When veterans return from military service, one important avenue of return to cilivan life and career is through higher education. By the year 2020, it is estimated that 5 million service members will leave the service and a large portion of them will be choosing to attend college and universities. The post 9/11 GI Bill enacted in 2009 made it much more assessable for military veterans to attend college, by enacting financial incentives that pay for tuition, textbooks and housing. Important differences in culture and perceptual perspectives exist between student veterans and college personnel. Few college students, staff, faculty, or administrators themselves have military backgrounds so they have no understanding of the challenges veterans…
From growing up in a military family, I have become very resilient and I adapt really well to change. With my surroundings changing all the time, I have to be able to quickly adapt to my new setting and find ways to fit in as quickly as possible. I have been to about twelve different schools so far, and I have lived in about eight different houses. When I live on a military base, change is constant, even if it is not my own family experiencing the orders to move that year. The houses around me fill and empty all the time with new people, and some of the military dominant schools I have been to have the same problem.…
The following summary looks at the article titled, “Increased Risk of Alcohol and Drug use Among Children From Deployed Military Families”, and is from the journal Addiction. The article was authored by Laura Acion, Marizen R. Ramirez, Ricardo E. Jorge, and Stephan Arndt. The research discussed in this article examines the relationship between the deployment of a military parent and the alcohol and drug usage among the children of these deployed military parents (Acion, Ramirez, Jorge, & Arndt, 2013). Children of deployed military parents make up a large population group in the United States. In 2010, “approximately 1.99 million US children had at least 1 parent in active duty” (Acion et al., 2013).…
As an Anethesiologist, I am constantly looking for oportunities that will further my education and make me more competitive. One such oportunity is the MedEx program. I realize there is a need for more health care professionals who can assist military veterans. This came to my attention while speaking with a physician in Charleston, South Carolina.…
More recent decades find a decided push for formal education like that of the U.S. Army’s Sergeants Major Academy founded in 1972. The Academy, boasting a world-class staff and academic faculty, provides college-level education to members of the Army, other service branches and international students earning a baccalaureate, masters or even doctoral degrees. Today’s military encourages enlistments to utilize an extensive education network of academic institutions called Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) which award academic credit for military experience effectively accelerating the earning of a college degree. Unquestionably, enlisted men and women remain on lower pay scales compared to commissioned officers, receive fewer benefits and likely experience a higher degree of reassignment. In short, noncommissioned officers generate the action.…
While stress is a huge part in military families, coping with being deployed also plays a big role. Stress within the family will grow the longer that family member is deployed, due to not being able to have contact with that family member. Coping with stress is affected by the family dynamics and individual differences of each family member. All families respond different to the stress and some families have to deal with going to therapist to help with the stress. When a loved one is deployed to fight, the children will need help coping.…
Author’s Theme This article reports the findings in which the adaptive (planning, positive framing, and active coping) and maladaptive (venting, behavioral disengagement, and self-blame) skills of Army spouses and public school teachers were studied. The study compared the results of flourishing, languishing, or depressed Army spouses and teachers. Comparison was completed for the subsets of venting, behavioral disengagement, self-blame, planning, positive reframing, and active coping.…
What are your thoughts regarding your ability to work with military families and children as a social worker? I personally would be “fine” maybe even a bit too comfortable working with military families and children as a social worker because I grew up with an alcoholic father and I am starting to see the similarities, which honestly took twenty-five years all because everyone is afraid to face the truth; therefore, things just get swept under the rug and open communication is forbidden in order to protect the toxicity of the household. One quote from Park (2011) that struck me states, ‘‘a common saying in the military is that when one person joins, the whole family serves’’ (p. 66). This unfortunately reigns true with addiction. Alcoholism is a family disease that tears away at the family unit.…
Challenges Faced by Military Spouses Make Them Heroes For many years, military spouses have been the backbone of the family. They are heroes without fame, heroes without costumes. They are the cornerstone in support of the deployed service member and the family members left behind. Some people say that heroes are those who are fighting for our country.…
In my family, we have two military Vietnamese veterans: my grandpa from my father’s side, who served as an officer for the army, and my grandfather from my mother’s side, who also served in the Vietnam War. Their courageous souls and bravery are one of the other reasons as to why attending the military service academies is so important to me since I want to be able to continue the legacy of what they did in the past and make them even more prouder than they are of me. They always talk about the past and what they went to; well, I want to embrace and attempt to live their past in order to thorough understand what they went through. To represent and lead the greatest military in the world can be rough and hard for me, but because of my parents and the inspiration from my veteran grandparents, I am disciplined, determined, and well-taught to achieve anything and overcome anything that may intervenes my path to greatness. A road block will be stuck between me and greatness and I know that it will eventually be moved; except it varies as to how long and how much effect an individual is willing to work to move the obstacle.…
Serving our country is a privilege. Most people, for various reasons, become part of the Armed Forces family, and give their lives to protect and defend our freedom, and our way of life. At the end of their tour, which can last from a couple of years, to twenty, thirty, or even more. After facing many disturbing, mind-blowing events, Veterans want to do something positive with their lives. But after coming back home, and because they spent their entire adult life in the service, most of them cannot relate to, and did not have anything to offer to the society.…
Military families often times experience different types and multiple stressors and trauma throughout their lifetimes. At times these different situations and stressors can be positive or negative (Lester & Flake, 2013). However, either with either type of stressors families can show both strengthens and weaknesses. These different transitions can be positive and can allow for opportunities for youth to grow and experience adventures that they might not have had the opportunity to experience if they were not a member of a military family. These transitions can also be disruptive towards the family or individuals due to changing schedules and locations.…
Military brats, a term used to describe children with at least one parent that works full-time for the armed forces. In a military family, moving is a common occurrence, at least in my case it was. During my childhood, I moved at least seven times, to places like Hawaii, Cuba, Virginia, and Germany. Moving was always one of the greatest dilemmas that I had to deal with while growing up. Just a few years ago, my family almost had to pack our bags again and move to Japan.…
Military Family appreciation month is in the month of November. Military Family appreciation is where all the families serving around the world is honored and recognized for the commitment and support. Some people and schools make crafts and things for some of the families. Army families have to make a lot of sacrifices.…
When I was younger, my mom would rent out our basement room to single people she would work with in the military. I personally loved it because it meant that there were more people around I could harass into playing with me. However, I was always confused when I would hear my grandparents berate my mother on letting “those people” into our home. I remained confused, until I asked my mother what they meant, and why they were so angry. My mother described to me how “old fashioned” my grandparents were and how they didn’t believe in surrounding not only the family, but me in particular, with people who identified as ‘gay’.…