WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and U.S. Representative Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) today encouraged former employees of the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) in Gulfport to take part in an informational session next week to discuss job opportunities.

The session for former employees, hosted by AFRH, is scheduled for 10 a.m. CDT, Thursday, Sept. 30, at the AFRH-Gulfport Theater.  The session comes following a request by the Mississippi lawmakers to assist former employees.  The new $194.4 million AFRH-Gulfport facility is slated to formally open this fall.

“The opening of the new Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport is a milestone, which serves as a reminder of the ongoing recovery effort in Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina hit our coast five years ago,” said Wicker.  “I appreciate the AFRH holding this session to help former employees apply for jobs at the new facility, and I encourage any former employee to attend.”

“This session is intended to help former employees understand the hiring process and the prospects for employment.  Losing the Armed Forces Retirement Home to Hurricane Katrina was a blow to Gulfport, but I believe we can look forward to the opening of a new facility that will be an asset to veterans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” Cochran said.

“I am glad that the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport will be opening soon.  I am sure that the veterans who have been displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina look forward to coming back to Gulfport.  The Office of Personnel Management, the Bureau of Public Debt and the AFRH need to continue finding ways to assist former employees in order to get their jobs back,” Taylor said.

 The session will include:
• An overview of the operations of the new Gulfport facility.
• How to apply - different hiring avenues.
• Resume preparation tips.
• What documents are required for application, and why.
• USAJobs - how to use it.
• Re-employed annuitant rules.
• Application of Veterans’ Preference Rules.
• A list of contractors who have (or will have) employees at the Gulfport facility.

For those unable to attend, and for anyone else interested, information from the presentation will be available at www.afrh.gov.

If former employees are interested in attending, please contact Monica Fragello at (228) 897-4401.

Teresa Johnson serves as the point of contact for former employees seeking employment at the AFRH.  She can be reached at (304) 480-8370 or Teresa.johnson@bpd.treas.gov.

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