Last Thursday, the Utility Workers Military Assistance Program (UMAP) hosted a celebration at the Pritzker Military Library and Museum to honor the 500th veteran to graduate from the Gas Utility Workers Training Program. The Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) established UMAP in Chicago with UWUA Local 18007 and Peoples Gas after identifying a critical need to put veterans who had honorably served their country into skilled careers. The Peoples Gas System Modernization Program (SMP), focused on upgrading over 2,000 miles of aging natural gas infrastructure within the city of Chicago, created the jobs that made the program possible. During the seven-month “training-to-placement” program, veterans develop the technical skills needed to work in Illinois’ natural gas industry through in-the-field training and classroom instruction administered by City Colleges of Chicago’s Kennedy-King College Dawson Technical Institute. The program is a public-private partnership and includes support from multiple partners including the Chicago Federation of Labor Workforce and Community Initiative, the UWUA Power for America Trust, Peoples Gas, City Colleges of Chicago, the Workforce Investment Act, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. For information on how to participate in this program, visit www.power4america.org.