On Veterans Day, I want to acknowledge and honor the men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces ... as well as the families, friends, and coworkers who have supported them.

Cisco is a military friendly company and we are proud to be recognized today as a Military Friendly? Employer by Victory Media.

Cisco's corporate veteransprogram started in June 2011. It 1is focused on helping veterans find meaningful jobs and providing access to career training resources. For example:

• TheIT Training and Certification programlaunched by Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers and First Lady Michelle Obama in April 2013. This pilot program fast-tracked transitioning military personnel through IT training and certifications from Cisco and similar companies, and then matched them to high-demand civilian jobs. Nearly 400 veterans enrolled in training as part of the pilot program and 59 percent of those who had transitioned out of the military say it helped them get a new job.

• Oursupport of the U.S. Military Pipeline.With seed finding from Cisco, Futures, Inc., a software-as-a-service provider, developed a cloud-based talent exchange platform that connects service members with civilian employment. The U.S. Military Pipeline, along with its predecessor H2H.jobs, has documented over 250,000 military-to-civilian hires since Jan 2013.

• Our Cisco Networking Academy programis offered on more than 20 military bases. And, veterans like Warren and David Neal can use the GI Bill to enroll in courses at community colleges and universities.

• Cisco is also a founding member of the100,000 Jobs Mission, a coalition of 170 companies committed to collectively hiring 200,000 veterans by 2020. Meet some of the veterans we've hired in this video:

• Employee support.Veterans and veterans advocates alike participate in our Veterans Enablement and Troop Support Employee Resource Organization (VETS ERO). This group supports service members, active and retired, here and abroad, by creating greater awareness of veteran causes and helping veterans connect in our workplace and their local community. One of the many activities they engage in is organizing the annual Veterans Corporate Technology Day to bring job-seeking vets to Cisco campuses.

Although the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are drawing to a close and interest in veteran causes may be waning, many of our veterans struggle in their everyday lives. Some of these challenges are life long and as part of Cisco's overall corporate social responsibility (CSR) undertakings, we are working to ensure that their needs are being addressed.

As a simple gesture of appreciation, if you know any military veterans, please thank them for their service today.

Learn more about Cisco's Veterans Program at csr.cisco.com.