Veterans’ Push for GWI Treatment Research Funding Spreads to U.S. Senate

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Team VCS

VCS supports these efforts. Please let your elected officials know that you do as well.

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Written by Anthony Hardie, 91outcomes.comApril 8, 2012

(Washington, DC – 91outcomes.com) – This year’s push for funding the Peer Reviewed Gulf War Illness Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), which last month garnered the largest number of House cosigners in the program’s history, continues with a parallel Senate effort led by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and launched on Friday.

In his letter requesting other U.S. Senators sign on to the “Dear Colleague” letter to Senate appropriations committee leaders and requesting $25 million in Fiscal Year 2013 Defense appropriations to adequately fund the program, Sanders notes, “over the past two years, three dramatic milestones have been achieved,” the direct result of broad, bipartisan Congressional support for the program.

Among those milestones are the 2010 recognition by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) – essentially the high court of U.S. medical science – that the Gulf War Illness “affecting 250,000 Gulf War veterans is a serious disease;” that IOM recognized GWI “affects other U.S. military forces;” and that, “the IOM report called for a major national research effort to identify treatments.”

The Sanders letter noted that, “the scientific community has responded with a dramatic increase in the quantity and quality of proposals submitted,” to the GWI CDMRP.  According to CDMRP staff, scientific merit review scores for final applications for the most recent year (FY11) had increased on average by a full point since the program’s first year (FY06) — a remarkable achievement in such a short time and on just a five-point scale.

Sanders also noted that, “most encouraging, GWIRP-funded researchers have completed the first successful pilot study of a medication to treat one of the major symptoms,” of GWI — post-exertional fatigue.  The study’s principal investigator, Dr. Beatrice Golomb of the University of California-San Diego, will be presenting her findings to another IOM committee on Thursday, April 12, at the National Academy of Sciences facilities in Irvine, Calif.

The level of funding proposed by Sanders (and members of the House) would be sufficient to finally accomodate funding for all three highly promising interdisciplinary, inter-institutional GWI medical research consortia that have been in development for the last year, a long-sought goal of Gulf War veterans’ health advocates.

Sanders also notes in his letter that, “continued funding is essential for more pilot studies of promising treatments and diagnostic markers, for clinical trials of treatments shown effective in earlier pilot studies, and for the execution of collaborative treatment research plans developed by consortia of scientists funded in FY2010.”

Launched on Friday afternoon after significant behind the scenes work by Senators, Senate staff, and Gulf War veterans’ advocates, Sanders’ target of $25 million in FY13 Congressionally directed Defense appropriations also carefully coincides with the specifically recommended $25 million funding level by Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Gulf War Veterans and Health chair Dr. Stephen Hauser  in letters to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Haw.) and Ranking Member Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.).  It also coincides with the $25 million level recommended by the Congressionally mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses (RAC-GWVI) in its groundbreaking November 2008 report.

The FY13 Independent Budget, authored by four of the largest veterans service organizations (VSO’s) including DAV, VFW, PVA, and AMVETS and supported by nearly 60 other organizations, contains equally strong support of the GWI CDMRP:  ”For FY 2013, the IBVSOs urge Congress to provide the funding level necessary for this research program to achieve the critical objectives of improving the health and lives of Gulf War veterans.”

To date, VA research funding officials have tended to fund Gulf War related research proposals by researchers working alone, who must also be VA employees. VA’s Office of Research and Development has been invited to collaborate with the GWI CDMRP – which among other unique and efficient aspects, is open to any researcher anywhere – to help advance GWI treatments and to ensure more efficient use of resources, particularly with research conducted by VA employees that could be funded through VA’s existing mechanisms. CDMRP panelists and RAC members alike have expressed hope that VA might be able to aid in a renewed effort based on more recent evidence helping to unravel some of GWI’s previous mysteries, including discoveries of neurological damage, neuro-immune dysregulation, and a chronic inflammatory state in GWI patients.

The three consortia currently in development involve dozens of key researchers from a multitude of research institutions and labs, and are aimed squarely at treatments for Gulf War Illness patients.  Most are not VA employees and are therefore not eligible for VA research funding.

The consensus among GWI medical researchers is increasingly clear, including as publicly expressed by all three RAC scientific directors past and present:  With the right efforts, effective treatments can indeed be found for the neurologically-rooted GWI. 

