FORT SILL, Okla.-- Wounded warriors often have a difficult time transitioning from military to civilian life.
One of the most difficult aspects of that transition is finding a job that they can do and will support them and their families. When they have been wounded or injured serving their country, they find that their lives are now different.
"If everything that you have ever known, is being a Soldier, and somebody tells you now, 'We can't use you as a Soldier' and you're not able to perform that function, you lose a lot of their self-worth," said Col. Jennifer Bedick, Reynolds Army Community Hospital commander.
Bedick went on to say that when the Warrior Transition Unit can help Soldiers find another type of work, and then be trained to do that job, Soldiers think differently about themselves.
"Then they want to heal and want to move on with their lives," Bedick said.
To help Soldiers find their place in society when they return, the WTU at Fort Sill has developed a comprehensive transition program that encompasses every aspect of a Soldier's life: physical, emotional, spiritual, family, education and career, said Capt. Mike Carroll, WTU commander.
REALifelines
"In the career domain we have two very unique programs in the WTU. One is called REALifelines," said Carroll. He defined it as a partnership between the Department of Defense, Department of Labor, the Oklahoma state workforce, and the Veterans Affairs.
Sarah Carlson is the WTU coordinator for the REALifelines program at Fort Sill. She helps Soldiers who are moving out into the civilian world find employment within Oklahoma.
"We will sit down and talk to the Soldiers, do an initial assessment. Through this we find out what their career goals are and what new barriers they are facing," said Carlson. "Then we decide how to best meet those goals. We work with them to create resumes and if they struggle with the interview process, we can do mock interviews."
Carlson added many Soldiers have never interviewed for a job, because they joined the Army at a young age. So this job hunting process is new to them.
"We talk about how to dress for an interview, and what to do to keep the job once they get the job. Keeping the job is a big deal, too. We want to make sure that they keep the job once they get it," she said.
One REALifelines success story is Chief Warrant Officer 2 Darlene Pittman. She was injured while deployed to Iraq and came to the Fort Sill WTU to be closer to family and have that support during her healing process.
Pittman was a personnel officer in the Army and has found good opportunities to use her prior training to transition to the civilian world. But it hasn't been an easy process.
"I had never been unemployed before in my life," Pittman said. "It was a very scary prospect for me, because all I knew was being in the military."
Through the WTU programs Pittman soon realized that she was not alone.
"I've met a lot of people here at the Warrior Transition Unit and everyone is interconnected," Pittman said. "Because of my personnel background they sent me over to the Manpower Division here on post. I've done two internships as a manpower analyst. Being able to work with everyone there has been very rewarding."
"Chief Pittman was very proactive in her job search, which we love to work with. She was able to secure federal employment. She's definitely a success story out of the REALifelines program," Carlson said. "Veterans have a unique set of skills that they bring with them to a job. The mission is always important. A lot of employers recognize that and value that when hiring veterans."
Carlson also emphasized that the REALifelines program through the WTU has added benefits not found off post.
"Whatever service I'm giving to the Soldiers here in the unit, their spouses and family members can get that service as well," Carlson said. "Because we have some Soldiers whose spouse or family member had to leave a job to be the caregiver for that wounded Soldier, so the caregivers are going to need assistance to go back into the workforce as well."
Operation Warfighter
The second program is Operation Warfighter, which is a DoD initiative to help wounded warriors find internships at federal agencies, and hopefully turn those internships into full-time positions when they transition from the military, according to Carroll.
Stacey Dancy, WTU transition coordinator, administers the OWF program.
"We help the Soldiers get internships with federal agencies. We make contact through our regional office in San Antonio, to help WTU Soldiers here get federal internships." she said.
As a former drill sergeant, Dancy knows how hard it is for Soldiers to transition into the civilian world. One example is Sgt. Louis Thompson.
Thompson was stunned when he was told he could no longer be a Soldier.
"The doctor told me that I couldn't do my military job any more. I sat in the doctor's office and cried. Forty-one years old and I'm sitting there crying like a baby because all of a sudden my life is about to change in a way that I wasn't prepared for," Thompson said.
He went through all of the stages of grief before he accepted his situation.
That's when he decided he would make the most of the change. The WTU, through Operation Warfighter, was able to help Thompson find a new path for his future.
Dancy remembers the day Thompson came into her office and told her that he wanted to get an internship with the Corps of Engineers at Fort Sill.
"That internship with Sergeant Thompson and the Corps of Engineers actually turned into a job for him," Dancy said. "Sergeant Thompson has been very instrumental in the OWF program and he has been a good example of how Soldiers can take advantage of programs while they are at the WTU."
Thompson was so successful that he will soon leave for Korea to work as a civilian safety manager for the Army Corps of Engineers.
New normal
The REALifelines and Operation Warfighter coordinators work hard to help wounded Soldiers make the transition back to the civilian world, in whatever capacity they may find themselves.
Carroll calls it "the new normal," which will be different for each Soldier.
"Unfortunately with the economy the way it is, many people are looking at some type of unemployment issues. Again, we can't guarantee anything, but we hope to give them all the skills they need to transition into new employment when they move out. For our reserve component Soldiers in particular, they are going to return to duty with the military in a reserve component capacity but we still owe it to them to train them for some type of employment in this economy," Carroll said.
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