Can the US Afford to Support the Troops?

The yearly cost of unemployment benefits for disabled military personnel has ballooned to $3 billion. Is the U.S. prepared for the oncoming wave of Iraq war vets?
by Martha Brant

Many former soldiers are finding it difficult to return to 9-to-5 America. The number of disabled vets from all wars deemed “unemployable” by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs tripled from 71,000 to 220,000 between 1996 and 2005. Unemployable vets receive about $2,393 a month, with the total cost of the program now $3.1 billion a year (up from $857 million in 1996). That staggering price tag doesn’t include the bulk of recent vets from Iraq and Afghanistan who will enter the system over the next few decades.

Many of those now receiving benefits aren’t able to work because of their disabilities, and a majority are over age 60. But some vets could and would work under the right circumstances. And, while it is easier than ever for disabled vets to go online and get information about receiving unemployment benefits, the options for those who want to get a job are more complicated…

In a much-anticipated report issued last month, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticized the VA’s unemployablity benefits for having unclear guidelines and weak follow-up. They found the big jump in those receiving benefits particularly troubling at a time when “advances in medicine and technology, along with labor market changes, have provided greater opportunity for people with disabilities to seek and maintain employment.” Even the VA concurred with the criticism. “The VA should look at the program as an opportunity to return people to work if they can,” says Cristina Chaplain, a GAO director and author of the May 30 reportthe first major review of veterans’ disability benefits in 50 years. “The demands of a new generation of veterans are going to be incredible, and the VA needs to get a good system in place.”

It’s difficult to gauge how much of an impact the new generation of war vets will have on the VA’s already strained system. More than 150,000 military personnel are now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the total number of troops who’ve rotated through either country at some point since September 2001 will definitely be much higher. About 18,000 military personnel have already been wounded in both conflicts. And many injuries like posttraumatic stress disorder may not surface until well after their homecomings.

No one wants to deprive injured vets of hard-earned benefits, but budgets are tight and the already overwhelming cost of “unemployable” benefits will only rise. The government, and increasingly the private sector, are starting to look for new ways to get vets jobs. “The system is broken,” says Paul Rieckhoff, head of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which advocates more and better job training and reintegration before returning vets wind up unemployed. “The VA needs to evolve to the new needs of the new war. They should be worried. A wave is coming.”

Ken Smith of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation has come up with an innovative way to get ahead of the wave. He is willing to bet that at least 10 percent of those currently “unemployable” vets could work if given a chance. So last year, the foundation started a training program for disabled vets that would teach them how to be customer-service agents, emergency operators and telemarketersanything they can do by phone, preferably from home. The popular military Web site Military.com ran one paragraph about the training program and the foundation’s phones wouldn’t stop ringing. “Our position was overrun,” says Smith, speaking like the Vietnam combat vet he is. He too was injured in that war but went on to a fruitful career in high tech.

Already, the training is changing people’s lives. One man chosen to be among the first 20 trainees had been severely burned on his face. “He can walk, he can talk, he just scares the bejeezus out of everyone,” says Smith, who is running the new Veterans’ Business Training Center. After several uncomfortable job experiences with co-workers, he decided he needed to work at home. He went through the foundation’s training and now works for the IT help desk of an Arizona company. He’s never even met his employers face to face.

The foundation is currently selecting another 100 disabled vets for remote training with the goal of training 600 this year. But Smith has set his sights even higher. “I’m going after government contracts,” he says. Legally, veterans get preference in federal hiring. But quotas for disabled vets are rarely filled. “Even if you look at all the laws and preferences, less than 1 percent are being hired [for government contracts],” explains Greg Bresser, executive director of the foundation. That’s partly because many vets don’t want to risk losing their benefits by trying out a job. So the foundation is trying to convince Congress not to touch veterans’ disability rating and benefits (100 percent disabled vets make about $28,000 a year tax-free) for one year while he or she tries out working. “Otherwise you penalize the veteran for even trying,” Smith says.

Meanwhile, the foundation hopes to play on private employers’ patriotism. “Wouldn’t you rather give your credit-card number to an American vet?” Bresser asks. He realizes that American salaries make vets uncompetitive with overseas workers. So he and the foundation have been pushing for tax credits for companies to make up the difference in salary.

For Ron Dickey, getting a job was about a lot more than the paycheck. He happened upon the Purple Heart training program online and was in the first wave of trainees. During his 15 weeks of remote training, Dickey not only learned how to type 30 words a minute but also how to use call-center computer software. This week, he starts a new job making $18.50 an hour at a large mortgage company in Virginia. He’ll soon have health benefits, too. “If you go into the military you have to have some kind of drive,” Dickey says. “You want to be part of the world.” Helping American vets find gainful employment can be a big step to toward keeping that desire alive.