You run a midsize company near Hinesville or Savannah. You need to hire. And a few miles down the road sits a huge pool of trained, screened talent. That is Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield. Most local employers drive past it every day and never tap it.

Fort Stewart sits in Hinesville. Hunter Army Airfield sits in Savannah. Together they form one Army installation. They are home to the 3rd Infantry Division. That post covers about 288,000 acres. Thousands of soldiers leave the Army every year from this installation alone.

Here is the part that matters for you. A lot of them want to stay right here. Their kids are in local schools. Their spouse has a job in town. They bought a house off Highway 84. When their contract ends, they are not chasing a job in another state. They want one near Fort Stewart. That is your hiring pool.

This guide shows you how to recruit veterans near Fort Stewart. It is written for the midsize employer who does not have a giant recruiting team. You do not need one. You need a clear plan and a little local knowledge.

Why is Fort Stewart such a strong local talent pool?

Most of the talk about hiring veterans focuses on big national programs. That misses the point for a local business. The advantage near Fort Stewart is simple. The talent is already here. It refreshes every single month.

Soldiers separate from the Army on a rolling basis. Some finish a 4-year contract. Some retire after 20 years. The 3rd Infantry Division and its support units cycle people out all year long. A steady stream of trained workers hits the local job market every month.

These are not entry-level hires in the way you might think. A 25-year-old E-5 may have already led a team of eight people. They have run real equipment. They have hit hard deadlines. They passed a background check to wear the uniform. That is rare in a normal applicant pool.

That low rate is a signal. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the 2025 veteran unemployment rate at 3.5%. Nonveterans sat at 4.2%. Veterans get hired fast. So the soldier near Fort Stewart who just separated will not wait around. If you want them, you have to be in front of them early.

What kinds of roles can Fort Stewart veterans fill?

The 3rd Infantry Division is more than infantry. It has aviation, artillery, logistics, sustainment, and medical units. Hunter Army Airfield runs heavy aviation operations. That means the talent coming out of this post covers a wide range of jobs.

Do not box veterans into one type of work. Read the resume for the work itself, not the unit name. A soldier from a sustainment brigade may be a strong fit for your warehouse or parts department. A motor pool sergeant ran a maintenance shop. A medic handled high-pressure care with no room for error.

Not every soldier is in combat arms. Plenty wore the uniform and never fired a shot in anger. They fixed trucks, ran supply rooms, coded systems, and managed people. If you only picture an infantry rifleman when you hear "veteran," you will miss most of the pool. To read these resumes well, see our guide on how to evaluate a veteran resume.

How do you read a Fort Stewart veteran's resume?

This is where most local employers trip up. A veteran's resume can look strange at first. It is full of unit names, rank codes, and military terms. So a busy hiring manager skims it and moves on. That is a mistake. The work behind those terms is often exactly what you need.

Your job is to translate, not to dismiss. Take a job title like "Motor Sergeant, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade." Strip the unit. What did the person actually do? They ran a maintenance shop. They led mechanics. They owned the readiness of a fleet of vehicles. That reads as a maintenance shop lead in your world.

Watch your applicant tracking system here. Veterans use military words for civilian skills. They write "convoy operations" for what you call fleet routing. They write "supply NCO" for what you call an inventory manager. Your ATS racks and stacks resumes by keyword. A strong veteran can sink to the bottom of the list because the words do not match. They are not weak. The words just differ.

So search both languages. When you look for warehouse talent, search military terms too. Try "supply," "logistics," and "sustainment," not just "warehouse." For more, read our guide on how to read a military job title on a resume. It also helps to understand what military rank tells you about seniority.

What is the best way to reach Fort Stewart veterans?

You have a few solid channels. None of them need a big budget. They need you to show up where soldiers already are. The best part is that Fort Stewart and Hunter run their own transition support on post.

Every separating soldier works with a transition office on post. That office wants local employers in the room. They want to send their soldiers to real jobs nearby. So reach out and ask how to get involved with their hiring events.

