Gratitude Won’t Pay The Bill For Returning Iraq & Afghan War Veterans
Jan 4th, 2012 | 12 responses
Homecomings for returning combat veterans have never been easy no matter the war, but the flood of Iraq war veterans who will be mustered out in the coming months, as well as a fair number from the Afghan war, pose a huge challenge. This is because gratitude, and Americans certainly are grateful, will not pay the bill.
That bill is formidable:
* About 800,000 veterans are jobless and many newly discharged veterans worked in depressed industries like manufacturing and construction prior to enlisting.
* Nearly 1.5 million veterans live below the poverty line.
* One in every three homeless adult men is a veteran.
* The veteran population, like the general population, is living longer, and the number of veterans aged 85 or older is expected to grow by 20 percent in the next decade.
Then there are less visible obstacles to reentering civilian life: The inordinate number of veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and severe neurological and other injuries that probably would have killed them in earlier wars before the extraordinary advances in battlefield triage, evacuation and surgery techniques.
Meanwhile, there is good news and bad news when it comes to veterans benefits.
The good news is that although there have been some small fee increases for veterans covered by the military health-insurance program, significant cuts to veterans’ benefits are unlikely and efforts largely led by Republicans to chip away at them won’t go anywhere.
The bad news is that the enormous growth of the Veterans Administration’s budget, which more than doubled over the last decade, will not continue and the VA will feel the impact of the mandatory defense cuts that kick in because the budget deficit supercommittee failed to reach agreement.
The numerous government programs designed to get veterans back to work have been less than successful.
With the exception of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, signed into law by President Bush and which helps more veterans go back to school, is working, but President Obama’s Council on Veterans Employment is not despite the fact that the federal government hired over 70,000 veterans in both 2009 and 2010. This is because employers are doing little hiring, veterans or otherwise.
In November, Obama signed a bill offering tax credits to employers who hire unemployed or disabled veterans, but it is much too early to tell whether this will improve the jobs picture.
12 Responses to “Gratitude Won’t Pay The Bill For Returning Iraq & Afghan War Veterans”
I hate to say it, but a lot of our veterans, especially the grunts on the ground, did not have a future before they entered the military….which is exactly why they entered the military in the first place. (and don’t yell at me, I’ve heard this from enough young guys coming out of the Army, “why did you join?”, “no other job option at home”).
We can only hope that the skills and discipline they learned during their training will be enough to help them get a solid job at home. My brother in law is an Apache mechanic. He is hoping to get a similar job in avionics when his tour is over.
ShannonLee:
You are absolutely correct and I too hope that their training will give them the break they need.
quick addition to my first post…
when his __4th__ tour is over.
ShannonLeee says:
“I hate to say it, but a lot of our veterans, especially the grunts on the ground, did not have a future before they entered the military….which is exactly why they entered the military in the first place. (and don’t yell at me, I’ve heard this from enough young guys coming out of the Army, “why did you join?”, “no other job option at home”).”
S.L.:
I promise I wont yell at you.
I am somewhat biased, but I think you are being a little harsh on our military and veterans. E.g. They “did not have a future” before entering the military. Are you sure these men (and women) are/were so incapable and destitute?
With the economy and unemployment situation as it is, at least they did something rather than join the unemployment lines.
As you yourself mention, the military is a good place to get some good training and skills — as your brother did, and please thank him for his service. I would not call that not having a future or having no choices.
Finally, let’s at least give these “no future folks” a little bit of credit. It takes a little more than “having no other options at home” to join the military at a time when your chances of getting shipped off to war are nearly 100 percent, and when the chances of coming home in a wooden (metal) box or with one or two limbs blown off are pretty good, too.
Just my zwei Pence wert.
Thanks for not yelling DDW
I understand what you are saying and I am not trying to imply that none of them had futures elsewhere. What I am saying is that in my own personal experience, a VAST majority of soldiers I have spoken with or heard about through my brother…basically had no other options.
That being said, surviving boot camp and couple tours overseas should do a lot to help your employment opportunities. Some of those guys go into the military as complete screw ups, but most come out as disciplined and respect-ing/able people.
I’d like to see the neocons who were the primaries responsible for sending our brave troops into the meatgrinder in the first place stripped of all their assets and then putting that money directly into the VA. Instead they retire (more or less) in great comfort and insulation from the consequences of their acts. Doing this would be mostly symbolic, but it would send an important message to future leaders who might contemplate a war of choice, and it would tell the American people that accountability isn’t just for the masses.
zephyr:
The Iowa caucus results provide some context for my post and your view.
With the conspicuous exception of Paul, the candidates are in favor of perpetual war but not paying for the consequences.
zephyr
Re: the neocons responsible for the war – (only if defeated) in Japan they might commit hari-kari; in China they might be executed. Your solution sounds more even-handed and can be applied in victory or defeat. Or can it?
Nice article, Shawn. And, sadly, I have to agree with Shannon. And I’m also not too sure the “skills” you learn in the military are as much in demand as the recruiters would like you us to believe.
If it was true, why would so many vets end up unemployed?
It’s just filled with wrong …
I’m not sure it’s a good idea to give vets a job before other unemployed people get them. Vets are eligible for unemployment and other benefits at discharge. People unemployed are running out of unemployment insurance. Also those military people retiring with retirement pay should be last considered during these hard times in my opinion.
As far as military job training, it’s pretty rudimentary in most cases. Most only get a moderate level of job skills even by the end of a second or third enlistment, because their training is short, and, very military use oriented only. Military training is not very broad in scope. Of course the defense industry likes to hire vets, especially in aviation because they don’t have to be licensed technicians to work on defense aircraft. The defense industry hires them in mass, but sometimes turn around and use it as a political lever against cuts in defense.
The best veterans benefit is education tuition coverage in my opinion. Where vets can vocationally or academically train in an approved institution. However there needs to be oversight of some of these technical schools. Many are worthless rip-offs that don’t care if they screw up a vets life or not. Republican programs are not very good at overseeing anything dodgy. Those programs should be reviewed and sorted out. Repulbicans are all about making money off the disadvantaged
“As far as military job training, it’s pretty rudimentary in most cases. Most only get a moderate level of job skills even by the end of a second or third enlistment, because their training is short, and, very military use oriented only. Military training is not very broad in scope.”
I beg to differ with this assessment, especially when it comes to U.S. Air Force technical training.
The U.S, Air Force provides some of the best electronics, computers, communications, avionics, aircraft maintenance, etc. training on the planet.
A military communications system, for example, can be more complex — because of security and counter-measures aspects –than many a commercial system.
Companies that can use such skills will give a right arm to get veterans with those skills to come and work for them.
Sorry Dorian, I disagree….
Those people need to go to school to catch up. Far to specialized. I’ve worked with, hired, and, fired way to many over the past 40 odd years. I feel that I know better than you on this.
Having said that, once a vet completes school in a field of experience, they are generally more valuable than others. Except the 20 year retirees. Their butts hit the deck as soon as the supervisor walks away, especially those from the air force. Generally speaking.
The military nor the defense industry produces the most talent, they just have the most people on a project. That’s why they both work so well at sucking the life out of our economy.