For Veterans, Transitioning Back To Civilian Life Can Have Challenges

INDIANAPOLIS -- As a civilian, Arthur Leak is the Registrar at Anderson University. As a soldier, he’s a command sergeant major with the 103rd Sustainment Command.

Leak says just because it’s not in the news all the time, deployments are not stopping and that’s tough on soldiers, their families and employers.

“The rate of deployments are not stopping. Regardless of what we hear on the news – units and soldiers are still deploying," Leak said. "And a lot of these soldiers on the Reserve and Guard side of the house – they’re going on their 2nd, 3rd, and in some cases 4th deployments.”

Leak says he is concerned about the difficulty soldiers, their families and employers are dealing with when transition to and from deployments.The sergeant major says he knows first-hand the difficulties of returning from a deployment after serving in Iraq – and he worries about the soldiers in his command.

“They’re coming back to – in some cases – unemployment or under-employment. Or they’re coming back to a job that is not equipped to handle the emotional baggage that a lot of veterans, including myself, bring back into the workforce,” Leak said.

Leak says the country should make a priority of helping soldiers deal with their emotional traumas from deployment.

“If we can deal – find a way as a society to help veterans of all ages to deal with the emotional issues and emotional baggage that veterans are dealing with," Leak said. "I think we can get to the point where we can solve a lot of the problems that veterans are facing in this country.”

He recommends the use of Employers Support for the Guard and Reserve or ESGR – an organization to help protect the rights of soldiers and help with transitions to and from deployments.

Leak, who enlisted back in 1976, is considered a Vietnam Era Soldier and says he’s glad soldiers from Vietnam  – along with their younger counterparts – are getting the recognition they deserve on Veteran’s Day.