After military service, younger veterans are trained, tested and JOBLESS

Natesha Lovell left for Iraq in 2004, the sole woman in her U.S. Army Reserve deployment. She returned safely, but life sincethen hasn't been easy.

The former supply sergeant has been unemployed since 2008, and now finds herself without a home. She crashes at a friend's place in Clifton Park.

Lovell is one of many returning service members who have struggled to find work since returning from overseas. In fact, the unemployment rate among younger veterans is far higher than for their counterparts who didn't serve in the military.

And with a million troops, according to a White House estimate, expected to return home from Iraq and Afghanistan by 2016, veteran unemployment is a problem that is threatening to become a crisis ? especially in an economy that is still failing to create work for the millions of Americans who are already jobless.

"A lot of younger soldiers have never held civilian employment," said retired Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Van Pelt of the New York National Guard. "They've never gone out and had to find a job."

According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate among veterans overall ? 7.4 percent in November ? is actually below the 8.2 percent rate of overall joblessness, a testament, in part, to veterans' ability to keep work once they have it.

But for veterans from ages 18 to 24, usually looking for a toehold in the labor market, the unemployment rate is a staggering 37.9 percent ? more than double the rate for non-veterans in the age group, according to data compiled by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University.

Of course, some young people entered the military because they were already struggling to find work. And some are in demographic categories that have been hit particularly hard by the recession.

They are more likely than non-veterans, for example, to be black or Hispanic, two groups with higher rates of unemployment. And some younger veterans lack college degrees in an economy that has shed lower-skill jobs in fields such as manufacturing, transportation and retail.

The unemployment rate among people with a high school diploma, but no college, is 8.4 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while it is just 4.2 percent for Americans with at least a bachelor's degree.

But advocates for unemployed veterans note that many returning troops have college-level computer or other advanced skills, even if they've never entered a higher-ed classroom.

The trick is getting those skills represented on a resume ? in language a civilian employer can understand.

The veterans have to turn off the military jargon, said Van Pelt, a leader in a newly created National Guard program that's trying to match veterans with employers.

The National Guard program, and similar help available at Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albany, are part of a growing effort to help returning veterans find work, highlighted by President Barack Obama's recent signing of a law providing tax breaks for companies that hire jobless veterans.

Advocates for veterans say employers who seek out returning military members will be rewarded with workers who are especially disciplined.

"Their experience is a real positive from an employer's point of view," said David Bobrek, president of Blasch Precision Ceramics in Menands, which has hired 20 or so veterans in recent years.

"We get a better understanding (from veterans) of what it takes to get the job done," Bobrek added.

Still, some employers resist hiring those who are newly exiting the military. Veterans advocates say they suspect fear of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a significant reason.

Van Pelt said he senses an "undercurrent" of belief among employers that PTSD makes veterans unreliable workers, but he believes the disorder is not nearly as common as many employers seem to believe.

Lovell, who remained in the Army Reserve and, later, the National Guard after returning from Iraq in 2005, believes her employment difficulties have stemmed from fears she'll be returned to military service.

The University at Albany graduate said she struggles to understand why she can't find work.

"I've always suspected that they were afraid to invest their money in people who could possibly leave," Lovell said. "That's the only reason I can come up with."

Reach Churchill at 454-5442 or cchurchill@timesunion.com.

Source: http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/After-military-service-younger-veterans-are-2423390.php

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