Labor Force Reentry: Issues for Injured Service Members and Veterans

Abstract

Abstract : Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) have been referred to as the wars of disabilities. Since the initiation of OEF and OIF in 2001 and 2003, respectively, more than two million forces have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and many service members have returned with multiple physical injuries, including amputations, burns, and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Wounded service members with multiple injuries typically require specialized care (Sayer et al., 2009), and due to improvements in military medicine and equipment, more service members are surviving these complex injuries than in previous wars (Glasser, 2011). The most recent data from the DoD report that more than 47,000 OEF/OIF service members have been wounded in action (U.S. Department of Defense Press Resources, 2012). Hundreds of thousands more, nearly 25 percent of all who served in OEF/OIF, will be diagnosed upon returning home with other invisible wounds, such as degenerative vision, hearing impairments, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and brain injuries (Tanielian et al., 2008). Most of these service members experience multiple injuries that require several levels of care (Belmont et al., 2010; Sayer et al., 2009; Wade et al., 2007). As injuries become more prevalent, so do related economic and social costs to individuals and society, including direct medical costs, loss of earnings from employment, and rising disability payments (Adler et al., 2011; Heaton, Loughran, & Miller, 2011).