FORT HOOD – Army Spc. Chloe Roberts knows that transitioning to civilian life has challenges, but she’s taking steps to be fully prepared.
Roberts is interning at the Exchange’s Fort Hood store as an end user computer technician through the Department of Defense’s Operation Warfighter (OWF) program. OWF matches wounded, ill and injured service members with federal internships during their recovery and rehabilitation. The program assists with service members’ reintegration to duty or transition into the civilian work environment.
“When you’re in the Army, you eat, sleep, breathe Army,” said Roberts, who is part of the 62nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion unit at Fort Hood. “It’s hard to transition back to civilian life. This internship has already helped a lot.”
Since May, Roberts has been interning full time during her internship, which focuses on helping Exchange associates with IT issues such as setting up printers, troubleshooting PIN pad errors, connecting devices to the network and more. She assists with point-of-sale issues at the Fort Hood Exchange, restaurants and mall vendors.
“We’re trying to show Chloe as much as possible about the business side of the Exchange,” said mentors Peggy Smithson and John Verregoth, the Fort Hood Exchange’s end user computer technicians. “She’s always ready and willing to work.”
Roberts plans to use her IT skills in her next chapter: working in law enforcement in the Houston area. Her long-term goal is to have a career in cybersecurity.
The program has also been a win for the Exchange.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better intern,” Smithson said. “Chloe is awesome.”
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