HARTFORD, Conn. –
General Dynamics Electric Boat and the Connecticut Army National Guard inked a new deal for the U.S. Army’s PaYS – or Partnership for Your Success - program on October 13, 2022, at the Electric Boat Education Center in Westerly, Rhode Island.
For Guardsmen and Reservists, PaYS allows them to select up to five partner employers that will guarantee them a job interview for a full-time position following successful completion of basic training and advanced individual training. Active Duty Soldiers are eligible after completing their first enlistment.
According to Electric Boat Vice President Emil Casciano, the company is expanding its team from 18,000 to approximately 22,000 employees.
The program is seen as win-win for job seekers and employers alike. “The PaYS program provides our nation’s employers with highly skilled, motivated, and responsible candidates from which they may fill their personnel needs,” said Lt. Col. Giancarlo D’Angelo, commander of the 6
th Recruiting and Retention Battalion.
PaYS has obvious benefit to Soldiers looking to find full-time employment after transitioning off of active duty, but the benefit to the National Guard is more subtle.
“The Army’s priority is readiness. Being ready to fight and win our nation’s wars,” said Brig. Gen. Ralph Hedenberg, assistant adjutant general. “We do that through our people. The Army is the service that is centered not around systems or platforms, but rather its formations and its people. Without the support of employers for our Guardsmen we would not be able to be mission ready to support our nation, state or communities.”
Electric Boat appears to be the first major employer in Connecticut to join the program, but Connecticut Army National Guard leadership is eager to spread awareness among other big companies in the state to bring on more partners and create more opportunities for Guardsmen.
According to their website, PaYS has 1,001 partners, over 2.7 million jobs available, and a pool of nearly 280,000 Soldiers who have signed up for the program at some point.
The connection between Electric Boat and the Connecticut National Guard is nothing new. “As long as I can remember there have always been Soldiers, retirees and family members who have been or are employees at Electric Boat,” said Hedenberg.
To his point, the company’s Veteran Network co-site Lead Devin Beatrice, who gave keynote remarks at the signing, served in and deployed with both the 1-102
nd Infantry Regiment and the 1109
th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group.
For more information on the U.S. Army PaYS program go to
https://www.armypays.com/