A Marine Corps photo illustration depicts a 2010 advertisement for the Camp Pendleton Transition Assistance Management Program. (Michelle Brinn/U.S. Marine Corps) In October 2001, less than a month after the 9/11 attacks, the first American troops began combat operations in Afghanistan. Nearly two years later, the war in Iraq began. Over the next two decades, about two million American service members answered the call to serve in these conflicts. The wars may be over, but America’s duty to the veterans who returned is not. Transitioning from military to civilian life can often be a difficult challenge. This reality is especially true regarding their return to the civilian workforce, beginning a new career or resuming a former one, and building financial security. The good news is that there are real concrete actions that we as a society can take to ensure our nation’s veterans and their families are successful in this transition.
The generation of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan looks quite different than previous generations of troops returning home. The post-9/11 wars were the first extended conflict to depend on an all-volunteer force, meaning many soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines deployed multiple times. The long duration of the conflict also meant that troops born after the war began later fought in it as young adults. Because military service is often a family tradition, some families even saw multiple generations — parents and their children — serving in the same conflict.
The economy is also different from what earlier veterans experienced. Today’s modern economy demands new and constantly evolving skill sets, often on highly technical issues. However, employers do not always understand how professional skills developed in the military can translate to the private sector. Often civilian hiring managers do not understand the unfamiliar terms and jargon used in the military. The irony is that many skills common in the military, such as engineering, IT and logistics, are in high demand by private sector employers.
These effects are compounded for veterans with disabilities who face unique circumstances returning to the civilian workforce. The current generation of veterans has the highest level of […]
Working together, we can do more for veterans returning to the workforce