The short-term monetary costs of the past ten years of War are a rounding error when one considers the likely legacy costs to our wounded warriors, combat Veterans, and their families. When 1 in 4 younger Iraq or Afghanistan Veterans cash unemployment checks instead of paychecks, it is not a crisis of conscious, it is a crisis of citizenship. Corporate Citizens don’t get pass.
There is no doubt that all of America is on hard times, yet some have given more than others, while a handful have given nearly everything. We cannot fail them. As the President recently remarked in Colorado – “Think about it — these men and women, they leave their careers, they leave their families. They are protecting us and our freedom. And the last thing they should have to do is fight for a job when they come home.”
The “long tail” costs of unprecedented stressors over the past ten years on our military and their families, after the homecoming and welcoming home signs have fallen to the floor, are as staggering as they are humbling – over three Trillion Dollars by some estimates.
Above my desk, I keep a poster as one of my favorite reminders of exactly what we have asked our men and women in uniform and their families to do, and in turn, what we owe — the main text reads “Ninety-nine percent of American have seen combat on TV. One percent of Americans have seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
It should create some serious discomfort in our citizenry that the freedoms of so many is carried upon the backs of so few — some may argue that honoring this kind of service requires more than the commitment of comfortable citizenship and Barcalounger liberty. But what is owed is not charity, it is opportunity.
Veterans need that opportunity sooner rather than later. The unemployment rate for younger Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans peaked at 30 percent three months ago. The monthly report from the Department of Labor annotated that for our Post 9-11 Veterans, the jobless rate for September stood at 11.7 percent, a nearly 20 percent jump from 9.8 percent in August.
Earlier this year, the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans stood at 10.9 percent at the end of April versus 8.5 percent for the non-veterans, according to a report from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee.
In some States, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran (Post 9-11 veteran unemployment) statistics compared to the State averages are troubling, according to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and highlighted in a recent blog article by CBS Money Watch on Veteran unemployment.
• Michigan 29.4 percent Post 9-11 veteran unemployment / State average – 10.3 • Indiana 23.6 percent Post 9-11 veteran unemployment / State average – 8.2 • Minnesota 22.9 percent Post 9-11 veteran unemployment / State average – 6.6 • Montana 20.1 percent Post 9-11 veteran unemployment / State average – 7.3 • Tennessee 20 percent Post 9-11 veteran unemployment / State average – 9.7 • Kansas 17.2 percent Post 9-11 veteran unemployment / State average – 6.6 • Vermont 16.8 percent 9-11 veteran unemployment /State average – 5.4 • Connecticut 15.5 percent 9-11 veteran unemployment / State average – 9.1 • Nevada 15.2 percent 9-11 veteran unemployment /State average – 12.1 • New York 15.2 percent 9-11 veteran unemployment /State average – 7.9
How do we, as a Nation, solve this problem?
How do we, as a community, accept the unintended consequences of ten years of War, repeated deployments into harm’s way, and the maladies that accompany the unprecedented stressors on the few for the benefit of the many?
How do we ensure that we are setting our young men and women up for success in transitioning from their lives as our heroes in combat to becoming heroic citizens?
Most importantly, how do we ensure that corporate America does not miss the opportunity to hire the next greatest generation of Veterans? The Post 9-11 GI Bill was renovated, after the World War II GI Bill, according to Secretary Eric Shinseki of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Veterans of the Greatest Generation who used it “sustained economic growth for the nation, catapulting the nation into the world’s largest economy [and into a position of] leadership in the free world.”
I fear that America is losing out on its greatest asset to lead us to a new era of prosperity. In 1980, 59 percent of chief executives of large, publicly traded U.S. companies had military experience: by 2006, that figure was 8 percent.
Success is staring the human resources manager square in the eye across from the interview conference room table and telling them that hiring Veterans is a priority for your company and then holding their feet to fire every month in the board room. The CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America recently told me that “I would love to see every CEO of the largest Fortune 500 companies stand up once a month in their board room and say – “Our Mission this year is to hire More Veterans.” The Chief People Person in the Federal government did just that last year.
There are success stories out there, you can read a few of them here. And there are some companies that have been recognized as being “military friendly.”
And there are think tanks in over drive trying to help. The Clinton Global Initiative – Operation Employment wrapped up another meeting two weeks ago, and now they need all of America to help. The “Sea of Goodwill” has failed to stem Tsunami that is young Veteran unemployment. This will be problem that cannot be solved by pencil pushers at the Pentagon, or by think tanks in the beltway. It will be solved by the 99 percent of Americans greeting our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and neighbors back from ten years of War and into their communities, their schools, their small businesses, and their board rooms.
The Chamber of Commerce has kick started this community based outreach by hosting over 100 Job Fairs for Veterans in collaboration with federal, state, and non-profit entities — it won’t be enough.
Every American needs to view this issue as their own personal commitment to the men and women in uniform they sent off to fight our Wars, while few of us felt their pain, or realized their sacrifices.
Last month, there were over 3M job vacancies in America.
The President has announced his call to action to help. Our Corporate Citizens need to respond.
I am an advocate for wounded warriors and their families.
thewarrioradvocate 