In August 2018, Caliber Collision Center opened its newest Changing Lanes Academy at their Falcon location, which is the only one in El Paso County. The academy offers training in the collision and auto body industry for interested military men and women transitioning out of active duty to civilian life.Doug Willberg, director of technical training for Caliber, said the program began in 2016 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with 10 soldiers. ìOur current enrollment is 97, with 24 of them training in Falcon,î Willberg said.The Changing Lanes program is 18 weeks long, broken up into three six-week segments called phases, he said. The academy has one instructor for each phase who focuses on skills for that particular phase of training, which allows the program to have three ongoing classes of participants at any given time, Willberg said.Peter Mahmood, Fort Carson recruiter for the academy, said qualified soldiers must be within 180 days of their separation date from the military and must get permission from their chain of command to participate. The soldiers approved for the program are released by Fort Carson to attend classes at the Falcon location Monday through Friday for 10 hours each day of the 18-week program, he said.ìNinety-five percent of the student soldiers at the Falcon location come from Fort Carson,î Mahmood said. ìThey are going through the ëSoldiers for Lifeí program (sponsored by Fort Carson), where they get a career skills briefing and we talk about what opportunities are offered to them as they transition out of military life. If they express an interest in automotive repair, we move forward to see if they are qualified for the program.î Five percent of the trainees are from other area military bases.Participants do not pay for their training through the Changing Lanes program; instead, it is paid for internally through Caliber, Willberg said. ìThe reason we pay for the program is because of the caliber of people we are bringing on board,î he said. ìThe core values they have in the military are the same core values we have as a company.îWillberg said participants get real-world experience by working on vehicles throughout the program, exposing them to what they would experience in an automotive shop. If they successfully complete the training and coursework, participants can leave with up to nine I-CAR (Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair) certifications and a max ASE (National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence) certification, he said.In addition to the I-CAR and the ASE certificates, the graduates also receive a Mobile Air Conditioning certification†and $12,000 worth of Snap-On tools, he said. ††ìWe do not require our students to have a background in the industry or even a mechanical background,î Willberg said. ìThey have to have the strong desire, the want and the will. They need the attitude and the aptitude. Through this, they can earn a very lucrative income.îIn addition to the soldier students, the Changing Lanes program has started accepting Calibur employees who are the ìbest of the bestî for internal training, Willberg said. These participants could be anyone from a detailer to a shop helper whose general manager believes they have the right attitude, he said.ìThey live Caliberís core values,î Willberg said. ìWe give them the opportunity to participate in the program by placing them in an apartment for the 18-week program. We house them and pay for the program.îQualified Calibur teammates must have been with the company for at least one year; they will receive the same training as the soldier students because they have proven themselves to be top performers in their shops, he said.Willberg said training is not over once the participants graduate. ìTo ensure their education continues to grow, we place them with a selected mentor,î he said. ìPlacement really focuses on which locations have the right mentors for the people we are sending out. If we do not have mentors in place, it just does not work.îThe mentors work with the newly hired Calibur teammates for the first year, Mahmood said. ìWe really give them every opportunity to succeed, from the trainers at the academy to the mentors,î he said. ìThey learn the most current procedures and safety guidelines. It is a great opportunity for the soldiers.îDonating a vehicleAs part of their training, participants repair a vehicle for an organization called†Recycled Rides, a national organization that helps struggling people get back on their feet, Willberg said. “An insurance company donates the vehicle to us, and we repair it,” he said. “We do not charge any money for it, and we get vendors to supply parts and we supply labor and time.”The current graduation class, whose graduation ceremony was March 29 at Fort Carson, chose someone from a field of many candidates, to receive the vehicle, Willberg said. This year, the graduates chose a single father, who is a military veteran, with a 2-year-old daughter. “With this vehicle, he will have the ability to support his family,” he said. “We want to make sure we are helping some of the people in these types of situations so that the next generation of people have the best opportunity they can to spring forward.”Willberg said in addition to the car, the graduates donated their own money to purchase a car seat for the 2-year-old.
