(soothing music) - [Announcer] In America, the honor we bestow on our men and women in uniform is without question.

We honor their bravery, their sacrifice.

We thank them for their service.

But what becomes of them when they leave the service?

How do they transition from service to civilian life?

It's not always easy, but the experience they gain serving the country make them extremely valuable to any business.

- I think hiring vets is a great idea for the fact that they're gonna treat your business as if it's their own.

So they're gonna put more sweat equity into it than they're actually getting paid.

- We used to work for pennies, but we would work hard, and we would work sun up to sun down.

We're used to that type of work, regardless of what it is.

That's what's instilled in the veteran community.

- Organizations would do really well looking at veterans, right?

There's a lot that veterans have to offer.

- People should hire a veterans because we are extremely dedicated.

When we set our mind to something, that becomes our mission and we do it with 100%, 110%.

- And I think most people these days are really looking for not just skills and experience, but character.

- And leadership, and it's gonna enrich the team.

It's not a competition of civilian versus military, either.

They are going to complement and strengthen that organization and that team.

They're worth the investment.

(soothing piano music) (joyous music) - [Announcer] When you need people, don't forget the veterans.

They have skills, discipline.

And government on-the-job training funds help them convert their experience to peacetime jobs.

- The military gave me a unit, and I knew that if I was facing forward and I had my eyes on my target and I scanned my sector, I was gonna be okay.

'Cause I knew that the guy next to me was scanning his sector, and he was gonna be okay.

And I was gonna be okay because of him.

When we get out of the military, we take that away.

- We found our purpose in the military, whether it was serving our country, serving the person to our right and to our left, or just serving a higher purpose.

You get out of the military, you have to rediscover that purpose, and that can be difficult, especially if the job that you had, like mine, for example, aviation ordnance, that's not really something that translates into the civilian world.

- And we are working hard here in Colorado to build that network and to make sure that we're creating that interconnectivity, and making sure that veterans know that there is a path out there and there are different paths that we can empower them to take.

If you're still looking for that second career, then Colorado offers a lot of different areas that you can start working in.

(soothing music) - [Announcer] Colorado.

Home of the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River, a rugged outdoor lifestyle, and home to nearly 400,000 veterans.

Colorado offers special benefits for service members, veterans and their families, including education and tuition assistance, retired pay and property tax exemptions.

- With that population of 400,000 veterans, that's a massive amount of human capital that we could put into play.

- Colorado's a great place for veterans because there's so many bases here to begin with that, in your route and service, it's pretty likely that you'll get stationed here, whether you're Army, Air Force, even Navy or Marines.

- We have the largest American Legion and VFW posts right here in the state of Colorado.

And the the first ones, at that.

- [Announcer] The US military is a volunteer force.

Everyone who joins chooses to do so.

Most people that join the military have strong attributes of loyalty, problem-solving, and often the desire to be part of something bigger than themselves.

- [Hank] So typically, I'd say, "Hi, my name's Hank.

"I'm a filmmaker here in Colorado.

"And today, I'm working on a documentary about veterans."

- Yeah, my name is Kayla Shock.

I am a legislative analyst at the Office of Economic Development and International Trade here in Colorado.

I joined when I was 19.

I was in my sophomore year at UCCS in Colorado Springs, and I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.

I kind of felt like I was doing this for somebody else, and not for me.

And I didn't really have that purpose while I was in school.

So I ended up taking a semester off and just drove to the nearest recruiter and was like, "Hey, I don't know what I wanna do, "but I know I wanna stay here in my community, "and not be thrown (laughs) halfway across the world."

And so they told me as a reservist, you can stay here, live here, work here, and still serve.

And so that really inspired me.

I load planes in the Air Force, so it's completely different than the desk job that I have, but it's really rewarding to be able to work with people from all walks of life, right?

- I served in the Navy from 1997 to July of 2001.

I was aviation ordnance, so my job was working on an aircraft carrier.

And I worked down in the bowels of the ship, where we store all of the ammunition.

We would build up the ordnance, send it up to the flight deck, and then someone else would load it on the plane to then be launched off the ship.

My name's Tiffany Morgan, and I have a small business called Your Weapon is Your Mind, where I teach mental health clinicians how to work with veterans.

- I'm Jan Rutherford.

I'm the founder of Self-Reliant Leadership.

