Should We Reintroduce the Veteran Employment Assistance Act?

Guest Post

Should We Reintroduce the Veteran Employment Assistance Act?

By Marie Owens



Undoubtedly, the economic dynamic of employment in the United States has changed dramatically since the end of military conscription by the United States government. While all males over 18 years of age are still required to register for the draft, the lottery has not been active since the end of the Vietnam War. Similarly, while educational assistance based on past military status has been available in varying degrees since that time, employment assistance has been nominal, relying on veteran status priority in hiring since the end of the war. Thus, as it becomes tougher and tougher for veterans to find jobs and re-enter the work force once they have returned from overseas, many people, particularly those that have a criminal justice degree, have begun to wonder -- should we consider reintroducing the Veteran Employment Assistance Act?

The Employment Problem

Many of those who plan for a full military career often opt for the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) education program, being ushered into the military with an advanced rank as a commissioned officer. Other enlisted servicemen enter the military with a particular assignment in mind and come out of the service with training and education they have received during their tour of the duty. These individuals who complete their tour with an honorable discharge are commonly placed quickly with positions secured before their Estimated Termination of Service (ETS).

However, there are also many soldiers who enter the military as foot soldiers and often experience trouble securing employment when they return from what may have been multiple tours of duty in armed conflict. This due to the fact that these individuals have often been trained for special missions, and while this work is great, there simply is not an abundance of employment opportunities for people with their job titles (paratroopers, artillery specialists and tank operators) and skill sets in the United States.

Thus, for the myriad soldiers who fill active combat military roles there is a specific need for employment assistance, particularly for those who may have entered the military with a weak primary educational background or because of regional employment opportunities. Some of these veterans are good candidates for long-term training if they show a capacity for academics. While on the other hand, some are good candidates for industrial certifications. In any case, the majority of veterans would simply like assistance in securing employment with a salary that is at least comparable to what they were earning while enlisted. It is a general consensus that they have earned that benefit.

In the past, many of these servicemen were covered by the S. 3234 and was designed to build on the existing restrictive legislation, allowing veterans to use educational benefits while drawing a stipend during their training period. It would also broaden the approved training alternatives, enhancing the current 9/11 GI Bill of Rights and the National Guard Employment Enhancement Program.

The Congressional Budget Office studied the financial impact of the legislation and the cost amounted to an average of $1 per person in the United States. Yet, even with one-fifth of the Senate body signing onto the legislation, it did not make it to the floor. This means that the laws that are currently in force are all that veterans have to rely on when it comes to finding a job when they return from overseas.

Disabled Veterans

The fallout of the Middle East military conflicts has created a new generation of veterans who have enlisted, often on salesmanship of the different military branches, and been strapped into an armed conflict that was never anticipated. In addition, many have been commissioned back into active combat or had tours extended because so many of people have decided to avoid military enlistment as a viable means of building a career. As a result, many of those who enlist to fight are coming home as multiple amputees or suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from concussive head injuries. This has created a specific demographic within the veteran community.

This particular group is at severe risk of being ostracized by potential employers regardless of the sacrifice that they have given for their country. Their sacrifice is much more than the time and battle scars. It is a life altering experience that deserves case-by-case attention. Therefore, introducing legislation to assist these veterans and then allowing the bill to "table," or expire, is for many citizens an unacceptable action of the United States representative body.

Conclusion

It is well understood that the U.S. military is the primary peacekeeper in the world. In fact, the American way of life is largely a result of the work that all military veterans have done to secure what many Americans take for granted. However, the employment market is shifting dramatically as the military does its necessary work overseas. As a result, many veterans have come home to find that there aren’t any jobs available, or none that are applicable to the skill set they have acquired while enlisted. Although there are standard educational opportunities for veterans to improve their knowledge base, just as there are for the civilians, this section of the U.S. society has clearly earned serious consideration for employment programs that will provide them with extra help when integrating back into society after being overseas. These programs should be similar to the Veteran Employment Assistance Act, and should ensure that veterans can obtain employment in the field of their choice, given their individual abilities. The on-the-job training that they receive in the military is often not applicable to the world at home and it is time for the same Congress that sent them into battle to help them readjust when they return home.

Marie writes for the blog at criminaljusticedegree.net and as a prospective law student in Washington state, is particularly interested in criminal law and gender issues. She writes to promote criminal justice education, and teaches martial arts in her spare time.

Some veterans fear their service is more of a liability than an asset

This is wrong on so many levels, it really is hard to know where to start. Let's start with the National Guards and Reservists. For them, being without jobs as this article suggests, because of fear they will be redeployed, shows the ignorance of employers. They are missing hiring people they already depend on. National Guards and Reservists show up every time there is a disaster right in their own community. Doesn't matter what time of the day it is, how tired they are, what else they have going on in their own lives, or even if their own home has been destroyed. They show up to take care of others. Team work? Do you know anyone else so able to set everything else aside, they have risked their lives with other members of their team in combat? Following orders? Do you know anyone else able to follow orders to the point where they could be ordered to do something that could very well kill them? These men and women are good enough to depend on when an emergency calls them to action but not good enough to hire so they can pay their bills and be able to stay in the communities.

For other veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, along with the citizen soldiers, coming home to join others in their age group should make them more attractive to employers for the above reasons and beyond. We complain that most young people are too self-absorbed and detached. They lack discipline and are disrespectful. Face it. They show up late for work, for classes, turn in assignments late and whine when they "don't feel good" so they call in sick and make other people pick up the duties they are not doing. They cannot communicate unless they have a cell phone in their hands and can text what they want to say. Don't even ask them to compose a letter because you'll end up with a bunch of text code instead of real words.

Veterans on the other hand have proven they are not self-absorbed. They spent a year, or more, without being able to call in sick no matter how sick they really were because people were counting on them to be there. Their lives depended on it. They showed up on time. They are respectful. They are disciplined. They also know how to think fast on their feet. They do not crack under pressure. They do not walk away from something just because it is hard to do. For all the qualities they bring to the job, there is one more, no other employee can honestly say they know what it is like to be willing to die for someone else, unless they are members of law enforcement or emergency responders.

What's the worst that can happen if they are hired? Nothing more than hiring any other employee. No one knows what someone else is like until they are hired and have spent enough time on the job to have proven themselves. Every new hire comes with the same set of risks. Will they show up on time? Do their jobs? Be all they say they are during the interview? Will they get along with other employees? No HR director knows anything about anyone they hire but they decide to take a chance.

The excuse of the possibility of them being redeployed is nothing more than an excuse. Hire any woman in her 20's or 30's and there is the possibility of her getting pregnant and needing maternity leave. Do they avoid hiring her because she may need some time off to have a baby?

For all the excuses HR directors can come up with to not hire a veteran, there are more reasons to hire them once they understand how tested these men and women really are.

The employment situation is even worse for Reserve and National Guardsmen, whose jobless rate was 14 percent in July 2010.

Veterans' Struggle: A Recovery That's Leaving Them Behind
Posted by Adam Sorensen Friday, April 1, 2011
By Natasha Del Toro
March's jobless numbers, released Friday, offer some hope of a rebound in the labor market, but things aren't so easy for Iraq and Afghanistan-era war veterans.

According to the Department of Labor statistics, the unemployment rate for those returning soldiers in 2010 was 11.5%, compared to 9.7% for non-vets. And while the overall metrics are improving, veterans' plight is actually getting worse. So far this year, their jobless rate climbed to 15.2 percent in January and 12.5 percent in February.

That's why two dozen veterans from the across the country stormed Capitol Hill this week to meet with members of Congress. Their mission: to lower the unemployment rate by the end of the year by pushing a jobs bills package targeted specifically at veterans.

It's part of a campaign by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), a non-profit organization that advocates for veterans' issues. “If you want to support the troops, support veterans, hire them,” said Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA's founder and executive director.

The legislative package includes job training and transition assistance for vets, tax credits for employers that hire vets and a comprehensive study of how military skills translate into civilian jobs.
read more here
A Recovery That's Leaving Them Behind

From PBS
Returning Vets Face a New Battle

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

Unemployed veterans, congress wants your resumes

Vets can put resumes into Congressional Record
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 14, 2011 15:41:57 EST
An Illinois congressman is promising out-of-work veterans the opportunity to have their resumes published in the Congressional Record, the official record of debate and proceedings for the House and Senate.

He is promising attention, but not jobs.

“Sending me your resume will not get you a job, but it can help force Washington to end the unemployment problem once and for all,” said Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who launched his effort last week.

Jackson spokesman Andrew Wilson confirmed Monday that the congressman’s intent is to put the resumes into the Congressional Record “in addition to using the stories in floor remarks, speeches, etc.”

The first four people to take him up on the offer are a retired Navy telecommunications expert from San Diego, a former Army supply officer from Burbank, Calif., a retired Air Force technical sergeant from Snow Hill, N.C., and a former Navy radioman from Bradford, Pa.

Their resumes appear in the Feb. 10 Congressional Record as part of Jackson’s effort to call attention to the plight of veterans who are having problems finding work.

“Service to our nation is an honorable profession, and we should honor that service by seeing that every veteran has a job when their service is over,” Jackson said.

“When you risk your life for your country, we should make sure you have a life when you return,” he said. “No veteran should be left questioning how they will feed their family, wondering about their self worth or fretting about their financial future.”

Jackson said veterans who want their resumes published in the Congressional Record should e-mail them to
resumesfromveterans@mail.house.gov
read more here
Vets can put resumes into Congressional Record

Unemployment jumps in December for young vets

Unemployment jumps in December for young vets
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jan 7, 2011 9:59:55 EST
Labor Department employment statistics released Friday show that young veterans continue to have serious and growing problems finding work in a tight job market, while older veterans are doing better than the general population.

The Jan. 7 release of December data shows the national unemployment rate fell slightly, from 9.8 percent in November to 9.4 percent in December, and that the unemployment rate for all veterans over the age of 18 remained steady, at 8.3 percent.

For younger veterans, the new report shows a dramatic increase in unemployment, from 9.4 percent in November to 11.7 percent in December.
read more here
Unemployment jumps in December for young vets

Fox News Kilmeade should be ashamed of himself

For starters, when I lost my job at a church 2 1/2 years ago, I didn't get unemployment checks. As a church they didn't pay into the system. I thought I was lucky when I got a temp job here or there but otherwise, after working all my life and being unemployed once before in my adult life, I ended up not being able to afford to do what I do as a Chaplain. I work on average 35 hours a week online for free but it used to be over 70. Now much of my time is spent trying to find work and worrying about how to pay my bills.

Kilmeade has said a lot of stupid things in the past but this one really made me sick. It's not about me because even if benefits are extended, it won't do me any good, but it will do a lot for other people through no fault of their own found themselves out of work while people like Kilmeade get paid to make fun of them and use them as part of some kind of sick, twisted political game. Still it gets worse than that. Does Kilmeade ever read actual news or is he too busy reading talking points? See the problem is, veterans have a higher unemployment rate than civilians do.

June unemployment rates rise for veterans

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 2, 2010 12:39:16 EDT

The unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly in June, to 8 percent overall and 11.5 percent for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, a sign that expanding programs aimed at helping veterans find work are not working in a stagnant job market.

June employment statistics released Friday by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics show the overall unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly from 7.8 percent in May. Still, the unemployment rate for veterans remains lower than the overall national rate of 9.5 percent.

The national rate shows a slight improvement over the 9.8 percent unemployment rate reported for May. The Labor Department report shows, however, an overall decline in the number of jobs in the U.S. after only about 83,000 new jobs were created in the private sector and the federal government eliminated 225,000 temporary positions for Census workers.

For Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, many of whom are entering or re-entering the job market after overseas deployments, the June unemployment rate is 11.5 percent, up from 10.6 percent in May.
read the rest here

June unemployment rates rise for veterans

While I end up reading real news and seeing reports like this, I then get to hear what people end up claiming like the people over at FOX. I get to know what real suffering is like and what price is being paid by our troops and veterans. I get to read about their lives but people like Kilmeade end up being paid to avoid the truth because it does not fit their agenda. People like him only understand what it's like when they have to go thru it and then they wonder where their help is going to come from. I wonder what it was like for an unemployed veteran to hear those words said on TV?

Kilmeade: Maybe expiring unemployment benefits will make people ‘sober up’
By David Edwards and Ron Brynaert
Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Fox guest bashing benefits can't keep talking points straight

Covering the standoff on unemployment benefits, The Huffington Post's Arthur Delaney has complained about lawmakers on both sides of the aisle "who suspect the jobless of preferring not to work."

Pundits and guests on Fox News Channel, in particular, have been advancing similar opinions.
read more here
Maybe expiring unemployment benefits will make people sober up

Are veterans being discriminated over PTSD or just because they are veterans?

This would be easy to consider as a factor behind the high rate of unemployment with combat veterans, if there has not been a long history of it. When Vietnam veterans came home, work was hard to come by. Employers hired non-veterans over Vietnam veterans all the time and when they did hire a veteran, they were usually lousy jobs beneath what they would have been hired for without being deployed. PTSD was not even discussed until 1978 and not even acknowledged until the 80's by the VA.

Honestly when we consider the fact there are only 23 million veterans left in this nation and even less combat veterans, the simple fact is, they are an unprotected minority. Few employers even consider veteran's status when hiring. Maybe in the back of the mind of the HR interviewers they could be thinking about PTSD but considering how few in this country even know what PTSD is, that is highly unlikely.

