Military and Veteran Support Organizations (MSO, VSO) are helping the Army Reserve to enhance the readiness of its soldiers."Our MSOs and VSOs have a history of championing programs which directly support Army Reserve readiness," Lt. Col. Alex A. McCullough Jr., future operations officer, Private Public Partnership (P3) Office, Fort Belvoir, Va., said while recognizing the work done by organizations such as the Association of the United States Army.McCullough added, "At its core, P3 partnerships help the Army Reserve enhance readiness while adjusting to the fiscal resources available."Together, we advance the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and financial readiness, and employment of our soldiers, civilians and family members."McCullough spoke recently at the Military and Veteran Support Organizations quarterly meeting in the National Capital Region, where he addressed how the Army Reserve has leveraged private-public partnerships to enhance military readiness and civilian careers.Military and Veteran Support Organizations’ ability to connect with industry, foundation, and academia leaders is key in helping P3 build relationships between civilian and military communities.Also, it is key in finding and developing career and training opportunities for soldiers, veterans, family members and units, and in leveraging private sector relationships with both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations to achieve individual, leader and unit readiness, McCullough told attendees."As a voice of support for the soldier, we rely on you to help the Army Reserve build partnerships that continue to provide soldiers with opportunities for professional and trade-career development and credentialing and certification opportunities to ensure progression in both their civilian and military careers," said McCullough.It’s more than a job, it’s a careerP3 is an innovative program that views employees as assets with quantifiable value and transforms how the Army Reserve and corporate America attract, develop and retain talent.P3 also fosters long-term partnerships to develop staffing solutions that meet America’s production demands, tackles the issue of workforce preparedness and reinvigorates America’s human capital to remain competitive in the global economy.P3 provides employers and the Army Reserve with a highly capable soldier-employee who makes contributions in the civilian workplace and serves the Army Reserve in critically understaffed military occupational specialties.Together, the partners share an individual who contributes to both the national economy and national defense."By establishing private-public partnerships, the Army Reserve is able to achieve training goals that would otherwise go unmet in the current fiscally restrained environment," said Erin Thede, director, Private Public Partnership Office, U.S. Army Reserve.Lines of effortIn December 2013, this office was directed to expand its responsibilities to include private-public sector partners with readiness being the priority. Three major lines of effort were: Individual, Leader, and Unit.Individual Readiness: Provides employment opportunities, advance physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and financial readiness for our soldiers, civilians and family members.Leader Readiness: Leverages partnerships to streamline credentialing and licensing for service members, veterans and their family members while offering opportunities for professional, trade career development and mentor-protégé relationships.Unit Readiness: Identifies private-public projects where Army Reserve soldiers provide technical expertise, physical capabilities, and leadership skills, coupled with private or public resources, to make an impact on local communities, while simultaneously fulfilling Army Reserve training requirements.Boots on the groundP3 has 43 Army Career Employment Specialists (ACES) located at Army Reserve Career Centers throughout the U.S. These personnel are P3’s career experts in their local job markets, and they communicate with local hiring managers in the region.As a conduit between soldiers and veteran-hiring companies, they provide the soldiers guidance on how to prepare for an interview and develop a resume while offering feedback on career paths.P3 also has 13 Transition Employment Liaisons (TEL) at transition centers through the U.S. to assist soldiers transitioning from the active to the reserve component.To find a P3 career expert in your area, email usarmy.usarc.ocar.mbx.p3i@mail.mil.Win in a complex worldIn its seventh year, P3 is a force multiplier that demonstrates the potential that collaborative partnerships offer to our citizen-soldiers.Over the last year, the Army Reserve P3 Office has helped connect nearly 2,000 soldiers to jobs – that’s six jobs a day.Most recently, P3 brought together leaders of industry and academia with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to address the critical skills shortage in the cyber field.The Army Reserve partnered with six universities and 12 employers in a first-of-its-kind effort to create a pool of citizen-soldiers who combine civilian skills, education and knowledge with military expertise.Another partner, General Electric, not only provided real-world training to more than 100 Army Reserve biomedical repair technicians through its externship, but groomed them for civilian careers in the biomedical field. This partnership has saved the Army Reserve $250,000 per soldier.Warrant Officer Robert Holt, a Polo, Mo., native, and graduate of the joint externship program, not only leveraged his experience with P3 into a new career, but he recently received a commission in the Army Reserve."The nine month hands-on-training inadvertently turned into a nine month interview," Holt said. "As a diagnostic imaging field engineer with General Electric, I am immersed in the latest technology and was challenged day in and day out."Prior to this program, Holt worked as a mechanic when he wasn’t in uniform on reserve duty."For a reservist, working in our chosen career field in the private sector tremendously increases our technical ability as an Army Reserve soldier; likewise, civilian industries are beginning to realize that today’s soldiers bring a great deal to the table when it comes to tenacity and leadership," he added.P3 also supports Lt. Gen. Jeffrey W. Talley’s global vision to help soldiers build their civilian-acquired skills under a private sector model.Currently, U.S. Army Pacific is developing a partnership with two not-for-profit organizations – CitiHope and MedShare – to provide medical equipment, supplies, medications, and training for the Faleolo Clinic in the Independent State of Samoa.The Army Reserve also provides engineering support to Haiti Works!,a not-for-profit organization that assists the people of Haiti in their long-term recovery and rebuilding effort after the 2010 earthquake.For more information follow us at: www.facebook.com/PrivatePublicPartnership.(Editor’s note: This article is based on a story by Capt. Olivia Cobiskey, Private Public Partnership Office, U.S. Army Reserve.)