Unemployment for female veterans is higher than the national average

After serving her country, female veteran struggles to find a job
By Shirley Henry and Athena Jones, CNN
updated 2:09 AM EST, Mon October 31, 2011

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Unemployment for female veterans is higher than the national average
In September, the national unemployment rate was 9.1%
For female veterans, jobless rate was 14.7%
Former Navy officer Kenya Smith is one of those unemployed female veterans

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Kenya Smith only has good things to say about the U.S. Navy, where she served a total of 14 years before leaving in 2009.

It's the only profession she's ever known. "I love the Navy," she said during a recent interview in suburban Maryland. "If you split me open, I'm blue and gold."

Smith, a former lieutenant and medical service corps officer, first enlisted right after college but by the time she left had earned two master's degrees, deployed to Iraq and racked up substantial experience in healthcare and administration -- experience she thought would impress potential civilian employers.

"I ran projects. I was an HR manager. I was a logistics manager," she said. But despite all that, Smith now is unemployed -- two years after leaving the military. A single mother with two teenage children, she lost her home to foreclosure in September and is currently living in transitional housing.

Kenya Smith served in the U.S. Navy for 14 years. Now, because she cannot find a job, she is homeless.

"I'm a female homeless vet with children, and I mean that, that's horrible, that's the worst, I think.
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