A video circulated this weekend of a servicemember that is deployed. He was acknowledging all of the memes about a potential war on social media and was asking for prayers and support instead of jokes. It was unfortunate that it took this message for many people to start taking 3,500 troops being deployed to the Middle East seriously. Civilians have the luxury of being cavalier about what the military does every day. I think that many of us are scared and are not thinking about the consequences of actions. It is not something to joke about or take lightly because some of them will not be coming home to their families.
I didn’t have perspective on how much work our military does to keep us safe until I started working with them about ten years ago. Many civilians don’t worry about violence coming from overseas and taking place on US soil. We wake up every day, kiss our children, hug our spouse, and go to work without thinking about all of the threats of violence that are intercepted by the military. When I ask veterans how often they intercept violence from Americans, they respond by saying, “a lot.”
So what should people do? There are a ton of non-profits that do great work to support the servicemembers, and I would encourage all civilians to invest some of their time and money to support these organizations. For businesses, this is the time for HR to spend time understanding the military and what servicemembers will need from their employers.
I had the privilege of hearing the CEO of SHRM speak a few months. SHRM realized that something needed to be done about the breakdown between HR and the military so they created the Vets at Work certification. They made the certification free to SHRM members because it was such a high priority. Everyone that works in HR should take the time to complete this certification. There are considerable language barriers and cultural gaps that can be addressed, so it is one less thing for them to worry about when they come home.
