Veterans’ unemployment outpaces civilian rate

I used to joke that the greatest skills combat MOS' learn is how to kill and how to clean up after.

Having said that, I am no more entitled to a job than any other American citizen. If an employer doesn't want to hire me, I don't want to force them or work for them. I am a driven, bright and hard worker who has done great things for my country, and worked hard to achieve everything I ever set out to do.

I am currently disabled and unemployable pending surgery and recovery, with the possibility of a few more depending on the VA's decisions. However, I would not want special treatment getting a job.

Anyone who hires a veteran, especially a combat veteran, is going to be sure to get a dedicated, strong, hard worker who is mentally tough and morally straight.

Of course, in today's workplace, who wants morals?

Until I can look for work, I study Yale courses online.
Open Yale Courses

oyc.yale.edu...

I have downloaded programs like Illustrator, Photoshop, Corel Draw, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Word, Excel, and about 40 more. I am continuously bettering myself, and that's the kind of person I know will get hired. I am not learning to hope to be employed some day, I am learning everything I need to start my own business.

That's the attitude you get when you hire a vet.

If people don't want that, who are we to force them? It's not like I would force them to take my money if they weren't making enough. If we start forcing idiots to make good business decisions, we are just supporting idiots. Sounds like Wall Street to me.

This government is so focused on losing and creating jobs when the reality is that every job we try to save costs money and is usually futile because it's time to go. Every job we create didn't need to be there before, otherwise it would have had the funding.

I think that veterans get the shaft in a lot of different ways. Healthcare, family support, transition assistance and more.

However, I think that the system is broken so we should stop asking for it to fix the problem. I got an encyclopedia of information thrown at me on my way out the military. All these programs that supposedly were meant to help me if I needed it. Guess what? It's all a lie, and no one will help you insidet he system when you get out. You can help yourself, but it's designed to make you fail.

Anyone that survives that, is worth hiring as far as I'm concerned, but I wouldn't force them.

reply to post by TDawgRex


If they are on the application, then you have proof that they are breaking the law.

Here is an extensive list of questions that interviewers are NOT allowed to ask, you would be suprised...

illegal interview questions


Interviews are only supposed to be conducted to see if you qualify for the current job.

you can't ask age
disability
marital status
family status
service record
age
etc

Originally posted by TDawgRex
1. Many Servicemembers volunteered prior to war in Iraq or Afghanistan. Does that show lack of character to you?

No. I meant exactly what I said.

4. The criminal elements are not being allowed in any more. That only happens when the need for more bodies to fight a conflict occurs.

And since 2003, at the start of this "war", the military has had the need for bodies. So even though they may not be getting in right NOW, they're IN there and coming out, looking for jobs.

You will also notice that many of the crimes committed by service members are disproportionately committed by National Guard or Reserve Soldiers.

I haven't noticed this at all. There has been no breakdown that I've seen.

reply to post by TDawgRex


Recently in the news there have been some pretty heinous crimes committed by active army..

Can you show evidence that most of the crimes are committed by National Guard/Reserve?


To sbctinfantry:

It's great that you as an individual are doing so much to better yourself, but I don't think that has anything to do with your past military service, but rather with who you are as an individual.

Perhaps individuals like yourself are drawn to military service because of your personality type, but to say that "when you hire a combat vet you are going to get this and this and this" is only going to be true some of the time. I know combat vets who came home and did absolutely nothing but the bare minimum. I paid one's rent for over a year until just a few months ago. Not all combat vets are going to be great employees. Not all homeless people are winos. Not all Latinos are content to plateau their education at the same level their parents did. You get the point.

All of this is just adding cement to my belief that employers should hire based on qualification and experience, not someone's veteran status.

Originally posted by TinkerHaus
All of this is just adding cement to my belief that employers should hire based on qualification and experience, not someone's veteran status.

You make a very valid point, and I agree that a number doesn't tell the whole story. 2% higher means nothing to me, but I also look at the world differently. I see opportunity everywhere, and others don't.

