The military breaks a person down, and then builds them back up into what they want that person to be. Once you leave the military, you are not the same person you were, but also, the government doesn’t really give two shits about you. So, it’s not uncommon for these people do experience some mental issues which the government (VA) can’t or won’t really help with. For many, that leads them to be unable to hold work, and therefore pay for a place to live, and they wind up homeless.
Yeah, the military pays well, which is kind of a double edged sword on it’s own.
I signed up at 18 and was handed an adult paycheck and a bunch of situations no one should ever have to experience. When I got back, I had money that could be spent, no tangible real world skills (which sucks when I literally drove a truck on a predetermined route for most of my deployment), and difficulty returning to a world that wasn’t regimented. I could have easily slipped into the same issues that some of my buddies did.
I believe changing after such an exhausting and brutal period of their lives would be unappealing. This is a rather shallow take, but it’s all I’ve got right now.
“When you’re in, you’re a guest; when you’re out, you’re a pest.”
Never forget, that in 1925, a peaceful march of World War I veterans seeking payment on promised recruitment bonuses were treated like insurrectionists, and were attacked by the current standing army.
When they’re done with you, you’re nothing to them. Don’t believe in all of this yellow ribbon “our veterans are sacred” horse shit. Ultimately, we are all disposable to them.
The US government has a history of mistreating their veterans that goes back to the American Revolution. I’m not surprised one bit that recruitment is way down.
It doesn’t pay all that well… most people only serve a few years, but the psychological trauma/PTSD they suffer lasts long after they leave the service. Combination of mental health issues, or addictions resulting from them, often lead to homelessness and there is a insufficient mental health resources to serve them all.
Because the USA spends a lot of money, recruiting people for the military, scaling them heroes, showing them flashy advertising, and so on. They make all kinds of promises.
But when we are done with them, we’re done with them. We got what we want. The defense contractors have made their millions. Why spend more money on what Trump called suckers?
The pay is not great.
To be clear, I’m the son of a veteran, I am a veteran, and both of my kids are in the military right now. Both of my kids are fairly high ranking, so their pay is decent.
There’s no real support for disabled people in the US and people come back from wars with ptsd and head injuries and all sorts of things. Limbs blown off. Lung conditions.
Even the strongest soldiers/sailors/Marines and airmen aren’t immune to the mental consequences that can lead to homelessness, aside from any physical conditions that prevent them from making their money.
Their individuality is removed so they can operate as one unit. When returning to normal life, it can be hard to regain identity and because of that it can be extremely difficult to make connections or even to get up every morning and work. On top of that you have those with combat trauma. Worst part is VA is famously corrupt and don’t effectively perform their duty to serve those who served all of us.
Ultimately I don’t care about left and right, the entire government should be in agreement that the well-being of these men and women are not only relevant, but a top priority.
For added context the federal poverty line is $15,650 for a single person and $32,150 for a family of 4.
It can pay well for officers, but that require schooling, you generally can’t walk into a recruitment center and emerge an officer.
The military also gives young people structure and makes it very easy for them while they are there, you never have to think about almost anything. Where you will live, your meals, your personal hygiene, every little thing is dictated by the military. Then suddenly that’s ripped away, and that’s hard.
Financially soldiers are often handed predatory car loans and credit cards to get themselves into debt on the way in by military servicing banks. It’s a meme about the lowest level soldiers getting into massive debt on a brand-new Mustang or Camero immediately after joining.
And god forbid they see actual combat they will emerge with severe PTSD and other mental health conditions that will not be well treated by the VA.
They will then find it very hard to reintegrate into society outside of the military and often wind up turning to substance abuse which then helps speed them crashing out into homelessness.
Because being a solider can give you PTSD and other mental health issues, and America won’t treat those issues because public healthcare is ‘socialist’. Ex soldiers, especially ones with mental health issues can’t afford healthcare, so they spiral out of control and end up on the streets.
This is the issue I just cannot wrap my head around: this country has the biggest boner for the troops, but fails to actually take care of the troops. Honestly, a third of USA’s infinite budget should be spent on helping veterans reintegrate into society, helping them with not just housing and money but also with extensive therapy and medical treatment without having to jump through hundreds of hoops.
I detest any and all politicians that are way too vocal about supporting our troops when campaigning, but allow the mistreatment and abuse of troops when they’re out. There’s a special plasma region in hell for them.
Because the government has countries overseas to send money too. They’d never think about caring for their own and it’s a damn shame. The only veterans who should be homeless are the ones who get there on their own doing.
A lot of ‘soldiers’ are simply lost when they come out. It all depends on what they do in the military / what they went through. Some can adjust to the shitty miserable existence we all call ‘life’ but not all can. You are not the same person coming out of basic, and there are of course other factors.. Not everything a soldier does translates to ‘real world experience’, something a soldier was REALLY GOOD AT may not be a job in the civilian world. There are also businesses who shoo shoo aside resumes from ex military being afraid of ‘ptsd’ or something similar.
Coming out you are ‘reintroduced’ to a lot more ‘responsibilities’ that you didn’t have in the military.. You don’t have uncle sam providing you with housing, meals, a ‘direct purpose’, etc. With some people it’s ALMOST similar to a criminal becoming ‘institutionalized’ where they can’t handle the responsibilities of being on their own / being told what to do.
Veterans often have battered bodies and unstable emotions due to the abuses they took in the service. Even when that’s not the case for the individual, it creates the stereotype of the “crazy vet” that employers don’t like. Post-service benefits are cut at every corner possible lest they become a backdoor to the welfare state, which of course conservatives abhor. VA is understaffed, so wait times are lethally long. Loans require larger and larger down payments that vets can’t afford because nobody can afford it. Free housing, food, or utilities would be “soshulizm” even for vets.
Our homeless veterans are all of us – the conservative capitalist state will wreck us and then make our empty life afterwards our problem. Only difference is, the military is allowed to do worse to their laborers than most other industries.
Not just in the US but also in the UK and what’s worse, the UK is increasing.
Military life does a thing to those that serve that not all can manage and especially so in civvy street where everything is so unpredictable. Added to that many are discharged from service on mental health grounds to be left to fend for themselves in what can be hostile terrain
There aren’t the volumes of homeless veterans there were for decades following Vietnam. That’s not to say there aren’t still too many, but it’s far lower than it used to be and still declining (it’s declined by over half since just 2010). So the basis of your question is somewhat inaccurate. Still, the vet homeless rate is higher than the general population.
“Does the military pay well,” lol, no, it does not (the GI bill bonuses for doing four years or the pension for being in for 20 ARE both quite good, but the pay while in is not).
You never really grow into a individual in the military. It’s almost like you trade your parents for angry parents but they still feed you, clothe you, and teach you the you have school and h/w along with chores. Ultimately by the time you leave you’ve been abused and beaten in ways civilian jobs don’t due and you just don’t fit in with the world. You also arnt really prepared for responsibility. It’s easy to take care of stuff when you will go to jail if you don’t. Also people never calculate that total pay with benefits we get payed decent and it’s hard to get jobs the can give the same quality of life. It’s alot of pressure when you leave and you really need to prepare yourself because the military won’t/cant remember your leadership is no different then you, children in a military uniform with angry parents above them.
There aren’t. There are ~16 million veterans, and ~33,000 are homeless. About 0.2%.
There are ~771,000 homeless people in the US. So about 4.3% are homeless veterans.
With a population of ~340 million, 4.7% are veterans.
