LA CROSSE, Wis. -- President Barack Obama wants to help get military veterans back to work.

He announced his Veterans Job Corps initiative on Friday.

It provides incentives for businesses to hire veterans.

The initiative will work to employ veterans in conservation programs and will help train veterans interested in starting a small business.

It will also give out $500 million dollars in grants to police and fire departments that hire veterans.

The goal is to place veterans in jobs that let them use the skills they learned in the military, and jobs like police and fire do just that.

For some local veterans looking to put their military experience to good use, working for the police or fire department is a perfect fit.

It is simply a transition from serving their country to serving their community.

It's been 27 years since police Captain Robert Lawrence started his job in La Crosse.

But if you ask him when his career started, he'll point you back to when he was in the Marines.

"My military service has served me well. It helped me build my resume to be a law enforcement officer," he says.

Just one look around Lawrence's office tells you his commitment to the Marines and the police department go hand in hand.

"My service to my country with the Marine Corps and my desire to serve as a police officer are very similar, to be able to serve my community," he says.

Lawrence says law enforcement gave him an avenue to put his military skills to work, both physical and mental.

"We're training in fire arms and defense tactics and the military trains in those things as well. I also learned self-discipline and attention to detail," he says.

But the police department isn't the only place veterans put their military skills to work.

For Marine veteran Keegan Murphy, it was firefighting.

Murphy says his military experience has made him a better firefighter.

"No two days are the same. To be able to deal with situations that we have and the constant training, I think a lot of that carries over well," he says.

While Murphy developed his skills in the military, it was also where he discovered he wanted to be a firefighter.

He says he realized he wanted to be a firefighter when serving with the Marines on a ship in South America.

Both Murphy and Lawrence say their military experience equipped them for the job they've made their career.

"It takes a certain person to deal with this line of work and I think having my experience in the Marine Corps helped me with that," Murphy says.

"I believe my military service helped me to have the drive, initiative, leadership abilities and attention to detail to help me be successful. I really believe that helped," says Lawrence.