GI Bill

William Smith has done an amazing amount of important research that as a former soldier is very important to him and to our returning young members of the armed forces. --Sarah

First, what makes me qualified to write this article? I am a Veteran, I utilized the Montgomery GI Bill, I use VA for my health care and I have worked in Higher Education for the past nine years as a Public Health Educator. Since June 1989, I have been and will always be an American soldier. Like many Veterans, I enlisted for military service because of my sense of pride and duty to my country. I was assigned to the famed 1st Infantry Division — the Big Red One (BRO) at Ft. Riley, Kansas. Furthermore, I was assigned to one of the oldest units in the Army: Headquarters & Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment —- Hamilton’s Own.

One November day in 1990, the BRO was called to duty as part of Operation Desert Shield. My unit deployed to Saudi Arabia at the end of December 1990 and returned to Ft. Riley at the end of May 1991. I was awarded the Bronze Star for my service during Desert Storm.

I received an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Army in June 1992 and enlisted in the Army Reserve in October 1992. I remained in the Reserve until December 1997.

Soon Veterans will be able to begin utilizing the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act or as it is more commonly referred to as the GI Bill for the 21st Century. This new GI Bill is a significant improvement to the Montgomery GI Bill which helped pay for my undergraduate education – well barely, it helped with living expenses but not for tuition and books. The GI Bill for the 21st Century will enhances one of the most fundamental benefits for Veterans aside from eligibility to utilize the Veterans Administration (VA) Health Care System. For more information about the GI Bill for the 21st Century, click here.

The question that Administrator’s in higher education need to begin asking themselves is, are our country’s college and university campuses prepared for the estimated 580,000 next generation of Veteran’s of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Are our campuses prepared to address the unique needs that these students will bring to campus – different life experiences than traditional students, increased mental and physical health issues, increased utilization of campus disability services, support networks and organizations for students who are Veterans, etc.?

Let’s look at the current profile of all Veterans and what the potential issues faced by college campuses:
Basic Facts About Veterans (click to make larger)

Based on this FY 08 data there is the potential of approximately 65.5% of those receiving educational benefits are also being compensated for PTSD.

Looking at the number of amputees from the current VA data, there is also the potential from theses veterans to seek higher education on our campus and Disability Offices in concert with Counseling Services will need to position themselves to accommodate their needs.

Now let’s look specifically at OEF/OIF Veterans
Profile of Service Members Currently Deployed

Total number currently deployed includes all branches of service
Profile of Service Members Currently Deployed

It is estimated that there are 1.8M OIF/OEF Veterans to date since 2001.

Profile of Service Members Currently Deployed

It is projected that approximately 580,000 Veterans will take advantage of the GI Bill for the 21st Century. This was signed into law in 2008 by then President Bush and significantly increases the educational benefits to Veterans from the previous Montgomery GI Bill.

Current research on students who are Veterans is limited. Most of the research is dated from the post Vietnam era. I was able to find one qualitative study that was conducted by Dr. DiRamio – assistant professor of higher education administration at Auburn University; Dr. Ackerman – associate professor in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and Regina Mitchell – doctoral candidate in education leadership at Central Michigan University. Their study is titled, "From Combat to Campuses: Voices of Student-Veterans" () and was published in the NASPA Journal in 2008.

What they found is that students who are Veterans typically move through four transitional periods in the course of their initial enlistment, deployment to a combat zone, coming home, and transitioning to campus life. These are classified as Military Moving In, Moving Through, Moving Out, and Campus Moving In stages. It is a great article to read (PDF).

The common issues that OIF/OEF Veterans will bring with them to college campuses are high rates of mental health disorders (PTSD, depression and increased alcohol use); increased rates of suicide and suicidal ideation; learning issues as a result of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI); and physical disabilities. PTSD is the result of any event that inspires fear, helplessness, and threat of annihilation.

Personnel in combat zones are exposed to high levels of stress and threat every day. Tours of duty typically last 12 months and current rotations have troops doing repeated tours of duty. This can have a significant impact on troop’s ability to manage this high level of stress over time. Combat related PTSD may include the following: recurrent recollections or dreams about war; flashbacks that cause the veteran to relive various trauma; avoiding any reminders of combat; emotionally numbing; hyper-arousal (feeling of being on edge and alert for new threats). PTSD and depression are often times linked among Veterans.

