I'm a big supporter of returning veterans, and I've worked pretty closely with a number of national veterans' support organizations. And this is indeed a touchi

I'm a big supporter of returning veterans, and I've worked pretty closely with a number of national veterans' support organizations. And this is indeed a touching story. But, at the risk of sounding a bit insensitive, I have to wonder: precisely what is the author asking us to do about this situation? The fact is, a career as a combat operative does not prepare you for a civilian life at home. Sure, you get some fantastic team training and basic skills. You get some international experience. You get (in theory) a strong peer network. But you don't get a guarantee when you come home. You're back in the game like everyone else, and you make what you can of your life. And in the case of today's vets, you're back in the game with the deck stacked against you. The WW2 generation came home and, in many cases, achieved a great deal of success in the civilian sector. What is it about today's military that prevents the same from happening on a similar level? Certainly it's not the talent or the caliber of the individuals involved. Many of the vets I know today are outstanding and capable individuals. Instead, I think it's got something to do with the way the military is organized today, and the way we fight our wars. Today's professional military is nothing like the military of old. It's made our military an incredibly effective force, but it has completely isolated the military and civilian sectors from one another. We almost have a separate warrior caste within our society these days, and we have no idea what to do with them when they transition out of it. Nor are they prepared to do so. And their repeated deployments certainly haven't done them any favors in making a steady or stable transition. Where I'm going with this is to suggest that funding more government assistance programs for veterans is probably not the answer. It feels like the right thing to do. But ultimately, it's a crutch. It's a band-aid. These folks need job training. So I think we should be giving our active duty personnel some practical training, in addition to martial training. Not just indirectly -- the kind of training often bragged about in recruiting ads -- but directly. And we should be finding ways to interchange talent, skills, resources, and knowledge between the civilian and military worlds. The complete separation of one sector from another is the root of the problem. In as much as the service branches have recruiting issues, and in as much as the civilian sector has a very hard time reabsorbing vets, it seems like a return to real ties between the two worlds is in order.