Thousands of Veterans Want to Learn to Code But Can’t

Re:Thousands of Veterans Want to Learn to Code But Can’t by sandworm101 on Friday May 05, 2017 @10:26PM (#14278343)

I met many on the GI bill at my 'brick and mortar' school. They still did not do well. I honestly think people who have only known the military since highschool need a step down program to reintroduce them to civilian-style learning. The concept of sitting in a class for months then writing one all-or-nothing exam was terrifying. They needed constant reassurances that they were keep pace. They wanted weekly testing and assignments. They also had serious reading issues. They could read, but ask them to read more than a few pages of prose and they would zone out. Military manuals, like most highschool textbooks, are written in easily digestible packets, bullet points. University texts are not. Whereas most university students wouldn't have trouble tackling a few hundred pages over a weekend, I saw Iraq vets in apparent combat with books, veins pumping as if they were preparing for an assault.

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Re:Thousands of Veterans Want to Learn to Code But Can’t by iak8god on Friday May 05, 2017 @10:44PM (#14278397)

> The concept of sitting in a class for months then writing one all-or-nothing exam was terrifying. They needed constant reassurances that they were keep pace. They wanted weekly testing and assignments. They also had serious reading issues. They could read, but ask them to read more than a few pages of prose and they would zone out.

This all sounds like pretty much every starting undergraduate student I've ever encountered.

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Re:Thousands of Veterans Want to Learn to Code But Can’t by tyingq on Friday May 05, 2017 @10:59PM (#14278440)

That isn't universally true. The enlisted ranks have some pretty good training in many cases. Navy electronic techs take months of classes that are quite intensive.

Similar for other technical tracks like aircraft maintenance. The bar to entry for these kind of jobs are minimum ASVAB test scores that aren't easy to make.

You may have encountered a lot of ex infantry or similar. They get intensive training as well, just not as cerebral.

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Re:Thousands of Veterans Want to Learn to Code But Can’t by sandworm101 on Friday May 05, 2017 @11:24PM (#14278503)

But the ASVAB tests are precisely my point. They are rapid-fire multiple choice questions asking the taker to bounce between subjects. Doing well in that sort of test means nothing to the standard undergrad assignment of "pick a topic and write a 10-page paper". I once spent an hour explaining IRAC style to a former special forces soldier. Everything he had ever done in the armed forces was to prove that he knew material. He had never been asked to write a paper or give a speech with the intent of convincing others, never imagined that structure was as important as facts.

PSA: While IRAC is generally associated with law school and lawyers, anyone can learn and use it. It really does works.

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Re:Thousands of Veterans Want to Learn to Code But Can’t by tyingq on Friday May 05, 2017 @11:33PM (#14278520)

A special forces guy isn't the best example of someone with the kind of training I'm talking about.

I mentioned the asvabs not as a comparison to writing a paper, but to note there is a bar to get into the highly technical jobs. Similar to the bar created by things like minimum SAT scores for some schools.

Talk to an ex military person that had a highly technical job that required 6+ months of military tech school. They have the skills you are talking about.

Talking about ex military like they are one homogeneous group just doesn't make sense. Skills vary, just as with recent high school grads.

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Re:Thousands of Veterans Want to Learn to Code But Can’t by Inconel on Saturday May 06, 2017 @05:12AM (#14279445)

My only experience with anyone from a SOF background comes from a coworker who is a mechanical engineer but I would think that someone from a special forces background would actually be a fairly good example.

It might not require the kind of very technical training that say Navy nuke school does, but assuming sandworm was talking about proper "special forces", as in Army SF, most of those guys tend to be older, more mature soldiers and I believe all Army SF candidates have to take the DLAB and then attend language school for 6+ months. I would have assumed that sort of environment would actually translate fairly well to undergrad.

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Re:Thousands of Veterans Want to Learn to Code But Can’t by tyingq on Saturday May 06, 2017 @07:57AM (#14279820)

Just pointing out that their training is less read, attend lecture, write a paper. So, they could turn out to be good at that, but it's not something they typically do a lot. But, there are ex-military that have lots of experience with that pattern.

Also, FWIW, I don't buy the premise anyway. Some percentage of fresh HS grads do well at college, some don't. Same is true for military vets. I was trying to pinpoint a specific group that I knew would mostly do well to dispel the notion that vets are somehow not great candidates for it.

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