It has been reported that nearly half of veterans with PTSD were also depressed. Depressed veterans often times feel: worthless and profoundly sad; have poor concentration; have a lack of interest in social activities; have feelings of hopeless and helpless; experience a change in appetite; have difficulty sleeping or over sleeping; are irritable; and experience suicidal thoughts or attempts.

An article in the LA Times emphasizes the need to be mindful that

"some service members may actively avoid a diagnosis of a mental health problem, fearing the negative consequences of being diagnosed with a stress disorder or depression….these troops are worried that their career could be hurt or co-workers would have less confidence in them after a diagnosis."

This article also noted the need for

"thousands more mental health professionals – both government hospitals and the civilian health care systems – are needed to meet the need of troops and veterans, and new training is needed for current medical professionals."

According to the article Bringing the War Back Home

"the youngest group of OEF/OIF veterans were at the greatest risk for receiving mental health or PTSD diagnosis compared to veterans 40 years or older."

Campus Counseling Centers must become mindful of the unique conditions these students will present in terms of their exposure to trauma in the combat zone. They must be prepared to address the potential increase of students seeking services. Clinicians will need to be prepare to address the trauma of combat – high combat stress situation and loss of comrades. Campus clinicians must also become familiar with the resources that are available to Veterans and how to refer them to the VA or Vet Center‘s for treatment and care.

The use of alcohol among Combat Veterans as a means of self medication to cope with PTSD, depression, or social anxiety disorders is also of concern.

"In 2003, there were an estimated 25 million veterans comprising roughly 11.5 percent of the 217 million non-institutionalized civilians aged 17 or older in the United States. Approximately 93 percent of veterans are male, and 8.4 percent were between the ages of 17 and 34. (SAMHSA, 2008).

"An estimated 56.6 percent of veterans used alcohol in the past month compared with 50.8 percent of their nonveteran counterparts in 2003. Heavy use of alcohol also was more prevalent among veterans, with an estimated 7.5 percent of veterans drinking heavily in the past month compared with 6.5 percent of their nonveteran counterparts" (SAMHSA, 2008).

"An estimated 13.2 percent of veterans reported driving while under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs in the past year compared with 12.2 percent of comparable nonveterans"(SAMHSA, 2008).

The VA has approximately 94 alcohol dependence treatment program (ADP) and 42 drug dependence treatment programs (DDTP). Each ADTP and DDTP provides services that include intervention support activities, emergency medical services including detoxification, clinical and vocational assessment, consulting liaison, ambulatory/out-patient and after-care services.

Again, campus clinicians need to become familiar with the resources that are available to Veterans and how to refer them to the VA or Vet Center’s for treatment and care.

Many Veterans have become victims of Traumatic Brain Injuries as a result of the employment of IED or road side bombs. TBI is the result of sudden trauma that causes damage to the brain when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue. The victim may remain conscious or may experience a loss of consciousness for a few seconds or minutes. Other symptoms may include headache, confusion, lightheadedness, dizziness, blurred vision or tired eyes, ringing in the ears, bad taste in the mouth, fatigue or lethargy, a change in sleep patterns, behavioral or mood changes, and trouble with memory, concentration, or attention.

Some of the consequences resulting from TBI include problems with cognition (thinking, memory, and reasoning), sensory processing (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell), communication (expression and understanding), and behavior or mental health (depression, anxiety, personality changes, aggression, acting out, and social inappropriateness).

This type of injury, along with other injuries that result in physical disabilities such as amputation may bring an increased demand for the utilization of campus Disability Services. Again, these services should become familiar with the services provided by the VA to assist students who are Veterans. One program at my local VA hospital provides veterans with PDA’s and GPS’s to assist with calendar and task reminders and with direction finding.

