When The Shooting Stops: Post-9/11 Veteran Unemployment Rate Continues to Fall

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Post-9/11 Veteran Unemployment Rate Continues to Fall

Good news came out of the Department of Labor on Friday with the announcement that unemployment for Iraq and Afghanistan-era Veterans dropped over three full percentage points to 9.5 percent for the month of June. This is tremendous improvement -- and a drop from 12.7 percent in the previous month -- but still more than a full percentage point over the national average unemployment rate of 8.2 percent for the same period.

But this is encouraging news that can perhaps be attributed to a bunch of good state and federal programs that are being implemented to help Veterans get both government and private-sector jobs. Many government grants have been announced to encourage hiring veterans. For example, the Transportation Department announced Monday that it is awarding grants to improve transportation access so that Veterans and their families could reach jobs.

And a total of 1,300 job offers went to Veterans last week as the result of a Detroit job fair hosted jointly by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. There are plans to host similar events at other locations around the country.

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Why This Blog?

I spent a lot of the last decade pissed off -- really pissed off. And my writing at the time reflected it: Angry, pointed and focused like a laser on everything I did not like about the previous administration and, in particular, the war in Iraq, which as a military Veteran, left me fuming more days than not.

My opposition to the Iraq war was specifically because of having been in the military and my unshakable belief that our men and women in uniform were serving honorably and with tremendous courage in a war that was not worthy of their sacrifice. I stand by every word I wrote during that time, but I would be lying if I said there were not some things that I wish I could take back. Thus is the lot you draw for yourself when you are angry and where most of what you care about is what you are against, rather than what you are for.

This web site and my upcoming book, When The Shooting Stops, will be all about what I am for: Our newest military families who have sacrificed so much over the last 10 years, the people who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and our duty as a nation to see that what they gave -- and what they risked -- is honored and never forgotten.

I can't promise I will never take a political tone -- can any of us ever swear to that these days? What I do promise is that I will damned well try to keep this blog about the people who are wearing the uniform, those who have served and their families. I may call some people out, but I will try to make the criteria for that criticism what they do for or against the interests of our military people and Veterans and not what political party they belong to.

After feeling at odds for so many years with my more conservative friends, it feels good to come back to something that, at its core, is something most people can agree with -- our military families and Veterans gave to us and we must remember to give back to them.

Thanks for reading.