Border Patrol seeks the skills of former military.

The head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is recruiting retired military to help protect the nation’s border.

In his “Help Wanted: CBP Wants You” post on the agency’s website, Acting Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan urges former military personnel to enlist in the “frontline,” uniformed workforce to keep the U.S. borders safe. McAleenan says the CBP is looking to hire 5,000 additional border agents and 500 more Air and Marine agents and also “close existing staffing gaps across all three frontline uniformed components.”

McAleenan says veterans’ skills will be “especially valuable” to the cause and promises they will be joining a military-friendly organization:

“If you are a veteran, your skills are especially valuable. Monster and Military.com rated CBP the second best place to work for veterans and military veterans comprise close to 30 percent of our frontline workforce. “CBP offers an unparalleled opportunity for veterans to continue serving and protecting the United States in a work environment that uses and further refines their hard-earned knowledge, skills, and abilities gained in the military.”

Indeed, more than a third (34.4%) of CBP’s new-hires in 2016 were veterans – the second-highest rate in its employer survey - and veterans currently comprise 28.8% of CBP’s total staff, according to the Monster and Military website:

“Of all the companies surveyed, CBP had the second highest percentage of veterans hired in 2016, and the third highest percentage of total workforce. CBP representatives attend national military conferences, advertise in military publications and on websites, and conduct various recruitment and outreach activities at military installations and affiliated organizations."

CBP even has a full-time specialist dedicated to helping employ veterans, and a training program for current retired military, the website notes: