Overview

We are now poised as a country either to repeat the mistakes of the Vietnam era or to create the services and supports that our returning veterans deserve. This research focuses on the importance of using an integrated change management approach to bring together the civilian, corporate, and military communities to support veterans of the Global War on Terror, specifically those veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Using force field analysis methodology and original survey research, the study includes a review of the current literature on Gulf War Era veterans in the areas of the labor market, diversity, employee assistance, human resources (HR), behavioral health, disability, and career management. Survey respondents, a selected sample of highly placed officials in corporations, higher education, and the military, identified nine forces they believe have a large impact on change in corporate policies, practices, and programs related to the employment, engagement in productive work, and retention and advancement of veterans. The survey respondents also identified the seven factors they believe are most important in effecting a change in corporations' approach to employing Gulf War Era veterans. The survey examines the nine forces identified and makes concrete recommendations about what can be done to recruit, hire, and retain Gulf War Era II (GWE II) veterans, who are unique because they are more educated and more highly skilled than the veterans of all other wars. The GWE II veterans will be returning home en masse over the coming years and will face a challenging job market. Employers, labor market experts, educators, and human services professionals must be prepared to welcome these veterans home and support them as they navigate the social, political, and economic turbulence challenging our country now and in the coming years. Kathleen O. Beauchesne is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy ad Practice, Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP) She received her doctorate in Social Welfare Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, and throughout her career she has directed and led employee behavioral health programs in higher education at the Johns Hopkins Institutions and for private industry. She was the first director of the National Guard's Psychological Health Program, a contract of the Ceridian Corporation. Beauchesne has published several articles on job-based behavioral health programs, organizational change and work and personal life.

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