- My name is Brian Johnson, and I'm the executive director of WarriorNOW.

- I'm Al Paxton.

I recently transitioned out of the military.

I work for Encore Electric here in the Denver metro area.

- My name is Chris Ward.

I'm an independent associate with LegalShield.

I served 11 years in the US Army.

- Originally, I was a mechanic, light-wheeled vehicle mechanic.

- Almost all of my career has been in, other than training, has been in special operations.

And in my last 15 years of my career, I spent at a special missions unit out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

- I went in as a cavalry scout.

I didn't want a desk job, but I didn't wanna be infantry, either.

- I ended up doing 187 missions in Iraq.

I loved everything that I got to do.

I was very excited about my military service.

- When I was going through Special Forces training, I was the smallest guy.

I weighed 114 pounds, five-foot-four.

All these people were telling me I wasn't going to make it.

I thought, you know, one day, I'm gonna write a book and I'm gonna call it "The Littlest Green Beret."

And that's what I did.

And the subtitle is "On Self-Reliant Leadership."

- [Announcer] The Self-Reliant Leadership Crucible mixes Special Operation soldiers transitioning to the business world, and executives looking to step back from daily routines, to reflect and rethink current approaches to challenges.

- A lot of what I'm involved in these days is helping executives and working with veterans' transition to the business world.

- [Announcer] As service members transition to civilian life, they are suddenly faced with a lot of choices.

One reason why veterans choose Colorado as home is it's good for opportunity.

Veterans' unique perspectives and experiences make them invaluable members of the workforce and economic landscape of the state.

- You know, if you have a veteran in your boat, they're gonna row the hardest.

- They have high standards.

They work hard.

- Here's the other thing about veterans that I think is interesting, ambiguity and, you know, no clarity?

Awesome.

Thrive in that environment, right?

It's like, oh, you have big problems to solve?

I'm a good problem-solver.

I've been doing it all my life.

You know, you can literally stick me anywhere and I'll figure it out.

- It definitely helps.

We prefer people to have a variety of experiences And military service is something that's really valuable in any workplace, but especially when you're dealing with people from all over the world, or just across the country.

Usually, you're gonna run into somebody who's served in some capacity, and that's such a barrier breakdown, of like, hey, we have this in common.

How can we share that?

And it's a really cool thing to get to know somebody on that level and have that shared experience.

So it makes going into a deal or a negotiation a lot easier.

- I think it's worth taking a shot because here's what they did.

Over the last five or 10 or 20 years, whatever it may be, is they served our country and they sacrificed, and their family sacrificed for you.

And I think it's important that you give them a chance in an interview.

And even if you don't hire them, for whatever reason, it's imperative that you tell 'em why.

- Whenever you talk to an employer, one of the things that we'd like to do is go through military cultural competency and actually inform them of what a veteran is, so that they have an understanding.

Because there is a stigma.

- Because there is a lotta misunderstanding from employers as they're looking to hire a veteran.

All they think about is either looking good.

Oh, well, we hired this many veterans, so that makes us look good.

Part of it is that, but there are stigmas when you go in for an interview that you come with.

And to a certain extent, there's some out there that don't know how to approach us and don't know how to talk to us.

- [Announcer] Like many veterans that have experienced combat, David Ortiz had additional challenges added to his transition to civilian life.

- I was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, so I'm an Air Force brat.

My dad was a pilot in the Air Force, started with B-52s and then B1s.

So I flew helicopters for the US Army.

I was with the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade with 117 Cav, Alpha Troop.

And I flew one of the best airframes that the Army had before they retired it, the OH-58D.

(helicopter whirs) The mission is a recon mission.

We pride ourselves on flying with doors off.

We're a scrappy bird.

Quickest to start up.

We're usually the first on scene when the ground guys and gals get ambushed or attacked.

I like to say that we have the biggest hearts and the most fight, smallest airframe.

And the civilian equivalent is the Bell JetRanger, the 206s.

So in June of 2012, it was June 21st, I survived a helicopter crash in Afghanistan when I was deployed.

(somber music) And then you wake up, and I had the added obstacle of having to deal with a disability.

Going from being a hard-charging, five-minute-mile running combat aviator, to then not even being able to sit up in bed under my own power.

(somber music) As I was medically retiring, my battalion commander was like, "Hey, "why don't you advocate and lobby for veterans?