Gulf War veterans and their advocates were successful in garnering 65 cosigners – by far the most ever in the history of the program — on a similar bipartisan effort in the U.S. House of Representatives led in March by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh.) and Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.).  Among the cosignatories was Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), Chair of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

After much behind the scenes meeting and coordinating, it is now up to veterans and their advocates to help convince their Senators to sign on to the Sanders “Dear Colleague” request to provide $25 million in FY13 Defense appropriations for the Gulf War Illness Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.  

 

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VCS Special Commentary: Closer Look at Veteran Unemployment

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Team VCS

 By Christopher Miller LLB(HONS) VCS Advocate and Truman National Security Fellow                Unemployment among veterans remains above the national average by many measures, sometimes doubling or tripling it in certain categories. The fact that veterans are struggling to find employment is one of the few pointsCongress and President Obama agree and have taken some positive action on. Strangely, there seems to be bipartisan agreement among both the House and Senate Veteran’s Affairs committees that America will have to meet growing demand and continuing issues with a flat budget for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Despite positive veteran employment efforts by some private firms, the private sector continues to be an unfriendly place for vets. Despite some good faith efforts by both the government and private employers, it is clear that veterans are continuing to struggle to find employment.              A problem in the debate is that there is disagreement upon what the unemployment rate among veterans actually is. The answer to the question also depends upon who one includes. America has vets stretching back to the WWII era. Data shows that employment among veterans of the first Gulf War era and earlier is roughly equivalent with their non-veteran counterparts. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the rate among all vets in 2011 was 8.3{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d}, on par with the current national average. But among vets serving since 9/11 to today the rate was 12{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d}, higher than the national average. The worst statistic to come out was that unemployment among post-9/11 vets aged between 18 and 24 was at 29{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d}, 12{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} more than the non-veteran average for the same age group.                The Department of Veterans Affairs argues that veteran unemployment has been trending down since 2010, but it is still higher than average. The numbers tend to indicate that the youngest of our newest generation of veterans are struggling hardest to find work. These are men and women that have four to six years of service under their belt, may still be serving in the Reserves, and likely have one or more combat deployments. Their non-veteran civilian counterparts are struggling to find work as well; their unemployment rate was at 17{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d}. Most of this group are high school grads, many are recent college grads.               That is a tough demographic to be a part of since the 2008 downturn. But that veterans, all at least high school grads and many with college, with four to six years of military work experience under their belt should experience a rate over 12{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} above average exposes a real problem. When they do find employment, there’s a one in four chance it’s a government job, a rate twice that among non-veterans. There is also a one in four chance they have a service-connected disability.                Things get a little better with age. Post-9/11 vets aged 25 to 35 experienced 13{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} unemployment in 2011, half that their younger compatriots, but still 4{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} more than their non-veteran counterparts of the same age group. This suggests that after a few years of settling back into civilian life, many veterans have been able to find employment. However, the number of those that continue to struggle to find a job is higher than average and is happening at a time when the U.S. economy is still struggling. There is general agreement the economy is improving and hopefully veteran employment statistics and outlooks will improve with it.                But why does this disparity exist? Some suggest that the economic downturn cuts jobs in industries returning veterans are most likely to work in. These tend to be entry level jobs or blue-collar jobs, categories where there has been the greatest retraction in positions. Most servicemembers also tend to come from areas of the country where the shift in the global economy has emptied factories or office towers.                But it would also seem that there continues to be the view in many industries that four to eight years in the military and skills and experience earned while serving doesn’t equate to experience in the private sector. It is, essentially, a black hole on a resume. Many private sector employers will not recognize years of military service as a qualification. It is an unknown quantity for many of them. Only around 2-3{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} of Americans ever served in the military. Contrast this with the almost universal American experience of high school, college for some and training for others, then getting a job. A private sector employer is unable to quantify something they do not understand.               For many employers, our newest generation of veterans comes from another planet, another style of life they do not understand and haven’t experienced. No amount of resume classes given by the military before separation or by unemployment offices afterwards will be able to overcome the inability of many non-veteran employers to determine if the veteran applicant before them is qualified for the job. For many, the resume might as well come from another country.               In order to really address the problem of unemployment among veterans, especially for more jobs in the private sector, there must be a concerted national effort to recognize the skills and experience veterans have after serving. The military today is a different one from those even other vets joined in the 1980’s. Today America has an all-volunteer force that is driven by Noncommissioned Officers, just as much as it is Commissioned Officers. Soldiers and Sailors today are not sitting around peeling potatoes like in black and white movies. America’s leaner, more professional military is the most technologically advanced and the most experienced since WWII.               The combat veteran former-Sergeant who used to lead convoys in Baghdad is qualified to manage the lawn and garden department. The Senior Airman who unloaded Medevac helicopters in Kandahar can be your receptionist. The Petty Officer who ran a communications station in Kuwait can lead a cable installation team. The Lance Corporal who set up fighting positions in Al-Anbar can push a construction crew. Veterans didn’t let the country down while in uniform. We shouldn’t let them down when they come home and need a job.

