Rob Smedley

"I was in charge of the largest satellite communication facility in the Army," says Rob Smedley, a quality assurance manager with Peckham, Inc. "I figured it'd be easy to find a job, and it wasn't so easy."

Smedley retired as a chief warrant officer due to medical issues after 16 years of active duty, where he worked in various information technology (IT) related roles, but still, his extensive experience wasn't enough for many commercial companies.

"A lot of employers said I didn't have any experience, which was demoralizing, shocking," he says. "I have 3,800 military training hours in technical fields…as well as 89 college credits towards a bachelor's degree. From my perspective, I was a pretty good candidate."

Following his retirement and subsequent job search struggles, Smedley became depressed and as he says, began "making poor choices in general."

The turning point, Smedley says, was when his vocational rehabilitation counselor encouraged him to look at jobs with Peckham, Inc., an AbilityOne® authorized provider.

"Since I have a very extensive IT background, they were like, 'You would be perfect for our IT support center,'" says Smedley.

As a veteran, losing the structure, support system and community found in the military can be difficult. However, Smedley points out that employers can take even small actions to ensure that veterans are successful, saying, "Just to go into a place and the first thing they tell you is, 'Hey, we have a veterans support group. You want to join it? Just having that is so comforting.'"

Smedley first joined Peckham as a contact center agent, but quickly proved his skill and was promoted to be a quality assurance manager.

Now, Smedley listens to IT support calls for all contact center agents, to identify where they did well or can improve their services to callers and the federal government customers.

"I like the ability to improve our quality service to our customers," says Smedley.

Smedley hopes to see the AbilityOne Program continue to expand its support for veterans with disabilities, saying, "There needs to be something in place from either the government, the military, or both, helping veterans when they get out to reintegrate. And just because someone has a disability, doesn't make them any different than the other veteran or any other person."