If you are a veteran, you are less likely to be homeless. I’m sure you can go even deeper and remove children and play with the part that’s it’s mostly men are vets and mostly men are homeless. Doing so would push a veteran is significantly less likely to be homeless than the average person.
They know that it’s all bullshit. Fuck getting a job and running on the hamster wheel. I believe it is a 60/40 split between soldiers who want to be out there and soldiers whose situation forces them out there. Pick a side
In addition to the effects of service on an individual the military recruitment profile leans heavily on communities with a history of service and limited resources
Because the Conservative party in the USA hates veterans. Conservatives in the USA are constantly pushing to eliminate every and all forms of veteran assistance, and would rather have them pass away in combat than to be rewarded for their service in the military.
Their military tasks can’t be “transferred” into civilian life like work experience or education can be, any disabilities gained from the military are seen as “your issue” to resolve, and the VA is extremely underfunded and understaffed with no resources.
PTSD leading to substance abuse issues, which will ultimately compound the mental health issues from said PTSD. And successive governments don’t give a shit.
Because conservatives use them up for sound bites and don’t care about them after they are used up and discarded. Just like babies who can’t be aborted but sure as hell don’t need any educating.
I met a number of young men who had served in combat in Iraq. They’d seen friends turn into pink mist and many other horrible things. They were emotionally scared down to their souls. Many turned to alcohol to numb the pain. Others do the same but have lots of rage. The latter blew a hole in a bathtub with a shotgun at a rental. It’s kinda hard to adapt and keep employed when you get back to the world.
Because the government does not care about the people. They only do enough to get elected. Both sides. There are individuals who care, but they are a small minority.
Bluntly.
Many of those homeless veterans are psychologically damaged by their service and effectively abandoned once they muster out. They struggle to re-integrate with society and often end up with failed personal and intimate relationships. They have complex mental health and/or medical needs that are largely ignored or denied by the local DVA medical facility.
Most of them have sent their pay back to families that fall apart while they are on duty or shortly after they return.
Recall what Tangerweenie called people who serve in the military.
Suckers and Losers.
That attitude pervades many levels of government when judge by their actions and not their words.
Sadly, the US government does not care for ex US soldiers/veterans. it’s only going to get worse for ex-military with this new US administration now that they gotten the VA.
It’s actually going to get worse for all Americans that aren’t billionaires, but that’s another story.
E-1 base pay with 4 years service active duty is like 2k a month. Plus it’s hell to get anything your”owed” out of them. It’s like if you don’t do exactly this on this day at this time, sorry you don’t qualify.
Supply and demand. There is an awful lot of abject poverty in the US, which claims to be the very best and most free place in the world. Very few people in other advanced nations agree with that assessment, precisely because of the degree of abject poverty that the US permits. that quantity of poverty, and the limited possibilities of escape therefrom allow it to maintain one of the largest standing armies in the world at a relatively low cost, inculcating in the poor People the idea that their lifelong sacrifices are somehow “noble”.
There’s a beggar near me who’s needed money for a bus ticket to his mom’s house for over a year. Haven’t asked him if he’s a veteran but he might say he is if he thought it would work.
When foster kids turn 18 they often start life homeless and alone so the military is a perfect place to go. After that back on the streets, it’s all ya know. 40%;or so of our homeless are passed on foster kids.
“support the troops” is dog whistling at best. It means “support our warmongering, otherwise you’re not patriotic”. After discharge, the US military-industrial complex would rather have dead veterans because they cost nothing to take care of.
Many enlisted guys come from a pretty bad situation to begin with. Just because they serve a few years doesnt mean they will improve their lot in life. There is certainly a great opportunity for them to do so, but many are stuck in their poor mentality.
The only exceptions I see are vets who TRULY suffered from the horrors of actual combat. That can be tough, Even then, most of those guys are doing quite well.
Just like civilian life, It’s really up to each individual. how much effort do you want to put into your existence.
Because “support the troops” and “support our veterans” bumper stickers are way cheaper.
I don’t get why people joining the military still don’t get it. The general population says whatever platitudes are necessary to feel ok about it, but this country 100% does not give a single solitary fuck about veterans.
Do not buy into the bullshit on the news about “support the troops.” It’s a popular talking point but those people are considered disposable. They are useful until they are not, and they don’t in any way, shape, or form get the appreciation they deserve.
Stepping in front of a podium and speaking praises doesn’t mean a fucking thing. The United States pretends to value its soldiers to keep getting volunteers. It’s frankly disgusting and it has been this way for a very long time.
Trained to be soldiers/killer and then returned back into society when there is no longer a need for them. President Obama was the only president that I know of who understood this and suggested we need a boot camp for soldiers coming back into society. A deprogramming.
I worked as a telephone operator at a VA facility for 6 years. I know the various lines we transferred homeless veterans to would never answer. Everything from housing to social work. And if they did answer they usually would say something like they’re just a clerk and they don’t help.
As I’ve told my kids, not every veteran is a homeless person, but every homeless person appears to be a veteran. Why? Odds are some of them are scamming (stolen valor) but I’m willing to believe a lot of them are legit wounded vets who were cut loose with few veterans benefits. It’s a sad state of affairs.
They don’t think they deserve or haven’t properly filed for veteran disability benefits. There are plenty of completely healthy veterans that receive over 4k a month in disability benefits after their service. They just filed the correct paperwork
The US does not have a good social net for helping veterans cope with what they experienced and help reintegrate to society. So, many start using alcohol and drugs to suppress their traumas. That well paying job money evaporates quite quickly like that. In the Netherlands, we have mental support personnel to healthily cope with any traumas they experienced resulting in very low percentages of failed reintegration to society!
War, being a human endeavor and a contact sport, leaves bruises and scars.
Not all scars and bruises heal the same way, nor are all as obvious as a lost limb.
While I disagree with the “some folks prefer to be unhoused” stupidity, some return ill-prepared for operating in a civilian environment. The separation process is not universally successful, and the post-service benefitsare not 100% comprehensive.
There is also no shortage of homeless people willing to say they are ex-service members for additional sympathy.
Imo, the military makes you grow up faster than your civilian peers in some ways and slower in others.
I a lot of “adulting” life skills go in the slower category b/c the military takes care of you in so many ways: housing, food, exercise, career progression, ect.
When these soldiers return to the civilian word, many have trouble adjusting.
The military does not pay well.
While in the army I did an hourly break down and realized I was making minimum wage, plus getting yelled at.
The army, at least from my experience teaches rigidity and extreme violence, so going to a warzone, then being dropped back off in normal society without a literal off switch is a hard adjustment.
The dirty little secret is the government doesn’t count someone as a homeless vet unless they have the ‘right kind of discharge’ which is a decision usually left to one person who could have little or no management experience. That is before we get into the systemic and inherent racism in the discharge process. Be it intentional or not (and I think most of the time it is unintentional bias) people of color are disproportionately discharged with ‘bad’ discharges before we get into the people who pissed off their CO.
Now all services are linked to discharge status and the majority of people who need services (housing, disability, HEALTH INSURANCE) can’t get it cause they got a ‘bad’ discharge.
Because we don’t have universal basic Healthcare and instead citizens united which results in thousands of lobbyists on Capitol Hill advocating for themselves to make money off the backs of the poorest Americans 😒
As someone who picked up PTSD on the civilian side, I can tell you it makes interaction quite difficult. I haven’t been able to hold a job for more than eight months in at least the past 6 years. When that’s the case, income stagnates, so you look for assistance. Only assistance is behind some double-standardized barriers, where the diagnoses of psychiatrists and a decade of medical history can be (and usually are) overridden by an un-credentialed, un-informed, over-worker DHS employee.
