Lafayette Journal & Courier - Donnelly, Purdue Work to Transition Veterans Back to Civilan Life

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By Hayleigh Colombo

As the U.S. continues to close military bases across Afghanistan and send troops home, Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana, hopes to provide a smoother transition back to civilian life for them and their families.

Donnelly, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, visited Purdue University on Monday to talk about ways the university can assist that transition and to learn about research aimed at helping military families.

"We are just seeing the very tip of all the transition issues that are going to be coming up with families," Donnelly told the media after meeting with President Mitch Daniels. "President Daniels and the Purdue team has helped to expand the Military Family Research Institute, which we think is the best of its kind in the nation. What it's doing is at a very critical time, when so many men and women are coming back to their families."

Purdue is home to the Military Family Research Institute, which conducts research and outreach to improve the lives of 22.7 million U.S. veterans and their families. The institute recently announced it received a $2.4 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to continue its counseling, education, employment initiatives and community grants.

Donnelly said he hears frequently from servicemen and -women that they are worried about obtaining gainful employment after returning home. He said a moment from a trip he took to Afghanistan's Khost province a few years ago, when he met with the Indiana National Guard's 119th Agribusiness Development Team, sticks out to him.

"I met with them in a very dangerous place and I said "What's the most important thing I can do for you?' And I figured they'd say "We need a new Humvee or new vests,'" Donnelly said. "They said, "We've got this figured out. We just need a job when we get home.' "

"We need to help them transition with jobs, with mental health and with their families."

Veterans who served after 9/11 have experienced higher levels of joblessness compared with civilians. In 2013, the unemployment rate for female Gulf War-era II veterans, or those who served after 2001, was 9.6 percent compared to 6.8 percent. For men, the unemployment rate was 8.8 percent compared to 7.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

More than 100,000 combat veterans reached out for help for mental illness since 2001, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Donnelly said he is working with Purdue to get the university recognized as a national center for missile defense research.

"It's a very, very critical mission and there's not a lot of places that have the engineering skills and engineering talents to do this kind of work," Donnelly said. "This is one of those places."

Purdue is dealing with its own issues when it comes to supporting veterans and reservists. The Veterans Success Center is trying to ramp up its support of veteran students, and the University Senate recently approved a policy that would allow reservists and ROTC members to take time off to complete their drill duties without fear of academic conflicts.

"I'm very proud of Purdue's longstanding close, supportive relationship with the American military," said Daniels. "There are adjustments that have to be made if we're going to support these brave men and women adequately. As far as I can tell, we are as sensitive to this as any school around, and that's exactly as it should be."

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