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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Demobilized Officers Gain New Skills TACIS helps retrain former military officers

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

An international conference, National Systems of Professional Adaptation of Former Military Servicemen, began work in the Crimea early last week. Its opening almost exactly coincided with the Presidential decree suspending compulsory military service. In connection with this the conference appears to be even more relevant, for any further decrease of the Ukrainian military is possible only by retiring officers for various and not only economic reasons.

It is not easy for a demobilized military man to reintegrate into civilian society. He can even be a threat to this society due to his lack of social protection and habit of solving problems by force.

Both Ukraine and other countries understand this threat. In 1996 we passed a special complex program for the social and professional adaptation of former military men. The program found support in the European Union, which undertook the financing of the corresponding TACIS program.

On the eve of the conference in the Crimea The Day met with TACIS project coordinator Wolfgang Rudolph.

Q.: What help have Ukrainian officers already received from your project?

W.R.: The National Coordination Center for the Social and Professional Adaptation of Retired Servicemen chaired by Col. Oleksandr Shykalov established eleven regional employment centers throughout Ukraine with our help. TACIS supplied them with all needed equipment, both hard and software. We also participated in training the staff and creating a methodological base. The training centers provide a good background in business marketing and management, enabling former military men to either start their own businesses or work with an existing firm. 4,500 people have graduated from these training centers. 1,600 are studying now and another 900 former military officers or their family members have applied for admission.

Q.: Retraining is the main task for the regional centers, isn't it?

W.R.: A different type of activity is taking precedence — employment, the search for and creation of new job opportunities. More and more officers are retiring, while there are fewer and fewer vacancies at enterprises. In this sphere we cooperate not only with the state employment services but also with private firms. We also use our own contracts with commercial structures. Our centers also serve as unique business incubators, where graduates may use our hardware in launching their own businesses.

Q.: The TACIS program will be over by the end of the year. Will the network of centers survive without TACIS support?

W.R.: I sincerely believe it will. Our project costs 7.3 million ECU, but this is not much. The main aim of the present conference is to examine the Ukrainian experience, which managed to create a flexible and viable system of social support and professional adaptation for former military officers. Our centers have experience in attracting local authorities, state organizations, as well as private companies and foundations to finance their programs. Some of them have been created on the basis of commercial structures or public organizations, which work under contract for the National Coordination Center.

Q.: Do you keep track of the further fate of the officers who were retrained in your centers?

W.R.: Of course. We also keep track of the most successful of their businesses. For instance, in Zaporizhzhia former officers launched a private company for topographical land surveying. Now other people in different regions of Ukraine are mastering this profitable business.

Q.: Will the European Union cut financing of the support program for former Ukrainian officers?

W.R.: I think that the socioeonomic situation and the intentions of both sides say that our project will be prolonged. History has already shown what a man with a gun can do. Without a gun and any chance to earn his daily bread he, is just as dangerous. Thus helping him is a very urgent task for the world community.

Photo by Leonid Bakka,The Day:

Computers are helping thousands of officers learn new skills

 

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