The Student Veterans of America (SVA) is a coalition of student veterans groups from college campuses across the United States. The SVA was founded in January of 2008 and works to develop new student groups, coordinate between existing student groups, and advocate on behalf of student veterans at the local, state, and national level. SVA has published a guide for college campuses to use to prepare them for an increase of Veterans attending their schools. Key points from the guide are as follows:

• Survey student veterans for their needs and concerns.
• Work with student veterans during registration periods to ensure they are able to quickly enroll in classes.
• Develop easy to use procedure to notify institution (all parts of it to include professors, departments, programs, support offices) in the event they are called to duty. Ensure point of contact is promoted and easy to find.
• Keep in mind that Department of Veterans Affairs benefits and programs do not cover all the needs of student veterans.
• Consider developing institution specific scholarships, programs and other student veteran’s resources.
• Evaluate the admissions process to ensure veterans are not disadvantaged. Student transitioning out of active service face a host of admissions difficulties.
• Be mindful that Veterans have dramatically different life experiences, especially younger veterans, that their counterpart traditional students.
• Do not treat them the same as you do student straight out of high school or other first time students.
• Develop veteran specific orientation programs. Partner with local veterans organizations and military units for presentations and assistance.

In the end, the important thing to remember is that our Service Members have volunteered to provide service to their country. Whether their motivation to enlist was the result of a sense of patriotism, a duty to country, or as a way to pay for higher education they have earned the benefits they receive once their enlistment obligation has been met. It then becomes the obligation of Institutions of Higher Education to ensure that the unique needs of these students will be met on college campuses in order for our Veterans to be successful students.

It is the Army Core values that I learned in Basic Training and throughout my tour of duty in the Army that continue to guide me today and have proven to be useful in all aspects of my life – loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. Our colleges must be prepared to take on the needs of these returning service men and women.

Resources for Veterans

Transition Assistance Program
Department of Veteran Affairs
Iraq and Afghan Veterans of American
After Deployment
Military Health System

See Works Cited below the jump

What I'm reading today:

• The American Prospect looks at the good and the bad behind Obama's takeover of the DNC.
• A companion piece looks at the 15 most important advisors behind the Obama operation.
• Chris Bowers examines the demographic trends behind Obama's coalition and declares an end to the era of Values Voters and "Bubba Dominance."
• WireTap profiles Tony Peyton, the youngest member of the Pennsylvania House, and how the Center for Progressive Leadership helped shape him into a winning candidate.
• John McCain is trying to steal credit for the new GI Bill, which he actively opposed and obstructed.
• Bondelli explains how you can build your own Sprout Widget.
• The Voto Latino blog pointed me to this GQ profile of Meghan McCain from back in March. It's so vacuous at times that can't decide if it is a terrible profile or sheer genius on the part on the part of the McCain campaign. The girl did go to Columbia. What do you think?
• If, like me, you've been mesmerized by HBO's Generation Kill, you should check out the original Rolling Stone article by Evan Wright.
• Youth are a prime target in the Indiana Governor's race.
• Gawker thinks that MSNBC is trending Democratic and will continue to do so as it rakes in younger viewers.
• The Virginia Pilot notes that 2/3 of the 200,000 newly registered voters in the state are under the age of 35. The paper declares voter registration the new youth movement. I couldn't agree more.

I mentioned this in a comment yesterday, but thought it was worth an individual post. Over the course of the last four years, the notion of "The Troops" and what it means to support them has undergone a radical transformation. In 2004, supporting the troops meant putting a yellow magnetic ribbon on the bumper of your car. During the '04 election, the troops were a bludgeon used to beat back Democrats and brand any opposition to the war as unpatriotic - indeed at times it was suggested that dissent was synonymous with giving comfort and aid to the enemy (a treasonous offense).

Since then, we've had four years of conservatives exploiting the troops as weapons and sheilds to fight their political battles, all the while short-changing them on the resources they need to safely execute their orders and build a middle class life once they leave the service.

First came the revelation that Private Jessica Lynch was used as a propaganda tool by the administration to create a war hero and drum up support for the conflict. Then came Cpl. Pat Tillman's death under friendly fire and the subsequent cover-up. Just this year, CREW uncovered shocking evidence that the Veterans Administration was purposefully blocking its administrators from diagnosing and treating PTSD in Iraq and Afghanistan vets. And all the while we've had reports that the administration failed to provide our troops the resources they needed in the field. Most recently, it was revealed the VA is blocking voter registration in their facilities and disenfranchising some of our most vulnerable troops.

