Iraq, Afghanistan veterans struggle to find jobs

More than 1 in 5 young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans was unemployed last year, the Labor Department said Friday.

Concerns that Guard and Reserve troops will be gone for long stretches and that veterans might have mental health issues or lack civilian work skills appear to be factors keeping the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at 20.9 percent, a slight drop from the year before, but still well over the 17.3 percent rate for non-veterans of the same age group, 18-24.

"The employers out there, they are military-friendly and veteran-friendly, and they love us and thank us and everything, but when you go apply for a job, it's almost like they are scared to take a risk for you. I don't get it. It doesn't make sense," said Iraq veteran Christopher Kurz, 28, who just moved back in with his parents in Arizona after spending two years looking for law enforcement work in New York.

Kurz said his time as a military police officer in Iraq and aboard a nuclear aircraft carrier didn't seem to translate into a job.

For Iraq and Afghanistan veterans of all ages, the unemployment rate last year was 11.5 percent. In 2009, 21.1 percent of young Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans were unemployed.

The problem has persisted despite government and private initiatives designed to help them. Advocates say more of a concentrated effort to have licensing and skills obtained in the military translate into the civilian workplace and more public awareness about what veterans offer employers are needed to tackle the problem.

Sen. Patty Murray, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, said veterans have told her they take their military experience off their resumes because they fear a potential employer will decide they're at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder and not hire them.

"They take four or eight years of experience and throw it out the door and pretend it doesn't even exist," said Murray, a Washington Democrat. "That to me is a huge consequence to them, professionally."

One of the largest government efforts is the Post-9/11 GI Bill administered by the Veterans Affairs Department, which by the end of last year had paid out nearly $7.2 billion in tuition, housing and stipends for more than 425,000 veterans or their eligible family members.

Kurz said that without the new GI Bill he probably would have been homeless or moving back in with his parents in Mesa, Ariz., much sooner. He recently transferred from the City College of New York to Ottawa University in Arizona so he can finish his bachelor's degree.

As he has looked for a job with police departments and federal agencies such as Homeland Security, he said his years as a military police officer haven't seemed to count when pitted against someone with a degree in criminal justice - even if the college grad didn't have previous law enforcement experience.

"I don't understand why they don't want to hire a veteran who's got on-the-job experience, because a college student who has got a criminal justice degree - that might be great, don't get me wrong - he's smart, but he's not street smart," Kurz said. "You can't teach people the stuff you learn in the street in school."

Staff Sgt. Meghan Meade, 27, of East Moriches, N.Y., said her lack of a bachelor's degree also seems to have kept her from getting a full-time job, even doing administrative work. A member of the New York Air National Guard, she said she has spent five years on active duty and did a tour in Iraq. When she brings up her military experience, she said she gets a lot of questions about when she will deploy again. She has an associate's degree, but she's reluctant to go back to school because she's not sure exactly what to study. She's waiting tables and doing temporary clerical work.

Meade said she hears questions at job interviews like, "`Do you have to deploy again? Well, how often do you deploy? And well, how much notice would you have?' It just starts a long stream of questions. I don't think they hold it against you that you have deployed, in the past, but they definitely inquire more about your future with the company, and I think they are more hesitant to hire you."

Tim Embree, a legislative associate with the nonprofit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said some certifications in the military such as for pilots and nurses easily translate into a job down the road. Other jobs - ranging from military barbers to mechanics - vary by how years of experience are counted. Each state also has its own licensing requirements.

As a start, he said his organization is pushing for a robust study looking at every job in the military and how it translates into the civilian and academic world, as well as each state's licensing requirements pertaining to military experience. He said he's hopeful a private organization will step forward to do such a report.

"We're dealing with a situation right now where you have veterans, service members taking off their uniform that have amazing skill sets, and you also have a lot of employers out there that want to hire folks like this, but something is being lost in the translation."

Murray said transferring military experiences into the private sector is one issue her committee will look at as it addresses veterans' unemployment. She said she would also like to see the military make mandatory for everyone leaving the military its Transition Assistance Program, which provides resume help and other job-related guidance to those leaving the military.

Overall, veterans from all eras had an annual unemployment rate last year of 8.7 percent. Nationally, the unemployment rate in 2010 was 9.6 percent.