Western Massachusetts has a hiring problem that hides in plain sight. Employers across Springfield and the Pioneer Valley say they cannot find steady, disciplined people. But one of the largest veteran talent pools in New England sits a few miles up the road.

Westover Air Reserve Base is in Chicopee, right next to Springfield. It is the biggest reserve base in the country. It spans more than 2,500 acres. Thousands of veterans and reservists live and work across the region because of it.

Most of them never land in your applicant pile. They write their resumes in military terms. Your job posts speak civilian. So the two sides miss each other, over and over.

This guide fixes that. You will learn who these people are, what they can actually do, and how to reach them. It is written for a midsize company that wants good hires without a huge recruiting budget. If your team hires around Boston too, see our companion guide on hiring veterans near Hanscom AFB in eastern Massachusetts. Westover is a different base with a different talent mix, and we will get to why.

Why is Westover ARB a talent source for Pioneer Valley employers?

Westover is home to the 439th Airlift Wing, an Air Force Reserve Command unit. The wing has more than 1,600 airmen. It flies the C-5 Super Galaxy, a huge strategic airlift plane. The base also hosts Army, Marine, and Navy reserve units. So the talent is not just Air Force.

Here is the part most employers miss. This is a reserve base, not an active-duty base. That changes everything about the local workforce.

On an active-duty base, people move away every two or three years. They get new orders and leave. A reserve base works the other way. Reservists serve part-time and hold civilian jobs. Many veterans separate and stay put because their roots are here.

So the Pioneer Valley has a stable, rooted pool of military talent. These are not people passing through. They own homes here. Their kids go to school here. They want a good local job and plan to keep it. For a midsize employer, that is a retention dream.

The joint units widen the pool even more. Westover is not just Air Force. Army, Marine, and Navy reservists drill here too. That means you get more than aircraft skills. You get medics, drivers, cyber and comms staff, cooks, and clerks. The mix is broad, and most of it is local.

What jobs do Westover veterans actually do?

A C-5 airlift wing runs like a giant shipping and repair operation. The plane moves outsized cargo around the world. To keep it flying, the base needs a lot of skilled hands.

The most common skill sets fall into a few clear groups. Read the work, not the job title. A title like "aerial port specialist" hides a warehouse and logistics pro.

The trap is the language. A veteran writes a resume that reads like a duty roster. Your team scans it and moves on. The skills are there. The words are wrong for your world.

Here is what that looks like on paper.

Same person. Same skill. One version gets a callback. When you read for the work, this pool opens up fast.

How does hiring a reservist work?

Many people near Westover still serve part-time in the reserve. That scares some employers. It should not. The rules are clear and the payoff is high.

A reservist trains about one weekend a month and two weeks a year. They may deploy at times. Federal law protects their civilian job while they serve. That law is called USERRA. You can read the basics on the Department of Labor USERRA page.

In short, you hold the job open and reinstate them after duty. You also cannot treat them worse because they serve. It is simple to plan for once you know the schedule.

The upside is real. A reservist arrives with current skills and a security mindset. They know how to work in a team and follow a process. For a midsize firm, that steadiness is worth the odd drill weekend.

Where do Westover veterans fit in the Pioneer Valley economy?

The Springfield region runs on a few big industries. Westover talent maps onto each one. This is the part where the local hook pays off.

Healthcare is the largest private industry in Western Massachusetts. Baystate Health alone is one of the state's biggest employers. Military medics, logistics staff, and admin pros move into these roles well. They know charts, supply, and pressure.

Finance and insurance run deep here too, led by MassMutual. Veterans who handled budgets, records, and compliance fit these teams. They show up on time and treat data with care.

Manufacturing still matters in the valley, with names like Smith & Wesson. Aircraft mechanics and avionics techs move onto a shop floor with almost no ramp. Quality control feels familiar to them. So does a safety brief.

Then there is logistics and distribution. The region sits on the I-91 and I-90 corridor. Aerial port and supply veterans already run warehouses, forklifts, and freight in their sleep. If you move product, this is your pool.

New England has more of this talent than one region can hold. If you draw candidates from a wider net, our guides for hiring veterans in Newport, Rhode Island and near Portsmouth Naval Shipyard cover nearby markets.

What about tax credits for hiring veterans?

Money helps a hiring case land with your CFO. There are two credits to know. One is federal. One is from Massachusetts. The rules are different, so read this part with care.

The federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit expired at the end of 2025. It is not available for 2026 hires unless Congress renews it. Congress has renewed it many times before, often after a lapse. So watch for news, but do not promise the credit on a 2026 hire yet. Hires made on or before December 31, 2025 can still qualify. Our full WOTC guide for employers breaks down how the credit works when it is active.

Massachusetts also has its own veteran hire tax credit. It is for small businesses with 100 or fewer full-time employees. It can be worth up to $2,500 per qualified veteran per year. Rules and eligibility change, so confirm the current terms on the Mass.gov veteran hire tax credit page before you count on it.

A tax credit is a bonus. It is not the reason to hire a veteran. The reason is a steady, skilled worker who stays. Treat any credit as icing, and your plan stays sound even if the rules shift.

How do you actually reach these candidates?

Knowing the pool is half the job. Reaching it is the other half. You have a few strong channels near Westover.

Start with the base transition office. Departing service members and reservists pass through it. You can also work with SkillBridge. It lets service members intern with civilian employers before they separate. Note the wording. When someone gets into SkillBridge with you, they are not hired yet. They are still on active-duty pay and doing a tryout. You make the real offer after they separate.

Two of our guides walk through this in detail. See how to become a SkillBridge host company and how to source veterans through the SkillBridge directory.

You can also tap a ready-made pool. Best Military Resume was built by a veteran to help service members turn their experience into plain civilian resumes. That is the exact translation gap we talked about. The platform adds 1,000+ new profiles every month and has helped build 65,000+ resumes. These are veterans who have already put their skills in words your team can read.

Budget tight? Our guide on how to hire veterans with no recruiting budget shows free and low-cost ways to reach this same group. And the federal Department of Labor VETS employer page lists more hiring tools and resources.

How do you keep a veteran hire once they start?

Hiring is only step one. The real win is a hire who stays for years. Veterans want that too, but the first weeks matter.

A good interview sets the tone. Ask about the actual work and skip the trick questions. Our guide on how to interview a veteran candidate gives you a simple, fair playbook.

Then plan the first 90 days. Veterans come from a world with clear roles and standards. Give them the same clarity on day one. A written onboarding plan does the trick. Our 90-day onboarding plan for veteran employees walks through it step by step.

What is the first step for a Springfield employer?

You do not need a big program to start. You need one open role and a plan to fill it with the right person. Westover has given the Pioneer Valley a deep, steady talent pool. Most local employers just never learned how to tap it.

Pick your next open role. Rewrite the post in plain, task-based terms. Then go straight to a pool of veterans who have already translated their skills into civilian words. That last step is the one that saves you the most time.

Start small and let it grow. Hire one veteran and treat them well. Word travels fast in a tight military community like the one around Westover. A good first hire brings you referrals you never had to chase. That is how a single role turns into a steady pipeline.

Best Military Resume can connect your team with veterans in this region and beyond. To get access to the talent pool and start a hiring conversation, visit our partner-with-us page. You can also learn more about hiring through BMR on the hire page. The talent is already here. The next move is yours.