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Veterans Curation Program Alexandria Laboratory to hold Meet and Greet, Aug. 20

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) St. Louis District and John Milner Associates, Inc., of Alexandria, Va., will host a Meet and Greet event at the Veterans Curation Program's (VCP) Alexandria laboratory, Aug. 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Brief remarks will be provided by Col. J. Richard (Trey) Jordan, III, Commander, USACE Baltimore District. The laboratory is located at 816 N. Asaph Street; Alexandria, Va. 22314.

Currently, six U.S. Army, Air Force, and Marine veterans are employed as archaeological technicians in the Alexandria VCP laboratory. The technicians will discuss with visitors the skills they have learned while working at the VCP, and how these skills have prepared them for careers in the civilian workforce.

The Veterans Curation Program opened a laboratory in Washington, D.C. in January 2010, and the laboratory was moved to Alexandria, Va. in 2011. Since its opening, 27 veterans have worked at the Washington and Alexandria locations and most have left the program to find positions elsewhere in the area.

The Veterans Curation Program provides vocational rehabilitation and innovative training for recently separated veterans using archaeological collections administered by USACE. Veterans working in the Alexandria laboratory are being trained in data entry, report writing, photography and scanning technologies. These efforts support USACE's mission of archiving, documenting and recording important archeological materials. As a result, veterans are able to learn important technical skills that can be transferred to potential permanent jobs with government and private employers.

"President Obama called for a new Veterans Job Corps initiative to help our returning veterans find pathways to civilian employment," said the Honorable Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. "This is an incredible program that I talk about every chance I get. It finds a positive and innovative way to put our returning veterans and disabled veterans to work, while protecting and caring for our nation's archaeological materials and associated records."

The Alexandria laboratory is one of three VCP labs funded and operated by USACE's St. Louis District. Other similar laboratories are located in Augusta, Ga. and St. Louis, Mo. The Alexandria laboratory is managed by John Milner Associates, Inc.

For more information on the VCP, visit www.veteranscurationprogram.org.

NOTE: Media interested in attending the event should contact Raini Brunson at 202-761-1808, raini.w.brunson@usace.army.mil no later than Monday, Aug. 19.

SOURCE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers