Many veterans finding difficulty finding work

Many finding difficulty finding work
07/01/2008, 9:47 am
Andrea Zelinski, sng3@springnet1.com, 217-525-8207
Tyler Carroll uses what he learned in the military every day.
Carroll, a 27-year-old Afghanistan veteran from Rock Island, spent five months carrying out missions like taking control of airfields and capturing top terrorist lieutenants.

Now he's securing crime scenes and arresting troublemakers as a police officer in Burlington, Iowa.

Carroll came home from Afghanistan in 2002 knowing exactly where he wanted to take his career. But many veterans aren't immediately following through after they come home from war, according to a report the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs published in September.

Those who try often have trouble finding quality work.

Here's what the Department of Veterans Affairs found:

18 percent of recently separated servicemen and women are unemployed.
One in four who land a job make less than $10.50 an hour or $21,840 a year.
Those with four-year college degrees earned $9,500 less than their civilian counterparts.

Amidst the already grim look of the U.S. and state economy, job prospects for Iraq War veterans are slimming as many struggle to relate their unique war experience to well-paying jobs, according to the study.

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