A decade of sustained combat operations and the resultant pressure they have placed on military members and their families is taking a deadly toll on the nation’s armed forces, particularly the U.S. Army, which has seen record-high suicide rates in 2012, according to Pentagon figures.

“Last year the White House announced a new plan to tackle the high rate of unemployed veterans. Today the president and first lady announced that the ‘Joining Forces’ program was months ahead of schedule and has already helped 290,000 veterans or family members find work or receive career training. While I applaud the focus on tackling the problem of veteran unemployment, there is still more work to be done. As a member of the Congressional Veterans Jobs Caucus I am actively involved in finding ways to buck the trend of high veteran unemployment.

Governor Pence travels to Fort Wayne today where he will sign the Soldier‘s Tuition bill into law. The bill provides Indiana‘s veteran‘s in-state tuition to the state‘s colleges and universities. Senator Jim Banks (R-Columbia City), who authored the bill, says it is a win-win for Indiana and veterans.

It’s important to understand that our stated mission to employ our heroic armed forces after they have served doesn’t just mean creating jobs. It also means connecting each individual person with a job. And that is a system that is not just in trouble — it’s also dangerous. Because unless you pull back the curtain and look backstage, that system looks fine. Big whirring human resource machines, equipped with measurements, and cubicles and power points and everything. With all of that, the system as it is should work perfectly, right?

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va) bill to help veterans find employment and other resources more easily once entering civilian life was introduced Monday to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Troop Talent Act of 2013 is designed to help veterans effectively translate their military skills and credentials into civilian employment, Kaine said.

MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–U.S. Bank has surpassed its military hiring goal for 2012, in time to mark the Veterans Day holiday. U.S. Bank now employs more than 2,300 veterans nationwide, and continues in its efforts to recruit veterans.

“Thank you for your service.” As we commemorate Veteran’s Day, this simple expression of gratitude is undoubtedly appreciated by many of our service members, past and present, but many of America’s veterans could also use something else — a job. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the nation’s 21 million veterans, 11 million — more than half — are still in the workforce. Of those, 735,000 were unemployed in September 2012. The overall unemployment rate for veterans of 6.7 percent is slightly better than the national rate of 7.8 percent, but for “Gulf War era-II” veterans, the rate is 9.7 percent. For women veterans of the most recent era, it’s a staggering 19.9 percent.

It pays to be a veteran, and nowhere more so than in the Pentagon’s home state of Virginia, where ex- military personnel take home almost 72 percent more than those who’ve never served.  The BGOV Barometer shows the median annual income for veterans is an average of 44 percent more than for nonveterans nationwide, and even higher in states with big military bases such as South Carolina, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. One reason for the gap is many veterans retire early from the military, and simultaneously collect federal pensions and paychecks from their second careers.

The challenge to Americans grateful for the sacrifice made by our military is to help returning veterans launch a successful civilian life. My own support for service members and their families got organized when I helped found Homefront San Diego after the attack on 9/11/2001.