U.S. Soldiers pray before a mission in Kirkuk, Iraq, May 2009. The Soldiers are from Golf Company, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Heavy Combat Brigade Team, 1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas.

What are some activities that have helped you since you got back from combat?

Here are a few examples of what OEF/OIF Vets have told us have helped some:

• Churches, prayer
• Buddies
• Working out, martial arts
• Also reported: drinking, smoking, driving to relax

What helped for you?

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U.S. Sailors load humanitarian supplies onto a Navy HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter from Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 18, 2010, to be taken into the city for distribution. Department of Defense assets have been deployed to assist in the Haiti relief effort following a magnitude-7 earthquake that hit the city Jan. 12, 2010.

By Charlotte M. Wilmer, MSW, LCSW
Counseling Services Branch,
Marine & Family Services Division Camp Lejeune, NC

“Nobody understands.”
“How can somebody help me who hasn’t been where I’ve been?”
“You just can’t understand if you haven’t been there.”

Being in the military is not like other jobs. Most of us can leave work at work.

If we get drunk, bounce a check, get in a fight with our spouse, or if our kids mess up in school or get in trouble with the law, no one at work will be notified. 

We can fly or drive to where ever we want on a weekend and no one at work needs to know. We can see a counselor, have a medical procedure, take medication. No one at work needs to know nor can they find out unless we decide to tell them. If our kids go to school hungry or dirty and child protective services comes knocking on our door, no one knows except the people we choose to tell.

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	San Marcos, Calif. Vet Center Team Leader Joe Costello is an Army Reserve CWO and Combat Vet who is very passionate and committed to his work. He is pictured briefing returning USMC personnel at a Camp Pendleton DEMOB event.

We asked you for any feedback on VA support of Yellow Ribbon Program (YRP) events, and you responded back. And thank you for that. Now we now ask for feedback on VA's support during the DEMOB cycle.

Is our current support helpful? And what can we do differently?

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	U.S. Navy Machinist's Mate Fireman Ashley Bozeman talks to her mother on a cell phone aboard aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan as the ship pulls into Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for a scheduled visit Oct. 13, 2009.

On Veterans Day (of course), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began providing another toll-free Customer Service phone number. Wait -- this one is for you OEF/OIF Veterans to call (1-877-222-8387) to ensure you know about VA's medical services and other benefits.

Getting the word out to our OEF/OIF Veterans (and having you register for the benefits and health care you've earned) is a tough nut to crack, but increasingly a high priority at the VA. (See next week's blog.)

If you've served, you've earned this. Take advantage of it.

Since May 1, 2008, the VA has attempted to contact over 700,000 recent combat Veterans and have directly spoken with over 166,000 of you (or 24.5%). VA continues to make use of a "personal" contact approach to call ALL OEF/OIF Veterans 4 months after you separate from combat.

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	In fiscal year 2009 alone, VA Medical Center staff have supported over 670 Reserve and National Guard Yellow Ribbon events.

We are looking for suggestions on improving our efforts to reach out to returning Service Members and their families at Yellow Ribbon Program (YRP) events.

Is our current support helpful? And what can we do differently?

So, what is the Yellow Ribbon Program?

The YRP is a veteran's reintegration program designed to provide National Guard and Reserve members and their families with sufficient information, services, referral, and proactive outreach opportunities throughout the entire deployment cycle.

Service units throughout the country host Yellow Ribbon events where National Guard and Reserve members, along with their family members, receive briefings, informational seminars, and opportunities for personal assistance from various community agencies, programs, and services, including the VA.

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