Employers look for education and training but they do not consider how these men and women have been trained to do whatever it takes to get the job done, to think fast on their feet, to be mission focused and know what it is like to work as a team to get the job done. They don't consider they are used to working in unpleasant working conditions, long hours, lousy food and little sleep. While they are usually readily hired for law enforcement and fire departments, few other employers understand how much the veterans can bring to the company along with loyalty.

When it comes to hiring a veteran, employers just don't know what they're missing.

Vets Discriminated Against Over PTSD?
Some Say Employers May Assume Vets Have PTSD

BALTIMORE -- Some Marylanders have said there's invisible discrimination over post traumatic stress disorder that may be keeping veterans -- even those who don't have the illness -- from getting hired.

PTSD is an emotional illness that can follow combat duty or any life-threatening event.

Richard Day calls himself mentally wounded after having lived with PTSD for nearly 30 years.

"I've had a panic attack on a bus, and people are trying to talk to me and I can't relate to them because I feel I am trying to keep myself alive," Day said.
read more here
Vets Discriminated Against Over PTSD

June unemployment rates rise for veterans

June unemployment rates rise for veterans

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 2, 2010 12:39:16 EDT

The unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly in June, to 8 percent overall and 11.5 percent for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, a sign that expanding programs aimed at helping veterans find work are not working in a stagnant job market.

June employment statistics released Friday by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics show the overall unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly from 7.8 percent in May. Still, the unemployment rate for veterans remains lower than the overall national rate of 9.5 percent.
read more here
June unemployment rates rise for veterans

Ungrateful employers won't hire veterans?

We do a great job of talking about supporting the troops and being a grateful nation but when it comes to proving it, we do a lousy job. If a company won't hire a man or woman after they sacrificed and risked their lives, then maybe they should pay hire taxes to cover the pay these veterans will not be receiving as an employee.

Stigma of service may hurt vets’ job search
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, April 23, 2010
WASHINGTON — When Joe Tryon left the Army in early 2009 he assumed his six years as an officer and command experience in Iraq would make him an attractive employee. More than a year later, he still hasn’t found a job.

“I thought my combat leadership would outweigh boardroom experience,” the 32-year-old said. “But apparently it does not.”

At least part of the reason for that, say veterans groups, is a lingering stigma among some employers who worry what else combat troops carry with them: post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, or similar mental health problems. Tryon said he heard that concern in several job interviews.

Earlier this week a group of lawmakers led by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., pushed once again to undo that stereotype, proposing legislation to help veterans better showcase their skills to potential employers through job training programs, expanded GI Bill benefits and career counseling advice.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=69531

Vets should be marketed to employers

Experts: Vets should be marketed to employers

Natalie Bailey - Medill News Service
Posted : Friday Apr 16, 2010 15:16:00 EDT

In tough times, employers need little reason to turn a candidate away. For some, a link to the military is enough.

“Civilian employers are increasingly not hiring those in service,” retired Navy Reserve Capt. Marshall Hanson said at a Thursday hearing before the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on economic opportunity.

Among the obstacles veterans face today, panelists said, are employers’ misconception of post-traumatic stress disorder, fear that a reservist will be deployed, and/or ignorance of how military job skills translate into the civilian world.

The military needs to translate its persuasive enlistment campaigns into the widespread marketing of veterans’ skills to employers, said Justin Brown, a legislative associate with Veterans of Foreign Wars.
read more here
Vets should be marketed to employers

Joblessness hits male vets of current wars

Since December, the rates have been reported a lot higher for young veterans and how they return without jobs. Some can't find work because of the economy. Some can't work because of what combat hit them with. Whatever the reason, it seems as if they do not just suffer when they are risking their lives. They suffer after because they risked their lives.

Saturday, December 12, 2009
Unemployment for young vets surpasses 20%

Friday, March 12, 2010
Young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans hit 21.1 percent unemployed

Friday, April 2, 2010
One in three young vets now unemployed

One in three young vets now unemployed

By Rick Maze - Staff writer

Posted : Friday Apr 2, 2010 15:12:51 EDT
Disturbing new statistics from the Labor Department show that one in three veterans under age 24 is unemployed — and that the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans has jumped to 14.7 percent, half again as high as the national employment rate of 9.7 percent.The March unemployment rate of 30.2 percent for veterans aged 18 to 24 is a big jump from February’s figure of 21.7 percent, although it may be partly the result of a small sample used by the Labor Department in determining unemployment, said Justin Brown, a labor expert for Veterans of Foreign Wars. (Click links above for the rest of these.)

Joblessness hits male vets of current wars

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Unemployment for male Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans has tripled since the recession began, rising from 5% in March 2007 to 15% last month, Labor Department statistics show.