Pretty much explains the entire country, anyway. From #OWS and beyond, it's all about being treated 'fair'.

reply to post by TinkerHaus

This is about a veteran's status preventing them from getting the job. It is not just about experience, as the article explains, this is about companies seeing them as brainwashed, or being overly aggressive leaders, or whatever stigma comes from being in the service.

If military members are being asked if they have ptsd, obviously there is discrimination going on. They might as well be allowed to ask women if they are pregnant.

As for the 2%, any citizen who is not getting a job simply because of stigmas attached to their military career, is one too many.
It is ignorance to say that the numbers are not that big so therefore it is not a problem.

If the total unemployment rate rose 2%, we would be in a lot more trouble.

reply to post by TinkerHaus


I'm talking about all crimes, from fraud to murder. Oft times the news does not state if the Soldier was a NG, RC, or AC servicemember. At a minimum it's buried in the 3rd paragraph of a follow up article.

Remember that the Armed Forces are also a section of our society and a few bad apples do make it through the screening process. Personally, I would love that everybody had a sense of honor and strong morals.

Seeing how the Army was going into the future was also one of the reasons I retired.

I guess I'm a old warhorse (pun intended) and it was time to go to pasture...but not the glue factory...not yet!

reply to post by nixie_nox

I read the post and the replies all the way down and as I read it, it came to me that the problem with finding employment is not about what you neccessarily want to do to live, but doing something to live until you find what is your "dream job". I am a veteran of the Cold War,my recently deceased husband was a disabled veteran of the same "war".He held a job for years then became totally disabled.When that happened I had been a stay at home mom for 7 years and even with my past experience in three fields I could not find employment in a mainstream job. So, in order to feed,shelter, and clothe my family I took any legal odd job I could find.I have picked up hay for hay(for critters we eat and work with).I have ironed clothes. And last but not least,I have gutted and skinned deer.Not to mention trying to keep vehiciles running and the farm going.The main skill I got from Uncle Sugar was sticktoitividness.Anyone that has that will keep going until they achieve their objective.

reply to post by educatedhick


I didn't just get that sticktoitividness from Uncle Sugar. I got it from my folks.

Never give up.

Hell, I just want to mow and plow roads. I like doing that. Nothing wrong with that. And it's a service that others are willing to pay for.

reply to post by TDawgRex
I wasn't saying I diden't like those jobs, it was just easier to get them 'cause nobody else wanted them. To be honest ,I like gutting and skinning deer better than ironing.

reply to post by nixie_nox


Veterans are finding a hard time finding jobs in a nation that the unemployment rates as latest figures by the government is 9.9, but the real figures are higher than that.

With 16 million of Americans out of job is a lot of competition, also many of this soldiers now civilians will find out that our wages has gone backward, our wages has drop 17.5 since the recession.

Then in top of that Obama is working on a bill to increase the age of retirement for the military with less pay and benefits. while marking harder for veterans to get medical care through humana (private insurance subsidized by the government) and charging older veterans additional charges every year to keep their existing Tricare for life.

In other words forcing older veterans to fall into Medicare that still is deducted from your SS check while reducing benefits for new members.

Understanding the Jobs Crisis

www.epi.org...

Recession officially over, but US incomes kept falling

www.msnbc.msn.com...

McCain Okay With Cutting Military Benefits

militaryadvantage.military.com...

The you wonder why the government doesn't want to bring the troops home, now you know why, is no jobs, the economy sucks and the whole war on terror was nothing but a big lie

I am married to a retired Marine a veteran of the first gulf war and I know what the military and retirees are facing everyday in this nation.

reply to post by educatedhick


I think you got me wrong...I can't find anyone willing to hire me for those jobs. It's frustrating. I always thought I was a personable guy. And willing to work the weird hours as well.

reply to post by TDawgRex


I was a landscaping supervisor for the local park service for a few years. There was nothing more therapeutic then spendig 8 hours cutting a 7 acre field.

reply to post by nixie_nox


I don't know why....but I love cutting grass and plowing. A thing...looking back and knowing that a job was well done.

Maybe there is a artistic thing in me.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I think what we're seeing is a result of many things. I agree with nixie that IN GENERAL, our veterans should find it fairly easy to get jobs when they're finished serving their country.