"There's this veteran organization "that lobbies for veterans at the state level and in DC.

"You love politics and policy.

"This could be your arena."

So I got involved and started off as an intern.

And the lead lobbyist, who spent 20 years advocating and lobbying for the Department of Health and Human Services, saw something in me, when I didn't see it in myself.

And so within two years, he got me set up to become lead lobbyist for veterans here in the state of Colorado.

And then, along the way, I was hosting a legislative forum around mental health.

We had a huge turnout among veteran and non-veteran leaders in the community.

And Senator Pettersen outta Lakewood comes up to me and she's like, "Hey, "have you ever considered running for office?"

And she was like, "We need someone like you.

"Talk to the important people in your life," in my life.

She didn't take no for an answer, and here I am.

(uplifting music) Hi, I'm David Ortiz, and I serve in the Colorado State House of Representatives for House District 38.

(uplifting music) - Representative Ortiz, he's a great guy.

I met him through VFW Post 1, where I'm a lifetime member, and was just greatly impressed with the things that he's passionate about.

He's very involved in passing legislature with Veteran Treatment Courts and other things that help those more at-risk veterans get the services that they need.

- Veterans who get in trouble, there's not a vet court in every single county.

However, thanks to Representative Ortiz, we have the ability, if I get hung up in a different, in a rural county, I can petition the court to go to a county that has a vet court, get myself into treatment, and be able to do treatment over prison.

Because at the end of the day, prison's just gonna re-traumatize and compound trauma and make things worse.

- I knew I was gonna be in policy.

I knew I was gonna be in advocating and lobbying, just because I saw the power of trying to change systems and change policies.

Because if I was gonna do the hard fight, trying to advocate for my care, then I was gonna make sure every brother and sister veteran after me didn't have to go through the same thing.

- When I came across David he said he was thinking about running for office, I thought, this is the guy.

This is the perfect guy.

And in his freshman year, I think he passed nine bills, which is just unheard of.

And he's done a great job in his second year with a lot of different veteran causes.

And he's just been a tremendous advocate.

And I think the reason is, I mean, he has empathy, but I think he listens because he cares.

(uplifting music) - I like the cliche, we're made many, for a reason, and we all bring experiences and gifts and talents.

Not that we're not multifaceted, but there are certain impact that my personal story lends itself to certain policy or work that I'm doing.

And working and focusing on veterans' issues as I was medically retiring, and then as an advocate and lobbyist, obviously, that's, you know, where the heart of it always has been and will be.

And not only that, because that's where my heart always will be, too.

This is my family.

If you've ever served, whether I know you or not, because of that common experience, because of that sacrifice, because of the fact that there's less than 1% that are willing to raise their right hand and go where their nation tells them to go, regardless of what party's in power, regardless of who's in power, is something, to me, that's very sacred, unique and special.

You will never find anything like that in the outside world.

- [Announcer] But that outside world can be intimidating.

For most veterans, the transition brings a change in profession and lifestyle so profound, it can be difficult to adapt.

- While extremely important in the military, but is a struggle when we get out, is that sense of structure, right?

We're given structure.

We're told when to get up, when to go to bed, when to shower, what to wear.

Everybody's wearing the same thing.

We're all eating at the same.

Like, literally every aspect of our life is structured.

- The transition, for me, was particularly difficult, but there is a commonality of feeling like you belong to this family and this mission, and you have this network and this support.

And then you're dumped out there, and then you're told, "Good luck."

- I had always had this idea that a lot of my education woulda been transferable, which it absolutely was not.

That my being a soldier would make me more marketable.

When I was getting out, that last year in the military, I was applying for jobs here, there and everywhere, but the only people that actually called me back was the British pub in downtown that wanted me to check IDs at the door for (laughs) $11 an hour.

And I was like, "Well, I just arrested "a war criminal six months ago."

- You don't transition without having some type of training.

- [Announcer] The process of preparing veterans for civilian life continues to evolve.

Beginning in 2012, the military began a roll out of the Transition Assistance Program, known as TAP.

At Buckley Space Force Base, military leadership are working with outbound service members on foundations that will make their transition out of the military easier.

- The Transition Assistance Program, which we call TAP, assists members transitioning from the military.

We help them from the very beginning and out.

We start at over 365 days prior to their date of separation, and their needs vary.

- My name is Master Sergeant Christopher Michael Byrne.

