Veterans’ Transition to Civilian Life

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Summary
Response
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Returning from military service back to civilian life and career may be challenging for American soldiers. Although most veterans find employment, many of them face the problem of applying their skills and qualifications to civilian jobs (Keeling et al., 2018). The article by Bergman et al., titled “The use of prior learning assessment for enhanced military‐to‐civilian transition outcomes,” discusses methods to help these individuals to adjust to college life and complete higher education. This paper was published in 2020 in New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. In this article, the authors discuss the effectiveness of Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) in helping military servants quickly transfer their experience to a civilian career. PLA is an effective tool to help veterans assess their skills and expertise and empower them to complete all credits necessary for college graduation and obtaining a degree that will help advance their civilian careers.

Summary

The main idea that the authors wanted to convey was that PLA helps military servants find application to their skills and contributes to a higher rate of college graduation among veterans. This paper explains PLA in the context of Military-Transition Theory (MTT), which includes three main steps: approaching, managing, and assessing (Bergman et al., 2020). Since 63% of jobs in the United States require post-high school training, entering university seems highly recommended for veterans (Bergman et al., 2020). Fortunately, all of them receive coverage for college tuition; hence, the only problem for former military servants would be to adapt to college. The authors define PLA as the evaluation method of assessing prior skills, work experience, volunteering, community service, and traveling (Bergman et al., 2020). PLA can be performed through knowledge testing or portfolio completion. The former is referred to such examinations as CLEP and DSST, while the latter is the preparation of documents related to prior jobs (Bergman et al., 2020). Both approaches intend to give credit for the learning outcomes a veteran might have obtained during a particular work or life experience.

Various programs were developed in multiple U.S. institutions to implement PLA and help veterans pursue higher education. For example, the authors discuss the University of Louisville’s Organizational Leadership Program, which allows post-military service students to get about 48 semester hours from their prior employment or community work (Bergman et al., 2020). Veterans are certainly obliged to provide valid documentation proving their experience, but it is generally described as a helpful practice for them to obtain additional credits. Overall, the literature reviewed by the authors concludes that PLA not only empowers veterans to enter the realm of academia but also increases the chances of graduation.

Response

I have always viewed military service as an intense period in one’s life and career. Although many universities have special veteran offices, I still think they require additional support in adjusting to a new environment. The article by Bergman et al. presented one of the approaches to help military servants transition to college life and the educational system and ensure that they complete all their courses to graduate. The authors presented an extensive overview of the problem of transitioning from military service to civilian life. However, they could have provided more statistical data on how many veterans were able to find employment immediately after finishing their military career and how many did that after getting higher education. Still, the presented information helped to have a general overview of the issue under discussion. For example, the authors emphasized that 70% of Americans work in companies that require a college degree or any post-secondary certification (Bergman et al., 2020). Since all veterans receive coverage for their tuition, the main problem is not a lack of access to higher education but adaptation to the new environment and rules.

The authors specified that the PLA was assessed in the context of MTT, which was helpful in understanding that this program is available not only to veterans. The authors claimed that PLA is needed to help students graduate with sufficient credits. Furthermore, this program is necessary to provide emotional support to military servants who may lack clarity about the academic system after returning from the army (Bergman et al., 2020). Overall, I think that the evaluation of PLA was sufficient to appreciate how much universities and the federal government try to help students obtain their university degrees, which can potentially advance their civilian careers.

Conclusion

In summary, the article discussed in this essay presented good arguments to demonstrate the importance of the Prior Learning Assessment program, intended to vest additional credits for prior work to veterans entering universities. The main implication of this article is that it contributes to the literature about the military-to-civilian transition. Although veterans receive financial support from the government after completing their military service, they still need emotional support and advice about their career development. Therefore, the assessment of the PLA method as a potential tool to assist veterans across the country was essential. However, the paper’s authors should explore this topic further to find the statistical data about how many post-military students benefited from this program.

References

Bergman, M., Herd, A. M., & Green, E. R. (2020). The use of prior learning assessment for enhanced military‐to‐civilian transition outcomes. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 166, 37-50.

Keeling, M., Kintzle, S., & Castro, C. A. (2018). Exploring U.S. veterans’ post-service employment experiences. Military Psychology, 30(1), 63-69.

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Veterans’ Transition to Civilian Life

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