Duckworth Visits Chicago Non-Profit Helping Vets Transition into the Workforce in High-Skill, High-Paying Jobs

Press Release

Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (IL-08) today visited Code Platoon, a Chicago-area non-profit working to help Veterans transitioning into the civilian workforce learn advanced computer coding skills and find high-paying jobs in the information technology sector. During her visit this afternoon, the Congresswoman met with Code Platoon founder Rod Levy as well as the owner of a partner company that hires Code Platoon graduates. She also spoke with a class of Veterans currently enrolled in the immersive, 16-week coding boot camp about her work to help servicemembers transition into the civilian workforce.

"Our Veterans guarantee the quality of their work with their lives and they deserve every opportunity to achieve the American Dream they fought for," said Congresswoman Duckworth. "In Congress, I worked to pass legislation to make it easier for servicemembers to turn the skills learned in the military into the credentials they need to enter the civilian workforce. I'm glad to see that Code Platoon is working in our community to help Veterans get trained for and find high-paying technology jobs, and I look forward to working with them to support our Vets."

Code Platoon's immersive program teaches software development skills to beginners with little or no technical background, and supplements its course with professional development in areas like job counseling, help with interview preparation, and employer matching. While tuition for these courses could cost as much as $14,000 per person, Code Platoon works with a number of sponsor organizations to reduce Veteran enrollees' tuition to roughly $1,500--an almost 90% reduction in costs.

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