So, as the struggle continues, applicants have to collect themselves and try to get organized enough to appeal the decision or reapply. And it was pretty tough to do in the first place. So, we fall through the cracks instead.
Advice about your private life is given in a calm voice, and there is no emphasis or repeating. “You should put money in the really nice retirement account they have for you”
“Yeah I’ll get to that later, right now Imma go to the bar to pick up a honey and have a few beers, just before I buy a new Mustang for 26% interest on the loan”
“I recommend you sign up to become a vehicle mechanic in the Army, there is plenty of work for that after you get out”
“I think I’ll join the infantry so I can shoot machine guns”
I come from a military family. My sisters all married men in the military. So, it’s my grand parents, parents. Brother inlaws, cousins and their friends. The exceptions is me. I’m treated like an alien. I’ll say this. It’s really not the military fault. I will say this. Many of my family had trouble transitioning to civilian life. In the American military they expect something from you. If you hold up your end, they will take care of you. Not having that support once you leave the military is a difficult transition.
The recruiters sweet talk children into signing contracts for years upon years. They promise a bunch of lies.
Most go directly from being a high school student living with mom to living in barracks. They never learn how to cook, or pay bills, or shop for groceries effectively.
You’re given money and told you get more if you get married and have kids, so you grab the first person who thinks you’re worth dating… by your mid 20s you’re divorced because obviously that’s not how that works.
Then you get out and are just sort of plopped on the street. You have no idea how to translate your skills to a civilian job. You have no idea how to manage a household. You’ve already got an ex and baggage. You’re traumatized by the training, and if you saw any action it’s significantly worse. There’s about 74848388 pages of paperwork to fill out if you want help, and you have to take the initiative to go find where to get them and where to bring them. And then the help is often difficult. They’ll send you 6 hours away for an eye exam and try to make it your fault if you can’t get there.
Even if you’re not struggling to cope with the switch, you have to find and set up everything you need to live immediately on the spot. If you’ve ever moved, you know that after you’ve done the work of actually picking your place you still have to move or buy furniture, set up utilities, take care of any existing problems, clean it up, etc.
One of the leading causes of homelessness is mental instability. The military has had years of training on how to break people, mentally and physically. You spend 4 years getting shot at, screamed at and otherwise just in the most toxic environment you can imagine, come home and either don’t get diagnosed because that’s uncomfortable or they do but ‘your condition is not duty related’
Lots of PTSD and other mental health challenges as a result of combat. Given current events as enacted by the Orange Floridian and his Pet Tesla Monkey, things are going to get worse as a result of cutbacks at the VA.
A bit different take. Once you have been independent and gotten comfortable with discomfort, the idea of sleeping outside is sometimes preferable to staying inside with structure and expectations.
There has never been an army in history that paid its line soldiers particularly well. Frequently, they paid better than the absolute worst jobs, but they never paid well.
Elite units, sure, there have been some that did well for themselves, but ordinary soldiers, never.
Honestly, where the United States and other modern democracies do well is the fact that, while our enlisted soldiers are paid shit, nobody gets rich, no matter how high up the chain you go. The theoretical maximum pay for a Joint Chiefs of Staff cabinet minister in the US is like $220,000 a year, which is a number which definitely sounds rich to people who aren’t rich, but doesn’t even register as pocket change to people who are. It’s normal-people rich, like a family doctor or thereabouts.
And that’s like twice the top pay of other NATO militaries.
So, no, the military doesn’t pay well.
And then it breaks you.
First, there are people who really relied on the structure of the military, of being given clearly defined tasks and goals. And when they got out and nobody told them what to do, and even more, what not to do. They could end up spiraling onto a path to the street.
But there are more direct issues, too. Get injured enough, you are in constant pain. Be in constant pain, rely on constant painkillers. Rely on constant painkillers, and there is a disruption in supply, and you need to get some painkillers somewhere else, generally a combination of alcohol and opiates. And that leads you to the street.
And there are the psychological issues. Get traumatized enough, and normal civilian interactions are difficult. You don’t have a frame of reference with other people. Can’t get along with co-workers, can’t hold down a job.
Because Americans are all about supporting soldiers when they go to war, but if they come home alone, they have no problem watching the men who fought for their country die in the streets as homeless people.
Because our government refuses to care about them. They would rather pay lip service like “Support our troops!” And “Thoughts and prayers!” Instead of actively doing stuff like providing jobs, affordable housing, and good mental health care. The money that could go for these things goes to line political fat cats’ pockets instead.
Many veterans have a difficult time with deprogramming from military life. When you leave the military, they put forth minimal effort into assisting the transition back into civilian society.
From my USMC experience after 5 years of active service, I had trouble in the work place with tolerating substandard work output and sloppy people, and knew of no other way but to be an NCO yelling at underlings. Obviously this is unacceptable in a civilian office environment. Some co-workers understood, others ostracized me.
Another issue is many military jobs don’t translate into the civilian workforce, such as infantry and armaments. Imagine being mid-20s with no relevant job skills, likely no college, and potential difficulties to acclimatize to civilian work culture.
It does not pay well, and the things soldiers see and do in combat are not dinner time conversations. Many are irrepariably harmed through PTSD, addiction, and can’t hold down jobs or maintain stable interpersonal relationships. I was at the VA last week and the vet after my appointment was Vietnam era, dressed in period appropriate cammo and boots. Probably dressed tahf way every day of his life since he returned from combat in the 70s. That’s how much combat changes you and that’s why veterans who return often can’t hold down jobs or stable relationships sufficient to remain housed. It is a side effect of war.
They do not get the care they deserve from the government. They don’t really earn that much when in. When out the government does not want to provide them with the services and they need and deserve. It’s very sad the US doesn’t do a lot more for veterans.
Part of it is untreated mental helath and su stance abuse.
Part of it is poor lifeskills – going from 12 years of school with compulsory routine to the military with 4 years+ of compulsory routine to now you’re on your own with no schedule, thay can be a shock.
Part of it is socioeconomic – let’s be honest, a good part of our military, join because they dont have any marketable skills, formal education, or financial support- thay doesn’t always change when you leave .
Would be a combo of these; no two sets of circumstances will ever be identical.
The military doesn’t pay well unless you are an officer. My best year I had to go to Afghanistan as a Sergeant and made 54K. My first year, I made 18K.
Military training doesn’t translate well to the civilian. They don’t prepare you for regular jobs. The largest group are Infantry and there is no equivalent in the civilian job market.
Many joined because they needed a new start or lack of options. Often, that is still true when they get out.
Psychosis is the number one factor in homelessness. The Military often attracts, exacerbates and/or creates psychosis. Whether that is PTSD, survivors guilt or depression/anxiety.
Sexual Trauma is much more common than you would think and often leads back to 4 or a complete loss of identity and self worth. Imagine being trained to fight for your country and you can’t protect your own body.
That is just 5 reasons off the top of my head. There are more or a combination of them.
A ton of scammers pretending to be vets. I used to be a homeless vet and there’s programs to get one indoors & healthcare. So many people who never served hold signs up begging for drug and beer money.
The VA made programs years ago to address homeless vets. Any out there long term are choosing not to get help.
“When you’re in, you’re a guest; when you’re out, you’re a pest.”
What a poster below me said
I have 14 years in the RCN and i cant tell people that the military may be run Admirals and Generals but the at the end of the day, the most terrifying enemy we faced wasnt the Russians.
The most feared people were bean-counters.
