ATLANTA,None — Thousands of Georgia troops returning after serving overseas face stubbornly high unemployment, but now the Georgia National Guard is working to find those soldiers jobs.
"In some cases, when they walk off the airplane, 200 to 300 people walking off the airplane, 40 percent of those are unemployed," said Maj. Gen. Jim Butterworth, Georgia National Guard Commanding General.
Now that combat operations in Iraq are over and the military presence in Afghanistan is winding down, President Barack Obama announced his plans to downsize the military without losing any military effectiveness. Butterworth believes that means some of his 14,000 National Guard soldiers will no longer be needed.
"It's my job to make sure they're all taken care of," said Butterworth.
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At General Assembly budget hearings on Wednesday, Butterworth explained how the National Guard is shifting its focus to try and match out-of-work soldiers with Georgia employers looking for skilled labor. He'd like help from lawmakers and from the governor's office of workforce development to do that.
"If an organization says we need employees, look us up," Butterworth said. "I think that's probably the key point."
"If a company has a need, whether that's five persons or 25 persons, I'm confident we can give them an applicant pool that they would find useful," said Georgia National Guard Deputy Adjutant Russel Carlson. "We have a lot of talented people from all ranges of educational and vocational backgrounds."
Butterworth said it's his mission to find work for his soldiers.
"These individuals are highly skilled professionals," said Butterworth. "I cannot advocate for them strong enough."
WSBTV
