Something big is happening near Rapid City. Ellsworth Air Force Base is getting ready to host the B-21 Raider, the Air Force's next stealth bomber. That means years of construction, new contractors, and more support jobs across western South Dakota. It also means more employers fighting over the same local workers.

Here is the part most Rapid City employers miss. Some of the best workers in the region are already here. They wear a uniform right now. Every year, airmen leave Ellsworth and stay in the area because they like it. They own homes in Box Elder, Rapid City, and Summerset. They want to keep their kids in the same school.

These are trained, drug-tested, dependable people. Most local companies never reach them. This guide shows you how to find and hire veterans coming off Ellsworth. It is written for midsize western South Dakota employers who do not have a big recruiting team.

Why is Ellsworth about to change the Rapid City labor market?

Ellsworth AFB sits just outside Box Elder, near Rapid City. It is home to the 28th Bomb Wing, which flies the B-1B Lancer. The base has been a top employer in the area for decades.

Now it is growing. In 2021 the Air Force picked Ellsworth as the first main operating base for the new B-21 Raider. That kicked off a huge building push. The Air Force has confirmed a construction effort estimated at around $2 billion at Ellsworth. New hangars. New maintenance facilities. A rebuilt runway.

Here is what that means for you. More federal contractors are moving into the area. They need workers. National firms are opening local offices. They will hire from the same pool you do. The competition for skilled labor in Rapid City is going up, not down.

So the smart move is to reach the veteran pool early. Before the big contractors lock it up. The people leaving Ellsworth already live here and want to stay.

What jobs do Ellsworth airmen actually do?

The talent coming off Ellsworth is mostly hands-on and technical. This is a bomber base. The work keeps aircraft flying and the base secure. That skill set maps to a lot of civilian jobs in western South Dakota.

Here are the main groups you will see leaving the base.

One more thing to know. Many of these airmen hold or held a security clearance. A clearance means they passed a deep background check. For a defense contractor near the base, that history can save time and money. For any employer, it signals a person who was trusted with serious work.

How do you read a resume from an Ellsworth airman?

Military resumes look strange at first. They are full of job codes and acronyms. An Air Force job code is called an AFSC. You might see "2A5X4" or "3P0X1" on a resume. That is not a typo. It is the airman's career field.

The fix is simple. Read the work, not the code. A crew chief who ran phase inspections on a B-1B is a senior mechanic. A munitions troop is a safety-first materials handler. A security forces member is a trained law enforcement officer.

To help you decode the codes, we build free civilian career pages for each one. Here are three you will see most from Ellsworth: bomber aircraft maintenance (2A5X4), munitions systems (2W0X1), and security forces (3P0X1).

If you use an applicant tracking system, keep one thing in mind. The system ranks resumes by keyword. It does not reject people. A great candidate who used military words can sink to the bottom of your list. So read the strong ones yourself. Do not let the software bury a good hire.

Want more on decoding military records? Our guide on reading military transcripts like the JST and CCAF breaks down the training records these airmen carry.

Which Rapid City industries fit this talent best?

Western South Dakota runs on a mix of trades, services, and government work. That lines up well with the skills leaving Ellsworth. You do not have to be an aviation shop to use these people. The base trains problem-solvers who show up and follow through.

Here is a quick map of who fits where. Use it to picture the airman behind the resume in your own roles.

Notice how wide that list is. The base is not just a source of mechanics. It puts out office staff, cyber techs, and leaders too. If you have an open role in western South Dakota, odds are good an Ellsworth airman can fill it.

Where do you find these veterans before they leave the base?

You have a few good channels. The best plan uses more than one. Start early, because the strongest people get picked up fast.

The state channel is worth a call today. South Dakota's Department of Labor veteran employment services place trained reps in local offices. A Disabled Veterans Outreach Program rep and a Local Veterans Employment Representative are based there. They can do a lot of the early legwork for you. It costs nothing.

For a full playbook on these state offices, see our guide on recruiting through state veteran employment offices. And if you want to work the base directly, read how to recruit through base transition offices.

Why should you move before the big contractors do?

The B-21 buildup brings national firms into the area. They have recruiters and deep pockets. They will target the same skilled airmen you want. If you wait, you compete on pay you may not be able to match.

But you have an edge they do not. You are local and you are staying. A veteran who owns a home in Rapid City wants to put down roots. They do not want to move again. They value a stable employer over a name-brand contractor that might reassign them.

That is the retention story. A rooted veteran tends to stay longer than a fresh college hire. Lower turnover saves you real money. Hire someone who already lives here and wants to stay. You are not just filling a seat. You are lowering your cost to hire for years.

You also do not need a huge budget to do this. Most of the channels above are free. If money is tight, our guide on hiring veterans with no recruiting budget shows how to compete on speed and fit instead of cash.

What mistakes do Rapid City employers make with veteran hires?

Most misses come from small, fixable things. Here are the ones that trip up local employers the most.

None of these are hard to fix. They just take a small shift in how you look at the pool. Read the person, reach them early, and lead with what you can offer that a big contractor cannot.

You can also find these veterans online. Our guide on sourcing veterans on LinkedIn covers the search terms that surface Ellsworth-area airmen. And reaching veterans before their separation date shows how to time your outreach.

How does BMR connect you to Ellsworth-area veteran talent?

Best Military Resume started on the veteran side. We help service members turn their military record into a resume employers can read. That work put a large pool of job-ready veterans in one place. Now we open that pool to employers like you.

The pool is fresh and it keeps growing. BMR adds 1,000+ new profiles every month. We have helped build 65,000+ resumes. A real share of those veterans live in and around bases like Ellsworth. They are already translating their skills into civilian terms. That means less decoding work for you.

If you want to hire veterans near Rapid City, start early and use more than one channel. Call the base transition office. Talk to the state veteran reps. Try a SkillBridge tryout. And when you are ready to see who is in the BMR pool, reach out to access our veteran talent pool.

The B-21 is coming. The talent is already here. The employers who move first will build teams the rest of the market wishes they had. Want more regional playbooks? See how employers work bomber bases in our guide on recruiting near Whiteman AFB, and the metro playbook for hiring veterans in Omaha near Offutt AFB.