It hasn't been all bad, though. We've made progress in the last 4 years as well - usually thanks to the Democrats. Early in the primaries, both Clinton and Obama sat down for serious - televised - discussions with young vets about the progress of the war, PTSD, health and education benefits, and more. To my knowledge, this was the first time since the war began that we had an honest national dialogue about what it truly means to support the troops. After a long fight, Democrats passed the 21st Century GI Bill, despite objections by both President Bush and Senator McCain.

Today, those successes continue as the Veterans Affairs Committee and the VA - after much hemming and hawing - plan to launch a massive campaign to raise awareness about and prevent suicide among our veterans.

Culturally, we are in a new space as well. Movies like Stop Loss, and In the Valley of Elah have created a much more complicated - and truer - vision of the troops and their experiences than the sanitized, heroic archetype paraded across the airwaves by political pundits. This trend, too, continues, most recently with the release of Generation Kill, by the creators of The Wire.

Changes to the cultural and political landscape now offer us a huge opportunity to permanently remove the troops as a weapon in the conservative arsenal and create more policies that provides real, tangible support for those who fight on our behalf. For me, this is a big part of a revamped foreign-policy. Young people - as troops, as activists, as now-respected members of the electorate - can help drive that change. This is a huge opportunity for us as a party and as a generation to do right by our peers and put our country back on track.

Still no word on data from CIRCLE . . . sorry. Waiting on them for my post-election recap.

• Rolling Stone skewers the Senate in The Senate Caves.
• Peter Levine - Director of CIRCLE - splashes some cold water on the idea that party identification forms early and hardens for life. Yikes, let's hope not.
• In the past I've had real disagreements with Courtney Martin's reading of today's youth activism, but she does us all proud in this op-ed for the Women's Media Center.
• The RNC tried to pull ahead of the DNC in the race for Facebook friends. It backfired hilariously. Full story at Tech President.
• Campaigns and Elections has released a list of Rising Stars Under 35. A few are familiar. Most are not. What do you think of the list?
• Apparently, in his quest to craft a "better" GI Bill than the one offered (and recently passed) by Jim Webb, John McCain didn't actually consult many veterans. You stay classy, McCain.

Today is the big day. Hopefully the last day of the primary season. I'll have some overall thoughts up on the nomination process later today.

• Current TV tackles the Millennial generation and the coming political realignment:

• Why have anti-war protests proven so unsuccessful? David Sirota has some answers in The Protest Industry vs. The Players
• Kevin Bondelli follows up on his post here yesterday and outlines why Vote Pledges are important even in heavily Democratic districts.
• Banks are cutting down on loans and leaving community colleges and two-year college students out in the cold.
• A veteran runs the numbers and debunks McCain's fears about the Webb GI Bill.
• Wired runs a mini-profile of Josh Levy, formerly of Tech President but now an editor at Change.org. The story hits on the power of social networking to mobilize change, and Youth to Power merits a mention.
• The New York Times gets hip to the new face of evangelical community, and how young people are redefining the role of politics in their faith.
• Finally, episode one of This Brave Nation is live. In it, Carl Pope and Van Jones provide insight into the development of the progressive movement over the last half century and discuss how and why they became progressive activists. In particular, I found fascinating their discussion (2/3 through the video) about the role of culture in social change and why artists today seem less involved than in the 60s:

Clair McCaskill rocked it on the Colbert Report last night - giving props to young voters for being involved and touting the passage of the new GI Bill:

So this is my first of hopefully many Sunday posts, I suppose an introduction would be appropriate. My name is Awais Khaleel and I currently serve as the Vice President of the College Dems of America. Since I walked across the stage seven days ago, I am also a recent college grad. And although I (like a lot of people in my situation) face a lot of uncertainty in the next couple of years, I recognize how fortunate I am to be in a place to even have this uncertainty. My college experience has been beneficial on so many levels, both personally and professionally, and that blessing has never been clearer than now.

As Americans, we spend Memorial Day weekend remembering and honoring those that have served this country. Therefore as a rule, we want to afford those who have sacrificed for this nation every opportunity to succeed after their service. Unfortunately, however, not everyone appears to feel this way.

