By Alex Lemmings

Deployment differs for every service member—each person’s experience depends on things like their job, unit, and service branch. Despite these differences, all deployed service members share an extremely structured environment with a known schedule. Once home, however, life tends to become less straightforward. Nowhere is this more apparent than when a service member re-enters the civilian workforce. Returning service members often face a maze of paperwork, training, and communication requirements to re-enter their job, which can lead to their confusion and frustration. Civilian employers have an excellent opportunity to help returning service members by providing them with the accommodations necessary to avoid confusion and frustration. By following a few basic guidelines, all organizations—big and small—have the ability to enable a smoother transition to civilian life for deployed service members.

When the National Guard or Reserves deploy, these service members temporarily leave their civilian jobs for training, spend time in-country, and return home all within a brief timeframe. After taking a short break at home, service members will either return to their regular job in the military or civilian workforce. As a member of the National Guard, I can go from serving in the Middle East one week to getting coffee with my office colleague at a Starbucks the next. From my personal experience, it is challenging to return home from an extended deployment and adjust back to a reality where no one tells you what to do or where to be. The ambiguity of civilian life can be difficult to navigate when you just spent the previous week in an extremely structured environment.

Civilian employers are required by law to reemploy service members upon their return from deployment and must “make reasonable efforts to qualify [the] returning service member for the reemployment position by providing the training necessary to update [the] returning employee’s skills.”[1] Ultimately, the civilian employer is responsible for minimizing administrative hurdles so a service member can return to their same pre-deployment position without challenges.

I recall a particularly difficult transition back to my civilian job at the time after one extended deployment. Per protocol, once I returned from deployment, I communicated with my employer that I was back in the U.S. and would keep them apprised of my timeline for returning to work. At that point, my employer was responsible for developing a plan to administratively clear me for work. Unfortunately, that was not the case. When I arrived to attend the continuing education I had missed, only one member of the organization was even aware that I had returned home. Because my colleagues and supervisors were unprepared for my arrival, they assigned me the vague task of “catching up on what I missed” and left me to my own devices. I also learned that the organization had let my paramedic license expire while I was overseas, further complicating my reentry. Finally, my employer did not provide me with even the most basic information: How would I access my required training or document it? More broadly, what had I missed? What was required of me? This experience left me feeling tossed aside and lost on how to continue in my job.

As a service member returning to a civilian employer after an extended deployment, here is what I wish my employer had done to help me get back into the swing of things:

Create a checklist of all tasks the returning service member is expected to complete

It is important for an employer to provide a task list to the newly returning service member in a digestible format that doesn’t overwhelm them. The required tasks for one business day should not take all nine hours of the day, without break. Instead, tasks should be clearly divided to allow the employee to feel like they have accomplished a number of things by the end of the day. 

Develop a clear “onboarding” plan

A civilian employer should create an onboarding plan for someone returning from extended military duty for every step of the return process. For example, the plan might include the requirements for recertification and training, timeline for reentry, contact information for management, and access details for the organization’s various communication platforms. The plan will differ depending on the type of organizational structure and the employee’s specific needs.

Communicate, communicate, communicate

If a service member wishes to take the leave allotted to them by the Federal Government, then a weekly check-in between the employee and employer can maintain an open communication loop. Knowing that their employers and colleagues look forward to seeing them back can mean a lot to a service member.

Make the returning service member feel welcome

When the day comes for a deployed service member to come back to work full-time, colleagues should welcome them. They should let them talk about their time deployed for as long as they are comfortable but should treat them like anyone else. In other words, colleagues and management should allow the returning service member adequate time to become a “normal person” again.  

The reentry process for a service member returning from deployment doesn’t need to be complicated or elaborate. By following these straightforward guidelines, employers can make a service member’s reentry after deployment into a positive experience for everyone involved.

[1] https://www.employer.gov/EmploymentIssues/Veteran-and-servicemember-employment/Reemployment-rights-for-servicemembers/

A note from our communications team:

On this Memorial Day, Rockwood remembers and honors all of the brave service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom. “Thank you” will never seem adequate.