Brian Armstrong

A couple weeks ago, I attended the Basic Resume (thank you @katiespinazzola) and LinkedIn In-Depth (thank you @jenniferforteburks) courses at Fort Myer, VA and had an unexpected takeaway. As a military officer preparing for retirement, many people recommend using Officer Evaluation Reports (OERs) to identify accomplishments. That makes sense as a starting point. But I found something even more useful: my historical OER counseling support forms (DA Form 67-10-1A), often called the “-1.” These documents are far more detailed. They capture what I actually did, how I did it, and why it mattered. For every OER, I provided a -1 (or a similarly formatted Word document) to support my rater and senior rater. Revisiting them gave me a clear, chronological view of my work over time. More importantly, they provided: · Specific actions, not general performance statements · Measurable outcomes and scope (metrics) · Concrete examples that translate well to civilian roles Using those -1s made building my resume and updating LinkedIn much easier. They provided the level of detail hiring managers care about. If you are transitioning out of the military and still have your old counseling forms, do not overlook them. They may be one of the best records you have to help translate your experience into civilian language. Katie Spinazzola & Jennifer Burks, PHR 🎭

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My team recently completed a project using AI that was called “black magic” and “one of the most impressive things I’ve seen” by our senior leaders. When I was asked to take over my unit’s training team during my last few months in the military, and I shared a bold project to complete before leaving: build a single-source hub to house the unit’s course catalog and training materials, complete with a dynamic 6-month calendar and online sign-ups. Two team members volunteered to coordinate the project and said they wanted to make it happen. They contacted a team of programmers and the idea was quickly deemed “not a priority,” leaving them with a choice: let the idea die or build it themselves. However, neither had a background in coding. In just 3 weeks, these two leaned into self-learning, sheer grit, and GenAI tools. They created everything and added even more functionality than initially imagined. Generative AI isn’t about replacing people, it’s about empowering them to solve problems, unlock creativity, and deliver what once seemed impossible. What 'impossible' problems are you looking to solve with Gen AI?

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FEDERAL HIRING AND RECRUITMENT CHANGES ARE HERE…………. As a federal talent acquisition professional within the DOD I am extremely excited about these upcoming changes. For years we have talked about specific changes and the civil service reform that needs to take place to make the process more agile and in alignment with the private sector while also improving the quality of candidates. Key takeaways of the newly released OPM MERIT HIRING PLAN which will change the way we recruit/staff in the Federal Government going forward. Here’s the major changes: 1. Résumés will be capped at 2 pages. Prior to this it was a common occurrence to have 10 to 20 page resumes that hiring managers had to read through. 2. A focus on Early Career, STEM, and Veteran Recruitment. 3. Phasing out the Self-Assessment or Occupational Qualification Questionnaire and replacing with an actual technical skills-based assessment with a multi-hurdle screening approach.  (Currently a candidate can simply say they are an “EXPERT” and get referred while sometimes blocking REAL experts from getting referred. 4. Applicants for GS-05+ roles must answer 4 short essays focused on:  1. How your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the U.S. have inspired you to pursue a government role  2. How you’d improve government efficiency and effectiveness  3. How you would support the President’s policy priorities and identify initiatives that are important to you and how you would implement them  4. How your strong work ethic has contributed to your achievements *** Candidates will also be required to certify that they are using their own words, and did not use a consultant or AI to complete the application process.*** What these changes mean for candidates:  ✔️ Less focus on federal résumé formatting  ✔️ Descriptive, mission-focused job titles  ✔️ Plain language that actually explains the role  ✔️ Faster hiring timelines (target: 80 days)

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Again, the preeminent VSO in the state of Maryland. It is no wonder they set the gold standard. “At Platoon 22, we work closely with veterans and their families every day, and caregivers are often the unsung backbone of a veteran’s recovery and stability,” said Niki Falzone, Executive Director of Platoon 22 based in Frederick, Maryland. “The findings from the U.S. Government Accountability Office reflect what many of us in the community have seen firsthand, while the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has made meaningful investments in caregiver support, there is still a gap in how effectiveness and impact are measured. Programs can exist on paper and even reach large numbers, but without clear, outcome-driven evaluation, it’s difficult to know whether caregivers are truly receiving the support they need to sustain their own mental health and continue providing care long-term. In Western Maryland, we see this gap even more clearly. There is a real lack of accessible, consistent support for both veterans and their caregivers. That’s one of the reasons Platoon 22 is actively expanding into Washington County with a new office and veteran housing initiatives.” Read more at: https://lnkd.in/e7fZTUwh

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Cyber and cloud leading isn’t surprising. AI at #2 is… and probably not for long. The bigger question: Where are candidates supposed to get real, operational AI experience… not just exposure to tools?