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First Lady unveils push to get 15,000 military spouses jobs on or near base

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Team VCS

A heartfelt thanks to the First Lady of the United States for her efforts to aid our military families. 

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By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, April 4, 12:21 PM

WASHINGTON — Opening another front in her nearly year-old campaign to support service families, first lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday unveiled a new push for jobs on or near military bases.

She also announced plans to mark the Joining Forces campaign’s first anniversary with a two-day, four-state swing next week that will include stops in election battleground states Pennsylvania and Florida and a chat with comedian Stephen Colbert on his show “The Colbert Report.”

The Joining Forces organization said it has lined up commitments for more than 15,000 jobs in the coming years. Most will come from telemarketing and customer support companies and will enable the spouses and veterans to work from home.

Mrs. Obama noted these jobs are especially helpful to military families because they move so often across state lines — about 10 times more often than the typical U.S. family.

“We’re trying to meet these spouses where they are,” she said in a conference call with reporters. “This will make such a huge difference … When the next set of orders comes in for these families, and they have to move across the country, they’ll be able to move these jobs with them.”

Ahead of the Joining Forces anniversary, the first lady was visiting Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to distribute Easter treats from the White House pastry shop to military families staying there.

Next week, after a White House celebration, she and Jill Biden, the vice president’s wife and her partner in Joining Forces, will make stops at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia to meet with nursing industry leaders; New York for Mrs. Obama’s Colbert taping; Shreveport, La., to mark the 50,000th veteran or service spouse hired under the campaign; and the Naval Air Station at Jacksonville, Fla.

So far, Mrs. Obama told reporters, the jobs component of Joining Forces has exceeded expectations. “The country is stepping up in ways both large and small,” she said.

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Veterans can now seek compensation for bad foreclosures

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Team VCS

If you are, or were, in the military and were wrongly foreclosed on, you could stand to gain at least $116,785.

Four banks — Ally, Bank of America, Citi and Wells Fargo – have agreed to review the cases of every service member they’ve foreclosed on since 2006 under a deal struck with the federal government.

They’ll also check to make sure they followed the rules of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which says banks must reduce to 6{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} the interest rate they charge anyone called to active duty.

Make sure you file with an attorney who has years of experience working in the field of bankruptcy, some law firms cover several specialties, rather than specialize in bankruptcy law. This can have a negative effect on your case if you file with an attorney who only deals with bankruptcy cases occasionally. Finding a seasoned attorney who understands the laws of the bankruptcy code in your state to file your case with will make a huge difference in the outcome. Also make sure the law firm or attorney are able to guarantee your case will be filed accurately.

If you’re filing for bankruptcy, you may be in for a long and complicated process with plenty of room for error. Thankfully, hiring a bankruptcy attorney can make the process easier, as they’ll walk you through each step and can provide you with all of the documentation you need to file your case. Click here if you want to know more about the Morristown bankruptcy lawyers.

Unfortunately, because the demand for bankruptcy lawyers has increased, so has the number of unprincipled and corrupt lawyers who want to exploit your need for qualified, honest representation for an affordable fee. So if you’re considering filing for bankruptcy, there are several things you should keep in mind to help you find a good bankruptcy attorney.

If an active-duty service member asks the bank to reduce his or her mortgage rate to 6{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} and the bank refuses, it will have to pay the service member three to four times the amount it wrongly charged or a minimum of $500.

If it turns out the bank made a mistake in a foreclosure, the service member will get $116,785 plus a payment equal to the home equity he or she lost, with interest.

JPMorgan Chase will provide any service member who was a victim of a wrongful foreclosure either his or her home free and clear of debt or the cash equivalent of the full value of the home at the time of the sale.

Chase had already compensated service members charged interest in excess of 6{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} on their mortgages as part of an earlier settlement.

Bank of America has completed a similar settlement to resolve wrongful foreclosures in states where a lender doesn’t have to appear in court to foreclose. It will tackle the rest of the states as part of this agreement.

