Employee and Community Well-Being 43 In accordance with the White House's pledge to America's workers, General Dynamics has committed to offering more than 7,500 new educational and training opportunities for American students and workers over the next five years. As part of that commitment, we partnered with the Virginia Ready Initiative (VA Ready). VA Ready identifies businesses in the health care, skilled trades and technology industries, connecting them with the 23 community colleges in Virginia that train and prepare students who want to learn new skills in the hopes of finding sustainable careers. Service Member Outreach Providing service member outreach and assisting and honoring military members, veterans and their families is also a priority. We support a variety of programs, such as the Sentinels of Freedom, a national nonprofit that provides severely wounded post-9/11 veterans with comprehensive personal support. Our sponsorships include: y Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Army Ten-Miler, which raises funds for the Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation program y National Military Family Association, which strives to stand up for, support and enhance the quality of life for every military family y Semper Fi Fund, which provides urgently needed resources and support for combat- wounded, critically ill and catastrophically injured service members and their families A recent Sentinels of Freedom participant, Rahul “Harp” Harpalani, Captain, U.S. Army, was the first infantry officer to return to combat with an amputated leg. After recovering, he returned to serve for an additional five years and then left the Army to pursue his higher education goals. With the support of GD Mission Systems and its employees, SOF enabled Harp to focus on obtaining his master's degree and pursue his goal of becoming a foreign service officer.