I'm a first sergeant in the US Air Force.

So after 23 years of serving in the Air Force, I decided it was time for me to retire.

- I get a list of everybody on this base and their date of separation.

So if you get an email from me, you are 18 months out from your date of separation, you're gonna get a self-assessment document.

You're gonna fill out that self-assessment.

You're gonna rate yourself.

You know, what's your plans?

What's your goals?

What do you wanna do?

What have you done so far?

Have you began your network?

Have you began your outreach?

Do you wanna go to school?

Do you wanna own your own business?

What do you wanna do?

- Leaving all the Air Force behind is nerve-racking because for 23 years, I could go to the doctor.

They assigned me a doctor, they assigned a dentist to me.

They assigned all these medical care providers for me.

I have a family that I still need to support.

- You're gonna come in for your initial counseling appointment and we're gonna go over, you know, what your path is, what your goals are, what you're doing already.

If you don't know what you're doing and you're open, you're undecided, we have a lotta members that are undecided.

- To this day, even though I'm starting to transition, it's still nerve-racking 'cause I don't know what I don't know.

And that's, I think, where the fear comes in for me, is the unknown.

- We're gonna help you, you know, find that.

Or if you know what you wanna do and you don't know how to get there, what money is out there for you to get those certifications, those apprenticeships, those trainings that are out there?

- We have to make sure that we have our own housing.

The Air Force has provided a house for us for many, many years.

- After you finish your pre-separation brief, that's when we sign you up for your TAP week.

- For different people, the TAP counselor will recommend which days that you attend.

I did the full five days.

- I am more than happy to sit down with you and do an investment portfolio review.

- You get your VA benefits and services briefing.

The Department of Labor comes in and they do an introduction to the employment world.

- Writing a resume, how to set up a LinkedIn profile, how to interview.

But they had some of the other bigger companies here in Colorado come out and just talk to us about the interview process and what we should be doing.

- They help you do analysis.

Find out, you know, hey, I love this job.

I wanna do it.

Where can I make money doing this job?

- I've never had to write a resume before.

Didn't know what to put into it.

- After we know that the member is ready to go and they've completed everything, then we send that form off to the commander, and their commander has the final say, in, yes, I believe this member is ready to go.

- [Announcer] Even though getting military members ready for transition has become a higher priority, there is still work to be done.

- There needs to be a cooperation and a collaboration that happens between these transition battalions, these TAPS and ACAP classes.

These veteran nonprofits that exist to help veterans get employment and jobs, and the universities and employers.

There needs to be that cooperation and that collaboration that's happening.

- So if there was a more outspoken effort to coalesce the veteran support organizations with the Veterans Coalition in the state of Colorado, and then we unify the population of 400,000, we could fill jobs (snaps fingers) in minutes.

- To have someone successfully transition out of the military, there needs to be layers of things woven in.

Outside of just the, here's how you write an interview, here's how you dress for an interview, here's how you talk during an interview, there's so much more to life than that.

- One of the things that I struggled with, getting out, was my mindset.

Where I needed to come up with like a new philosophy for myself.

It was like who I wanted to be and who I wanted to become and where I wanted to go and where I wanted to take my family.

- There's a lot of things that you were so used to in your service, whether that's now I have to find business clothing to wear or having to adjust to a different schedule.

Going from 12-hour shifts to going to a nine to five.

And there's a lot of adjustments that come with that.

Dealing with traffic.

Dealing with people who may not understand what your service entailed, and so getting a lot of questions.

And that can be frustrating or bring up a lot of emotions for people.

- And in order for us to be able to be part of society, we need to be accepted into society.

Whether it's trauma, whether it's the way that civilians look at veterans, whether it's our reactions.

You know, we're starting to react because we're used to a certain way.

- The government does a good job putting structure around things, but it's not adequate, right?

It doesn't actually help you.

It helps identify some things that you may be challenged with on the way out, but then, you still have to go and do it.

And then you have to be mentally prepared.

And if your head space and timing is not in a good place, it's gonna be a real challenge.

And if your physical health, you know, your spiritual health, your mental health isn't in a really good place, you're gonna struggle.

- In the military, you know, when you do reach out for help, the help is there, but it's time-limited.

You still have to be concerned about what you say, you know, if you had a security clearance or things of that nature.

It can really complicate the process of getting into mental health.