The banks also agreed to:

Provide relief for some service members who had to sell their homes for less than they owed because of a permanent change in station. Pay $10 million into a Veterans Affairs fund that guarantees loans on favorable terms for veterans. Let the Department of Justice supervise their foreclosure case reviews.

In some cases, the service member’s case might also be reviewed by bank regulators. If those reviewers find a violation and order the bank to pay compensation to the former homeowner, the bank has to pay the higher of the two amounts.

The White House says a service member who took out a $200,000 mortgage with a 7{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} interest rate and was wrongfully denied a request to lower the interest rate to 6{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} over a course of 18 months would get $9,000 plus interest.

The short-sale provisions of the plan would help a service member who bought a home between July 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2008, and then had to sell it at a loss when his or her duty station was permanently changed.

If you think you might qualify for the foreclosure compensation, you can visit the Justice Departmentwebsite or call (800) 896-7743.

If you think your Civil Relief Act rights were violated, you can contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Office.

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Boozman, Begich, Rubio Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Improve Veterans’ Employment Opportunities

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Team VCS

VCS works to encourage  this sort of bi-partisan, common sense legislation that helps veterans. Our veterans’ economic opportunities must be enhanced and protected. Please let your elected officials know that you support this bill. 

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WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Mark Begich (D-AK) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced legislation to provide veterans with additional opportunities to find employment and understand their VA benefits.

The TAP Modernization Act of 2012 would examine improvements to the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) by offering TAP classes for veterans and their spouses at temporary off-base locations. In addition the legislation would require the Department of Labor’s Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) to integrate job search experts to teach the classes.

“The TAP program is essential to veterans’ success after they separate from service,” Boozman said. “At the same time, once in civilian life many veterans wish they had attended TAP, or made it a greater priority during the process of separation. This program offers veterans and their spouses the opportunity to have this important experience should they happen to have missed out on TAP or need a refresher. It should never be too late for our veterans and their families to gain a better understanding of the transferability of their skills and the many programs available to help them succeed in civilian life.”

“Our service members trying to rejoin the civilian workforce bring skills that are exactly what employers want and need. They have a high work ethic, incredible know-how, and a commitment to get the job done. We must be committed to doing everything possible to connect these workers to the valuable employment that they need and deserve after serving our country. This bill will improve the transition to civilian life and the job market by providing off-base TAP classes and bring in job search experts to teach these classes for veterans and their spouses,” Begich said.

“We should do everything possible to honor the men and women who have served our country. This legislation not only honors our veterans, but also their families who sacrifice so much when they are overseas. I am proud to work with Senators Boozman and Begich to ensure our veterans and military families are helped with job training as they transition into civilian life,” Rubio said.

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OPM: Reservists can’t be denied their civilian jobs

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Team VCS

By STEVE VOGEL  The Washington Post Published: April 2, 2012

The White House’s personnel chief is calling on senior federal executives to ensure that National Guard and Reserve troops returning to their civilian federal jobs are not penalized for their military service.

“This Administration has zero tolerance for violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act,” John Berry, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, said in a memo last week to the President’s Management Council and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council.

The Washington Post reported in February that the federal government is the biggest violator of the USERRA law, which says that service members cannot be denied jobs or otherwise be penalized by employers because of their military obligations. In fiscal 2011, more than 18 percent of the 1,548 complaints of violations of that law involved federal agencies, according to Labor Department figures.

“We must continue to pay close attention to our returning Reserve and Guard population and ensure we manage their reintegration and maintain their professional trajectory,” Berry said.

In separate remarks, Berry said that recent Bureau of Labor Statistics figures showing a drop in unemployment among veterans in the first months of 2012 are encouraging. The BLS reported in March that unemployment among veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars stood at 12.1 percent in 2011 but had dropped to 7.6 percent in February.

“We still have work to do, but that trajectory shows the impact we can have when we focus our efforts and work together,” Berry told a leadership conference in New York last week.

However, a survey released last week by the group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America found that unemployment among its members stood at 16.7 percent.

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Veterans Struggle. America Must Do More.–VCS Special Commentary

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Team VCS

A Special Commentary

By VCS Advocate and Truman Fellow Christopher Miller

Despite a decade of discussion and advocacy, testimonials by politicians, and t-shirts and bumper stickers displayed everywhere, American veterans continue to struggle and pay for their sacrifice on behalf of the nation. Seldom does one meet someone who does not profess respect and admiration for those who served. Yet the statistics and struggles of America’s veterans, highlighted today by those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, tell another story. America is not doing well by its veterans.