These assholes will absolutely fuck over their own people with all kinds of bullshit policies. Dont ever let some right-wing or conservative dickhead they aren’t the same. In Canada the conservatives cut veterans pensions and veterans benefits while the Afghan war was still in progress.
The VA system is honestly super complicated. It’s there, and it’s helpful, but it definitely doesn’t come easy. In my own experience as a veteran, I was lucky enough to figure it out. I used my education benefits, navigated my disability compensation, and got smart about investing with my TSP. But let me tell you, none of that was handed to me. I had to hustle, ask tons of questions, deal with paperwork nightmares, and advocate nonstop for myself.
One thing people often overlook is that not all military jobs have skills that easily transfer to the civilian world. Sure, companies love to say they hire vets, but that doesn’t automatically mean landing a great job is easy. You still need civilian interview skills, a resume that translates your military background into language employers understand, and the confidence to market yourself, which the military doesn’t exactly teach you.
Combine that with mental health struggles or physical injuries, plus the lack of affordable housing, and you can quickly see how a veteran might fall through the cracks. Just because the military offers decent pay or benefits doesn’t automatically set someone up for life, it takes a lot of support, patience, and a fair bit of luck to transition smoothly.
>As of January 2024, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Point-in-Time (PIT) count estimated that 32,882 U.S. military veterans were experiencing homelessness on a single night, out of a total of 771,480 homeless individuals. This means veterans made up approximately 4.26% of the total homeless population in the United States at that time.
What percent of the US population 18-50 are veterans? 4%.
IOW, the number of homeless veterans is roughly proportional to the number of veterans in the total population.
Its not about money, and in any event, the pay isn’t *that* good. (24 year retired veteran here)
A lot of the homeless vets are suffering from PTSD or other problems and haven’t been taken care of well by the VA in particular and this country in general.
My country labeled me a terrorist after I got home from fighting them. No thanks to Dr. Phil.
The Local police SOP’s employ Terrorist procedure for any call involving a Combat Veteran. No Miranda, no lawyer, no explanation, no chance to speak. 9mm to the face, handcuffs on, street shutdown.
Couldn’t get a Job because i was a monster, was scammed outta my GI bill, family stole my saved up money, then kicked me out.
The American civilians are the reason they’re are so many homeless Combat Veterans. The American society is the toxic environment that produces drug addicts, and homelessness. Until they accept responsibility it will not stop. They stab us in the back, while giving us a hug. Then they have us arrested for getting mad at them.
The Military didn’t fuck me up, the betrayal from the American people did. The Government didn’t abandon me, My country did. The VA saved my life, my brothers & sisters kept me alive until they did.
There are many benefits for vets but guaranteeing a home and a living wage after service is not one of them. They aren’t homeless because they are veterans. They are homeless because our society generally doesn’t guarantee a living wage/income for anyone.
First, what makes you say that? Is it based on the say so of beggars who have an incentive to lie?
Second, the military can be a way for people with few options to get a stable job. When that job ends, they may not have much more in the way of options.
The percentage of homeless veterans compared to the general population is relatively similar. There is no large percentage of vets who are homeless, it falls in line with the overall homeless numbers.
Regular enlisted don’t make that much money. If you’re in the barracks, you don’t have to spend much money, so it can give you a better standard of living than just the numbers show, but you’re not clearing that much a month. You get healthcare, you get a bed, you get fed. In cash, you get something to the tune of like $2k a month starting out. It does increase with time, but it’s not living large by any stretch.
It can depend greatly on what you actually do, but a lot of guys come out with physical or mental injuries that can make adjusting back to civilian life more difficult. Hard to work manual labor with a bad back, hard to manage regular stress when you spent a year in the Middle East getting your ass shot off. Hard to stop assuming every cup on the side of the road isn’t a bomb placed specifically to maim you and your buddies when that was the case for the past year.
Add in to all of that in the past few years the military has become more of last resort for people that don’t have any other opportunities. Being in the military can be a way to get more opportunities. It can also postpone your failure to launch.
In short, everyone’s different. Having PTSD or physical disabilities makes life harder. The military doesn’t give a damn about you after separation.
A lot of people in the military live in poverty while they’re in, especially lower enlisted ranks. A Private (E-2) makes ~$2600 a month, or around $650/wk, before taxes. People might say “oh, but you get free housing and food,” but the saying is true, you do get what you pay for. Just look at the fact that the GAO says that up to 250,000 military families are eligible for food stamps.
People might also say “you’ll have a skill that can get you a good job when you get out!” Which is somewhat true if you’re in a field like IT, but for a lot of jobs the skills just don’t translate over well (ie: you were in the infantry, how is the skill of closing with and killing the enemy going to get you a job in corporate America?). Tack on to that injuries and mental health problems from your time in, and it can be really tough to make it in the outside world.
PTSD is difficult to live with
It’s almost as difficult to live near, but most people are unwilling to even deal with another’s discomfort let alone help them manage it
O it doesn’t pay well, and many come back out with little savings often spent at the bar to self-medicate.
But in my best guess is that it is due either to PTSD from battle or from being told all of the time what they will be doing and they lack individuality.
I read that during WW2 the avg time spent in battle was just over 30 days, in Vietnam it was just over 1 yr., and presently nearly 50% of the time. When you also consider that many are not assigned to battle zones that makes those who are there actually spending a great deal more time in battle and this does something to your mind. My FIL told of just going through basic training did a number on his psyche faced with being trained to kill other humans which was totally against his Christian teachings so a shock to his brain. He was assigned behind the lines and had no battle duty.
But the military should have a mandatory 1 year faze back to adjust to civilian life without combat and just support to resocialize for being in a civilian life w/o all of the high structure, and support from trained staff and others to desensitize for Civilian life and line them up with job prospects and an income after out until they get a steady job.
Comments
The military breaks a person down, and then builds them back up into what they want that person to be. Once you leave the military, you are not the same person you were, but also, the government doesn’t really give two shits about you. So, it’s not uncommon for these people do experience some mental issues which the government (VA) can’t or won’t really help with. For many, that leads them to be unable to hold work, and therefore pay for a place to live, and they wind up homeless.
It’s kind of a myth. At least now.
22/10,000 veterans are homeless. In the general population 23/10,000 are homeless.
The US govt is shamefully shitty about how they treat veterans after they serve.
It does not pay well and the government does not spend the resources to help the neediest in post-active duty life.
As a note: The military does not pay well for enlisted.
Yeah, the military pays well, which is kind of a double edged sword on it’s own.
I signed up at 18 and was handed an adult paycheck and a bunch of situations no one should ever have to experience. When I got back, I had money that could be spent, no tangible real world skills (which sucks when I literally drove a truck on a predetermined route for most of my deployment), and difficulty returning to a world that wasn’t regimented. I could have easily slipped into the same issues that some of my buddies did.
We, as a country, love war and hate poor people
I believe changing after such an exhausting and brutal period of their lives would be unappealing. This is a rather shallow take, but it’s all I’ve got right now.
“When you’re in, you’re a guest; when you’re out, you’re a pest.”
Never forget, that in 1925, a peaceful march of World War I veterans seeking payment on promised recruitment bonuses were treated like insurrectionists, and were attacked by the current standing army.
When they’re done with you, you’re nothing to them. Don’t believe in all of this yellow ribbon “our veterans are sacred” horse shit. Ultimately, we are all disposable to them.
The US government has a history of mistreating their veterans that goes back to the American Revolution. I’m not surprised one bit that recruitment is way down.
