Civilian Employment Among Recently Returning Afghanistan and Iraq National Guard Veterans

National Guard members are often faced with the difficult task of finding a new job following deployment. Service memebrs who were employed or unemployed at 45-60 days after demobilization were compared on several variables (e.g., demographics, deployments, mental and physical health). Poorer education, income, and mental health status and certain demographic characteristics (e.g., female, unmarried) were related to higher unemployment, but deployments and recent combat exposure were related to greater employment rates.