Retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus was in Nashville on Tuesday to encourage local businesses to hire veterans, who he said were among “our nation’s most precious resources.”
by Arnaldo Rodgers
Speaking before a job fair for veterans and their spouses, Petraeus, who also served as CIA director, said a military pedigree made veterans an enviable hire. In particular, Petraeus praised the 2.5 million veterans who have served in the Middle East since 9/11, whom he called “the new Greatest Generation.”
Petraeus oversaw military action in Iraq and Afghanistan for years after 9/11. He also commanded the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell from July 2002 to May 2004.
“If companies are looking for individuals who have leadership experience, who exemplify selfless service, who understand the importance of teamwork and who know what it takes to achieve results under tough conditions, then American veterans are what those companies need,” he said. “Their sense of duty, their courage, their loyalty and their professional experience have not departed when they’ve taken off that uniform for the last time.”
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin L. Hill, who served at Fort Campbell and in combat alongside Petraeus, acknowledged that some returning veterans face a litany of challenges, including post-traumatic stress disorder. But he stressed that those challenges shouldn’t be seen as career enders.
Petraeus agreed, saying that a fulfilling career is one step toward healing the “seen and unseen wounds of war.”
“A meaningful job, a fulfilling employment opportunity, is often the best antidote to the kinds of burdens that a number of our soldiers bear,” Petraeus said.
‘In the Army, you don’t just do one job’
Organizers said about 250 people showed up at Tuesday’s “Vets@Work” job fair to meet with dozens of employers at the Music City Center. Veteran Eileen Jager came from Clarksville to secure a civilian job after more than nine years in the Army.
The former sergeant decided not to re-enlist in October so she could spend more time with her young children. She’s been to multiple job fairs in the past few months, but she hasn’t had any luck.
“What people expect in a resume has changed, how you apply has changed, what people are looking for has changed,” she said.
Jager, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, has had trouble communicating the breadth of her Army experience in a marketable way. She was a mechanic, but her day-to-day responsibilities varied widely.
“When you’re in the Army, you don’t just do one job,” she said. “We have so much more that we’ve been taught.”
In an interview after his speech, Petraeus echoed Jager’s point. Veterans, especially those who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11, are often “called on to perform many other missions,” he said. Often those soldiers would have to lead community outreach programs that extended beyond their job descriptions.
Despite the unforeseen challenges she’s encountered in the job market, Jager remains optimistic.
“One way or another, I will find a job,” she said. “I have to keep hoping for that.”
Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and on Twitter @tamburintweets.
‘Vets@Work’
The “Vets@Work” job fair at the Music City Center was organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program, along with lead sponsors HCA and KKR. Petraeus is chairman of the KKR Global Institute. More than 25,000 veterans and military spouses have gotten jobs through KKR’s Vets@Work since the program started in 2011, according to a statement promoting the event.
TN Veterans
- 506,340
- Veterans live in Tennessee.
- 6.9%
- Of Tennessee veterans are unemployed.
- Source: 2013 data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Petraeus at Fort Campbell
David Petraeus commanded the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell from July 2002 to May 2004. In an interview with The Tennessean on Tuesday, Petraeus said he remembers his life in the Middle Tennessee area fondly. He said, “There’s not a more patriotic, more supportive, more generous community in America. It was a real privilege to serve here with people who were so appreciative about what our young men and women were doing.”
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Veterans as “precious resource?” Alrighty then. If these “precious” numbnuts weren’t ‘volunteering’ for Empire’s slaughter, the government would have to crank up the draft. The soulless freaks at the controls of America’s war machinery send these ‘volunteer sadsacks’ off to be ground into bloody chunks or worse and we’re supposed to think they’re a “precious resource?” Herr Generalissimo needs to sit his loser self down and shut the hell up.
Yeah but the upside is when they come home they get to commit suicide at a rate of one-per-hour when the realization hits about what they’ve volunteered to be a part of. It’s the one’s who don’t suicide, however, who go to work for private security moneymakers as mercenaries we probably ought to be concerned about. The sort of precious resource they represent doesn’t ask enough of the right questions.
In fact, the likes of General Petraeus, dishonor America’s war dead, omitting why they fought and died in vain, sacrificing their lives for imperial conquest, plunder, and new ones in an endless cycle of gratuitous violence, militarism, brutality, and destruction for power and profit.
The sight of this weak man Petraeus, still out there, shamelessly cheer leading veterans, after being disgracefully stripped off his job, makes me want to puke.
I must be having a bad Veteran’s Day today, or whatever day it is.
Veterans Days haven’t been anything but an insult for an awfully long while.
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