The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) and Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) have joined forces to help military veterans with specialized truck driver training to get their Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). The new program, known as the Military Training Certification Process, which was implemented on Nov. 1, allows WDVA to verify an individual CDL applicant has the required minimum commercial motor vehicle driver training requirements provided and documented by a military service.

Veterans have one year following their release from the military to take advantage of this new program. Vets should go to the WDVA Web site — http://www.dva.wa.gov/CDL.html — to start the certification process.

In the past, veterans were required to attend additional and often expensive commercial drivers training programs to learn the skills they had used for years in the military. WDVA’s Helmets to Hardhats liaison Todd Mitchell questioned why this training had to be repeated and worked with a number of organizations to develop this new process. Thanks to the WDVA, DOL, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Army Reserve Employer Relations, Washington Trucking Association, Teamsters Union and the Washington Defense Partnership, the transition from a military job to a civilian one will require one less step.

“We often hear of the challenges our men and women in uniform face when they leave the military and try to find jobs that they qualify for,” said WDVA program manager Ric Price in a statement released Monday. “This is a tremendous step forward in removing a financial barrier to a smoother transition from military to civilian employment.”

“This is another instance of agencies working together to make things more seamless for Washingtonians,” said DOL director Liz Luce. “This program is important so that our service members can utilize the training they’ve received and get right to work in the civilian sector.”

Team members who worked to accomplish this first licensing based on military training are Price, Todd Mitchell, DVA, John Patterson, Army Reserve Employer Relations, Olivia Robinson, Washington Military Partnership and Gary Brackett, Tacoma-Pierce Co. Chamber.
For additional information about this new program, contact WDVA at 1-800-562-2308 or Ric Price, Ricp@dva.wa.gov .