Seldom if ever has America asked so much of so
few for so long. Its soldiers and Marines are being deployed around the
world at breakneck pace, accepting significant sacrifice, often at great
personal risk.
If we are going to ask so much of our men and women who voluntarily
serve under arms, it is only fair that we take good care of them.
Fortunately, military pay as well as health and retirement benefits have
improved substantially in modern times. But young people leaving the
service need more than benefits.
If they are leaving the active-duty force, they need new jobs and
careers. If they are returning from reservist duty, they need the right
to reclaim their former positions, or help restoring their own
businesses that probably suffered during their absence. The private
sector and government both need to keep looking for more ways to assist.
Modern American military veterans bring many distinctive talents to
careers in the private sector. Several stand out.
(1) Military veterans display a propensity toward leadership. They often
possess practical, hands-on management experience. Many will have led
teams of a dozen or more individuals during the course of even a short,
three-year enlistment.
(2) Military veterans also possess a strong sense of loyalty. Loyalty is
a core value in today's military services, and is instilled from basic
training. Military veterans can be expected to approach a business
opportunity with pride and professionalism that understands loyalty as a
two-way street, prepared to give their commitment to a firm in return
for the opportunity to produce bottom-line results for that company.
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(3) Most of today's military veterans possess exceptional information
technology know-how and technical expertise. A young private on an Army
personnel carrier or a Marine Corps tank will be trained to use,
maintain and understand the basics of nearly a dozen high-tech
instruments imbedded in these modern military vehicles from
computer-generated thermal images, to global positioning navigation
systems tied to satellite tracking devices, to digital-data graphics and
movement presentations relayed between moving vehicles via wireless
control. The onetime "low-tech" world of the infantryman and tank
crewman are long gone.
(4) Our veterans are used to working successfully in an ethnically
diverse environment. They have formal training and personal experience
in an employee system that values ethnic diversity and that trains and
demands adherence to equal opportunity for all workers.
(5) Our modern military has seen extensive overseas deployments since
well before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Thus, the
average separating military veteran will have personal experience with
international environments and international partners. Many will also
have conversational skills in at least one foreign language.
Tragically, of course, some of our veterans will return to the workplace
handicapped physically or mentally. Not every possible job will be right
for all of them. But the U.S. military health and veterans' care systems
are getting better all the time at helping diagnose and treat such
conditions. They can also help employers understand the challenges faced
by some of our soldiers and Marines, even before hiring decisions are
made. And while some are indeed seriously injured, most veterans will
arrive in the civilian work force in good health and with a greater
propensity than most toward a healthy lifestyle featuring exercise and
smart eating habits.
While our focus here has been on those veterans separating from the
active duty U.S. military force, American businesses have an equally
critical role in supporting our Reservists and Guardsmen. Federal law
protects members of the military from losing their jobs while they are
mobilized to active duty. Many, if not most, American firms and
industries are honoring this legal obligation. But some are not, and
must.
Moreover, no such federal job safety net exists for Reserve & National
Guard troops who own their own businesses. According to the National
Guard Bureau, about 5 percent of all 1 million members of the National
Guard and Reserves are self-employed. Preferential loans or even modest,
temporary subsidies may be appropriate for those whose businesses can be
shown to have suffered during their absence.
An amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill sponsored by Sens.
Olympia Snow, Maine Republican, and John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat,
provides federal legislation that will mandate much of this vital
support. If signed into law by the president, this legislation will
still require the good faith implementation by the nation's bankers and
businessmen to assure its desired effect.
If you have a story to share about a military veteran working for or
with you, and are willing to share it in brief form, please e-mail us.
We would like to write another column with such inspirational stories.
Thomas Lynch, a U.S. Army colonel, is a military fellow at the
Brookings Institution. The views expressed are his own. Michael O'Hanlon
is senior fellow at Brookings and directs Brookings' Opportunity08.org
project.
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Larry Scott --
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