TOPS in Its Field
TROA's Officer Placement Service makes a valuable contribution.
By Lt. Gen. Michael A. Nelson, USAF-Ret.

If I were looking for a new career, which I definitely am not, I know where I'd be today (May 1). I'd be at the TROA's Officer Placement Service (TOPS) Career Fair in downtown Washington, D.C. For the second year, Col. Buzz Buse, USMC-Ret., director of TOPS, and his team are opening the doors on a one-day smorgasbord of work opportunities devoted to active duty and retired military job seekers of all ranks and their spouses. More than 120 eager employers have secured places in the convention center, awaiting the arrival of hundreds of skilled, motivated, disciplined, and loyal prospective employees.

So why tell you about this when I know you'll read about it a month after it happens? Well, the career fair provides a great opportunity for me to give TOPS a plug. Thousands of TROAns who have taken advantage of TOPS services over the years know it well, but many others may not appreciate what a great job the six people in TOPS do for our members (and many, many others) day in and day out.

I'm proud to say I got this job through TOPS. I signed up for TOPS after I retired in 1994, and within a few weeks the TOPS Job Bulletin, which was mailed in those days, had announced that TROA was searching for a new president. I did some research and concluded, "Why not me?" Needless to say, I'm a believer.

Since then, the objective of helping job seekers hasn't changed, but the methods have. TOPS is now online, and the job bulletin is refreshed every day. We also file résumés electronically and thereby offer employers an opportunity for matching. And we have established a list of volunteer network contacts who agree to have their e-mail addresses posted for TOPS participants to contact, with particular focus on geographic areas. (If you want to know more about TOPS, visit our Web Base, www.troa.org/tops.)

We also have two officers, Col. Jerry Crews, USA-Ret., and Col. Dick Crampton, USA-Ret., who travel almost all year across the country to military bases and posts giving lectures on making the transition to civilian employment. These sessions, advertised by the local transition office, are open to people of all ranks and are very popular. (If you'd like to get their schedules, look at our Web Base or on page 89 of the magazine or call TOPS at (800) 245-8762, ext. 547.)

And there's more: We offer, at no cost, to anybody who asks for it a terrific booklet on finding work after leaving the service, "Marketing Yourself for a Second Career." Plus, we have a regular feature in The Retired Officer Magazine, full of advice about what can be a daunting process. Then, if you're in our area of Old Town Alexandria, drop in to have a look at our library on the first floor, surely one of the best-stocked collections anywhere of material devoted solely to job hunting.

TOPS tends to be very important if you're looking for a job, then disappears off the scope when you're happily employed or fully retired. But I hope all of you, no matter your circumstance, will join me in giving a cheer for Buzz and his supremely dedicated staff. It's hard to quantify the full payoff of TOPS in improving the lives of people it helps or in building early confidence and trust in our organization, but without question, it is one of the best investments we make.