Posted on 06/25/2007 5:07:20 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
Nearly 20 percent of young military vets are unemployed -- twice the national average for young civilians. I spoke about why with Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, who said that the same extended tours of duty that wreak havoc on the personal lives of soldiers and their families can make employers wary about hiring them. "Especially the guardsmen and reservists, because they get deployed so often," said Duckworth. "Some Marines Corps units in Southern Illinois have been called up four times. Can you imagine what that does for an employer?"
Then there is -- and there's no polite way to put this -- the common notion that vets tend to harbor mental illness more than the Average Joe, that they are shell-shocked and traumatized from their experiences in battle.
"A lot of civilian employers think they are hiring damaged goods, and that's not the case," she said. "It's a myth."
She said that, rather than being a risk, veterans are in fact employees who are trained to assure the quality of their work with their lives.
"My helicopter mechanic -- my crew chief -- guaranteed his work with his life. He twisted every wire, tightened every bolt, checked every system, then climbed into the back of that helicopter and went flying with me," she said. "I don't know how many other employees have a history of guaranteeing the quality of their work with their lives -- who say, 'I folded this parachute and now I'll jump out of the airplane with you.' That's what you're getting when you hire a vet."
Myth is just that Duckworth didn't have the statistics at her fingertips, so her calling the widespread suspicion that veterans experience emotional troubles more than the general population "a myth" seemed worth further exploration. Studies show that about 30 percent of Vietnam vets experienced psychological problems after coming home, which sounds like a lot, until you realize that the National Institute of Mental Health finds that 26.2 of all Americans "suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year." That's quite a figure, suggesting that more than a quarter of Americans will need psychiatric treatment this year, or that these statistics are made up and meaningless -- take your pick.
Two important points to remember -- first, while combat is certainly a source of stress and later difficulty, the majority of soldiers never see combat. That fact might cause some unease to the vets themselves at reunions, but it also means they're not going to be waking up in a cold sweat, flashing back to memories of filing reports at Fort Dix.
And second, there are millions of vets, leading me to suspect that the myth of vet unbalance is fed by what I call "The Postal Worker Illusion." Postal workers are no more likely to go, umm, postal than any other kind of workers. But because there are so many of them, in such a distinctive line of work -- they even have their own uniforms -- their troubles become aggregated and exaggerated in the public mind. The same is true for veterans.
mailto:nsteinberg@suntimes.com
Oh, yes, helicopter pilot--shot down in Iraq--
Duckworth is a late entry to the race, since she was unable to officially enter until the Army released her from active duty in mid- December. If she's ever to test her mettle against a Republican, she'll have to prevail first over fellow Democrats Christine Cegelis, who won an impressive 44 percent of the vote against Hyde in 2004, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott in Illinois' March 21 primary.
But she's already won the endorsement of the AFL-CIO and support from big-name Illinois politicians like Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama, and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. And in the few weeks she had in the last quarter of 2005, she raised more than $120,000 - substantially more than either Democratic opponent. She still has far less money than Peter Roskam, the Republican she could face this fall, but the initial windfall bodes well for her future.
If a Lieutenant Colonel retired after commanding a battalion of over 1000 soldiers and tens of millions of dollars of equipment and then applied for a civilian job, the interviewer would ask, "do you have any supervisor experience?"
The majority of America thinks the Army is like that G.I. Joe cartoon back in the 80s.
Good Morning Chi-townChief,
Vets are viewed with hostility and persona non-grata by many federal agencies staffed with klintoon hirees.
I have a good friend who was hired by the DOTT, a professional retired military man. He was an outstanding employee who put the other federal employees to shame in job performance.
He was hated by many the non-vets and the klintoon anti-vet left wing employees.(jealous supervisors)
When it came to performance appraisals, he was rated only satisfactory, while some of the non-vets&anti-vets received cash incentives for their lacksadaisical work/duty performance.(just show up for work)
Vets were viewed with contempt because the majority are professionals, well disciplined and have the “can do attitude.” I might say “mission first, last and always” mindset.
P.S. If a Veteran received retirement pay at the agency, it was viewed as unfair to the majority of the braindead non-vets and klintoonistas.
One last thing you and I both know (scary kerry) is nothing but a (Zero) from from his lefty liberal proclaimed (hero) status.
Take care Chief and wish you the best always.
Respectfully,
NSNR
.
MEL’s -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1085111/posts
http://www.Freerepublic.com/~aloharonnie/
http://www.Freerepublic.com/~anita1
.
She ran on the Dim ticket for the retiring Henry Hyde's vacant seat....and lost.
She's a gun-grabber, anti-Iraq war advocate, "supports John McCain's immigration plan" and is the darling of the teachers union, etc. etc.
Not even the VFW endorsed her in her race for the House. She was appointed to her paid veterans affairs post by Illinois' super-dim Democrat governor, Rod Blagoveditz, as a sop after she lost her election. She gets a lot of attention because of her disability.
Leni
And where is she wrong in the article?
She’s not wrong, just “incomplete.” Her political allies like to push the stories about the vets being “damaged goods.” That’s why I mentioned Ketchup Boy’s 70s b/s right up front.
30 years ago, a lot of us were “damaged goods” but made it our selling point. Employers will soon find it’s what makes us so lovable.
She could even be tapped to fill Hussein Obama's place should he go on to bigger and better things in 2008.
It's nice to know a few things about those in the public eye.
Leni
So you're attacking the messenger even though her message might be accurate? She talking about the problems vets are facing in employment. Are the problems real or are they baloney? She's saying that the misconception that vets suffer emotional issues at a higher rate than the population as a whole is wrong. Is she blowing smoke or not? Why is all that suspect merely because she's a Democrat? What Republican do you think would be doing a better job?
It's nice to know a few things about those in the public eye.
Right now she's in the public eye upholding the interest of Illinois veterans. What local Republican is doing more than she?
I think this is just like other Dem issues. It is made up and imaginary. Vets make excellent employees and would be in much demand in a full employment economy. They will outshine an illegal any day.
Most countries do...
Ya know there was a time when you went to the Post Office and there were many Vets employed there. Vets were given employment preference. But now you go to the P.O. and you’re lucky if you can find anyone who can even speak good English. The place is loaded with foreigners and who knows what their immigration status is?
No doubt about that at all. But the article is saying that younger vets have an unemployment rate twice the average. Are you saying that's incorrect? The article says that some employers are, right or wrong, shying away from hiring reservists because of the risk the employee might be called up. Are you saying that's untrue? The article says that there is a misconception that vets have a higher percentage of emotional problems than the population as a whole. Are you saying that's wrong? If so what are you using to base your position on?
Let's not turn this into a Republican vs. Democrat issue. If the claims made in the story are true then we owe it to the vets to stand up and go to bat for them. And I don't care who does it, Republican or Democrat, so long as the vets get the attention and respect they need and deserve.
Being a Veteran gave me zero advantage when looking for a job after I left the Navy in 1982. Few job applications in the 1980’s would ask about military service unless you served during Vietnam. They would have a question like, “Did you serve in the military between 1964 and 1973 - yes/no?” And then if you answered “yes” you would have points added to your qualifications. That’s it, no other question about did you serve during another period or anything.
Now all due respect for you Vietnam veterans, but this really hacked me off to feel that my service was insignificant, knowing that many thousands of servicemen during Vietnam saw nor more combat than I did.
I thank God that I did find a great job after a long wait, but I give no credit to any Veterans lobbyist group for recognizing us non-combat era veterans.
Labor force participation of veterans and nonveterans ages 20 to 24 years, 1990-2006 annual averages
(Percent)
Year Unemployment rate
Veterans/Nonveterans
1990 / 9.7 / 8.8
1991 / 14.2 / 10.7
1992 / 15.0 / 11.2
1993 / 14.1 / 10.4
1994 / 11.1 / 9.5
1995 / 10.6 / 9.1
1996 / 9.8 / 9.3
1997 / 9.6 / 8.5
1998 / 9.5 / 7.9
1999 / 10.2 / 7.4
2000 / 8.0 / 7.2
2001 / 9.6 / 8.3
2002 / 11.2 / 9.6
2003 / 11.0 / 10.0
2004 / 13.6 / 9.4
2005 / 15.6 / 8.7
2006 / 10.4 / 8.1
NOTE: Veterans are men and women who served in the Armed Forces during times of war or peace.
Nonveterans are persons who have never served in the Armed Forces.
SOURCE: Unpublished tabulations from the Current Population Survey (CPS), Bureau of Labor Statistics
Excuse the formatting, please. I inserted slashes to separate what are columns on a spreadsheet.
Veterans have some form of employment preference in most states which assists them in transitioning from a military environment to a civilian job. They also have a Federal preference. As a partial explanation, they are often relocating back to their home of record or to a new location. They are reestablishing themselves in the civilian work force. They are competing with candidates with more identifiably related job experience which is not always easily translated from military equivalents. They are also competing against those with more job hunting experience.
And, for your own interpretation: Fact sheet on young veterans
•In 2005, there were 321,000 veterans 20 to 24 years old. Three-quarters of them were men, a much larger proportion than their nonveteran counterparts (49.8 percent). About 17 percent of veterans were black, a somewhat higher proportion than nonveterans (13.9 percent). One-quarter of young veterans were married, compared with about 17 percent for nonveterans. In August 2005 (the most recent period for which data are available), about 12 percent of young veterans had a service-connected disability.
•Veterans are somewhat less likely to be enrolled in college than nonveterans—26 percent versus 31 percent. Of the 83,000 young veterans enrolled in college in 2005, nearly 80 percent were full-time students. About the same proportion of the 6.1 million young nonveterans enrolled in college were full-time students.
•Of the 235,000 veterans age 20 to 24 not enrolled in school in 2005, 60 percent were high school graduates with no college studies, while 35 percent had some college but lacked a bachelor’s degree. Only about 2 percent had a college degree. In contrast, 40 percent of the 13.6 million nonveterans not enrolled in school were high school graduates with no college, 28 percent had some college but lacked a bachelor’s degree, and 13 percent were college graduates.
•The employment-population ratio in 2005 for veterans ages 20 to 24 — 65.1 percent — was about the same as the ratio for young nonveterans —68.1 percent. (The difference between the employment-population ratios of the 2 groups was not statistically significant.) Young veterans’ unemployment rate (15.6 percent) was 6.9 percentage points higher than that for young nonveterans (8.7 percent), a statistically significant difference.
•The unemployment rate for veterans 20 to 24 years, at 15.6 percent in 2005, was about unchanged from 2004 when it was 13.6 percent. (The difference was not statistically significant.) In contrast, the rate for young nonveterans fell by 0.7 percentage point, from 9.4 percent in 2004 to 8.7 percent in 2005.
•Among the employed, young veterans, both male and female, are more likely to be in protective service occupations than are their nonveteran counterparts. In addition, male veterans 20 to 24 years old are more likely than young male nonveterans to be in installation, maintenance, and repair occupations. Female veterans are more likely than their nonveteran counterparts to be in management as well as production occupations.
•Since 2000, the employment-population ratio for both young veterans and nonveterans has fallen. Over the same period, the unemployment rate for veterans has risen, while the rate for nonveterans peaked in 2003 and declined in 2004 and 2005.
Note: Data are from the Current Population Survey, 2005 annual averages, unless otherwise noted. Standard errors cited are at the 90-percent confidence level.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics
Division of Labor Force Statistics
Your final sentence is just nonsense. I guess the liberal Duckworth is the only one upholding the interest of Illinois vets.
Although, there may be something to be said in pointing out that she may be the only one getting the continual publicity promos from the liberal MSM rags in Daleyville.
Leni
I have no idea is she's the only one or not. But she's doing so now so I'm not going to trash her simply because she's a Democrat.
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