NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Jan. 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) is expanding its efforts to create employment opportunities for military veterans and their families. The company announced today that it has joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s “Hiring 100,000 Military Spouses” campaign to raise awareness of military spouse unemployment, which rates four times the national average, and to encourage employers to make military spouse hiring commitments. As part of the campaign, HII plans to hire 50 service member spouses over the next three years.

“As the largest employer in Mississippi and the largest industrial employer in Virginia, nothing is more important to us than growing our workforce through the recruitment, hiring and retaining of veterans and their families,” said Bill Ermatinger, HII’s executive vice president and chief human resource officer. “This campaign reaffirms our commitment to supporting the men and women who have served our country.” HII employs more than 6,600 former members of the Armed Forces, as well as current members of the National Guard and Reserve.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII’s Technical Solutions division supports national security missions around the globe with unmanned systems, defense and federal solutions, nuclear and environmental services, and fleet sustainment. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 42,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: