Brian Cooke, Executive Director of the Armed Forces Foundation
More than half of Americans do not think that the Federal government and US corporations are doing enough to support veterans in this country. This is the top-line finding of the Veterans Issues Poll jointly conducted and released by Ipsos, a market research firm, and ScoutComms, a veteran advocacy and communications group, on August 17, 2015.
The poll, which asked five simple but very telling questions of a sample of 1,004 Americans earlier this month, gets right to the heart of the challenges separating military and civilian communities in this country. And with so much of the conversation already centering around the shortfalls of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the difficulties veterans face in obtaining VA benefits and care—serious problems that deserve increased attention and solutions—I’d like to focus my thoughts on the three lower-profile questions in the poll.
As the Executive Director of the Armed Forces Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to protecting and promoting the physical, mental, and emotional wellness of military service members, veterans, and their families, I find it troubling that only a third of Americans think that “charities and non-profit organizations are doing enough to support veterans.” Perhaps more startling, an additional 43 percent don’t know or have an opinion on the matter. In fact, less than a quarter (only 23 percent) of Americans think that non-profits are doing enough to support veterans.
Now I could spend pages writing about everything the Armed Forces Foundation is doing to support veterans. I’ll proudly talk to anyone who’ll listen about our Financial Assistance Program, our Military School Counselor Program, our Veterans Day education initiative called Operation Caring Classroom, or the new clinical psychologist position we created and are funding in the neuropsychiatry unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. But this isn’t just about the Armed Forces Foundation. I’ve worked with and seen the dedication of hard-working colleagues throughout the non-profit space—at places like Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, The Mission Continues, Team Rubicon, and the Infinite Hero Foundation (to name but a few). If 77 percent of Americans don’t think we’re doing enough to serve veterans, then we need to do a much better job as a community of explaining our missions and services to the wider US population.
This communications challenge in not just limited to what we face as non-profits. More than half (54 percent) of Americans think that corporations are not doing enough to support veterans. An additional third (33 percent) don’t know or have no opinion. And while I won’t deny that there’s always room for improvement—for wider engagement of the veteran population by corporate America—I already see on a daily basis the great work that corporations do in the veteran community. To start, the work of the Armed Forces Foundation and many non-profits like us would not be possible without the support of our corporate partners. In working with executives and staff at partners like Southwest Airlines, Barrett-Jackson Auto Auctions, Boeing, and Frontier Communications (and the list goes on and on), I can tell you how much these people and their corporate parents genuinely care about the military and veteran communities. Corporations are in business to…well, do business…but I’ve seen them spend considerable time and energy (and yes, money) on veteran service initiatives. In particular, corporations have invested substantially in hiring veterans. Google “veteran hiring initiatives,” or visit the website of the Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes project, and you’ll see what I mean. Estimates vary, but by some counts up to 500,000 jobs have been pledged by corporate employers to veterans. Yet digging deeper, veteran employment (or unemployment) is as much a puzzle as it is a challenge. Half a million jobs pledged to veterans, yet veteran unemployment tracks higher than the national unemployment rate. What’s going on here?
Part of the problem is that when asked, “Do you think that veterans are prepared to succeed in the civilian workforce by the time they leave the military?” a staggering 49 percent of Americans said “No.” Another 29 percent didn’t know or had no opinion. I’m honestly a bit saddened to read that only 23 percent of respondents think that veterans are prepared to succeed when they get civilian jobs. These responses just fly in the face of everything I’ve seen.
Part of the military’s recruiting pitch is that military service doubles as job training for later in life. Some military jobs translate easily into civilian ones—think Air Force pilots to airline pilots, Army logisticians to supply chain managers, Navy network administrators to corporate network administrators. Others may not translate as directly—what does an infantryman or cannon crew member do in the civilian world?—but the idea that military service would leave a veteran unprepared for the civilian job market just baffles me. Regardless of military specialty, all veterans have worked in dynamic, complex environments and learned to accomplish missions with or leading teams. Putting aside for the moment knowing how to properly assemble a TPS Report cover sheet (insert your industry-specific skill here), what hiring manager wouldn’t value those skills and experiences?
I’m not saying that every veteran is right for every civilian job. Or that every veteran is automatically superior to a civilian competing for the same job. Markets and individual talents will and always should play a role. But it is downright disheartening to hear that three-quarters of Americans don’t think veterans are prepared for civilian careers. Ignorance plays a part, no doubt, but the Defense Department, the VA, the military services, veterans, and veteran advocates must all do a better job of educating the American public about the qualifications and experiences of our veterans and how they translate into the civilian sector. And the corporations that are hiring veterans must be vocal about why they’re doing so and how their veteran employees are contributing to their businesses.
At the end of the day, I don’t think these polls results are wholly about attitudes. I think they’re also about education and communication. Americans need to hear more about veterans and how they are returning to—or maybe how they’ve always been a part of—the widest possible definition of the American community. This is a critically important conversation to have, and I’d like to thank Ipsos and ScoutComms for starting it. On behalf of the Armed Forces Foundation, I appreciate the opportunity to join the conversation. I look forward to engaging talking with all of you, military and civilian alike.
Brian Cooke,
Executive Director
Read Complete Survey Results