 Unemployment among veterans remains consistently above the national average by many measures, sometimes doubling or tripling it in certain categories. The fact that veterans are struggling to find employment is one of the few points Congress and President Obama agree and have taken some positive action on. The Department of Veterans Affairs continues to bear the brunt of veterans’ frustrations. Their case is not being helped by bipartisan agreement among the heads of both the House and Senate Veteran’s Affairs committees that they’ll have to meet growing demand and issues with a flat budget. Despite positive veteran employment efforts by private firms, the private sector continues to be an unfriendly place for vets.

  The GI Bill is one of the most successful government education and employment programs in history, making America’s post-WWII workforce the most educated in the world. But some for-profit universities are taking advantage of veterans today. Many young veterans coming home are wisely trying to increase their chances of finding employment using the Post-9/11 GI Bill in record numbers. Veterans’ emails, mailboxes, and social networking pages are deluged with ads from for-profit universities and calls from recruiters working on commission using questionable techniques. Many programs cost much more than at community colleges, won’t be accepted by industry, or won’t be accepted for transfer credit. The culprit seems to be the ‘90/10 rule’, which allows for-profit colleges to sign up nine civilian students for every one servicemember or veteran enrolled, thus the emphasis on veterans. Instead of benefitting vets, this taxpayer money is lining the pockets of some for-profit colleges. Unfortunately, the industry is backed by some financial heavyweights that have allies in Congress.

  Homelessness among veterans has always been a problem and continues to be one for America’s newest generation. As much as one quarter of all homeless have served in the military. VA Secretary Gen. Eric Shinseki has vowed to eliminate veteran homelessness by 2015 and there are positive indications. The rate dropped by 12{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} in the last year. But there are still over 60,000 veterans without a home in America. The problem is increasing among female veterans, many of whom are raising children as single mothers. Despite this continuing problem, some in Congress don’t believe it is one that needs increased funding.

  PTSD and TBI are invisible wounds of war that over 20{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} of veterans carry home. Recent incidents involving soldiers and veterans in which PTSD or TBI may be involved have stirred a lot of media attention. The difficulties in dealing with work, school, and family life that these injuries cause and the stigma carried even by veterans who do not suffer from them causes problems in employment, studies, and at home. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has criticized the disorganized way the military has spent the nearly $3 billion allocated to it since 2007 to study PTSD and TBI. Statistics show treating veterans suffering from PTSD, TBI, or both is expensive and requires longer treatment times. Despite the costs to veterans and the necessary cost of treating these illnesses, many in Congress continue to target the Department of Veterans Affairs for cuts at a time when veterans need help the most.

  America is not doing well by its veterans by many measures. The disturbing trend is that all of these problems are interconnected. Military service comes with great hardships for servicemembers and their families while in uniform and afterwards. Those that serve in uniform give years of their lives to train and fight for the country. Many suffer from visible and physical ailments, others suffer from invisible wounds. Their service often leads to struggles in the job market and in education. These sacrifices lead to as many disadvantages in life as advantages. Veteran’s benefits are earned, not given. Despite America’s professed love of its veterans, public funds and the efforts of those that support programs to assist or level the playing field for veterans are constantly threatened with cuts.

  Those who have already sacrificed so much for the country are being asked to sacrifice even more.

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Now you can donate on Paypal.Thank you for your support

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Team VCS

At Veterans for Common Sense we are proud to be fighting for America and her veterans. Advocating for smart and pragmatic policy solutions and using the media to raise awareness and further the discussion on key issues. We have had a great 2012 so far. We have made over 60 office visits on capitol hill advocating for policies that protect our veterans and their future. We have also participated in numerous media interviews helping to shed light on the issues affecting our country and veterans.We are about to release our second impact report of the year. We are also continuing our lawsuit against the VA to gain greater access to mental health services and health care rights. This year we are celebrating a decade of service. We need your help starting our second decade off right. Please read about our major recent accomplishments and donate today to help us build on that success. To make it easier to support VCS we have added PayPal, now you can donate your Ebay proceeds and get a tax deduction.

Thank you very much.

–Scouts Out!

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Corporate America’s Military Opportunity

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Team VCS

Veterans offer companies the grit and skills needed to succeed.

