22
NCCCONEWS
ACT
FEBRUARY 2015
aswell as veterans transitioning
back to civilian life. As a founding
member of theCoalition for
ProfessionalCertification in the
late90s,NCCCO successfully
pressuredCongress to expand
theG.I. Bill to cover the reimbursement
of certification fees, and theorganization
was a chartermember of theProfessional
CertificationAdvisoryBoard (PCAB)
established to advise theDepartment
ofVeteransAffairs (VA) onpersonnel
certificationmatters.
Now,NCCCOhas received continued
approval from theVA forproviding
CertifiedCraneOperatorExaminations
toveterans as specifiedunder Section122
of theVeteransBenefits andHealthCare
ImprovementAct of 2000 (PublicLaw
106-419).
This lawprovides for reimbursement
of fees for licensingor certification tests,
the successful completionofwhich
demonstrates an individual’spossession
of theknowledgeor skill required to enter
into,maintain, or advance in employment
in apredetermined and identified
vocationorprofession.
“CCO certification examinationswere
initially approvedby theVA in2001,”
notedNCCCOChief ExecutiveOfficer,
GrahamBrent, “andwehavebeen
privileged to facilitate access byveterans
toprofessional credentialswhomight
otherwisenot be able to afford it ever
since. Frankly, it’s anhonor forNCCCO
CCO certification
examinations were
initially approved by the
VA in 2001 and NCCCO
has facilitated access
by veterans to
professional credentials
ever since.
tobe able to assist inveterans’
transitionback to civilian
employment in thismanner.”
TheVA reimburses the fees
associatedwith theCCO
certification exams aswell as the
costs of trainingbyotherparties (since
NCCCO conductsno training itself).
Payment is issued after aveteran submits
proof of payment toVA, and it is charged
against theirGIBill entitlement. Testing
for activemilitarypersonnel canbe
taken anywhere in theworld through
theDoDDANTESprogram, forwhich
NCCCO is also an approvedprovider.
Practical examshave evenbeen
conductedon activemilitarybases such
asBagramAirfield inAfghanistan. For
more information aboutCCO exam fee
reimbursement andDANTES, visit
■
NCCCO assists returning
veterans, servingmilitary
VCOOnline
Verification an
outstanding
success
Less than two years after becoming
available,more than 4,000 individuals
representing over 2,700 organizations
have registered to useNCCCO’s “Verify
CCOOnline” (or “VCO”) system, an average
of about 170 new users amonth. During
this time, there have been 150,000
page views during30,000 sessions, with
more than half of the sessions logged by
returning visitors and nearly a quarter by
userswho have logged onto the system at
least 10 times.
This rapid adoption by certificants and
employers alike shows that the online
verification system has filled a need for
up-to-the-minute information about the
CCO certifications individuals hold, ensuring
that only thosewho are qualified are
actually employed in the categories for
which they have demonstrated the requisite
knowledge and skills. NCCCOCEO, Graham
Brent, said.
In addition tomajor industrial and
construction crane users, the system has
beenwidely used by federal, state and local
government agencies, includingOSHA and
theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Users
from all 50 states and theDistrict of
Columbia, aswell asCanada andAustralia,
have registered to use the system.
VCO allows the credentials of CCO-
certified individuals to be instantly verified
via the Internet and can be accessed at
no cost from theNCCCO home page or
directly by using a special address,
T
heNationalCommission for
theCertificationofCrane
Operators (NCCCO) has a
longhistoryof assisting servingmilitary
personnel in their certification efforts,
CCO practical exams have been conducted as
far afield as Bagram, Afghanistan.
VerifyCCO
Certifications
Here