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Major news for veterans and transitioning service members eyeing federal careers: The traditional 5–20+ page federal résumé is being phased out. OPM just launched the new hiring guidance and it’s designed to make federal jobs more accessible to mission-driven candidates like YOU. I've attached OPM's 30-page memo, but I'll also give you the cliff notes👇 Here’s what’s changing: Résumés will be capped at 2 pages. Applicants for GS-05+ roles must answer 4 short essays focused on: 1. How your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the U.S. have inspired you to pursue a government role 2. How you’d improve government efficiency and effectiveness 3. How you would support the President’s policy priorities and identify initiatives that are important to you and how you would implement them 4. How your strong work ethic has contributed to your achievements What these changes mean for candidates: ✔️ Less focus on federal résumé formatting ✔️ Descriptive, mission-focused job titles ✔️ Plain language that actually explains the role ✔️ Faster hiring timelines (target: 80 days) I'd love to hear your thoughts on these changes, especially from those transitioning out of the military or those already in federal service. Let’s keep the discussion professional. 👀 Disrespectful, obnoxious, or knuckleheaded comments will be deleted. This is about helping people navigate change, not tear each other down. Maloney out! ✌

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Effective leaders often operate with a servant heart (genuine care for people) while exercising clear authority and accountability. This creates environments where people thrive, innovate, and deliver results sustainably.

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Words 4 Thought: VA education benefits are intended to support veterans, service members, and their eligible family members in meeting various educational needs, including covering college tuition, identifying suitable schools or training programs, and accessing career counseling. The most prominent program is the GI Bill, which provides financial assistance for education and training. 👍

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That’s not how this works: If you’re separating from the military and planning to file for VA disability, Benefits Delivery at Discharge “BDD” program is a smart option, but there’s several things to understand. The BDD program allows you to submit a VA clsim between 180 and 90 days BEFORE separation (not #dodskillbtidge - PTDY - PTAD - Leave). This window allows the VA to: ✅ Review your Service Treatment Records ✅ Schedule yiyr C&P exams ✅ Begin evaluating your claim before you leave active duty The ‘goal’ of BDD is to deliver a decision within about 3️⃣0️⃣ days after separation. 🗣️ Important reality check ‼️ Submitting earlier in the 180 day window DOES NOT guarantee your claim will be finished SOONER. Processing times can still vary based on: • Complexity of your claim • Quality and completeness of evidence • Availability of C&P exams in your area • Workload at your VA regional office I see a lot of people who want to rush and get the claim in sooner than later, but submit mediocre claims. 😢 Take your time, do it right, so you don’t have to do it twice. In this link there’s a few tips that can help: https://lnkd.in/ex5zdP7y

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🚨 Major Changes to Federal Hiring: OPM Releases New Merit Hiring Plan OPM just rolled out a game-changing hiring strategy, and if you're looking to enter or advance in the federal workforce, this affects you. 🔹 What’s New: Federal hiring will now be faster, targeting under 80 days from start to finish. Resumes must now be condensed to 2 pages—no more federal-style essays up front. Applicants will be required to complete 4 short-answer, policy-driven questions that assess alignment with constitutional principles and agency priorities. (Don’t worry—OPM says a tool is coming to help guide your responses.) Greater emphasis will be placed on skills over degrees, expanding access for qualified professionals from diverse backgrounds. These updates align with the Chance to Compete Act and aim to improve both efficiency and merit-based decision-making across government hiring. 📎 Read the full plan below: OPM Merit Hiring Plan 💬 If you're preparing for federal job applications, now’s the time to update your strategy. Let’s talk about how this impacts your approach. #FederalJobs #OPM #MeritHiring #CareerDevelopment #PublicService #JobSearch #ResumeTips #GovHiring

