The Transition of Military Veterans from Active Service to Civilian Life
Abstract: In every nation within NATO, service members at some point leave the military. The military-to-civilian transition is the term used to refer to the process by which service members and/or their families rejoin their civilian community. Transition out of the military includes a series of adjustments. These include changes in location, career, relationships, family roles, support systems, social networks, community and culture. This transition has implications for post-service well-being and functioning. Despite this little has been done to conceptualize how transition occurs, identify factors that promote or impede transition, or operationalize outcomes associated with transition success. Many veterans transitioning from the military to the civilian life encounter unexpected challenges such as finding meaningful employment, adjusting to "civilian" culture or dealing with unresolved mental and physical health issues. In this report, we present the current practices and policies of military-to-civilian for those nations who participated in this RTG. In addition, we also present the findings of a survey of NATO nations conducted focusing on practices and policies of NATO and non-NATO nations. Nine key principles were identified that very nation, both NATO and non-NATO nations, should consider in supporting service members and families in re-joining their civilian community.
Abstract: U.S. Air Force remotely piloted aircraft (USAF RPA) personnel face diverse stressors negatively affecting psychological health and military readiness. Prior research in diverse populations supports predictable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on occupational stressors, burnout, and more distal outcomes. Extending earlier studies linking broad variables (e.g., COVID-19 threat → work stress → burnout), the current study tests and refines an expanded mediation model based on multiple distinct pandemic concerns, occupational stressors, and burnout facets as antecedents of psychological distress mid-pandemic in RPA personnel (N = 496). Differential representation of demands, resources, and rewards evident across distinct occupational stressors in light of job demands/resources theory guided specification of mediated pathways. SEM analysis yielded moderate fit. Following removal of non-significant paths and addition of two interpretable direct paths, fit was improved, yielding seven dominant pandemic concern → occupational stressor → burnout → psychological distress pathways. In support of domain specification, five 'hub' variables (pandemic-driven change, personal stressors, workload, leader communication, and exhaustion) emerged as key intervention targets in mitigating distress in the USAF RPA community and similar populations during future pandemic-related crises.