Politics & Government

Wounded Warriors Put Dollars to Work in Elkridge

Online Trading Academy in Elkridge was recently certified by the Department of Veterans Affairs for its success with Project VETS, a financial trading scholarship program.

Despite its camouflage, based in an office park on Dorsey Run Road, Project VETS has attracted national attention.

Project VETS—which stands for Veterans Educated in Trading Skills—offers scholarships for wounded veterans to learn the skills of professional-level online trading. 

Since its inception in May, Project VETS has served approximately 50 disabled veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan.

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“We’ve got several who are triple amputees,” said Col. Paul Arneson, project officer. “To be a good trader, you have to have your wits with you but you don’t have to do a whole lot physically.” 

Arneson, who is retired from the Air Force, helped design the program after volunteering at the old Walter Reed hospital, where he met soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan looking for an outlet.

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“They want to do something constructive, and they can’t go back to the military because many of them have some disability,” he said. “One of the things they kept saying was, ‘I can’t just sit around—what am I going to do? How am I going to work?'”

Through a partnership with the Online Trading Academy in Elkridge, Project VETS offers wounded vets an introduction to the world of online trading. 

Arneson said that the instructional program has been valuable given the landscape of economic uncertainty: “It’s an alternative to unemployment.”

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate among military who've served post-2001 is 11.5 percent; the national average is 9.4 percent.

Joshua Himan, a Marine who retired after being injured by an explosion in Afghanistan, said in a Project VETS video that he has turned trading into a job where his financial know-how does the heavy lifting.

"I won't let my money be lazy," said Himan, who was hospitalized for two years with a spinal injury. "I worked hard to get it."

While he admitted it wasn’t for everyone, Arneson said online trading seemed to be a good fit for military personnel.

“It’s almost a perfect match. They’re very rule oriented [at the trading academy]. It’s kind of like a military organization—very strict,” said Arneson.

“The kinds of courses that are taught at this school, they have very strict guidelines,” he continued. “You never take a trade unless you know exactly what you’re doing and have a calculated entry and exit.”

The courses involve live online trading so students receive field experience from the classroom.

After months of Project VETS’ existence, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has taken notice.

“The VA has recognized this online training academy in Elkridge as a location that they will pay for continuing education,” said Arneson. “We were very excited.

“The Online Trading Academy is the first non-college-credit granting school to be certified by the Department of Veterans Affairs for funding through the V, R & E program,” he said.

The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service (VRE) is a government-funded initiative to help veterans find jobs and become more employable.

So far, three people have been granted the VRE scholarship through Project VETS, according to Arneson, and one of them has gone on to start his own trading company.

Just as students are expanding their portfolios, Project VETS may expand too.

“This could be a nationwide effort,” said Arneson.

The Online Trading Academy, which has 38 branches worldwide, is in discussions about replicating the effort at other offices.

For 2011, the Online Trading Academy branches in Baltimore and Washington have pledged $2.1 million toward Project VETS scholarships.

Nonprofit organization Veterans One Resource, which supports efforts to help military personnel transition into civilian life, is also assisting with funding.

From Project VETS' current locations in Elkridge and Tysons Corner—which draw students from Fort Meade, Fort Belvoir and Bethesda—leaders project nothing but future growth.

“We’re hoping in 2012 to bring in more veterans,” said Arneson. “It seems because of the war, we have an influx of wounded warriors that are eligible.”


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