The American Solar Energy Society's Green Collar Jobs report forecasts 37 million jobs from renewable energy and energy efficiency in U.S. by 2030. To thrive in the green collar workforce, veterans may need to refine skills and perhaps seek additional training to take advantage of this opportunity.

One company in Colorado is trying to ensure that veterans are trained and ready to meet the demand of the ever-expanding growth of the green industry. Veterans Green Jobs trains veterans for employment in energy efficiency and other related businesses. Veterans Green Jobs just graduated it's first team of veteran energy efficiency professionals from the Veterans Green Jobs Academy Home Energy Auditor Training (HEAT) Program in early June. From the Veterans Green Jobs website:

The 15 graduates of this HEAT program represent all branches of the military and all regions of the country. They have successfully completed a rigorous eight-week training program to gain skills in environmental studies, energy efficiency and conservation and weatherization. The Veterans Green Jobs Academy also helps veterans retool for meaningful green careers in land conservation and restoration, green building and retrofitting, disaster preparedness and response, and urban forestry. The Academy is a unique hybrid of classroom and on-the-job training designed to move the experienced, disciplined military veteran through their transition from duty overseas to meaningful work and future careers serving America here at home.

“Veterans Green Jobs is working to mobilize a highly-skilled population to lead the revival of a national service ethic to address our most pressing problems,” said Veterans Green Jobs CEO Brett KenCairn. “That includes setting a standard so that green jobs in this country offer a true living wage, job security, and the knowledge that one’s work in green industries is leading to energy independence, ecological restoration, community renewal and economic prosperity for all Americans.”

Veterans Green Jobs Academy was designed to provide classroom-based and on-the-job training opportunities for military veterans in green jobs through a variety of educational opportunities. One of the goals of this nonprofit organization is to reengage the nation's military service veterans into meaningful careers.

Why are veterans and green energy jobs a good match? According to the HireMilitary.com site some of those reasons may be that:

- Prior military service members have always been a significant part of the energy industry's, oil and gas industry's and energy utilities' hiring plans.

- Service members come out of the military with training that is directly applicable to civilian energy needs, such as nuclear power.

- Service members have a strong sense of service and doing something good. Green technologies appeal to these drives, in addition to being on the cutting edge of new frontiers in the civilian world.

"Many job seekers come out of the military with training that is directly applicable to civilian energy needs, for instance in the nuclear power sector," explained Bill Scott, a vice president of marketing at Bradley Morris, a military job placement company.

Clipper Windpower, a company engaged in wind energy technology, turbine manufacturing, and wind project development, has realized the value of veterans in their business. The vice-president of Project Management and Field Operations, Jeffrey Maurer, said his organization has hired over 80 ex-military personnel to perform a variety of roles in the last year. "The skill sets for military personnel transfer nicely to the advanced wind turbine technology," he said, "especially those with aviation electronics, nuclear population systems, weapons systems, radar systems, etc." He said Clipper's experience with veterans has been excellent.

John Ward, a Navy veteran, is one such example at Iberdrola, a Spanish wind developer. His military engineering skills have proved invaluable as he manages operations at a wind farm in Missouri."For me, it was nice, because it's not just a desk job, it's a field job," Ward explained. "And as a career naval officer, I kind of like to be out and about."

And green collar jobs aren't just about renewable energy. Many states have Veterans Conservation Corps (VCC) programs, which is part of a national movement to get young veterans into green jobs. Some of the focus of the VCC work is on natural resources restoration projects, jobs in forestry, wildlife management and other natural resource fields. Additionally, participants in these programs have found the work they do is healing the land, as well as healing emotional wounds caused by their time in the battlefield.

One of the veterans participating in a VCC initiative in Washington State, Kyle Lemieux, said that his participation has given him purpose following his military service. When he returned from military service, he said to himself, "I'm back, I'm getting out soon, what am I going to do? Am I going to get a steady job, go to college?" Now he has a plan to work as a forestry engineer following graduation from a local community college.