March 27, 2012 (Wall Street Journal) – In his State of the Union address this January, President Obama rang a bell that is still sounding 10 years after our wars began in Afghanistan and Iraq. “At a time when too many of our institutions have let us down, they exceed all expectations,” he said about our men and women in uniform. “They’re not consumed with personal ambition. They don’t obsess over their differences. They focus on the mission at hand. They work together. Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example.”

We can do better than imagine. We can remember.

As World War II drew to a close, many Americans worried about how to assimilate returning veterans. Some feared the economic boom of the war would quickly fall back to the hard times of the Great Depression as millions in uniform arrived home looking for work. But these military veterans—the Greatest Generation, in Tom Brokaw’s phrase—had the resilience and leadership skills to become not a weight but an engine driving the economy and the American Century.

Whether today’s military men and women—the best-trained and most experienced military force in the history of our nation—can similarly drive our economy largely depends on whether we remember our history.

After World War II, veterans were rewarded with the G.I. bill and favorable housing loans. Perhaps as important, they came to be seen as a boon to any business that wanted to recruit disciplined, mission-oriented and motivated workers. Veterans then even wore military veteran pins on their lapels because it singled them out as worthy of special consideration as potential employees.

Today’s veterans, many of whom enlisted after America was attacked on 9/11, are as deserving as their World War II predecessors. And putting them to work may well be the most selfish thing our nation can do right now. Where else might any business find better, more “can-do” men and women?

When a person has been repeatedly willing to run toward battle under orders despite the risk of death, imagine what he or she might do to inspire a company to find the grit to succeed. How do you say “no” to working overtime when your colleague is a former war veteran who is willing to say “yes?”

About veterans whose skills have been honed in hostile environments, Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn notes that, “Whether they’re part of a factory floor team, whether they’re part of an executive group trying to steer a company in a certain direction, cohesion, coherence, the ability to follow others and work with others toward a common goal is incredibly important in generating those widgets and the clothes and the computers and the smartphones of GDP.”

The good news is that corporate America is beginning to wake up to the benefits of bringing a fighting spirit into their companies. Executives are learning that despite misconceptions, the vast majority of veterans—82{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d}-90{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} of men and 80{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} of women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the RAND Corporation—do not have a post-traumatic stress syndrome that could affect their readiness to work.

Prudential, FedEx, Gamestop, JetBlue, J.P. Morgan Chase, Coca-Cola, Sears, AT&T, NBC Universal and its parent company Comcast are among an increasing number of companies that are now seeking to hire veterans.

Gary Taylor, a top executive at power company Entergy (and a retired captain in the Air Force), puts it this way: “The skills that they bring back are a real competitive advantage, whether they’re electricians, mechanics, computer scientists, engineers—that skill seems to fit well.”

And even when a skill does not fit exactly, why would anyone doubt whether former Apache helicopter pilots or company master sergeants would be trainable? The sooner more American businesses realize the value of this sudden wealth of returning military veterans, the sooner we can stop worrying about our economy.

Our military veterans have exceeded all expectations. What could our businesses, our economy and our nation accomplish if we put their talents and courage to work here at home?

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First Defendants Graduate from L.A. County Veterans Court

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Team VCS

March 27, 2012 (LA Times) – The first seven graduates of the Veterans Court in Los Angeles County will be honored Tuesday morning after undergoing mental health treatment and regularly appearing before a judge.

The court, like others in Orange County and around the nation, is designed to help veterans whose lives have collided with the criminal justice system. If a judge’s criteria — including steady employment and staying clean and sober — are met, charges can be dropped or reduced.

“Our graduating veterans have truly invested in change,” Sergio Antoniuk, a social worker with the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department, said in a statement. “They have humbly  tackled problems that have hindered their stability and progress.”

Los Angeles County’s court started in 2010 and accepts veterans facing felony charges, ranging from theft to drug possession. Eligible veterans are those whose offenses might be linked to mental health or substance abuse issues arising from their service. The residential and outpatient treatment is provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“If these guys don’t get help, I think they’re going to deteriorate,”   said Superior Court Judge Michael Tynan, who oversees about 75 veterans   in the L.A. County program.

The success rates are high in such courts around the nation. In San Jose, there have been  72 graduates and only six new convictions, and in Buffalo, N.Y., there have  been 71 graduates — none of whom have since been in trouble with the  law. “I think now there is a concerted effort to look at what ways to engage  veterans, to reduce the presence of veterans in the criminal justice  system,” said Judge Robert Russell, the man behind Buffalo’s program.  “This war was a different war.”

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