Northrop Grumman supporting those who serve with jobs

This is posted with pleasure. I hardly ever get to do a positive post on a defense contractor but this time, what they are doing to accommodate PTSD combat veterans is nothing less than remarkable. These veterans are not "brain dead" suddenly and unable to use their talent or put their training to use. Put it this way. These are men and women who were willing to lay down their lives for this country, spent their years putting others first, mission focused and dedicated. Can you ask for a better employee than that? Ok, so yes they have some problems but at least unemployment won't add to the stress at the same time they are learning to heal. When they find jobs, it does them a lot of good to know they are still "useful" and someone values them. They also need to know that someone gives a damn.

The employer sets the tone of what will or will not be tolerated by other co-workers and this helps the veteran readjust in an atmosphere of a continuation of the "brotherhood" they just left when everyone is working together for a common goal. I think this is fabulous!

Army helps vets with `invisible wounds' find jobs
By MICHELLE ROBERTS (AP) – 4 hours ago

SAN ANTONIO — Richard Martin keeps a rearview mirror on his desk to prevent co-workers from startling him in his cubicle. The walls are papered with sticky notes to help him remember things, and he wears noise-canceling headphones to keep his easily distracted mind focused.

Martin, an Army veteran who was nearly blown up on three occasions in Iraq, once feared that post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury would keep him from holding down a civilian job, despite years of corporate experience and an MBA.

"Here I am with this background and I'm having problems with my memory," said Martin, a 48-year-old engineer and former National Guard major who now works for Northrop Grumman, helping to devise ways to thwart remote-detonated bombs.

The defense contractor recruited him through its hiring program for severely wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The company consulted occupational nurses on how to help him do his job without becoming overly nervous when someone, say, drops a heavy object. Martin figured out other tricks, like the headphones, on his own.

But Martin is one of the lucky ones.

Army officials say many new veterans suffering from PTSD and brain injuries struggle to find and keep a civilian job. Advocates say many employers don't know how to accommodate veterans with these "invisible wounds" and worry that they cannot do the job and might even "go postal" someday.
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Army helps vets with invisible wounds find jobs