Joblessness Among Veterans

Some go extra mile to hire growing pool of jobless veterans, By Gregg Zoroya, March 20, 2012, USA Today: “Thomas Garlic and Steve Castillo found that their time in combat in Iraq and their service in the Army added up to little or nothing when they became civilians looking for work. ‘It was very depressing,’ says Garlic, 26, who lives with his wife and 5-year-old son outside Chicago. He was discharged in 2008 with post-traumatic stress disorder and has been largely jobless ever since. ‘Every time I would go up to bat, I would just strike out.’  ‘When I first got out (in 2008), I had a lot of motivation, a lot of high self-esteem, and everything was good,’ says Castillo, 31, a medically retired Army staff sergeant from Biloxi, Miss. But steady work eluded him as well. He lives on temporary, often-menial labor and an $1,800-per-month government disability check for his combat injuries. ‘We’re barely scratching by,’ Castillo says. As the nation grapples with finding work for its newest generation of combat veterans, job experts say that basic roadblocks persist for those willing to hire them: how to find these veterans and how to train them in new, non-military skills…”