More than 250,000 of these veterans were unemployed last month. An additional 400,000 have left the workforce to attend college or raise children, or because they have stopped trying to find a job, Labor Department economist Jim Walker says. The overall national unemployment rate is 9.7%.

"It makes you almost want to go out and rip off all the 'Support Your Troops' bumper stickers," says Joe Davis, a spokesman for the 1.5-million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars. "If you want to support your troops, give them a job."


Reasons behind the joblessness:

•Veterans are having a difficult time translating military skills — initiative, leadership and coolness under pressure — into job-application language that civilian employers can grasp, says Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. She has been meeting with unemployed veterans while on recess from Congress.

"These guys are disciplined. They're great workers, and we should be getting them jobs," says Murray, who is sponsoring legislation to improve résumé training, expand the G.I. Bill to include apprenticeship programs and assist veterans starting small businesses.
read more here
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2010-04-06-vets_N.htm

One in three young vets now unemployed

Smart enough to learn new skills? Yep. Dedicated to the mission? Yep, can't beat willing to lay down your life to do it. Physically able? Yep, boot camp alone proved that one. Works great on team efforts? Ever see a soldier fighting alone and doing his own thing? That one's covered too. What more can an employer ask for? Considering they spent at least a year in combat, unable to call in sick, or take the easy way out of anything, the list of reasons to higher a veteran is a lot longer than the reason to pass them over. What kind of "grateful nation" is this when they come home after serving in the military and find out they don't have a job?

One in three young vets now unemployed

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Apr 2, 2010 15:12:51 EDT

Disturbing new statistics from the Labor Department show that one in three veterans under age 24 is unemployed — and that the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans has jumped to 14.7 percent, half again as high as the national employment rate of 9.7 percent.

The March unemployment rate of 30.2 percent for veterans aged 18 to 24 is a big jump from February’s figure of 21.7 percent, although it may be partly the result of a small sample used by the Labor Department in determining unemployment, said Justin Brown, a labor expert for Veterans of Foreign Wars.
read more here
One in three young vets now unemployed

Young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans hit 21.1 percent unemployed

Young war veterans returning home to unemployment
By KIMBERLY HEFLING (AP) – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON — The unemployment rate last year for young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans hit 21.1 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, reflecting a tough obstacle combat veterans face as they make the transition home from war.

The number was well above the 16.6 percent jobless rate for non-veterans of the same ages, 18 to 24.

As of last year, 1.9 million veterans had deployed for the wars since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Some have struggled with mental health problems, addictions, and homelessness as they return home. Difficulty finding work can make the adjustment that much harder.

The just-released rate for young veterans was significantly higher than the unemployment rate of young veterans in that age group of 14.1 percent in 2008.

Many of the unemployed are members of the Guard and Reserves who have deployed multiple times, said Joseph Sharpe, director of the economic division at the American Legion. Sharpe said some come home to find their jobs have been eliminated because the company has downsized. Other companies may not want to hire someone who could deploy again or will have medical appointments because of war-related health problems, he said.

"It's a horrible environment because if you're a reservist and you're being deployed two or three times in a five-year period, you know you're less competitive," Sharpe said. "Many companies that are already hurting are reluctant to hire you and time kind of moves on once you're deployed."
read more here
Young war veterans returning home to unemployment

Unemployment for young vets surpasses 20%

Unemployment for young vets surpasses 20%

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 11, 2009 15:02:03 EST

With the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans now exceeding 20 percent, a key Republican wants the Obama administration to use economic stimulus funding to create jobs for veterans.

The 20.8 percent unemployment rate for November for veterans ages 18 to 24 is an increase from the 17.3 percent rate for veterans in that age group reported for September, indicating a deteriorating jobs picture for entry-level positions.

The new numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal there are more than 1 million unemployed veterans. “That is unacceptable,” said Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana, ranking Republican on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, who has been pushing since December — without much success — to have stimulus funds used for veterans programs.

Buyer has introduced a bill, HR 4220, that tries on a number of fronts to help veterans find jobs.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/military_veterans_unemployment_121109w/

Veterans unemployment rate hits 11.3%

Veterans unemployment rate hits 11.3%

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Sep 4, 2009 13:50:40 EDT

The number of unemployed Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is now almost the same as the number of service members currently deployed in support of those two wars, according to new Labor Department numbers.

A key member of Veterans of Foreign Wars said the data indicates that the government needs to do more to help separating combat veterans find jobs and that veterans need to think about their options, including using the improved GI Bill to attend college while also getting a living stipend.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/military_veterans_unemployment_090409w/