Two Fort Hood Soldiers approaching retirement and one preparing to leave the military are getting a jump start on civilian life through Exchange internships in partnership with the Army’s Career Skills Program.
Sgts. 1st Class Rosario Lopez and Jay Quiles, along with Spc. Cyela Wilks, began the program March 4 and will be immersed in the Exchange experience through early July.
Quiles and Wilks will undergo on-the-job training in retail, and Lopez will train in Services. The Soldiers will remain on the Army payroll during the program, which is part of the Army’s Transition Assistance Program for Soldiers preparing to enter civilian life.
Each will be assigned a coach and work in different areas of the Fort Hood main store or services.
“You’ll experience what a day in the life of an Exchange manager looks like,” Chief of HR Learning Jessica Provan told the participants. “When you step into the shoes of a manager at the Exchange, you have the opportunity to make a difference. And you will encounter that, probably in your first week of being on the sales floor or doing the services route.”
The Exchange is one of several CSP partners at Fort Hood, and the Exchange rotation is designed to help the interns decide whether they want to pursue a career at the Exchange.
Quiles has already decided that he would like to start working at the Exchange after the program ends.
“This program is everything,” he said, “It gives me the time while I’m in the military to get prepared rather than jumping in feet first. I’m a wheeled vehicle mechanic, and the logistics side of that has a lot of things that line up with retail—getting your items, making sure your orders are correct, getting your bench stock squared away.”
Lopez had taken TAP classes and was trying to decide what to do in civilian life when she met with Exchange Senior Talent Manager Cynthia Horn.
“I told her what my goals were,” said Lopez, who has a side job as an event decorator. “She said, ‘Since you’re going to be an entrepreneur, your best bet is Services, because you learn the skills you need to bring customers in.”
Quiles and Lopez are 20-year Veterans who have both deployed, Quiles to Iraq and Afghanistan and Lopez to Iraq.
“Within my first four years, I was deployed for 11 months,” said Lopez, who did two tours in Iraq. “I remember the Exchange truck—we loved it because it had everything we needed.”
Wilks went to a CSP meeting where she learned about various programs, but also chose to Exchange after speaking with Horn.
“The Army is all I know,” said Wilks, who has served for three years. “I’m looking for something different, something new. It’s going to be a big change.”
Wilks served eight months in Poland, where she visited the Exchange’s troop store in Zagan.
“We were about an hour away and we also had a truck come by every week,” she said. “It was convenient because it had a lot of things I needed. I was shocked when I saw an actual store in Zagan.”
Each Soldier will conduct several case studies on such topics as motivating teams, developing collaborative relationships, fostering change and more. In late May, the interns will visit Dallas headquarters, where they will meet with Chief Operating Officer Marla Randolph and be briefed on several directorates’ operations.
The interns will have weekly check-in with Army Lt. Col (Ret.) Al Rideau, senior talent manager for military recruitment, who transitioned to civilian life while working at the Exchange.
“The Career Skills Program internship plays a vital role in supporting our transitioning Soldiers as they prepare for the next chapter of their lives,” Rideau said. “The Exchange is fully committed and honored to stand with the men and women we serve.”
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