The Army Reserve established the Employer Partnership Office (EPO) in 2008 in response to an unemployment rate among Army Reserve Soldiers that was greater than that of the comparable civilian population. The EPO has partnered with more than 21,000 employers to build and leverage mutually beneficial partnerships between the civilian and military communities with a focus on developing career and training opportunities for Soldiers, Veterans, and Family members. The EPO’s success did not go unnoticed and served as a model for the Department of Defense program Hero 2 Hired (H2H).

Currently, the Army Reserve is managing a fiscally constrained environment along with a reduction in manning while still providing support to our Soldiers through Private and Public collaboration. EPO serves as the single point of entry for all organizations wishing to partner with the Army Reserve. Because of the success EPO has enjoyed, the office has expanded its responsibilities under the new name, the Private Public Partnership Office. The new office will continue its role with career development and enhancement, but will expand to include three major lines of effort that will advance readiness at the Individual, Leader, and Unit levels.

Lines of Effort

Individual Readiness: In collaboration with organizations that advance physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, family and employment readiness, we increase the overall readiness of our Soldiers, Civilians and Family Members.

Leader Readiness: By partnering with organizations that advance opportunities for civilian employment, professional and trade career development, credentialing and certification opportunities, as well as mentor-protégée relationships, we increase our leader readiness.

Unit Readiness: By leveraging civilian relationships that improve security, environment, infrastructure, health, governance, and education, we increase opportunities to support Theater Security Cooperation efforts of Global Combatant Commands (GCCs) and Army Service Combatant Commands (ASCCs), thereby increasing our overall unit readiness.

Private Public Partnership Approach

As a life-saving and life-sustaining force, the Army Reserve supports a wide range of operations that include humanitarian relief and assistance, support to civilian authorities within the United States and other types of partner-nation capacity building missions. The Army Reserve partners with companies, corporations, foundations, and NGOs that assist with such efforts as providing clean water, a safer environment, improvements for schools and health clinics, medical treatment and life-skills education.

Army Reserve Soldiers live and work in both the civilian and military communities and as such, are intricately linked to the civilian skills and resources, as mentioned above. By introducing partner relationships in support of Geographic Combatant Commands requirements, the Army Reserve is poised to offer greater capability in preventing and shaping operations throughout the world – strengthening national and global security.