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  1. #1
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    Veterans face high unemployment after military service

    The jobless rate for veterans who served at any time since September 2001 — called Gulf War-era II veterans — was 13.3% in June, up from 12.1% the month before, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In June 2010 it was 11.5%.

    The difficulties veterans face in finding work was in evidence Sunday at the Hiring Our Heroes job fair at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, where more than 1,000 veterans converged to meet with employers and seek work. The veterans also got a peek at newlyweds Prince William and Catherine, who dropped by the fair as part of their tour of the Golden State.

    "It just so happens that there are a lot of people out there and there aren't enough jobs," said Pavel Ksendz, a 25-year-old Culver City resident who joined the Army in 2003, right after graduating from high school. After serving for four years, including 14 months in Iraq, Ksendz recently applied for a job as a janitor in Santa Monica, only to be told there were 59 other applicants.

    Veterans face a unique set of obstacles when they start to look for work, said Lance Holbrook, a veterans representative at the One-Stop Career Center in Lancaster. Many went into service straight out of high school, and although they may have experience fixing airplanes or leading people, they don't have the college degrees that employers are seeking, Holbrook said. "Most employers won't even consider them without a degree," said Holbrook, who said he's seen a surge in newly returned veterans looking for jobs in the last two months.

    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...82,print.story

  2. #2
    Double facepalm...
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    Isn't there a GI bill which allows these guys to go to college, many absolutely free?

  3. #3
    Veteran Wild Cobra's Avatar
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    Well, if only 12.1% of the returning veterans are unemployed, that's far better than others. That means that 87.9% of those quitting their previous job found work! I'll bet that's far better than the populous in general.

  4. #4
    The D.R.A. Drachen's Avatar
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    Isn't there a GI bill which allows these guys to go to college, many absolutely free?
    I work in education, the post 9/11 GI Bill usually provides tuition (books and fees), but also a pretty reasonable monthly stipend. However, without having been in the military, I am unsure of this next statement, maybe someone can help me out but I think that they have to actually sign up for it while in the military which lowers their pay to some degree (i.e. paying into the GI Bill).

  5. #5
    Veteran Wild Cobra's Avatar
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    I work in education, the post 9/11 GI Bill usually provides tuition (books and fees), but also a pretty reasonable monthly stipend. However, without having been in the military, I am unsure of this next statement, maybe someone can help me out but I think that they have to actually sign up for it while in the military which lowers their pay to some degree (i.e. paying into the GI Bill).
    Can't speak for today, but there wasn't a lowering of the pay in the past.

  6. #6
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    The GI Bill of the 40s and 50s allowed many to go to college pretty much free.

    The super-inflation of college costs, even state college costs (raised a lot currently due to lower tax revenues) has put college out of reach of GI Bill recipients. Even with the GI Bill, they can't make up rest of the bill.

  7. #7
    Veteran Th'Pusher's Avatar
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    Cost of college = next bubble to burst.

  8. #8
    Cogito Ergo Sum LnGrrrR's Avatar
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    I work in education, the post 9/11 GI Bill usually provides tuition (books and fees), but also a pretty reasonable monthly stipend. However, without having been in the military, I am unsure of this next statement, maybe someone can help me out but I think that they have to actually sign up for it while in the military which lowers their pay to some degree (i.e. paying into the GI Bill).
    Here's how it worked when I signed up. You paid 100 a month, for 12 mos, to "earn" the GI Bill. You were automatically enrolled, and had to opt out.

    I believe with the new Montgomery GI Bill, you don't have to pay in anything. (As well, it's better than the old GI bill in various ways.)

  9. #9
    The D.R.A. Drachen's Avatar
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    The GI Bill of the 40s and 50s allowed many to go to college pretty much free.

    The super-inflation of college costs, even state college costs (raised a lot currently due to lower tax revenues) has put college out of reach of GI Bill recipients. Even with the GI Bill, they can't make up rest of the bill.
    B-D, that is pretty much untrue for almost all colleges. The amount of tuition that the p911 GI bill pays toward one's education is up to the cost of the most expensive program at the most expensive state school. If the GIB recipient decides to go to a more expensive school than THAT, they probably are aware that they will have to pay the small difference. Additionally, they are given a monthly housing stipend (averaging 1200 ATM). Lastly, a student will receive $41 per credit hour (up to 1000 per year) for books.

    They are paid to go to school.

    I didn't type all of that in order to say that college isn't ridiculously expensive. It is. I just wanted to educate you on the program that you were trying to comment on.


    Oh and sorry... Here
    Last edited by Drachen; 07-11-2011 at 09:03 PM.

  10. #10
    Cogito Ergo Sum LnGrrrR's Avatar
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    B-D, that is pretty much untrue for almost all colleges. The amount of tuition that the p911 GI bill pays toward one's education is up to the cost of the most expensive program at the most expensive state school. If the GIB recipient decides to go to a more expensive school than THAT, they probably are aware that they will have to pay the small difference. Additionally, they are given a monthly housing stipend (averaging 1200 ATM). Lastly, a student will receive $41 per credit hour (up to 1000 per year) for books.

    They are paid to go to school.

    I didn't type all of that in order to say that college isn't ridiculously expensive. It is. I just wanted to educate you on the program that you were trying to comment on.


    Oh and sorry... Here
    If I recall correctly, the stipend as well as many of the other benefits (being able to pass the benefits on to a dependent) weren't found in the old MGIB. Like I said, the new GI Bill is much better than the old one, and one of the few spectacularly awesome pieces of legislature written for the military since I've been in. (The other that comes to mind is making it easier for military to move by not pushing them when their landlord defaults.)

  11. #11
    The D.R.A. Drachen's Avatar
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    Yeah, there are more benefits than I listed, those are some of the main points though. If I remember correctly, when the changeover happened (and one could decide which bill they wanted to fall under) there was a very small percentage of people for which the old GI Bill was advantageous. The new one is clearly better for an overwhelming majority of people.

  12. #12
    Rising above the Fray spursncowboys's Avatar
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    Here's how it worked when I signed up. You paid 100 a month, for 12 mos, to "earn" the GI Bill. You were automatically enrolled, and had to opt out.

    I believe with the new Montgomery GI Bill, you don't have to pay in anything. (As well, it's better than the old GI bill in various ways.)
    Thats the old GI Bill. The 911 GI Bill is automatically given to you. Also for military leaving there is the ACAP, Yellow Ribbon Program, and all the civilian jobs that are connected with military posts where ex military get put at the top of the list.

  13. #13
    I am that guy RandomGuy's Avatar
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    Isn't there a GI bill which allows these guys to go to college, many absolutely free?
    That depends on if you opt for it upon enlistment.

    The new GI Bill provisions are not something I am familiar with though, so it might be automatic.

    The way it used to work:

    You elect a small amount taken out of your first year's paycheck, and then get the GI Bill benefits in return. No election, no GI Bill.

  14. #14
    I am that guy RandomGuy's Avatar
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    Thats the old GI Bill. The 911 GI Bill is automatically given to you. Also for military leaving there is the ACAP, Yellow Ribbon Program, and all the civilian jobs that are connected with military posts where ex military get put at the top of the list.
    There you go. Probably should have finished reading the thread first.

    I would imagine that you can probably bump the benefits under that by a similar $100 deduction in the first year as well.

    Now if we can just do something about the vets with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries, we might be on the right track.

  15. #15
    I am that guy RandomGuy's Avatar
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    There is also the small detail that if we don't raise the debt ceiling before Aug 2, soldiers ain't gonna be paid, and neither will the GI Bill benefits.

    Details details.

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