From Iraq to the Classroom

As is the case with many other young adults attending college, Alan Meyer was intrigued by the prospect of receiving financial help towards his tuition. He was drawn in by the military's incentives, exchanging tuition payments for his signature on a contract enlisting him in the Army Reserves, which seemed like a fun endeavor to him. During his freshman year, he joined the Reserves and only had to attend training one weekend a month and two weeks a year.

The army covered 75 percent of Meyer's college bill and provided a monthly stipend, but in return he was sent overseas for about a year. He was stationed at Camp Victory in Baghdad as a combat medic health care specialist. Now 23, Meyer has a year of war experience under his belt and, after returning in September 2007, is beginning his transition back into civilian life.

He left behind his parents, older brother and friends when he went off to Iraq, but found communication easy with access to the Internet and phones. Instead of just worrying about how he would manage, Meyer felt for his family, who he believed had a harder time during his absence.

"They had it rougher than I did," says Meyer. "They had to watch me do it while I had to actually do it."

Now, Meyer is home and planning on restarting college in the spring at the University of Pittsburgh, where he needs one more semester to finish his degree in writing and political science.

On his initial return, Meyer admitted to being a little nervous.

"There was some level of apprehension," Meyer says. "But we have to sit through all these ridiculous briefs at how difficult reintegration is. I was just like wow, I would rather fight alligators on my front porch than be here; I just had a drive to get back to my normal everyday life as soon as possible. There were problems, like I had to go buy a car, get back into school and find an apartment, but there was no mountain too high, so to speak."

Meyer is not the only one anxious to return to everyday life immediately on arrival home, but Kathleen Mohr, a transition patient advocate with the Boston Veteran Affairs Healthcare System, says the information sessions that stand between a soldier and the warmth of his own bed are important.

"[The military] rallies to bring everyone in and make sure they're aware of their benefits," Mohr says of the three or four day period meant to inform returning servicemen of what is available to them as a veteran. Each state provides veterans with different benefits, such as Massachusetts, which offers a $1,000 welcome home bonus.

"There are a lot of advantages to paying attention in those classes," she says, emphasizing the free 90-day dental coverage and two-year health coverage that many veterans are unaware they are entitled to.

The VA also helps inform soldiers of the advantages of registering as a veteran within their first two years of returning home because after registration, they are forever a veteran and will always have the resources of the VA available to them.

Meyer has not yet had to approach the center for returning soldiers offered by the VA, finding civilian life easy to sink back into. He still keeps in touch with the people he was deployed with, using them not necessarily for support, but for his own unique transition.