Stewart Battle knew he didn't want to re-enlist in the Army when his active duty ended early this year. But the Pittsburgh native, who was stationed in Fort Campbell, Ky., was also worried about life after the military during an economic recession.

"I have a wife and two children. You have to think about them and what kind of life you're going to make for them," said Mr. Battle, 29, who served tours in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Germany as a transportation specialist.

And so, weeks before completing his military discharge process, Mr. Battle, who grew up on the South Side came back to Pittsburgh to start interviewing for a welder trainee position with the Steamfitters Local 449.

Yesterday, Mr. Battle and Ryan Vatovec, a former Marine, joined Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato as he announced a $311,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry to train military veterans like them for welding jobs in the region's labor unions.

The grant, which will be used by the Steamfitters Local, will fund the Returning Veterans Welding Program, which is scheduled to start in the fall. The veterans will receive 96 hours of beginner welding training during an eight-week period.

"As more troops return home after tours of duty, it's important that we provide tools and resources to help them reintegrate into civilian life," Mr. Onorato said at the steamfitters facility in Duquesne Heights.

"Thanks to this grant, 80 returning veterans will receive quality training in a high-demand field, which will benefit the veterans, local employers and our economy," said Mr. Onorato.

The Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board will coordinate the program and serve as the fiscal agent for the grant in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Building & Construction Trades Council.

County and union officials said the objective of the initiative is to give military veterans basic training in welding, which could position them to enter an apprenticeship with a number of the labor unions in Pittsburgh.

After completing the training program, the veterans will not be guaranteed a job in any one of the region's trade unions, but they will have an advantage over any other applicants for the competitive apprenticeships the unions offer, said Ronald Conley, manager of the county's Department of Veterans Affairs.

"Surveys have shown that veterans are generally good employees. They can work as part of a team; they adapt to working under pressure and they appreciate assistance," said Robert Grom, vice-president of the regional workforce investment board.

Mr. Vatovec, a Cooperstown, N.Y., native who came to Pittsburgh to be with his girlfriend, said his experience as a ground support technician in the Marines helped him solidify what he wanted to do with his life.

"I knew that I would end up in some kind of trade craft," said Mr. Vatovec, 24, who entered the military after high school.

Anyone interested in applying for a position in the Returning Veterans Welding Program should contact Steamfitters Local at 800-253-6960 or 412-381-1133.