Mississippi State University student and faculty veterans gave their community Green Zone Initiative training Tuesday to bring awareness and encourage advocacy for student veterans.
MSU Center for America’s Veterans Director Brian Locke led the training in partnership with the Mississippi Coalition of Partners in Prevention.
Locke said there are currently 2,810 veteran service members and dependents on MSU’s campus.
“(The training explains) the skills and tools that a faculty needs to help identify and help a student veteran in the classroom or in a university setting,” Locke said. “It’s not just for the university. I think it could translate to a business or a family setting or anywhere in the civilian life as well.”
Locke served in the United States Army for 26 years and has tried to hold the training twice a semester since he began working for the MSU Center for America’s Veterans in January 2017. Locke said he thinks the training is useful for people who come in contact with veterans yet who might not understand what veterans go through.
“(The training is so) they understand some of the uniqueness of being in the military and some of the uniqueness of having a student veteran in their classroom,” Locke said.
Tuesday’s training featured a panel with four MSU student veterans. MSU Student Marine Veteran Peter Carr, 30, is currently pursuing a graduate degree in clinical mental health counseling and Tuesday was his sixth Green Zone panel. Carr thinks the training is important because of the discrepancy often present between veterans and traditional students.
“I’m kind of making a generalization, but we expect very structured environments— clear-cut expectations of what you want,” Carr said. “Here in college, we rarely get that.”
Carr said addressing the issue with his instructors is often helpful.
“I’ve explained to my instructors in the past, ‘Okay, this is what I need from you. I need you to tell me exactly what you want,’” Carr said. “And once they understand where I’m coming from, it makes the communication a lot better, especially in the classroom.”
MSU Student Navy Veteran Daniel Freeman, 28, is studying mechanical engineering and he said most of his instructors actually appreciate veterans’ maturity level.
“Instructors actually like it too because of the maturity difference between traditional students and veterans,” Freeman said. “Most of us average 26 years and up in age.”
Yet, Carr said the age difference can also cause issues for student veterans.
“The age difference causes a lot of issues for us in class because we have dif culty not only connecting with the instructor but connecting with our peers,” Carr said. “Most of (our peers) went to high school to (college) and they’re still in that young, party stage... but it’s like, let’s focus on what we’re here for.”
Carr said he is better able to connect with his peers in graduate school now compared to his undergraduate peers.
“The maturity level is just night and day,” Carr said. “Even though these were some of the people I was taking classes with in undergrad, the connection I can make with people is a whole lot different because we truly want to be here now and we are invested in what we are doing.”
Connecting with others after serving abroad can be difficult in general, though.
“When I got back from Afghanistan, I had an impossible time reconnecting to my own family because the experiences were so different,” Carr said. “When we have to connect with people in the military, we are all like-minded. We all have the same mission. Here, it’s hard to connect to people.”
“Because you don’t know what you’re going to get,” Freeman chimed in.
“How do you connect with a person that has never walked near the same shoes?” Carr asked. “Someone who just came from high school to here and has never experienced life outside the family unit, how do you talk to that person?”
Student Air Force Veteran Michael Rains, 29, is pursuing a coaching degree and he gave an example of an alienating experience he has encountered in classes.
“Like in classes, I’ll hear somebody say, ‘Man, this 8 a.m.s!’ And I’m like, ‘Bro, I’ve been up since 5 a.m. What are you talking about?’” Rains said.
Rains said even reconnecting with his son was dif cult for him when he got back from serving in Kuwait.
“(When I left) we had just had my first son. I left when he was two-months-old and I came back when he was a one-year-old so you kind of have to reintroduce yourself to your own kid,” Rains said. “That was tough. He didn’t really know who I was. And in a weird way, I didn’t know who he was either.”
“All around, it was just reintroducing myself to people that I just didn’t know,” Rains added. “It was strange.”
Carr said the Green Zone Training helps people understand the language barrier that is often present between veterans and others.
“Be patient with us,” Carr said. “Just like talking to an international student, you have that immediate language barrier that you have to work through. With us, it’s the same thing. We have an immediate language that’s very military-based.”
“That’s what we are trying to get across to people who have never been here before. We’re going to have issues back and forth communicating and trying to get our points across properly,” Carr expended. “but to ask for patience and understanding. Eventually, we’ll be able to communicate but it’s that patience and understand- ing that we really need.”
“There’s no stereotypical veteran, you know,” Carr concluded.
GREEN ZONE TRAINING
Locke opened the training by telling the attendees the purpose of it was not for them to become experts, just more informed.
“Really what we want you to know from leaving this training is not to be experts with student veterans or veteran issues, but to at least have some sort of understanding about what’s unique about them,” Locke said. “And if you see something that you may think is a little bit out of the ordinary (with a veteran) that you can maybe approach them about it or send them to the MSU Center for America’s Veterans.”
Throughout the training, Locke and the members of the student veteran panel explained what deployment was actually like (versus what is seen on TV), the experience of post-deployment orientation, transition challenges and strengths and they also addressed common stereotypes about veterans.
One experience of deployment Locke described was the constant stress of the unknown.
“In past wars years ago, you kinda knew where the front lines were. You kinda knew where the enemy was. You knew what you were fighting. You knew what to look for,” Locke said. “Those things are completely out the window right now... You’re just as likely to get killed by the people you’re over there helping as most anybody else. And I hate to say that, but it’s happened over and over again.”
Locke said hyper vigilance back home is a symptom of this experience. Other transition challenges may be alienation to and insensitivity from others. However, Locke noted veterans also have transition strengths because of their military experiences.
“There are a lot of strengths that translate into the classroom because (veterans) have had that military training,” Locke said.
For example, veterans tend to be more disciplined and their life experiences tend to make them more versatile and confident with their plans. Veterans also have training in teamwork, leadership and management, self-discipline, professionalism and mental toughness, which all translate to the classroom.
A study from the Institute for Veterans and Military Families reports that while the average GPA for traditional students is 2.94, the average GPA for veterans is 3.34. Locke also noted that veterans may act differently from traditional students in the
classroom. For example, they may:
• sit in the back of the classroom
• be easily startled by noises
• have dif culty expressing themselves • show restless behaviors
• show inappropriate reactions to discussions, such as becoming aggressive
• be withdrawn from discussions
“What can you do to help?” Locke asked. “You know, just like everybody else, sometimes they just want somebody to listen to them because sometimes they just want to talk. They might not even want you to do anything about the issue.”
“Be genuine,” Locke added. “Veterans have a hard time with trusting people and it takes a long time to earn that trust.”
All attendees of the Green Zone Initiative training received a Green Zone button and decal to display in their offices as veteran-friendly areas.