Suggested Reading and Resources

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Military Coordinates Effort to Help Wounded Troops Return to Work: The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and military services held its first "From Deployment to Employment” conference in 2006 to discuss ways to better serve America’s severely injured servicemembers. The conference focused on helping severely wounded troops return to the work force. DoD’s Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) hosted the conference. CAP provides “needs assessment and training” to wounded servicemembers during their transition back to employment, whether it is in the military, government or the private sector.
Wounded and Injured Veterans Summit 200 Report: A complete report on the 2006 Wounded and Injured Veterans Summit.
Soldier Re-employment Rights: This 2 page employee guide explains the basic policies of USERRA (Uniformed Services Employement and Re-employment Rights Act).
Easing the Transition from Military to Civilian Life: The Army Career and Alumni Program was created to assist returning soldiers in a successful transition to civilian life. A study found that people who used ACAP were likely to find jobs in the civilian world two months earlier than those who did not, he aid. The study also found that ACAP users made an average of $7,300 more per year in civilian salary than those former Soldiers who bypassed ACAP on their way out of the service.
Military Deployment - Helping Employees Leave and Return: “Coming home” or redeployment can be just as stressful as leaving, and employers and co-workers should be aware of those stresses. In this article, the U.S. Department of Defense offers advice to ease this tranisiton.
Organization helps disabled soldiers with civilian jobs, education: The Return 2 Work program was created by a vietnam veteran 15 years ago and is now a nationwide resource that promotes education and employment for the disabled.
Transitioning Tips for the Work Place: This document contains tips for soldiers returning to the workplace as well as tips for the coworkers of returning soldiers.
Troops to Truckers: Troops 2 Truckers is a unique career transition program built for the exclusive use of those who serve or have served in the United States Armed Forces. The program targets servicemen and women who are trained and experienced Motor Transport & Logistics professionals who seek to transfer those skills to post-service civilian employment
Troops to Teachers: Troops-to-Teachers provides Referral Assistance and Placement services to military personnel interested in beginning a second career in public education as a teacher. The DANTES Troops-to-Teachers office will help applicants identify teacher certification requirements, programs leading to certification and employment opportunities.
Vet Success - 5 Tracks to Success: This track is designed for those individuals separating from active duty or in the National Guard or Reserves and who are now returning to work for their previous employer. Features of this program include Rehabilitation Plan with the goal of Reemployment may involve job accommodations, job modification, case management, coordination and linkages of services with VA health care, reemployment rights advice, work adjustment services and consultation with the employer.
Employer's Legal Obligations to Employees in the Military: This article discusses the role of employers and their legal obligations to employees who have been called to active military duty or who are members of the United States National Guard or Reserves. For example, what obligations, if any, does an employer have to re-employ a veteran in the position they held prior to being called to active duty? What if doing so displaces another employee or results in hardship for the employer?
Help Soldiers Get Back To Work: While federal law guarantees reemployment for those serving in the Reserves and National Guard, the transition from battlefield to workplace can be fraught with difficulties not addressed in any policy manual. This article offers tips on how to help the transition back into the workforce and where to get help.
When Workers Go To War: Small businesses bear the brunt of lost workers due to the war. About 70% of soldiers/reservists come from companies with 99 or fewer employees. This artilce discusses employers who have gone above and beyond to support active duty employees. Skyline Membership Corporation (a West Jefferson, NC telephone company) with 133 employees surpassed USERRA requirements by contributing to the retirement plans of two active duty employees, and offering them a holiday bonus. These acts have earned Skyline the title of one of ESGR's top guardsmen/reservist supporting small companies.
Employer Support of the Guard and Reservists: The Freedom Award is the highest recognition given to employers for their support of their employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve. This site contains is an interactive list of employers who have signed Statement of Support for their Guard and Reserve employees, designated by state.
Employer Resource Guide (from ESGR): The Freedom Award is the highest recognition given to employers for their support of their employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve. This site contains is an interactive list of employers who have signed Statement of Support for their Guard and Reserve employees, designated by state.
Tips For Employers (from ESGR): Employers active support and encouragement are key to their success. This article from ESGR lists tips to help employers and employees achieve that goal.
Back to Work from War: Allianz Life became one of 15 recipients of the 2006 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. They received the award by doing such things as: sending care packages to an enlisted soldier and donating soccer balls for him to distribute to Iraqi children. Allianz initially provided supplemental pay to make up the difference between his military salary and what he would have earned as an actuary, then elevated the soldier to full salary for his last seven months of duty. The company also included his wife in company functions while he was away; replaced his laptop computer when it broke, so that he could communicate with his family back home; and gave him 90 days off with full pay and benefits when he returned.
Getting Vets Back to Work: In August 2005, the jobless rate for 3.4 million Gulf War era veterans (counting those who served starting in August 1990) was 5.2 percent (compared with the national rate of 4.6 percent in September 2006), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For younger veterans ages 20 to 24, the unemployment rate in 2005 was 15.6 percent. 5 Steps for employers to help integrate soldiers back into the workforce: Know how to connect with veterans—and why you might want to, do background checks as you would for any employee, Sspport is available for the transition, working with other veterans can help, Be alert to behavioral signs of trouble.
Tax credits, other strategies in works to help returning vets: Wisconsin Rep. Steve Wieckert has proposed an $8,000 tax credit, per job, for companies that hire veterans who have served a year or more on active duty. This year (2007), Illinois began providing a $600 annual income-tax credit to businesses for every veteran they hire. Illinios has a new state policy that requires officers attend a post-deployment training session, and is set to launch a program that will provide counseling for veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder.
Coming Home: Stepped-up use of the National Guard and Reserves in combat areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan has created challenges for HR since employees who are active in those units can be called to active duty at any time with little or no advance notice. When employees return from active military duty with PTSD, there are a number of issues HR may have to address, PTSD often leads to increased absences and coworker conflict HR professionals need to educate themselves to recognize the symptoms of PTSD and refer employees to their employee assistance programs to get the help they need.
Employers Turn to Improvisation When Reservists Return to Work: Several seemingly small factors helped a district sales manager for Pfiezer return to work after a 15 month tour of duty. Among them, a new hire training manual to bring him up to spead, a picture of his new team member with member names, and a sales report to bring him up to spead on numbers and trends. The forum also provides a place to find colleagues who can be sounding boards. "I've had people say to me, 'My boss just doesn't get it,' " says Andrew Gilbert, a consultant Booz Allen Hamiliton's armed services forum. "And I'll find someone to intervene discreetly to say, 'I know Suzy's back. I've been through what she has and know how hard it can be, so I thought I'd check in to see if you had questions about it.' "
Helmets to Hardhats: Helmets to Hardhats is a national program that connects National Guard, Reserve and transitioning active-duty military members with quality career training and employment opportunities within the construction industry.
Counseling service starts Vets For Vets to help returning soldiers: A new program from VCS (a counseling service in New City) was created to help soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan deal with the adjustment from war zone to civilian life. Vets For Vets will train veterans so that they can provide peer counseling for troops recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mental Health of Vets a Growing Concern: Civilian employers as well as the military will need to use available resources to help soldiers transition back into life in the U.S., whether as a civilian or as a professional member of the military. 3 tips: Communication, Welcoming the Soldier Home, Helping the Veteran Adjust.
The Struggle to Gauge a War's Psychological Cost: Coping With Combat: This article discusses the hardship of diagnosing and treating soldiers who struggle with mental health issues after combat and offers help with adjustment from combat to life at home, and tips on tracking symptoms of a possible mental health issue.
Suicides in Marine Corps Rise by 29%: The Marine Corps experienced a 29 percent spike in suicides last year, reaching the highest number in at least a decade. Growing concerns over suicide have led both the Army and Marines to dispatch more mental health professionals to Iraq and Afghanistan, in an effort to provide more immediate prevention.
Army Releases Results of Third Soldier Mental Health Survey: The suicide rate among soldiers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq and Kuwait) during 2005 was 19.9 cases per 100,000 soldiers—similar to the 18.8 rate per 100,000 soldiers in 2003 and higher than 2004. The full Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT-III) Report for 2006 can be accessed at: http://www.armymedicine.army.mil/news/mhat/mhat_iii/MHATIII_Report_29May2006-Redacted.pdf.
Returning to Work: Information for Reservists and Members of the National Guard And Their Employers: Information listed here is provided by Mental Health America (formerly known as the National Mental Health Association) and discusses steps for easing into the workforce after a deployment mission. There are tips for both employers and returning employees.
Returning From the War Zone - A Guide for Military Personel: This pamphlet from The National Center for PTSD provides extensive information to help military personnel understand what to expect when returning from a war zone, and enables them to improve their adaptation back to home life.
Operation Healthy Reunion website: This portal was created by Mental Health America and provides education on the stigma of mental health issues among soldiers, their families, and medical staff. Various tools include: Screening for Mental Health's Mental Health Self-Assessment Program, www.militarymentalhealth.org; Depression Screening, www.depression-screening.org
Military Severely Injured Joint Operations Center: The mission of this organization is to prepare severely injured servicemembers to return to duty or to reintegrate successfully into their home towns. The center offers help with medical care, rehabilitation, education, employment, mental health counseling, and financial assistance and accommodation issue.
