RICHMOND – Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) offers employment opportunities to veterans when they return to civilian life.

According to a press release, veterans make up about 11.8 percent of the 11,640 men and women employed by the VADOC.

“The department has a well-established relationship with the Virginia Department of Veterans Services thanks to a special effort, the V3 initiative, which links veterans with employers.

VADOC began its V3 partnership in October 2015 and has hired more than 480 veterans since then,” officials said in the release. “Today, the Virginia Department of Corrections is the largest state employer of military veterans, and in the next year, the VADOC would like to hire at least 100 more veterans.”

The Commonwealth of Virginia boasts a large veteran population. While Virginia’s population ranks 12th nationwide (8.4 million), its number of workforce veterans ranks fourth at 476,000.

For more information about V3, visit www.dvsv3.com. More information on the VADOC can be found at www.vadoc.virginia.gov.