The Veterans Administration will be dealing with 34,000 troops returning from Afghanistan in the next 12 months. This will clearly burden already painfully slow procedures to process veteran claims. (As VA backlog grows, Congress, veterans grow weary of excuses, U.S. News, Feb 27, 2013) Nevertheless, as the clock continues to tick and the claims are being processed, many veterans are getting left out in the cold. They’re unsure how to effectively integrate into a civilian society that is already having issues its own; Budgets, Unemployment, Crime, Drugs…
Our troops come back with the “American Dream” on their mind. They’re hoping to get a job, make a living and get on with life after living through some of the most traumatic and life altering events imaginable. How do you come back from a situation where your survival and the survival of your comrades are dependent on ingrained training, decisive actions and leadership abilities? Does that training go away when you get back home? How do you ratchet down the intensity in order to get along with folks that really have no clue what you’ve been through?
Young combat veterans are reentering our society without the requisite skills to deal with the situations they will be presented with daily. Can we really expect the government, who can’t agree of a rational budget for the country, to train and equip this generation of veterans for reintegration? There must be a better way.
There is a better way.
There are thousands of groups led and supported by people who’ve been there before. They’ve been able to successfully reintegrate and thrive in life after returning from combat. There are too many organizations to mention here. Some of them are represented on our Friends of Veterans 360 page.
In San Diego, Veterans 360 is just such an organization. Veterans and volunteers have put together a program of engagement, education, employment and healing. The program will transform a recently separated young veteran’s life. It will give them the skills and hope they need to make a difference in our society.
Would you consider helping Veterans 360 by sponsoring a young combat veteran or providing ongoing financial support through our 12 for 12 program? We hope you will.
Rick Collins, founder of Veterans 360, has said “With the proper skills, training and tools, this generation of warriors can be the best generation of veterans this country has ever seen”