.

Photo: Jose Gallegos and Aleksandra Balinska-Gallegos with MI Director of Heroes Program Execution Rachelle Wolford (left).