Transitioning Soldiers

Introduction

There is a big number of soldiers who are moving from military service to civil life. This means that there is need to come up with measures aimed at helping these soldiers to have an easier transition from the military life to civilian life. It is important to understand that military life is completely different from the civilian life. Everyday practices and living conditions in the military bases are completely different from the ones that civilian people are used to. Military life makes one face numerous issues and suggests a specific way of overcoming them, which in its turn changes that way a military service person views life and problems that arise in his life. At the battlefield soldiers have to shed blood, kill, and injure other people all in the name of defending one’s country. With this basic knowledge of military life it becomes clear that the military service person that makes a transition to civil life usually faces great challenges in adapting to it (Savitsky, Illingworth& DuLaney, 2009).

Helping Soldiers in the Transition Process

The number of soldiers transitioning from the military service to civil life every year in USA amounts to 100000 soldiers. This data shows that there is a huge numbers of soldiers leaving the military to pursue other goals in life.

The x- axis represents the number of soldiers quitting the military service to be come civilians while the y-axis represents the number of years. From the graph it is clear that the number of transitioning soldiers is increasing each and every year. With a view that this may be challenging to people, there is a need to help soldiers in their transition process from military to civil life.

Many of the soldiers quit their military service due to the injury that they received while on the battlefield, while others quit the military to pursue their career goals.  The statistics have shown that soldiers who quit the military to become civilians have a hard time adapting to the civilian life. It is, therefore, important for all persons to be involved in helping these veterans who have courageously served our country to accommodate in the environment new to them.

The best way to help these soldiers in the transition process is equip them with vocational skills that will prepare them for careers outside the military service. These vocational training programs should be designed to ensure that the soldiers have the necessary business skills to run their own business as well as social and communication skills to be able to interact with people outside the military bases. They should also be educated on their civil rights in order to be equipped to cope with life challenges that may appear outside the barracks (Clemens & Milsom, 2008).

Another major step that can be taken to help the soldiers in the transition process is encouraging them to enroll in institutions of higher learning where they will gain professional knowledge and skills. This will make them more competitive in the job market. In order to help them achieve the goal of acquiring higher education after moving away from the military life it is important for the government to provide necessary financial assistance that will encourage veterans to join institutions of higher learning. Acquisition of professional skills will help veterans to get decent jobs which will help them provide for themselves and their families (Brenner& Barnes, 2012).

Another crucial form of help that can be offered to the transitioning soldiers is counseling service which can guide them on how to live civilian lives. Those veterans who have disabilities should be given special attention so that their feelings of self-worth and hope can be renewed. This will help them make a transition from military to civil life easier as well as help start a new life all again. Another important practice that can be used to help veterans in the transition process is establishing connections with employers, so that veterans could get good jobs and earn a living. Employers in their turn should give veterans considerable time to adapt to the new responsibilities of the civilian life (Brown, 2008).

Conclusively, the best technique that can be used to help soldiers in the transition process is encouraging them to join institution of higher learning to gain professional knowledge and skills.

Benefits

The techniques of helping the soldiers in the transition process have many benefits both for the soldiers and the society in general. First, they help soldiers adapt quickly to civil life because of the support they receive from people. Secondly, soldiers are equipped with skills that enable them earn a living through legal ways. Finally, it helps provide psychological help to those veterans who got disabilities during their service to the country. There, however, might be a problem with encouraging old and disabilities soldiers to join institutions of higher learning to gain professional skills.