It doesn’t pay all that well… most people only serve a few years, but the psychological trauma/PTSD they suffer lasts long after they leave the service. Combination of mental health issues, or addictions resulting from them, often lead to homelessness and there is a insufficient mental health resources to serve them all.
Because the USA spends a lot of money, recruiting people for the military, scaling them heroes, showing them flashy advertising, and so on. They make all kinds of promises.
But when we are done with them, we’re done with them. We got what we want. The defense contractors have made their millions. Why spend more money on what Trump called suckers?
The pay is not great.
To be clear, I’m the son of a veteran, I am a veteran, and both of my kids are in the military right now. Both of my kids are fairly high ranking, so their pay is decent.
There’s no real support for disabled people in the US and people come back from wars with ptsd and head injuries and all sorts of things. Limbs blown off. Lung conditions.
Even the strongest soldiers/sailors/Marines and airmen aren’t immune to the mental consequences that can lead to homelessness, aside from any physical conditions that prevent them from making their money.
Their individuality is removed so they can operate as one unit. When returning to normal life, it can be hard to regain identity and because of that it can be extremely difficult to make connections or even to get up every morning and work. On top of that you have those with combat trauma. Worst part is VA is famously corrupt and don’t effectively perform their duty to serve those who served all of us.
Ultimately I don’t care about left and right, the entire government should be in agreement that the well-being of these men and women are not only relevant, but a top priority.
You’re asking why there are so many EX SOLDIERS then asking doesn’t the military pay well….
It’s a difficult transition out of the military and they get lost many times
It’s is a mental health issue.
>doesn’t serving in the military pay well?
Oh god no. Not even a little. In fact its fully public information:
For added context the federal poverty line is $15,650 for a single person and $32,150 for a family of 4.
It can pay well for officers, but that require schooling, you generally can’t walk into a recruitment center and emerge an officer.
The military also gives young people structure and makes it very easy for them while they are there, you never have to think about almost anything. Where you will live, your meals, your personal hygiene, every little thing is dictated by the military. Then suddenly that’s ripped away, and that’s hard.
Financially soldiers are often handed predatory car loans and credit cards to get themselves into debt on the way in by military servicing banks. It’s a meme about the lowest level soldiers getting into massive debt on a brand-new Mustang or Camero immediately after joining.
And god forbid they see actual combat they will emerge with severe PTSD and other mental health conditions that will not be well treated by the VA.
They will then find it very hard to reintegrate into society outside of the military and often wind up turning to substance abuse which then helps speed them crashing out into homelessness.
Because being a solider can give you PTSD and other mental health issues, and America won’t treat those issues because public healthcare is ‘socialist’. Ex soldiers, especially ones with mental health issues can’t afford healthcare, so they spiral out of control and end up on the streets.
The military pays terrible considering the work the members do. There are also many studies on this phenomenon that are readily available
This is the issue I just cannot wrap my head around: this country has the biggest boner for the troops, but fails to actually take care of the troops. Honestly, a third of USA’s infinite budget should be spent on helping veterans reintegrate into society, helping them with not just housing and money but also with extensive therapy and medical treatment without having to jump through hundreds of hoops.
I detest any and all politicians that are way too vocal about supporting our troops when campaigning, but allow the mistreatment and abuse of troops when they’re out. There’s a special plasma region in hell for them.
Trauma makes it very hard to adjust
Because the government has countries overseas to send money too. They’d never think about caring for their own and it’s a damn shame. The only veterans who should be homeless are the ones who get there on their own doing.
A lot of ‘soldiers’ are simply lost when they come out. It all depends on what they do in the military / what they went through. Some can adjust to the shitty miserable existence we all call ‘life’ but not all can. You are not the same person coming out of basic, and there are of course other factors.. Not everything a soldier does translates to ‘real world experience’, something a soldier was REALLY GOOD AT may not be a job in the civilian world. There are also businesses who shoo shoo aside resumes from ex military being afraid of ‘ptsd’ or something similar.
Coming out you are ‘reintroduced’ to a lot more ‘responsibilities’ that you didn’t have in the military.. You don’t have uncle sam providing you with housing, meals, a ‘direct purpose’, etc. With some people it’s ALMOST similar to a criminal becoming ‘institutionalized’ where they can’t handle the responsibilities of being on their own / being told what to do.
Veterans often have battered bodies and unstable emotions due to the abuses they took in the service. Even when that’s not the case for the individual, it creates the stereotype of the “crazy vet” that employers don’t like. Post-service benefits are cut at every corner possible lest they become a backdoor to the welfare state, which of course conservatives abhor. VA is understaffed, so wait times are lethally long. Loans require larger and larger down payments that vets can’t afford because nobody can afford it. Free housing, food, or utilities would be “soshulizm” even for vets.
Our homeless veterans are all of us – the conservative capitalist state will wreck us and then make our empty life afterwards our problem. Only difference is, the military is allowed to do worse to their laborers than most other industries.
Not just in the US but also in the UK and what’s worse, the UK is increasing.
Military life does a thing to those that serve that not all can manage and especially so in civvy street where everything is so unpredictable. Added to that many are discharged from service on mental health grounds to be left to fend for themselves in what can be hostile terrain
They lived out their usefulness to the government.
There aren’t the volumes of homeless veterans there were for decades following Vietnam. That’s not to say there aren’t still too many, but it’s far lower than it used to be and still declining (it’s declined by over half since just 2010). So the basis of your question is somewhat inaccurate. Still, the vet homeless rate is higher than the general population.
“Does the military pay well,” lol, no, it does not (the GI bill bonuses for doing four years or the pension for being in for 20 ARE both quite good, but the pay while in is not).
You never really grow into a individual in the military. It’s almost like you trade your parents for angry parents but they still feed you, clothe you, and teach you the you have school and h/w along with chores. Ultimately by the time you leave you’ve been abused and beaten in ways civilian jobs don’t due and you just don’t fit in with the world. You also arnt really prepared for responsibility. It’s easy to take care of stuff when you will go to jail if you don’t. Also people never calculate that total pay with benefits we get payed decent and it’s hard to get jobs the can give the same quality of life. It’s alot of pressure when you leave and you really need to prepare yourself because the military won’t/cant remember your leadership is no different then you, children in a military uniform with angry parents above them.
They have ptsd from war and often use drugs. Although I’m not sure of the numbers.
Freedom ain’t not free in this twisted, backwards, transactional life.
If you are honorably discharged, you do have access to VA benefits. If it’s not an honorable discharge, you get nothing.
There is no such thing as a well paying government job
And the reason so many end up on the streets is that they come up with unresolved trauma
On top of that, our VA hospital system for vets is overloaded because of countless wars since the 60’s
So the system just can’t keep up
Eventually, after realizing they can’t be a part of regular society because of their trauma…they end up on the streets
There aren’t. There are ~16 million veterans, and ~33,000 are homeless. About 0.2%.
There are ~771,000 homeless people in the US. So about 4.3% are homeless veterans.
With a population of ~340 million, 4.7% are veterans.
If you are a veteran, you are less likely to be homeless. I’m sure you can go even deeper and remove children and play with the part that’s it’s mostly men are vets and mostly men are homeless. Doing so would push a veteran is significantly less likely to be homeless than the average person.
Most “homeless veterans” you see aren’t veterans.
They know that it’s all bullshit. Fuck getting a job and running on the hamster wheel. I believe it is a 60/40 split between soldiers who want to be out there and soldiers whose situation forces them out there. Pick a side
Because the VA, in most cases, sucks, and nobody, including your govt, give a single fuck about you once you’re out.
