This program is offering Amazon Web Services training for veterans

Last year, Amazon announced plans to hire 25,000 veterans and military spouses around the country.
This being Amazon — a company that runs cloud services as well as ecommerce that’s changing retail— some of those jobs will be in tech. However, veterans aren’t necessarily prepared for these careers right when they exit the military.
So the company is working with the U.S. government to provide training, as well. A local site will begin efforts this month. Fifteen veterans transitioning from Fort Meade will start a program at UMBC Training Centers that’s designed to prepare them for jobs working with Amazon Web Services.
The four-month program includes intensive training in Linux, Apache, networking, cybersecurity fundamentals, MySQL, and shell scripting, said UMBC Training Centers’ Homer Minnick, who is himself retired from the military. The Columbia-based centers offered AWS and cybersecurity training.
“This program came about because Anne Arundel Workforce Development [Corporation] has a grant that is specifically geared toward transitioning military and veterans, said UMBC Training Centers President Kent Malwitz. The work will help them to “be better prepared for their career after the military,” he said.
The new program brings involvement directly from AWS, who helped shape the courses. While there’s not a guarantee that AWS will hire the trainees, the program is geared toward providing a baseline so vets are ready for tech careers.
The program runs 16 weeks for 16 hours a week, with classes in the evenings. The first course is on July 10.
With many tech jobs open that don’t require a college degree, there’s a push to increase nontraditional training for all communities. Increasingly, veterans are among the groups in that conversation.