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Ed Forst, the newly confirmed Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), describes the agency as “the engine room that powers government operations.” His vision centers on enhancing performance, increasing accountability, and modernizing acquisition so agencies can focus on mission delivery more effectively. Under initiatives like OCAS and OneGov, GSA is streamlining the purchase of common goods and services, reducing acquisition burden, and accelerating procurement cycles across agencies, including the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the U.S. Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. These efforts have already enabled federal-wide savings and improved access to AI tools, with 45 agencies leveraging enterprise agreements. Forst emphasizes performance measurement, both absolute and relative to peer groups, to ensure GSA operates with transparency and efficiency. His approach aims to consolidate what’s “behind the curtain,” making government procurement cheaper, faster, and more agile. https://lnkd.in/gKB3b_GA #GSA #GovernmentModernization #FederalAcquisition #GovTech #Leadership #DigitalGovernment #GovernmentOperations #ProcurementReform #AIinGovernment

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I went through TAP in 2024. I sat through the five days. I did the resume workshop. I attended the VA benefits briefing. I completed the military occupational code crosswalk that was supposed to translate my military experience into civilian language. And when I walked out I still didn't fully know how to explain what I actually knew how to do. That's the problem nobody talks about loudly enough. TAP : the Transition Assistance Program, is mandatory for every service member transitioning out of the military. It's been around for decades. And according to Congress, the GAO, and the veterans who went through it, it's not working. Not because of bad intentions. Because it was built for a world that no longer exists. Five days of general transition prep for a veteran with a TS/SCI clearance and deep technical expertise in classified systems is not a bridge. It's a brochure. I know because I was one of those people trying to figure it out alone. There's also SkillBridge, a newer program that lets service members intern at civilian companies during their last 180 days of active duty. On paper it's the right idea. In practice most cleared professionals don't know how to leverage it, the best programs are hard to find, and command approval is getting harder to get. The result is predictable. 200,000 service members transition out of the military every year. Over 60% end up underemployed, working jobs that don't come close to using what they actually know how to do. A third struggle to find full-time work at all. Post-9/11 veteran unemployment recently exceeded the civilian rate. Not because veterans aren't capable. Because the system that was supposed to prepare them failed them before they ever applied. Many of them walk out with clearances that took years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to grant, with technical skills the defense sector desperately needs, and with absolutely no training on how to communicate their value to a civilian hiring manager who has never set foot in a SCIF. The gap isn't effort. The programs exist. The gap is specificity. Nobody built a bridge between what cleared professionals actually know and what the modern defense and technology workforce actually needs from them right now. I've spent the last two years on the other side of that gap, placing cleared professionals, reviewing their resumes, watching brilliant people get passed over because nobody taught them how to translate what they know. That's the gap I'm building toward closing. More soon.

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I attended the American GI Forum National Veterans Outreach Program monthly job fair. Great job AGIF- National Veterans Outreach Program on another successful job fair with more than 20 employers in attendance and over 65 job seekers looking for gainful career opportunities. The American GI Forum (AGIF) National Veterans Outreach Program (NVOP) is a nonprofit organization that provides housing, employment, and wellness services to veterans and their families. NVOP was founded in 1972 by veterans to assist their fellow Vietnam veterans in finding jobs. Today, it primarily operates in Texas and has expanded its services to assist veterans of all eras, as well as civilians and veteran family members. Services offered The NVOP provides a variety of services, including: Housing assistance: Offers permanent housing support, transitional housing, and rapid rehousing with assistance for rent and utilities. They also operate a Residential Center for Homeless Veterans and apartment complexes for elderly citizens. Employment programs: Offers job search assistance, development, and placement. Programs include the Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program (HVRP), which helps homeless veterans rejoin the workforce. Wellness and mental health services: Provides counseling services, including individual, couples, family, youth, and group sessions for mental health and substance use disorders. Peer support services are also available. Many of these services are available virtually to clients throughout Texas. Community support: Operates a "one-stop" service center, a Basic Skills Upgrade learning lab, a clothing closet, and a food pantry. They also host annual events like the Veterans Stand Down. Support for disabled veterans: Manages Veterans Enterprises of Texas (VETS), a sheltered workshop facility that employs a minimum of 75% disabled individuals. The NVOP operates offices in several Texas cities, with its headquarters in San Antonio. Austin Dallas El Paso Fort Worth Houston Plano San Antonio (multiple locations) Killeen To access NVOP services, you can contact the main office or the location nearest you. Phone: (210) 223-4088 or (210) 354-4892

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VA’s TAP Workbook is a great tool for anyone separating or retiring from the military. It helps you stay organized and understand the VA benefits, health care, and services available as you transition into civilian life.

