From Deseret News archives:

Injured Iraq veterans getting jobs help

Camp Williams program aids return to civilian life

Published: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 12:49 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
CAMP WILLIAMS — For Sgt. Logan Jubeck, Utah's sunbaked Camp Williams has nowhere near the excitement of his forward observation base near Kirkuk, Iraq.

Here, at this National Guard base outside Salt Lake City, he's waiting for the Army to decide if he's medically fit to remain in the service. While he's waiting, he's getting briefed on job prospects in the civilian world.

At least four contractors want to interview the Idaho guardsman for jobs. Most are offering "top dollar." And at least two universities are likely to give Jubeck, who was an engineering student before serving in Iraq, incentives to return to school.

"That's the scoop," says Rob Brazell of Return to Work Inc., a nonprofit organization that has started working with disabled veterans such as Jubeck.

Return to Work is part of an unprecedented effort to help wounded troops make the transition to the workplace.

Story continues below
Places such as Walter Reed Army Medical Center are holding job fairs. Specialists in the jobs market, such as Monster.com, are pitching in. Vietnam veterans, most of whom had no help like this, are trying to ensure that this generation of injured soldiers gets better treatment. And there is a dedicated group of people, such as Brazell, who are intent on helping other people.

"Whereas transition services in the 1970s were fairly limited, today we recognize that we have a lifetime commitment beyond (Veteran Affairs) healthcare and education benefits to broader assistance in job training and placement that contribute significantly to improved opportunities when veterans return to civilian life," says William Offutt, director of the HireVetsFirst campaign at the U.S. Department of Labor. "This time, we're going to get this right."

As of last November, the survival rate for those injured in combat was 90 percent, the highest ever, reports Military.com. But 6 percent of wounded U.S. troops have lost a limb, double the rate of past wars, according to the Website, which quoted Maj. Gen. George Weightman, then commander of the Army Medical Department Center and School at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. (He is now commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed.)

For those who have been injured, it can mean a major change in career plans if the Army decides they can't continue in uniform.

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Related content
previousnext

Latest comments

@Ultra Bob | 2:00 p.m. Nov. 14, 2009 Well said. You'd think that would...

Re: ulysses...I own and drive a number of over sized trucks because I am a...

It's too bad: Go look at last weeks comments when BYU handled Wyoming. All...

$47B in suspect Medicare claims

Waste, corruption and inefficiency abound in any government run program and...

Collie featured in Sports Illustrated

Austin Collie is too slow to succeed in the NFL, let alone play in a single...

No. 22 BYU holds off pesky Lobos

Get it in while you can... before you get your butts handed to you... Go TCU!

says there practice was "great" or "even better than the previous one" I...

5A: Bingham rolls to title game

Congrats Bingham! Excellent job!

No. 22 BYU holds off pesky Lobos

That's hilarious. Can't talk any football smack since your team stinks, so...

No. 22 BYU holds off pesky Lobos

loose moose says "keep it coming utes. We struggle in one game and you clowns...

Advertisements
Advertisement