Alex Cornell du Houx, who is the Chair of the National Council for our organization and a Marine who served in Iraq, blogged on the Huffington Post earlier this week about this unfortunate phenomenon. More specifically, he wrote about how regrettable it was that John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, refused to support the new GI Bill that found broad bi-partisan support in the Senate this week. And while I could write about this until I’m blue in the face, I cannot imagine a better description of the issue from a more credible source than what you’ll find there.

See the article [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-cornell-du-houx/tell-john-mccain-to-standb103163.html|here]]

Update: According to Think Progress, McCain - supporter of the troops, veteran hero - skipped the vote to be at a high-dollar fundraiser.

You stay classy, McCain.
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MC Joan over at Daily Kos is reporting that the Webb Amendment (aka the 21st Century GI Bill) just passed 75 - 22. Good news today. Now we wait to see about a Bush Veto. I believe that's what we call veto proof . . .

Update: Voting on the first amendment now. There are a lot of Republicans, and not just those worried about reelection (though mostly) supporting it. This amendment contains domestic initiatives including the Webb bill.

Update 2: Wow. Passed 75-22. The Webb bill moves forward. They did their jobs! Veto that, Georgie Boy!

Update 3: They are now voting on the second amendment that provides both funding for Iraq and Afghanistan and contains war policy provisions.

The AP is reporting that Vote Vets will be running new anti-McCain ads that highlight his opposition to the new GI Bill:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats and their allies are ready to convert Sen. John McCain's stance on college aid for military veterans into a presidential campaign cause.

McCain, the all-but-nominated Republican presidential candidate, opposes a Democratic-backed bill that would significantly expand the breadth of education benefits for veterans, first adopted for those returning from World War II. Democrats want the proposal included in a war spending bill the Senate is scheduled to vote on this week.

Sen. Barack Obama, McCain's most likely general election opponent, already has raised objections to McCain's resistance. And on Tuesday, a veterans' group that has been critical of the war in Iraq is launching an ad in Washington to pressure McCain to change his mind.

By taking issue with McCain on the subject of veterans, Democrats hope to weaken one of his biggest assets — his personal biography as a former Navy pilot who became a prisoner of the North Vietnamese and endured torture at the hands of his captors.

Here's the ad:

You can read more about it on the VoteVets website. Lots of people are stepping up to rebrand McCain. Brave New Films is hitting McCain hard on Youtube. The DNC just launched the McCainpedia, and a few days ago Chris Bowers picked up on a point I've been making: McCain's savvy use of broadcast and cultural media (at least for a conservative). The campaign to redefine McCain is well underway.

The new GI Bill was just passed in the House. From an IAVA email:

You did it. Just a few minutes ago, the House of Representatives passed the new GI Bill by a vote of 256-166, as an attachment to the emergency supplemental. Click here to view the full list of who voted for it and who voted against it.

Earlier this week, we told you that the new GI Bill was facing opposition from a small group of Representatives in the House, who were threatening the bill despite its deep bi-partisan support.

We asked for your help, and you stepped up to the plate. Thousands of you took action by calling your Representatives, signing the petition at www.GIBill2008.org, and spreading the word to your friends and neighbors. Today, your dedication paid off and together, we made history.

There's no question that your efforts had an impact. Referring specifically to the group of Representatives that were standing in the way of the bill, known as the Blue Dogs, the Politico, a Washington-insider newspaper, said that "there had been erosion among Blue Dogs in the face of pressure from veterans groups."1 The leadership you demonstrated in fighting for this bill shows that IAVA is a force to be reckoned with.

The new GI Bill has widespread support among Democrats, Republicans, and all of the major veterans organizations. But the legislative process is a long one, and it's your dedication that keeps it going during these crucial stages.

Next week, the Senate will have to vote on the bill as well. After that, it will go to the President's desk for his signature.

We'll keep you updated via email, but for the latest news, just visit www.GIBill2008.org.
Thank you again for standing with us. The support we're getting in this fight has been truly inspiring.

Sincerely,

Patrick Campbell
Iraq Veteran
Legislative Director
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America