HOWEVER, there are SO many reasons that this isn't happening... Here are some that come to mind:

1. Being in the military today is not respected as it used to be. Why? Because the wars we're fighting and the attitude with which our government and military operate is no longer respectable. Back when the interests of our country were actually being protected by our military, they were much more respected and employers would strive to hire people returning from military service. I wouldn't hire someone, knowing that they volunteered to go to war in Iraq or Afghanistan. That shows lack of character to me.

2. The people who 'own' America have no interest in veterans getting jobs when they're done with them. Their REAL agenda is to have people stay IN the military. Why? War has become a profit-making venture for our country and they need bodies (cannon fodder) IN the military to further their agenda. ($$$)

3. The idea that military experience will train somebody for civilian life - the whole concept of being trained for a civilian career while in the military is part of The Big Lie. The majority of military jobs are simply not transferable to the civilian sector, seeing as how they involve blowing things up and killing people. And even those jobs that DO translate (IT, mechanics, etc) to the civilian sector, are done differently in a military environment than in the US marketplace. The actual job may be the same, but the environment is SO different, that it might as well be a different job.

4. The standards for those going into the military have been lowered considerably. ALL kinds of people are getting in. Many join because they can't get or keep a job in the first place. That's one reason we have so many horrible human rights violations by our own military members. The basic character of military people is less than desirable, IMO. They're letting the criminal element in because they need bodies. When these people come out, they still belong to a segment of society that's not employee material.

5. Our government doesn't care about the physical and mental condition of the people who do make it out of the military, so put them in very dangerous and damaging situations. They ARE broken-down and brainwashed. They return with psychoses and attitudes about the value of human life that civilians don't share. Many of the people coming out simply are used up and not fit for survival in this society.

That's just off the top of my head. And it's just my opinion.

IMO, we don't need affirmative action for the military. We need to start operating honorably in the world for this to change.

And that's not going to happen. We're witnessing the downward spiral (and eventual collapse) of our whole society. This is just one indication of it. Just one signpost along the road.

All of the points you have made are very valid, in my case, the job I was trained for in the military was eliminated by technology, it happens. That being said, our guys coming back have served their country and deserved to be treated better than they have been. I am old enough to remember and have served with VN vets, and we do not want to see the way our VN vets treated repeated. JMO and thanks to the VA for medical care.

i have worked for a couple companies that were all vet companies.
everyone working for the company was a veteran.
the only problem we ever had was with the state for not meeting the states rules on hiring.

one of the biggest discriminators against veterans is the state and federal government.

Right now in Calif if you were a electrician in the military for 20 years you can not get a electricians license because your training in the military does not count as experience.
I know of two navy seabees that were electricians and rose to the rank of master chief and the state will not let Them take the state electricians license test. why because there military time does not count for on the job experience.
The funny part is one now works for a state collage training people that want to become state licensed electricians.

reply to post by TDawgRex
Believe me,it was tough lining those jobs up. At one point I was working 4 at the same time. The one I forgot to mention earlier was stable hand.But none of them just happened.I would ask people I knew if they or any one they knew needed help.Also I grew vegetables and sold eggs.I know its hard for any one to get work these days but I have always thought that an ideal job interview would be if the interviewer just looked at your app and had to communicate with you the way we are right now.I know people would think 'Well you don'tknow what you're getting".but realisticly you don't know that with a face to face either.I do hope you find something good soon.

reply to post by educatedhick


Good for you. For the life of me, I don't know how some someone can work four jobs during the week. But i have been lucky. I guess it's time to learn.

reply to post by ANNED


Any idea why that is? Is it because the military training and experience does not meet guidelines? If so, that is a problem too, and maybe the military needs to find a more civilian way of training.

I went in as a Metal Worker.

I can weld any type of metal out there, in any position.

- I get out of the service-
-Took my Certs from the Military to the The Ironworkers Union and some others like the sheet metal union and some other private buisnesses.
THEY WOULD NOT TAKE THEM.

-So why did I join the military to learn a trade for if it is going to be no use to me when I get out?
I wish I knew before I joined.
I would have just signed up to be a grunt with no technical skills in the modern world.