Life struggle for veterans
Former soldier who once protected Queen was forced to sleep rough
AN Iraq War veteran who served with fusilier Gordon Gentle and was later injured by a roadside bomb in Basra has told how he went from protecting the Queen to sleeping on a park bench after leaving the army.
Former Corporal Joe Walker, who also served in Northern Ireland and Afghanistan with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, spoke out as a damning report into the plight faced by combat veterans when they return to normal life is published by the The Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen’s Families Association (SAFFA).
The charity said that three quarters of working-age veterans suffer from long-term physical or mental health conditions, while more than half do not have enough money for essential items.
The study also found that most are left jobless when they return to civilian life, while some have faced homelessness, and has called for greater support from the Government and the armed forces.
Ex-Cpl Walker, 39, said he sought help from the charity after becoming homeless and struggling to cope with the demands of life after 20 years in uniform.
He was injured just two weeks after Private Gentle was killed in a similar roadside attack, but returned to duty and went on to became the Queen’s Pony Major, a prestigious ceremonial role.
However, his life fell apart when he left the army. He said: “There was no structure to me leaving the army and going to civvie street and if it hadn’t been for SAFFA I would still be on the streets.
“I had no idea how to go about getting a home and was just told to go to the council. The jobcentre even asked me if I’d been in prison because I didn’t have a work history for 20 years.
“I went from living in army accommodation to being homeless and as I didn’t have a partner, I was put in a housing shelter for a month where nobody understood veterans. The majority of soldiers I know faced the same difficulties, and all of them struggle to deal with the demons they suffer from after seeing combat.”
The SAFFA report has called for welfare screening of potentially vulnerable servicemen and women to be put in place before they leave the forces, and said that the Government should also fund a mentoring scheme to support vulnerable veterans for at least their first year as a civilian.
It also warned the Ministry of Defence to improve its discharge processes to ensure that the service records of veterans are shared with the appropriate health and welfare professionals, or see more veterans falling through the cracks.
Air Vice-Marshal David Murray, SSAFA chief executive, said: “Our research has identified a cohort of veterans living in pretty desperate circumstances, often through no fault of their own.
“We must identify vulnerable service leavers before they walk out of the barracks for the last time.”
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: “We are absolutely focused on supporting working age veterans. That is why we’ve developed specific schemes to deliver career guidance, and to help find housing and expert healthcare.”
HERE is a pact at the heart of the armed forces, a precious agreement that in exchange for men and women agreeing to serve (and making the sacrifices that go with it), the military, the government and the country as a whole will look after their physical and mental wellbeing and help them adjust back to civilian life. It is a legal obligation, but it is a moral one too: service personnel work to protect the UK and in return the UK should do all it can to protect them.
But is the promise to help veterans adjust to life after the military being kept? We know the vast majority adapt perfectly well, but we also know there is a significant minority that struggle and it is hardly surprising – for many, the army is a job, a social network and a security blanket all in one and it can come as a shock when it is gone for good. Issues such as post-traumatic street disorder can also lay dormant and cause serious mental health problems years after the end of active service.
The precise scale of the problem is hard to determine, but a report from armed forces charity SSAFA outlines some of the consequences for veterans they have helped. Of the 1,000 men and women they spoke to, 61 per cent said they had a diagnosed mental health condition while 50 per cent said they were struggling on low pay or were in serious debt. Others have ended up sleeping on the streets, in prison, or suicidal. It is a depressing picture of lives of service turned sour.
To be fair to the services, they are better than they used to be in preparing their staff for civilian life. Some of the pressures on veterans, such as low pay and poor conditions, are also beyond their control and a result of government austerity. However, much more needs to be done to enhance the support for veterans and their access to welfare services.
One relatively straightforward step the Ministry of Defence could take is to ensure service records are shared with public services including the NHS so that everyone who could potentially help a veteran has the information they need.
The SSAFA report makes some other sensible suggestions. It proposes potentially vulnerable servicemen and women be identified well before they leave the services; it also suggests a scheme that would pair veterans with a mentor for a year after they leave. These are excellent ideas, but the Ministry of Defence could also do more to ensure servicemen and women, who can come from chaotic backgrounds, have the basic skills, such as money management, that they need as civilians.
However, responsibility for servicemen and women does not end with the military and the government. Many of those who spoke to SSAFA said they did not feel they were understood or supported by the wider community and there is certainly a tendency in some quarters to see former soldiers as damaged goods even though the reality is precisely the opposite. The vast majority of veterans are a considerable asset to employers and Scotland and, with a little help and some effort to overcome sometimes negative perceptions, even more veterans could be helped to leave the armed forces on a strong footing, find rewarding careers and build healthy, stable lives.