Every year, numerous bills go through the California Legislature that deal with veterans or military issues, but sometimes the work seems to fail to get to the crux of the issues. "I often worry that we're just shaving around the edges of the problem, and we're missing the core," said California Sen. Josh Newman during the recent State of the American Veteran Conference held to address the transition issues facing today's veterans and military families. The USC Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families conference gathered 300 people to develop recommendations aimed at that core -- easing transition challenges. Read more
With multiple operations around the world and juggling education, a civilian career, and deployments to a variety of theaters, including natural disasters, the constant transition to and from civilian life can take a unique toll on Reserve and National Guard service members and their families. Sara Kintzle, CIR research associate professor, discusses these issues in a podcast with Lima Charlie News. Listen here
For Michael Henderson, who served four years in the Marines, the hardest part of his transition was trying to relate to those around him. The structure of college gave him a good place to think through his own experiences in Iraq, but he notes the transition to civilian life has been much more difficult for others who aren't able to create a separate life from the military.
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USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work professors Carl Castro and Jeremy Goldbach, who are currently leading a joint USC-UCLA project studying active duty LGBT service members' behavioral health needs, discussed the implications and ramifications of announcing a ban on transgender men and women serving in the U.S. military.
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