Celebrating 35 Years of the National Veterans' Training Institute

Department of Labor Trivia question: What year was the National Veterans’ Training Institute established?

Hints: "Top Gun" was the highest-grossing film, "We Are the World" won four Grammy Awards, and the Chicago Bears won their sole Super Bowl. (Answer: 1986)

This month the National Veterans’ Training Institute celebrates 35 years of helping veterans find meaningful employment. We’re reflecting on how NVTI has evolved over the past three and a half decades to better assist our veterans with the challenges they face in joining the workforce. 

The U.S. Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, or VETS, established NVTI to provide training to service representatives who help veterans navigate their transition into the civilian workforce. NVTI was originally intended to only train 3,200 representatives nationwide, but the curriculum was so effective that Congressional legislation made NVTI a permanent institution in 1991. Funded by VETS, NVTI has trained more than 70,000 veterans’ employment and training professionals since its inception.

As pathways to the workforce evolved, NVTI modernized its curriculum accordingly to meet the unique needs of veterans, now providing classes in leadership, case management, federal grant management and career coaching for special populations.

Before the pandemic, NVTI provided both in-person and online classes, but now conducts most learning online. Participants can take courses through different methods, such as participating in an online cohort, joining live virtual classes or accessing the curriculum online at their own pace.

While things have changed a lot since 1986, NVTI’s mission has remained the same: to further develop and enhance the professional skills of veterans' employment and training service providers throughout the United States. Check out www.NVTI.org to learn more.

Brandon C. Webb is the National Veterans' Training Institute lead for the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service. Follow VETS on Twitter at @VETS_DOL and on LinkedIn.