Soldiers come back with PTSD and it fucks their entire lives up, then they don’t get the help they need.
Mental health issues. PTSD and drug use. It was similar after Nam
Fuck em’ and Chuck em’
In addition to the effects of service on an individual the military recruitment profile leans heavily on communities with a history of service and limited resources
They get a “thank you for your service” everywhere which still baffles me. Good question.
Because the Conservative party in the USA hates veterans. Conservatives in the USA are constantly pushing to eliminate every and all forms of veteran assistance, and would rather have them pass away in combat than to be rewarded for their service in the military.
Their military tasks can’t be “transferred” into civilian life like work experience or education can be, any disabilities gained from the military are seen as “your issue” to resolve, and the VA is extremely underfunded and understaffed with no resources.
PTSD leading to substance abuse issues, which will ultimately compound the mental health issues from said PTSD. And successive governments don’t give a shit.
Because conservatives use them up for sound bites and don’t care about them after they are used up and discarded. Just like babies who can’t be aborted but sure as hell don’t need any educating.
I met a number of young men who had served in combat in Iraq. They’d seen friends turn into pink mist and many other horrible things. They were emotionally scared down to their souls. Many turned to alcohol to numb the pain. Others do the same but have lots of rage. The latter blew a hole in a bathtub with a shotgun at a rental. It’s kinda hard to adapt and keep employed when you get back to the world.
It doesn’t pay well on average. And conservatives don’t give a shit about veterans.
Because the government does not care about the people. They only do enough to get elected. Both sides. There are individuals who care, but they are a small minority.
Jobs don’t pay enough to afford rent and no one has a right to healthcare
Bluntly.
Many of those homeless veterans are psychologically damaged by their service and effectively abandoned once they muster out. They struggle to re-integrate with society and often end up with failed personal and intimate relationships. They have complex mental health and/or medical needs that are largely ignored or denied by the local DVA medical facility.
Most of them have sent their pay back to families that fall apart while they are on duty or shortly after they return.
Recall what Tangerweenie called people who serve in the military.
Suckers and Losers.
That attitude pervades many levels of government when judge by their actions and not their words.
Sadly, the US government does not care for ex US soldiers/veterans. it’s only going to get worse for ex-military with this new US administration now that they gotten the VA.
It’s actually going to get worse for all Americans that aren’t billionaires, but that’s another story.
politicians care more about illegals to import votes. The far left brain rot defends this as a moral high ground cause
E-1 base pay with 4 years service active duty is like 2k a month. Plus it’s hell to get anything your”owed” out of them. It’s like if you don’t do exactly this on this day at this time, sorry you don’t qualify.
Supply and demand. There is an awful lot of abject poverty in the US, which claims to be the very best and most free place in the world. Very few people in other advanced nations agree with that assessment, precisely because of the degree of abject poverty that the US permits. that quantity of poverty, and the limited possibilities of escape therefrom allow it to maintain one of the largest standing armies in the world at a relatively low cost, inculcating in the poor People the idea that their lifelong sacrifices are somehow “noble”.
But I’m a crappy old cynic. Don’t listen to me.
Are there?
There’s a beggar near me who’s needed money for a bus ticket to his mom’s house for over a year. Haven’t asked him if he’s a veteran but he might say he is if he thought it would work.
Because America is a lie
PTSD. It’s crazy how little preparation the military provides to those leaving the service, especially those who are coming from combat situations.
This is why substance abuse is so high among ex-military.
It is a real thing.
The U.S. does not care about anyone
When foster kids turn 18 they often start life homeless and alone so the military is a perfect place to go. After that back on the streets, it’s all ya know. 40%;or so of our homeless are passed on foster kids.
“support the troops” is dog whistling at best. It means “support our warmongering, otherwise you’re not patriotic”. After discharge, the US military-industrial complex would rather have dead veterans because they cost nothing to take care of.
There’s not a simple answer.
Some can’t cope
Some have issues that prevents them from living like other people
Some don’t have the life skills to adjust
The government don’t want to deal with the aftermath of their decisions to put their troops in difficult situations
But these things apply equally to other courses too, not just the US.
PTSD.
Many enlisted guys come from a pretty bad situation to begin with. Just because they serve a few years doesnt mean they will improve their lot in life. There is certainly a great opportunity for them to do so, but many are stuck in their poor mentality.
The only exceptions I see are vets who TRULY suffered from the horrors of actual combat. That can be tough, Even then, most of those guys are doing quite well.
Just like civilian life, It’s really up to each individual. how much effort do you want to put into your existence.
Because “support the troops” and “support our veterans” bumper stickers are way cheaper.
I don’t get why people joining the military still don’t get it. The general population says whatever platitudes are necessary to feel ok about it, but this country 100% does not give a single solitary fuck about veterans.
Because the US doesn’t give a shit about its veterans
Do not buy into the bullshit on the news about “support the troops.” It’s a popular talking point but those people are considered disposable. They are useful until they are not, and they don’t in any way, shape, or form get the appreciation they deserve.
Stepping in front of a podium and speaking praises doesn’t mean a fucking thing. The United States pretends to value its soldiers to keep getting volunteers. It’s frankly disgusting and it has been this way for a very long time.
Trained to be soldiers/killer and then returned back into society when there is no longer a need for them. President Obama was the only president that I know of who understood this and suggested we need a boot camp for soldiers coming back into society. A deprogramming.
I worked as a telephone operator at a VA facility for 6 years. I know the various lines we transferred homeless veterans to would never answer. Everything from housing to social work. And if they did answer they usually would say something like they’re just a clerk and they don’t help.
As I’ve told my kids, not every veteran is a homeless person, but every homeless person appears to be a veteran. Why? Odds are some of them are scamming (stolen valor) but I’m willing to believe a lot of them are legit wounded vets who were cut loose with few veterans benefits. It’s a sad state of affairs.
They don’t think they deserve or haven’t properly filed for veteran disability benefits. There are plenty of completely healthy veterans that receive over 4k a month in disability benefits after their service. They just filed the correct paperwork
Veteran’s Affairs would do more to help veterans by closing up shop than what they’re doing now.
The US does not have a good social net for helping veterans cope with what they experienced and help reintegrate to society. So, many start using alcohol and drugs to suppress their traumas. That well paying job money evaporates quite quickly like that. In the Netherlands, we have mental support personnel to healthily cope with any traumas they experienced resulting in very low percentages of failed reintegration to society!
They can’t live without someone telling them how…
Sad really
War, being a human endeavor and a contact sport, leaves bruises and scars.
Not all scars and bruises heal the same way, nor are all as obvious as a lost limb.
While I disagree with the “some folks prefer to be unhoused” stupidity, some return ill-prepared for operating in a civilian environment. The separation process is not universally successful, and the post-service benefitsare not 100% comprehensive.
There is also no shortage of homeless people willing to say they are ex-service members for additional sympathy.
Imo, the military makes you grow up faster than your civilian peers in some ways and slower in others.
I a lot of “adulting” life skills go in the slower category b/c the military takes care of you in so many ways: housing, food, exercise, career progression, ect.
When these soldiers return to the civilian word, many have trouble adjusting.
The military does not pay well.
While in the army I did an hourly break down and realized I was making minimum wage, plus getting yelled at.
The army, at least from my experience teaches rigidity and extreme violence, so going to a warzone, then being dropped back off in normal society without a literal off switch is a hard adjustment.
You have to remeber that a fair number of veterans who have mental health/behavioral issues already had them in the military or before.
Those folks get booted out of the military with a “general” discharge, rather than an “honorable” discharge.
