This from The News Tribune: Washington lawmakers want to make it easier for veterans to apply their military training to civilian careers. They're advancing bills in the state House and Senate that would require state agencies to evaluate whether military experience can be applied to a variety of professional licenses ranging from nursing to cosmetology.

Some licenses require hundreds of hours of training and work under supervision - experience that the bills' supports say veterans already have.

"This is fair and right to the person who served, and it's a smart deal for taxpayers not having to spend money or time training people for things they already know," said Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor.

Veterans say the changes are overdue, particularly for high-demand careers such as nursing.

"This is in a field where every time you turn around you hear they're crying for nurses, but here they've got this crop of people they're not going to help get certified," said Mike Dalzell, 59, of Bremerton.

Dalzell retired from the Navy in 2003 as a master chief hospital corpsman with a 31-year career behind him. He couldn't find civilian employment without returning to school that would have compelled him to take basic classes.

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