A word on SkillBridge. It is a work tryout, not a hire. The soldier is still on active duty and still on military pay during it. You make a job offer after they separate, if it is a fit. It is the lowest-risk way to test a candidate before payroll. Learn how to use it in our guide on how to become a SkillBridge host company.

You do not have to wait until a soldier separates. You can reach them in their final months. That is how you beat the bigger companies to the best people. Read our guide on how to source veterans before their separation date.

Why does a midsize company win near Fort Stewart?

You might think the big national brands have this locked up. They do not. Near Fort Stewart, the midsize employer has real edges. Soldiers value them more than a famous logo.

The first edge is speed. A separating soldier has a hard timeline. Their pay stops. Their housing changes. They need a job by a date. A big company can take months to move a candidate through hiring. You can make an offer in a week. That speed wins people.

The second edge is roots. Many of these soldiers want to stay in the Hinesville and Savannah area for good. They are not looking to relocate every two years anymore. A stable local job is the dream after a decade of moving. You offer exactly that.

The third edge is ownership. Soldiers led real teams young. They do not want to be a tiny cog. At a midsize company, a sharp veteran can own a function fast. You can hand them a shop, a shift, or a region. That kind of trust is hard to find at a giant firm. It is also a strong reason veterans stay.

How do you keep a Fort Stewart veteran once you hire them?

Hiring is half the job. Keeping a good veteran is the other half. A bad first 90 days can lose a great hire fast. Veterans came from a world of clear standards and real feedback. Give them that and they stay.

Set a plan for the first three months. Tell them what good looks like. Veterans thrive on a clear mission and a clear standard. Vague goals confuse them, because the military never worked that way. A simple onboarding plan goes a long way. See our 30-60-90 onboarding plan for a veteran manager.

Your managers matter most here. A manager who micromanages will frustrate a veteran fast. A manager who sets the goal and gets out of the way will keep them for years. So coach your team leads before the veteran starts. Our guide on training managers to retain veteran hires covers this in detail.

What does it cost to hire a Fort Stewart veteran?

Cost is the right question for a midsize budget. The good news is that the core channels near Fort Stewart cost almost nothing. You do not need a paid program to reach this pool. You need time and a few local relationships.

Getting in front of the post transition office is free. A SkillBridge tryout costs you no wages, because the soldier stays on military pay during it. Local hiring fairs are low cost or free for employers. The main thing you spend is attention, not money.

Some employers ask about tax credits for hiring veterans. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit was the main one. It expired at the end of 2025. It is not available for 2026 hires unless Congress renews it. Congress has renewed it after past lapses. So check the current status with the IRS before you build it into your math.

So do not plan your hiring around a tax credit that may not be there. Plan it around the talent. The real return near Fort Stewart is a trained worker who shows up, leads well, and stays put. That value does not depend on any credit. For more on no-cost sourcing, read our guide on how to source veterans without paying for a booth.

Where do you find Fort Stewart veterans who are ready to hire?

You can do all of this yourself. You can drive to the post, work the transition office, and wait for hiring fairs. That works. But it takes time, and time is the one thing a separating soldier does not have. There is a faster path.

Best Military Resume runs a pool of veterans who already built civilian-ready resumes. Many of them list a target city and the type of work they want. So you can find people near Fort Stewart, Hinesville, and Savannah who are ready to work now. The pool grows by over 1,000 new profiles added every month. We have helped veterans build over 60,000 resumes.

That means the words are already translated for you. You see civilian skills, not raw military codes. You see who wants to stay local. You skip the slow part of veteran hiring. To tap the pool and start hiring near Fort Stewart, reach out about BMR's veteran talent.

The talent is here. It is local, trained, and refreshed every month. You do not need a national program to reach it. You need a plan, a fast hiring process, and a willingness to read past the uniform. Do that, and Fort Stewart becomes the best hiring channel your company has.

Brad Tachi, Founder of Best Military Resume