That means that they are ineligible for VA services and are disqualified from government employment at most levels.
The dirty little secret is the government doesn’t count someone as a homeless vet unless they have the ‘right kind of discharge’ which is a decision usually left to one person who could have little or no management experience. That is before we get into the systemic and inherent racism in the discharge process. Be it intentional or not (and I think most of the time it is unintentional bias) people of color are disproportionately discharged with ‘bad’ discharges before we get into the people who pissed off their CO.
Now all services are linked to discharge status and the majority of people who need services (housing, disability, HEALTH INSURANCE) can’t get it cause they got a ‘bad’ discharge.
Because we don’t have universal basic Healthcare and instead citizens united which results in thousands of lobbyists on Capitol Hill advocating for themselves to make money off the backs of the poorest Americans 😒
As someone who picked up PTSD on the civilian side, I can tell you it makes interaction quite difficult. I haven’t been able to hold a job for more than eight months in at least the past 6 years. When that’s the case, income stagnates, so you look for assistance. Only assistance is behind some double-standardized barriers, where the diagnoses of psychiatrists and a decade of medical history can be (and usually are) overridden by an un-credentialed, un-informed, over-worker DHS employee.
So, as the struggle continues, applicants have to collect themselves and try to get organized enough to appeal the decision or reapply. And it was pretty tough to do in the first place. So, we fall through the cracks instead.
Advice about your private life is given in a calm voice, and there is no emphasis or repeating. “You should put money in the really nice retirement account they have for you”
“Yeah I’ll get to that later, right now Imma go to the bar to pick up a honey and have a few beers, just before I buy a new Mustang for 26% interest on the loan”
“I recommend you sign up to become a vehicle mechanic in the Army, there is plenty of work for that after you get out”
“I think I’ll join the infantry so I can shoot machine guns”
I come from a military family. My sisters all married men in the military. So, it’s my grand parents, parents. Brother inlaws, cousins and their friends. The exceptions is me. I’m treated like an alien. I’ll say this. It’s really not the military fault. I will say this. Many of my family had trouble transitioning to civilian life. In the American military they expect something from you. If you hold up your end, they will take care of you. Not having that support once you leave the military is a difficult transition.
Because the US military is abusive.
The recruiters sweet talk children into signing contracts for years upon years. They promise a bunch of lies.
Most go directly from being a high school student living with mom to living in barracks. They never learn how to cook, or pay bills, or shop for groceries effectively.
You’re given money and told you get more if you get married and have kids, so you grab the first person who thinks you’re worth dating… by your mid 20s you’re divorced because obviously that’s not how that works.
Then you get out and are just sort of plopped on the street. You have no idea how to translate your skills to a civilian job. You have no idea how to manage a household. You’ve already got an ex and baggage. You’re traumatized by the training, and if you saw any action it’s significantly worse. There’s about 74848388 pages of paperwork to fill out if you want help, and you have to take the initiative to go find where to get them and where to bring them. And then the help is often difficult. They’ll send you 6 hours away for an eye exam and try to make it your fault if you can’t get there.
Even if you’re not struggling to cope with the switch, you have to find and set up everything you need to live immediately on the spot. If you’ve ever moved, you know that after you’ve done the work of actually picking your place you still have to move or buy furniture, set up utilities, take care of any existing problems, clean it up, etc.
The military fucks with your mind
One of the leading causes of homelessness is mental instability. The military has had years of training on how to break people, mentally and physically. You spend 4 years getting shot at, screamed at and otherwise just in the most toxic environment you can imagine, come home and either don’t get diagnosed because that’s uncomfortable or they do but ‘your condition is not duty related’
Lots of PTSD and other mental health challenges as a result of combat. Given current events as enacted by the Orange Floridian and his Pet Tesla Monkey, things are going to get worse as a result of cutbacks at the VA.
Thank you for your service, indeed.
Because America views her veterans the same way she views her fighting warriors : as disposable.
You don’t get paid after you leave unless you are there long enough to collect a pension most people don’t stay that long
A bit different take. Once you have been independent and gotten comfortable with discomfort, the idea of sleeping outside is sometimes preferable to staying inside with structure and expectations.
Also, all the other stuff.
There has never been an army in history that paid its line soldiers particularly well. Frequently, they paid better than the absolute worst jobs, but they never paid well.
Elite units, sure, there have been some that did well for themselves, but ordinary soldiers, never.
Honestly, where the United States and other modern democracies do well is the fact that, while our enlisted soldiers are paid shit, nobody gets rich, no matter how high up the chain you go. The theoretical maximum pay for a Joint Chiefs of Staff cabinet minister in the US is like $220,000 a year, which is a number which definitely sounds rich to people who aren’t rich, but doesn’t even register as pocket change to people who are. It’s normal-people rich, like a family doctor or thereabouts.
And that’s like twice the top pay of other NATO militaries.
So, no, the military doesn’t pay well.
And then it breaks you.
First, there are people who really relied on the structure of the military, of being given clearly defined tasks and goals. And when they got out and nobody told them what to do, and even more, what not to do. They could end up spiraling onto a path to the street.
But there are more direct issues, too. Get injured enough, you are in constant pain. Be in constant pain, rely on constant painkillers. Rely on constant painkillers, and there is a disruption in supply, and you need to get some painkillers somewhere else, generally a combination of alcohol and opiates. And that leads you to the street.
And there are the psychological issues. Get traumatized enough, and normal civilian interactions are difficult. You don’t have a frame of reference with other people. Can’t get along with co-workers, can’t hold down a job.
The street.
Because Americans are all about supporting soldiers when they go to war, but if they come home alone, they have no problem watching the men who fought for their country die in the streets as homeless people.
Because our government refuses to care about them. They would rather pay lip service like “Support our troops!” And “Thoughts and prayers!” Instead of actively doing stuff like providing jobs, affordable housing, and good mental health care. The money that could go for these things goes to line political fat cats’ pockets instead.
Many veterans have a difficult time with deprogramming from military life. When you leave the military, they put forth minimal effort into assisting the transition back into civilian society.
From my USMC experience after 5 years of active service, I had trouble in the work place with tolerating substandard work output and sloppy people, and knew of no other way but to be an NCO yelling at underlings. Obviously this is unacceptable in a civilian office environment. Some co-workers understood, others ostracized me.
Another issue is many military jobs don’t translate into the civilian workforce, such as infantry and armaments. Imagine being mid-20s with no relevant job skills, likely no college, and potential difficulties to acclimatize to civilian work culture.
It does not pay well, and the things soldiers see and do in combat are not dinner time conversations. Many are irrepariably harmed through PTSD, addiction, and can’t hold down jobs or maintain stable interpersonal relationships. I was at the VA last week and the vet after my appointment was Vietnam era, dressed in period appropriate cammo and boots. Probably dressed tahf way every day of his life since he returned from combat in the 70s. That’s how much combat changes you and that’s why veterans who return often can’t hold down jobs or stable relationships sufficient to remain housed. It is a side effect of war.
They do not get the care they deserve from the government. They don’t really earn that much when in. When out the government does not want to provide them with the services and they need and deserve. It’s very sad the US doesn’t do a lot more for veterans.
Part of it is untreated mental helath and su stance abuse.
Part of it is poor lifeskills – going from 12 years of school with compulsory routine to the military with 4 years+ of compulsory routine to now you’re on your own with no schedule, thay can be a shock.
Part of it is socioeconomic – let’s be honest, a good part of our military, join because they dont have any marketable skills, formal education, or financial support- thay doesn’t always change when you leave .
