From Combat Zones to the Classroom: Transitional Adjustment in OEF/OIF Student Veterans

With 600,000 veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom enrolled in higher education with the Post-9/11 GI Bill, recognizing and responding to their predictable adjustment issues is imperative. Existing qualitative research has identified some transitional issues encountered by small groups of veterans. Because of qualitative research's limited generalizability, however, themes may be viewed as more generalizable when corroborated by student veterans in different regions. In order to provide an in-depth description of the themes related to the post-deployment adjustment process, the first author conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 student veterans from a Southwestern community college who were returning to civilian life after deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq. The first author and research assistant analyzed data using the grounded theory approach (including open coding, constant comparison, and axial coding), which resulted in the emergence of seven major themes. Themes consistent with prior research include (1) bridging the gap between military and civilian life, (2) rebuilding a support system outside of the military, (3) readapting to the culture of civilian life, and (4) finding meaning in a new life perspective and purpose. Themes not indicated in previous research are (5) battling the stereotypes, (6) taming the fight-or-flight response, and (7) attitudes about mental illness carry over to civilian life. Based on the results of this review, recommendations are given for college campuses to support veterans in transition. Keywords: Student Veterans, Adjustment, Post-Deployment, OEF/OIF, Grounded Theory As of 2007, over 1,900,000 U.S. Armed Forces service members had deployed in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (Bonds, Baiocchi, & McDonald, 2010). Over 35,000 of those deployed were National Guardsmen and Reservists, meaning that following deployment, they returned to civilian life (Bonds, Baiocchi, & McDonald, 2010). Numerous Active Duty personnel likewise completed their service commitments after redeploying (Waterhouse & O'Bryant, 2008). Among these returning veterans, over 600,000 have used the Post-9/11 GI Bill to return to higher education (Griffin & Gilbert, 2015). In at least one qualitative study, veterans found the transition from active warrior to student to be the most difficult aspect of the overall adjustment to civilian life (Ackerman, DiRamio, & Mitchell, 2009). As such, recognizing and responding to their predictable adjustment issues is necessary to ensure their successful transitions as well as academic and professional success. Adjustment Issues in Student Veterans Mental Health Although mental health problems are common among many returning veterans, there is some indication that student veterans have higher levels of psychological problems. Approximately 20% of OEF/OIF veterans report some mental health issues (Hoge, Auchterlonie, & Milliken, 2006), but that number is likely to be higher among student veterans, with 35% reporting severe anxiety and 24% reporting severe depression (Rudd, Goulding, & Bryan, 2011). The modal psychological issue that student veterans report is posttraumatic stress, with 46% of student veterans reporting significant PTSD symptoms (Rudd, Goulding, & Bryan, 2011). This rate is substantially higher than the 10-18% figure representative of non-student veterans of the OEF/OIF conflicts (Hoge et al., 2006; Hoge et al., 2007; Smith et al., 2008; Veterans' Administration, 2009). As to why student veterans present with higher rates of mental health issues than non-student veterans, there are several possibilities. First, the additional stressors of academic pressure and transition to the student role may contribute to psychological discomfort. Second, younger veterans (18-24 years) are at the greatest risk for mental health issues (Seal et al., 2007), and it is often this group of younger individuals that return to higher education post-deployment and/or post-separation (Buecher, 2014). …