Posted on Nov 16, 2018
dod-va-get-low-grades-helping-vets-make-college-choices-dahn-shaulis
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How well do you think DOD and VA do in helping servicemembers, veterans, and their families make good transitions to civilian life?
dod-va-get-low-grades-helping-vets-make-college-choices-dahn-shaulis
Posted from linkedin.com
College
Civilian Career
79S: Career Counselor
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 3
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I always thought that the Army was supposed to help me transition to civilian life. They didn't. CPT Dahn Shaulis
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CPT Dahn Shaulis
I'm sorry to hear that. The Army and VA are supposed to help with transitions, but in my opinion they do a horrible job. To make matters worse, no one is taking responsibility for so many vets falling through the cracks.
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SPC Margaret Higgins
CPT Dahn Shaulis - Hi, Dahn. Yes, I was fired from my job after I was discharged honorably from the Army. And, I was petrified that I would be homeless again.
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As I was reading the first paragraph on this article, a conversation I had with my wife came to my mind, many people , not all, in government offices do not return phone calls or requests. If they should just do that much, it would be a huge improvement. Communication is key on any relationship.
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This is something that I can't really blame the VA or the DOD on. The army starts transition planning 15 months out from ETS. There are so many resources available to soldiers and they simply refuse to plan. As a career counselor I speak to every single person who is transitioning out of my unit. I cannot begin to describe the massive amount of people who transition without any real plan and who refused to listen to transition advice simply because they are making an emotional based decision.
If I tell someone that their plan is crap, explain what's wrong with it, explain what they need to do to be ready for transition and what benchmarks they need to reach, they will reject my advice out of hand because they believe I am trying to reach a quota. It's not that I lack credibility, I have separated before and I have helped many other soldiers. They simply have not ever experienced real life prior to the Army and falsely believe they'll be OK - just because.
I'll ask how much they've saved to transition - "I'll go off my final pay". What are you going to do? " Go to school". What school? They don't know. What will they do if their GI Bill benefits don't kick in soon enough? They'll figure it out. What about money? They will get BAH and work a second job. No one knows what second job, but they're certain they'll find one that covers their rent, truck payments, insurance, Healthcare, cell phone, and credit card debt - all while leaving enough time to go to school full time. They can't even tell me what they're going to school for.
The Army has thrown every resource at people to make good decisions. At some point there needs to be personal accountability. The DOD and VA aren't required to help vets make good choices on college. We already receive a huge advantage over civilians going to college, plus we have all the same resources they do in addition to the resources offered by DOD and VA.
If I tell someone that their plan is crap, explain what's wrong with it, explain what they need to do to be ready for transition and what benchmarks they need to reach, they will reject my advice out of hand because they believe I am trying to reach a quota. It's not that I lack credibility, I have separated before and I have helped many other soldiers. They simply have not ever experienced real life prior to the Army and falsely believe they'll be OK - just because.
I'll ask how much they've saved to transition - "I'll go off my final pay". What are you going to do? " Go to school". What school? They don't know. What will they do if their GI Bill benefits don't kick in soon enough? They'll figure it out. What about money? They will get BAH and work a second job. No one knows what second job, but they're certain they'll find one that covers their rent, truck payments, insurance, Healthcare, cell phone, and credit card debt - all while leaving enough time to go to school full time. They can't even tell me what they're going to school for.
The Army has thrown every resource at people to make good decisions. At some point there needs to be personal accountability. The DOD and VA aren't required to help vets make good choices on college. We already receive a huge advantage over civilians going to college, plus we have all the same resources they do in addition to the resources offered by DOD and VA.
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CPT Dahn Shaulis
How about organizational accountability? Should DOD and VA should go ahead any dole out billions in taxpayer money to subprime colleges, even if they hurt servicemembers and veterans? Why do they even allow these schools on post?
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SFC (Join to see)
CPT Dahn Shaulis no but that's been addressed and being worked. Poor performing colleges have been put on probation with the threat of losing millions of dollars. Some have been sued for misleading students and legislation was passed so colleges had to show a threshold of gainful employment. More is still being worked.
Those schools get on post because they're what the soldiers want. Those colleges are what the soldiers want because soldiers join the college for promotion points and then stick with them.
Why do they let them on post? Because they meet the rules and guidelines, because there's no laws to prevent them, or policies to stop them. Because if the post or VA prevented them from coming on post or paying them, it would be illegal and challenged by a lawsuit.
But, that wasn't really the question that was asked.
Those schools get on post because they're what the soldiers want. Those colleges are what the soldiers want because soldiers join the college for promotion points and then stick with them.
Why do they let them on post? Because they meet the rules and guidelines, because there's no laws to prevent them, or policies to stop them. Because if the post or VA prevented them from coming on post or paying them, it would be illegal and challenged by a lawsuit.
But, that wasn't really the question that was asked.
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CPT Dahn Shaulis
Unfortunately, right now, the direction is for decreasing transparency and accountability. Subprime schools are not nearly as fearful about ripping off servicemembers, veterans, and their families. Some soldiers may want subprime colleges, like they may want illicit drugs. But does that mean that base commanders, for example, should allow these companies to take advantage of some of their most vulnerable troops poor reasoning skills?
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