Would be a combo of these; no two sets of circumstances will ever be identical.
The military doesn’t pay well unless you are an officer. My best year I had to go to Afghanistan as a Sergeant and made 54K. My first year, I made 18K.
Military training doesn’t translate well to the civilian. They don’t prepare you for regular jobs. The largest group are Infantry and there is no equivalent in the civilian job market.
Many joined because they needed a new start or lack of options. Often, that is still true when they get out.
Psychosis is the number one factor in homelessness. The Military often attracts, exacerbates and/or creates psychosis. Whether that is PTSD, survivors guilt or depression/anxiety.
Sexual Trauma is much more common than you would think and often leads back to 4 or a complete loss of identity and self worth. Imagine being trained to fight for your country and you can’t protect your own body.
That is just 5 reasons off the top of my head. There are more or a combination of them.
Because the GOP doesn’t believe in helping any of them out. They use them and throw them out
American loves it soldiers, and couldn’t care less about its vets
A ton of scammers pretending to be vets. I used to be a homeless vet and there’s programs to get one indoors & healthcare. So many people who never served hold signs up begging for drug and beer money.
The VA made programs years ago to address homeless vets. Any out there long term are choosing not to get help.
A lotta people who enlist weren’t exactly employable by the wider economy in the first place
“When you’re in, you’re a guest; when you’re out, you’re a pest.”
What a poster below me said
I have 14 years in the RCN and i cant tell people that the military may be run Admirals and Generals but the at the end of the day, the most terrifying enemy we faced wasnt the Russians.
The most feared people were bean-counters.
These assholes will absolutely fuck over their own people with all kinds of bullshit policies. Dont ever let some right-wing or conservative dickhead they aren’t the same. In Canada the conservatives cut veterans pensions and veterans benefits while the Afghan war was still in progress.
The VA system is honestly super complicated. It’s there, and it’s helpful, but it definitely doesn’t come easy. In my own experience as a veteran, I was lucky enough to figure it out. I used my education benefits, navigated my disability compensation, and got smart about investing with my TSP. But let me tell you, none of that was handed to me. I had to hustle, ask tons of questions, deal with paperwork nightmares, and advocate nonstop for myself.
One thing people often overlook is that not all military jobs have skills that easily transfer to the civilian world. Sure, companies love to say they hire vets, but that doesn’t automatically mean landing a great job is easy. You still need civilian interview skills, a resume that translates your military background into language employers understand, and the confidence to market yourself, which the military doesn’t exactly teach you.
Combine that with mental health struggles or physical injuries, plus the lack of affordable housing, and you can quickly see how a veteran might fall through the cracks. Just because the military offers decent pay or benefits doesn’t automatically set someone up for life, it takes a lot of support, patience, and a fair bit of luck to transition smoothly.
Grok:
>As of January 2024, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Point-in-Time (PIT) count estimated that 32,882 U.S. military veterans were experiencing homelessness on a single night, out of a total of 771,480 homeless individuals. This means veterans made up approximately 4.26% of the total homeless population in the United States at that time.
What percent of the US population 18-50 are veterans? 4%.
IOW, the number of homeless veterans is roughly proportional to the number of veterans in the total population.
Its not about money, and in any event, the pay isn’t *that* good. (24 year retired veteran here)
A lot of the homeless vets are suffering from PTSD or other problems and haven’t been taken care of well by the VA in particular and this country in general.
My country labeled me a terrorist after I got home from fighting them. No thanks to Dr. Phil.
The Local police SOP’s employ Terrorist procedure for any call involving a Combat Veteran. No Miranda, no lawyer, no explanation, no chance to speak. 9mm to the face, handcuffs on, street shutdown.
Couldn’t get a Job because i was a monster, was scammed outta my GI bill, family stole my saved up money, then kicked me out.
The American civilians are the reason they’re are so many homeless Combat Veterans. The American society is the toxic environment that produces drug addicts, and homelessness. Until they accept responsibility it will not stop. They stab us in the back, while giving us a hug. Then they have us arrested for getting mad at them.
The Military didn’t fuck me up, the betrayal from the American people did. The Government didn’t abandon me, My country did. The VA saved my life, my brothers & sisters kept me alive until they did.
There are many benefits for vets but guaranteeing a home and a living wage after service is not one of them. They aren’t homeless because they are veterans. They are homeless because our society generally doesn’t guarantee a living wage/income for anyone.
First, what makes you say that? Is it based on the say so of beggars who have an incentive to lie?
Second, the military can be a way for people with few options to get a stable job. When that job ends, they may not have much more in the way of options.
CPTSD
The percentage of homeless veterans compared to the general population is relatively similar. There is no large percentage of vets who are homeless, it falls in line with the overall homeless numbers.
Regular enlisted don’t make that much money. If you’re in the barracks, you don’t have to spend much money, so it can give you a better standard of living than just the numbers show, but you’re not clearing that much a month. You get healthcare, you get a bed, you get fed. In cash, you get something to the tune of like $2k a month starting out. It does increase with time, but it’s not living large by any stretch.
It can depend greatly on what you actually do, but a lot of guys come out with physical or mental injuries that can make adjusting back to civilian life more difficult. Hard to work manual labor with a bad back, hard to manage regular stress when you spent a year in the Middle East getting your ass shot off. Hard to stop assuming every cup on the side of the road isn’t a bomb placed specifically to maim you and your buddies when that was the case for the past year.
Add in to all of that in the past few years the military has become more of last resort for people that don’t have any other opportunities. Being in the military can be a way to get more opportunities. It can also postpone your failure to launch.
In short, everyone’s different. Having PTSD or physical disabilities makes life harder. The military doesn’t give a damn about you after separation.
Because our government and public are performative about helping vets/military.
>doesn’t serving in the military pay well?
Pull the other one, it’s got bells on.
A lot of people in the military live in poverty while they’re in, especially lower enlisted ranks. A Private (E-2) makes ~$2600 a month, or around $650/wk, before taxes. People might say “oh, but you get free housing and food,” but the saying is true, you do get what you pay for. Just look at the fact that the GAO says that up to 250,000 military families are eligible for food stamps.
People might also say “you’ll have a skill that can get you a good job when you get out!” Which is somewhat true if you’re in a field like IT, but for a lot of jobs the skills just don’t translate over well (ie: you were in the infantry, how is the skill of closing with and killing the enemy going to get you a job in corporate America?). Tack on to that injuries and mental health problems from your time in, and it can be really tough to make it in the outside world.
PTSD is difficult to live with
It’s almost as difficult to live near, but most people are unwilling to even deal with another’s discomfort let alone help them manage it
O it doesn’t pay well, and many come back out with little savings often spent at the bar to self-medicate.
But in my best guess is that it is due either to PTSD from battle or from being told all of the time what they will be doing and they lack individuality.
I read that during WW2 the avg time spent in battle was just over 30 days, in Vietnam it was just over 1 yr., and presently nearly 50% of the time. When you also consider that many are not assigned to battle zones that makes those who are there actually spending a great deal more time in battle and this does something to your mind. My FIL told of just going through basic training did a number on his psyche faced with being trained to kill other humans which was totally against his Christian teachings so a shock to his brain. He was assigned behind the lines and had no battle duty.
But the military should have a mandatory 1 year faze back to adjust to civilian life without combat and just support to resocialize for being in a civilian life w/o all of the high structure, and support from trained staff and others to desensitize for Civilian life and line them up with job prospects and an income after out until they get a steady job.
to the US government, every returning soldier has outlived their usefulness and are treated as such.