PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Veterans say finding work after retiring from the military can be tough at times, but job fairs like Hiring Our Heroes make it a little easier.
"When you see employers come out and target a community that needs their patience and their understanding, it warms your heart, it gives you a warm fuzzy that every veteran needs to feel after coming back from overseas," said United States Navy veteran Timothy Crable.
Crable has spent the last 21 years in the U.S. Navy, but he's retiring in February and wants to have a job lined up when that time comes. So, he joined hundreds of veterans at Patrick Air Force Base Wednesday for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Hiring Our Heroes job fair.
Over 40 employers from Harris Corporation to Lookheed Martin set up booths at Wednesday's event.
"They're here to hire, we're not just talking. This is a very exciting event. We're thrilled to have this for our veterans and I think this is the best veterans job fair we've seen in Brevard County," said Franck Kaiser, chairman of the Veterans Resource Committee, a sponsor for Wednesday's event.
Hiring Our Heroes is a nationwide initiative aimed at helping veterans and their spouses transition back to civilian life.
Matching veterans and their skills with job opportunities is what the job fair is about and employer Cindy Riley with Kahl Center says she saw a ton of potential.
She said, "We are at every Hiring Our Heroes because it's so important to get our veterans back to work."
Since Hiring Our Heroes started in 2011, more than 1,200 companies have hired over 20,000 veterans and military spouses.
Harris Corporation says they have a strong initiative in place this year to increase their veteran hires.
"We like to see how we can help employ the veterans in the local area because it only makes our company stronger," said Harris Corporation's employment supervisor Mike Mills.
The folks from Hiring Our Heroes and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce say they plan on having another veterans job fair in Brevard County sometime next spring.