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If you're an employer, don't take this invite lightly. The SkillBridge program enables employers to access, train, and evaluate highly skilled transitioning service members for up to 180 days at no cost (wages/benefits are paid by the DoD). This low-risk "test drive" allows for assessing cultural fit, reduces recruitment costs, and provides access to motivated, disciplined talent. 

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Having known Chad Clay personally for over two decades and having gone through a program with him and Jeff Pottinger in the past, I can attest that I found real and measurable value in their approach to career transitioning, especially for individuals late in their careers. If the seminar below resonates with you, and you are considering it, I'd be happy to share my experience. #NOVA #DC #Veterans #CareerPivot #FederalConsulting #CGI #VA #EPA #DepartmentOfState #USAID

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I had the chance to speak at the ClearanceJobs conference in San Antonio last week and it was a great experience. Mark Chase and I shared a panel on tactful recruiting tips for the cleared community, and the room was packed with people who care about the mission as much as we do. We covered a wide range of topics. Everything from how military service shapes your recruiting style, to scaling a company from one hundred to two hundred, to what actually moves the needle when you are hiring mission driven talent. The honest conversation in the room reminded me that cleared recruiting is its own world. The stakes are real and the work matters. A few themes stood out to me. 💡 Purpose attracts. The best talent chooses impact over perks and mission over noise. 💡Candidate care still wins. Clear communication, steady updates, and genuine conversations keep people engaged through long hiring processes. 💡Veterans thrive when you help them see how their service continues. Sometimes all it takes is framing the opportunity in plain language and showing them where they fit. 💡 Culture and development matter more than people think. Compensation is important, but it is rarely the reason someone stays. I am grateful for the conversations, the questions, and the people who stopped by afterward to share their experiences. This is the work I love. Helping people find purpose in national security and helping companies tell their story in a real and honest way. Tommy Weinert Shiva Schilling Jill Hamilton Robyn K. Laken Kennedy Debra (Bissell) Roese Danny R. Tony M. and for those I missed. Thank you to ClearanceJobs and Gretchen Uhlenhake for creating space for these conversations and for investing in this community. Ready for the next one.

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Career Skills Program - Where Military Skills Meet Civilian Careers. CSP provides transitioning Soldiers with industry-recognized credentials and comprehensive job skills training to significantly enhance their employment prospects.

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Recruitment, Retention, Readiness (and sentiment). These are the three “R’s” that we are constantly evaluating our programs by and work tirelessly to correlate our individual program performance metrics to. By ensuring we are tied to these topline indicators of performance, we demonstrate how military community and family programs are critical to the warfighter. But…there is a 4th area we need to be focused on that is far more subjective, and that is the elusive measure of sentiment. Capturing sentiment is difficult. And even more challenging yet is capturing that sentiment in real-time (or near real-time). Sentiment is critical as it is the preview of how we will do in retention and on a longer generational scale how we will do in recruitment. It is the measure on where our programs are meeting needs. To do this we have to be data hungry and draw on every data point available…the goal is to form a clear sight picture that informs every decision. It is how we stay relevant to those we serve. A major part of this effort (and the reason for this post) is our need to gain insight from every publicly available survey and the results provided. Scientific and non-scientific studies, surveys, and even social media trends all help us gain the insights and improves the speed and effectiveness of the decision making process. Where everyone can help and take ownership in the solution is completing surveys or providing feedback when you get the opportunity. Honest insight generates transparency and helps the entire community calibrate its focus on areas that matter. I am well aware survey fatigue is a very real phenomenon that occurs. Similarly, it is easy to use surveys as therapy to voice all your frustration at once. These are both things we try to guard ourselves against and why we limit the number of surveys we throw at everyone…but my ask is that if you get a survey, please take the time to fill it out and give us the feedback. I promise we read (and agonize) over every datapoint we get. This includes insights provided by other institutions and our MSO friends…everyone is laser focused on supporting the families of our warfighters and we want to encouarage this work. Some really cool efforts are coming that will further our capabilities in this area. In the meantime - thanks to everyone who work to constantly inform the conversation! *Obligatory AI generated science fiction themed metrics dashboard included*

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