Helping National Guard and Reserve Reenter the Workplace: This fact sheet explains the emotional and psychological issues that reservists may experience transitioning from active duty into their former job or workplace. It is written for both the military and civilian community.
U.S. to Boost Mental Health Care for Diplomats: The State Department plans to create a new mental care office and require employees to take additional time off to deal with a surge in stress disorders among diplomats in danger posts abroad, particularly Iraq and Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday. These steps were proposed in response to the findings of a survey that found up to 17 percent of diplomats serving at such posts may suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or similar problems, the officials said.
APA Welcomes New Study On Soldiers' Mental Health: The American Psychiatric Association (APA) welcomed a first-of-its-kind study of returning soldiers' mental health. The U.S. Army-funded study, "Mental Health Problems, Use of Mental Health Services, and Attrition from Military Service after Returning from Deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan," was published in the March 1 edition of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and was led by Charles W. Hoge, M.D., of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, D.C.
Combat Duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mental Health Problems, and Barriers to Care: Research conducted after military conflicts has shown deployment stressors and exposure to combat result in considerable risks of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression, substance abuse, impairment in social functioning and in the ability to work, and the increased use of health care services. This study provides an initial look at the mental health of members of the Army and the Marine Corps who were involved in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Findings among the study groups indicate there was a significant risk of mental health problems and that the subjects reported important barriers to receiving mental health services, particularly the perception of stigma among those most in need of such care.
One-fifth of female airmen in combat get PTSD: According to a survey of 1,114 service women conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, about 20 percent of Air Force women who have deployed since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 are experiencing at least one major symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Longer Deployments Impact Soldiers' Mental Health, DoD Survey Shows: In May 2007, the DoD released the fourth survey in a series of mental health studies called the Mental Health Advisory Team 4 (MHAT-IV) survey. The survey, which was conduced in August and September of 2006, included 1,300 soldiers and nearly 450 Marines, and found soldiers who were deployed longer than six months, or had been deployed multiple times, were more likely to screen positively for mental health issues.
Cognitive Sequelae Common In Iraq War Veterans: Compared with troops who did not go overseas during the same time, soldiers who served in Iraq performed worse on tests of sustained attention, verbal learning, and visual-spatial memory and recorded higher measures of confusion and tension. In contrast, deployment was associated with improved reaction time, wrote Jennifer Vasterling, Ph.D., and five colleagues in the August 2 Journal of the American Medical Association. The study is the first such evaluation of troops before and shortly after war service, according to an accompanying editorial.
Suicides: A Treatment Issue: A first-of-its-kind analysis of Army suicides shows that more than half the 948 soldiers who attempted suicide in 2006 had been seen by mental health providers before the attempt - 36 percent within just 30 days of the event. Of those who committed suicide in 2006, a third had an outpatient mental health visit within three months of killing themselves, and 42 percent had been seen at a military medical facility within three months.
Longitudinal Assessment of Mental Health Poblems Among Active and Reserve Component Soldiers Returning From the Iraq War: Rescreening soldiers several months after their return from Iraq identified a large cohort missed on initial screening. The large clinical burden recently reported among veterans presenting to Veterans Affairs facilities seems to exist within months of returning home, highlighting the need to enhance military mental health care during this period. Increased relationship problems underscore shortcomings in services for family members. Reserve component soldiers who had returned to civilian status were referred at higher rates on the PDHRA, which could reflect their concerns about their ongoing health coverage. Lack of confidentiality may deter soldiers with alcohol problems from accessing treatment. In the context of an overburdened system of care, the effectiveness of population mental health screening was difficult to ascertain.
Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles: A New York Times series of articles and multimedia about veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have committed killings, or been charged with them, after coming home.
VETERANS WITH SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES AND THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA): A GUIDE FOR EMPLOYERS: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a question-and-answer (Q&A) guide providing technical assistance for employers on workplace issues affecting veterans with service-connected disabilities. The guide explains how protections for veterans with service-connected disabilities differ under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
Give an Hour: Give an Hour is dedicated to meeting the mental health needs of the troops and families affected by the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. They provide counseling to individuals, couples and families, and children and adolescents. They offer treatment for anxiety, depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, sexual health and intimacy concerns, and loss and grieving.
Invisible Wounds: Mental Health and Cognitive Care Needs of America’s Returning Veterans: Approximately 18.5 percent of U.S. servicemembers who have returned from Afghanistan and Iraq currently have post-traumatic stress disorder or depression; and 19.5 percent report experiencing a traumatic brain injury during deployment. Roughly half of those who need treatment for these conditions seek it, but only slightly more than half who receive treatment get minimally adequate care. Improving access to high-quality care (i.e., treatment supported by scientific evidence) can be cost-effective and improve recovery rates.