Connecting veterans with careers within the US Department of Agriculture. That is one of the many duties for Monshi Ramdass, USDA’s Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison.

Part of the Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement under the Secretary’s Office, I help veterans and military spouses explore ways to live successful careers in agriculture by helping veterans and their spouses find employment at USDA agencies connecting veterans with paid apprenticeship through USDA and the Department of Defense’s Skill Bridge Program and working with the Department of Veterans Affairs helping veterans to gain valuable civilian work experience through non-paid internships with USDA agencies.

As mentioned, the liaison works to encourage employment opportunities and agriculture for veterans including through the federal government at USDA.

USDA also works with the Department of Defense Skill Bridge Program where military personnel can be approved by their supervisors for an internship with one of our USDA offices while still earning their military paycheck. Military veterans can also enter into internships on farms across America through this program called Armed to Farm, which is offered by a nonprofit that we work with called ATTRA across 45 states in America, collaborating with farms in those states.

Ramdass provides one example of how the military veterans’ agricultural liaison’s office assists veterans and potential career opportunities with USDA.

There’s a veteran that was recently hired in North Carolina. He is a loan technician, and when he contacted me and asked for assistance with employment, he wanted to get a job where he could work as a loan technician because of the skill and the experience that he had working in the private sector. He was a successful hire, where I assisted him, provided help with resume, etc. And then matching his skill with USDA in the Rural Development who hired him as a loan technician.

More information about USDA’s Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison Department and the services it offers can be found at www.usda.gov/our-agency/initiatives/veterans.