Help Veterans Transition to Civilian Life!
16,644 signatures toward our 30,000 Goal
Sponsor: The Veterans Site
Our troops are trained to become warriors. After their service has ended, they deserve training for civilian life.
They served our nation proudly, and they've earned all the resources we can give them!
With veterans facing problems like epidemic suicide rates, unemployment, homelessness and other personal issues, there needs to a comprehensive program to help troops leaving the military to be prepared for civilian life.
A "reverse boot camp" style training program1, run by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, would give our veterans the skills and knowledge they need to find good jobs, apply for college, purchase a home, understand the benefits available to them through the VA, and deal with any social or psychological issues that may interfere with a smooth transition from a military career.
The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs currently conduct transition assistance programs, but there are large gaps in the programs, and a lack of cohesive training that prepares veterans for the transition into civilian life, a new career, or higher education2. Private organizations exist to help pick up the slack, but those are often targeted at specific veteran groups3.
The training needs to come from the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, and it needs to begin well before troops get their discharge papers.
By properly preparing our veterans for life after the military, we can help decrease unemployment, homelessness, and suicides while at the same time getting some of our country's best and brightest integrated into our schools, neighborhoods, and the workplace4.
The United States has the best trained military in the world. Each branch carefully trains our troops to become warriors to defend our nation's freedoms. But after years in the military, many need assistance transitioning or adjusting to civilian life5. We need a comprehensive training program to prepare our veterans for life after the military, and it needs to happen right now!
Veterans leaving the service today are facing rising unemployment, homelessness, medical issues including PTSD, and a tragic suicide rate6. They receive the best training for military life while serving, but without the proper training to reintroduce them into civilian life many are being set up to fail.
Sign this petition to tell the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs that our military personnel deserve a better transition program prior to leaving the service so they are ready when they reenter civilian life.
- Ben Nussbaumer, Task and Purpose (8 October 2015), "The Military's Transition Programs Are Under-Delivering Support To Service Members."
- American Legion (27 January 2015), "A Review of the Transition Assistance Program TAP."
- Anna Granville, Task and Purpose (18 January 2016), "Here Are 7 Awesome Resources Your Transition Class Didn't Offer."
- The Chairmans Office of Reintegration, Task and Purpose (11 June 2015), "Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs' Office: 5 Ways Military Leaders Can Support Transitioning Service Members."
- Rich Morin, Pew Research Center (8 December 2011), "The Difficult Transition from Military to Civilian Life."
- Thomas Howard Suitt, III, Boston University (21 June 2021), "High Suicide Rates among United States Service Members and Veterans of the Post 9/11 Wars."
The Petition:
To the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs,
The men and women of the United States military are some of the hardest working, disciplined, dedicated, and well-trained individuals. Yet, despite their training and character our veterans are plagued by a number of issues that hinder them in civilian life once their service in the military is completed. A comprehensive discharge training program for military personnel is needed to adequately prepare them for work and life after the military.
While recognizing that transition assistance programs are currently in place for military personnel leaving the service through the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, there are disparities in those training programs that need to be fixed, and a more thorough, individualized, and comprehensive training program needs to be implemented right away.
Unemployment among veterans has skyrocketed, with current sources showing 6.3 percent unemployment young veterans just leaving the military. The mental strains of combat can be seen in the number of veterans dealing with PTSD and the tragically high suicide rate. Homelessness continues to be a problem for too many veterans as well. They deserve an individualized training program to prepare them civilian life.
The current transition assistance programs run by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have problematic shortcomings for fully preparing veterans to enter civilian life with the best chances of success. The Department of Defense runs the "Accessing Higher Education" training program, but the Department of Veterans Affairs runs the benefits program for higher education. The same training program also fails to address non-traditional education options, such as vocational schools, which are only covered in a different training program. A member of the service may not know which program would best suit their needs, and thus many are missing out on vital information and training.
According to Task and Purpose, only around 40 percent of service members take part in the education training programs alone, while others are likely electing to not go through other transition programs to help them acclimate to civilian life. Our military would never allow its service members to go without proper training while serving in the military, and they should not be going without the proper training for civilian life at the end of their service either.
A comprehensive transition training program that covers all aspects of civilian life — including education, employment, housing, medical needs, and benefits — for all service members must be created and implemented, along with individualized assistance programs covering issues such as medical needs, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other personal issues.
In 2015, the Veterans of Foreign Wars testified before Congress on the issue of transition assistance programs and stated that many veterans were unable to participate in all training programs, even the ones which they wanted to go through. Creating a comprehensive transition program for all discharging service members would eliminate this problem.
A number of private organizations exist to aid veterans' transition into civilian life, or to help them overcome obstacles that arise in the months and years after their service has ended. The very existence of these organizations is evidence of the shortcomings in the current transition assistance programs offered. The military itself would be the best authority to help veterans in their transition out of the military, and veterans would naturally benefit from having that training before they are discharged instead of needing it later when problems arise.
Our veterans need to be set up for success in civilian life, with every opportunity afforded them and all relevant information given to them. Just as the United States military puts each service member through boot camp and training to train them and turn them into military personnel, each service member should go through an equally rigorous training program at the end of their service to equip and prepare them for civilian life.
I implore the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs to implement a comprehensive transition training program for all discharging service members to prepare them for life outside the military; to assist, inform, and prepare them for employment, education, housing, medical needs, benefits, and adjustment from military to civilian life.
Sincerely,
