Research Brief: Investing in Vets: Strategies to Help Returning Gulf War Vets Enter the Civilian Work Force Successfully

This study found that corporate leadership, veteran-specific training, and a long-term commitment to veterans’ employment were all significant factors in diminishing barriers to veteran employment and reintegration. In practice, social workers who understand business and organizational change can be leaders in supporting veterans in the workplace, and also in advocating for positive social change for veterans and their families. For employers, increased cultural competence concerning military populations would be helpful. In policy, organizations should work on creating coalitions of corporate leaders who have the power to change policies, programs, and practices, and who will monitor the success of these policy changes in terms of supporting veterans. Suggestions for future study include having larger samples of participants and random sampling to improve the generalizability of results, as well as utilizing in-person interviews to gather more reliable and detailed data beyond that captured in this study by online surveys