NORMAL, Ill. -- For a soldier, coming home after a lengthy deployment is a great relief. But it can also be stressful. The Illinois Army National Guard has a program to help with the transition.
Bloomington native Katie McKee returned in November from a 10-month deployment in Iraq. A sergeant in the Illinois Army National Guard, McKee spent Saturday attending a veterans reintegration event at Heartland Community College.
There, returning soldiers are introduced to assistance and resources that will help them transition back to a productive civilian life.
"How to find a job, how to create a resume geared toward finding a job that you want," said McKee of some of the services she found valuable. "They're a great help in translating your military experience to the civilian experience and that's hard thing to do."
There's also financial assistance. Household budgets can be a hard thing to manage when a soldier is half a world away.
"By no fault of their own one of their family members may have put them in a significant amount of debt that they might not have been able to control. We help people with how to get your credit fixed. We have a financial improvement team," explained Jeff Lady, a Military Affairs representative.
Partners are encouraged to attend these events. Whether they realize it or not, they have a transition to make too.
"When you're in a combat zone or being deployed you grow a little bit differently than you would back home. And whoever your significant other is does the same," said Sgt. 1st Class Charles Riippi. "They'll grow and be a little bit different person when you get back. It's something that we talk about."
The returning service men and women are also entitled to education benefits. That can mean college tuition being covered. Dennis McWherter is using his benefits to put one of his sons through school.
"He's there on a scholarship based on my last deployment," said McWherter. "It's a tuition waiver to either UIC in Chicago or the University of Illinois."
Just some of the ways their country says thank you for their service.
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