Embry-Riddle Helps Veteran Cross SkillBridge to New Aviation Career
When JJ Diaz started his transition to civilian life after a 14-year military career, he found the perfect program at the perfect time.
An email he “almost overlooked” led him to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Aviation Maintenance Technology SkillBridge program, which connects veterans and those transitioning from the service to career opportunities with committed aerospace industry partners such as AAR, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, HAECO Americas and Standard Aero.
SkillBridge, in turn, led him to a position as a shift manager with AMT hiring partner Pratt & Whitney in South Florida.
“Everything just worked out, I couldn’t have planned it any better,” said Diaz, a 36-year-old Puerto Rico native. “It was almost poetic.”
“JJ made my job easy,” said Tricia Bethea, Associate Campus Director at Embry-Riddle Worldwide’s Hurlburt Field Campus. “He was always efficient when documents were requested. I am sure this is just one of the many attributes he has that caught the eye of Pratt & Whitney.”
Diaz joined the Army as an aircraft mechanic in 2007 after several years at the University of Puerto Rico, fulfilling a desire to serve his country that had been with him since he was a kid. He was stationed in South Korea and at several posts in the United States before being assigned to South Florida as a recruiter.
“I was able to learn a lot about leadership,” Diaz said of his time in the service and his transition to a recruiting role. “I found success as a recruiter, but I was always thinking about getting back into aviation as a career.”
In 2019, Diaz was preparing to leave the Army and started online classes at Embry-Riddle’s Worldwide Campus, setting his sights on a B.S. in Engineering degree. That’s when an email about the university’s SkillBridge AMT program caught his eye.
“It really was a golden opportunity,” he said. “I love aviation, I love working in a shop and I love working with my hands.”
The innovative program, which already helped dozens of Marines at Camp Lejeune-New River make the leap to great civilian careers, has been expanded to include Ft. Carson, Colo., Ft. Bragg, N.C., Camp Pendleton, Calif., and Jacksonville, Fla. It’s also available as a virtual program through Embry Riddle’s Hurlburt Field campus in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.
Diaz joined SkillBridge through the online cohort at Hurlburt, working with instructor Kevin Beatty to build the knowledge he would need to test for his Airframe and Powerplant license. But academic and practical experience are just a part of what the SkillBridge AMT can offer transitioning service members.
Among its key features is a guaranteed job interview with top aerospace companies. For Diaz, who said he learned how to “walk the talk” as a recruiter, getting in front of the hiring team at Pratt & Whitney was all he needed.
His military background combined with the SkillBridge program to open a new door.
“That exposure made the difference, and that’s something I could not have gotten without SkillBridge,” Diaz said. “I got an offer within one week.”
Diaz plans to take his A&P certification test soon and will continue working toward his engineering degree at the Worldwide Campus as he builds his new career at Pratt & Whitney.
“We’re excited to see so many of our SkillBridge graduates receiving employment offers from our industry partners” said Angela C. Albritton, Director of Military Relations and Strategic Initiatives at Embry-Riddle’s Worldwide Campus. “We’re grateful for Pratt & Whitney’s strong support of the program.”
To those contemplating their next step after the service, Diaz offers this advice:
“If you have the chance to take part in a SkillBridge program, do whatever it takes to make it happen,” he said. “This is the kind of program that can take you wherever you want to go.”