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JBSA News
NEWS | Oct. 14, 2022

Joint Base San Antonio celebrates National Disability Employment Awareness Month

By Ginessa Mejia-Rivera 802nd Force Support Squadron Civilian Personnel Section Human Resources Specialist

National Disability Employment Awareness Month is marked throughout October. This celebration’s history started decades ago in 1945 when Congress enacted Public Law 176, which birthed what we know today as the National Disability Employment Awareness Month, or NDEAM.  

Back then, It was only for a week and called National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week. In 1962, the word “physically” was removed to make the celebration inclusive of individuals with disabilities that were not physical.

Twenty-six years later, the celebrations were extended to a whole month by Congress and renamed National Disability Employment Awareness Month in 1988.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month is an opportunity to reaffirm the Department of Defense’s commitment to recruit, retain, and advance individuals with disabilities throughout our workforce.

It is also a time to recognize the many and varied contributions America’s workers with disabilities make each and every day across the nation. People with disabilities are a diverse group that includes people with sensory, physical, and mental conditions. Disabilities cross lines of age, ethnicity, sex, race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.

The Department of Labor has chosen the 2022 theme of “Disability: Part of the Equity Equation.”

“A strong workforce is the sum of many parts, and disability has always been a key part of the equation,” said Taryn M. Williams, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy. “People with disabilities make up a wonderfully multifaceted group. By recognizing the full complexion of our community, we can ensure our efforts to achieve disability inclusion are, in fact, truly inclusive.”

In observance of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the Joint Base San Antonio Affirmative Employment Program, Civilian Personnel Section, will host a Schedule A and Reasonable Accommodation Information event from 2-3 p.m. Oct. 25 at the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston Military & Family Readiness Center at 3060 Stanley Road, building 2797.

For more information, contact the Civilian Personnel Section at 210-221-1401 or 802FSS.FSCA.MBX-JBSA-FSH-CPS@us.af.mil.