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Yale Reisman enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school and went to basic training just one month after September 11th. He was eager to serve his country and spent two tours in the Middle East before his enlistment ended. Soon, Yale found himself in a different kind of desert.
“I was in a severe depression and pretty much useless,” Yale explains. He didn’t work for two years. Finally a friend plugged him into a job in the mortgage industry in late 2007 – the worst possible time, especially with no experience in the field. “I had no business doing that job,” he recalls with a laugh. Six months into his training, the company went out of business—a discouraging setback.
About that time, a friend brought Yale along to a Wounded Warrior Project event, where he learned about the Warriors to Work Program. He spoke with a representative, who began sending him descriptions of job openings. One job was with a charter airline in Florida. Yale was willing go anywhere to get back on his feet, so he left his home in New York to interview for the three-month training program. In April of 2008, he began work at Miami Air International. After the internship ended, Yale was asked to join the company permanently, and he quickly accepted.
The airline transports a range of passengers, from the military to politicians to sports teams. Yale works in the crew scheduling department, which oversees 150 pilots and 250 flight attendants. Part of his job is to ensure crews are working within the Federal Aviation Administration’s flying regulations. In the year since he began at Miami Air, Yale has refocused and paid off the debt he incurred when he wasn’t working. In the future, he plans to study international relations using his GI Bill benefits.
“I love my job. It’s a small company, and the leaders are former [service members]. It’s like a family here. A lot of my problem finding a job was adjusting to life after four years in the military where you don’t have to make any decisions. That’s difficult enough, but I was also really depressed. Some people have family or other kinds of help in making that transition. Warriors to Work was my helping hand.”
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