- [Announcer] Some veterans, like Brian Johnson and Tiffany Morgan, set out to help fellow veterans who struggle with mental health, addiction and civilian life.

- When I took off both my uniforms, I struggled.

I struggled tremendously.

I was hiding a lot of of mental anguish.

I have several severe physical injuries that have caused me a lotta pain.

I was on daily medications, taking multiple medications.

That was tough.

I mean, I didn't know what to do.

- Mental health is a big issue in the veteran space, in that in the military, we're taught not to ask for help.

And part of that is so that we're not seen as the weak link.

And the other part is it's an idea of pull yourself up by the bootstrap, suck it up.

And so that doesn't leave room for any weakness.

- Living with pain is tough, and pain causes a lot of emotional setbacks, and that's what it did for me.

I didn't think that I could actually live without having my pain medications.

- [Announcer] Learning from his experience and wanting to help give other veterans a second chance, Brian founded WarriorNOW.

- [Announcer] It wasn't long before other veterans, including Tiffany Morgan, joined the organization.

- WarriorNOW was started a little over three years ago.

We're a nonprofit.

We primarily work with the Veteran Treatment Courts here in Colorado.

And we provide veteran-to-veteran peer mentoring, one-on-one in group settings.

And we also do prosocial and recreational therapy.

- We've served just over 2,000 veterans just in the short amount of time that we've been in existence.

We just completed over 700 buddy checks.

Just a Zoom call at night, seven o'clock, when it's the easiest time for us to go ahead and tip back.

Okay, yeah, just, I need you for like a minute.

That's it.

We give 'em prosocial engagements.

We get them out of their house.

We're real excited.

We're looking about just a little bit over 40 vets so far come through, and we're barely an hour into the event.

- So when we get out of the military and we need that assistance, because transition is difficult for anybody, mental health can greatly improve that situation.

- [Announcer] WarriorNOW is just one of many programs out there to help veterans excel in civilian life.

- There's a lot of veteran support groups here.

Nonprofits that are willing to help people transition and to be there for families.

- Jobs don't always translate, right?

- Yeah.

- Even when it seems like it should.

- All right, so I'll speak to my personal experience.

So the touches that I had, these organizations that will help you get out.

Boots to Suits exists out there, and their whole job is to make sure that you are building your resume and making sure that you're dressing the part.

It's kind of making sure you're wearing the uniform for the job that you want.

- When I got out, I used The Honor Foundation, Special Operations Transition Foundation.

They're a nonprofit.

I had friends that were willing to mentor, introduced me to people.

That's how I ended up here at Encore Electric.

- For me, the Veterans of Foreign Wars was helpful.

There was another organization that I went through, called Valor Bridge, which was great.

It was like a mini bootcamp to try and translate what your experiences look like and kind of what your strengths are, and how that can play in an organization in the civilian world, like a company.

- The challenge for veterans is they're sorta insulated.

They're buddies, their peers, their friends are all in the military.

So when they're getting out, they're asking those people that are in the military for advice, and they can't help 'em.

- I think connecting service members to those veteran organizations prior to them getting out.

And I'm not talking about here's a list of places, reach out, 'cause we're not going to.

It means making actual connections.

- It's hard to figure out where you fit back in when the military has always told you, "Hey, you know, "this is what we need you to go do."

- Build those relationships, build that comradery that you had.

And not only will that help you in your personal life, in finding that sense of purpose, if you've lost it, but it'll also help with the camaraderie piece of the puzzle.

- Get in touch with your trade schools and your universities.

Even if they're com colleges, they do have offices around serving veterans.

That should be one of your first touches, is making sure that you are working with these offices whose job it is to serve veterans.

And not only that, but making sure they work with you, with the career opportunities office at your university or at your trade school, so that you can start developing that plan and that path.

And making sure you're getting credit for your education and training while you were in, so that you're not starting from scratch.

- They used to not have things such as SkillBridge, where a member, with the approval of their command, they can out-process from the service up to 180 days prior to their date of separation and do an internship with a different company.

And so they still get paid with the military, and they're doing an unpaid internship with the company that they're going into.

- I'm extremely happy about life right now.

About two weeks before my retirement ceremony, I got a phone call from Lockheed Martin, offering me a job.

And it's right up my alley.

I like working with people.

That's one of the things I really enjoyed when I was in the Air Force.

So I'm very hopeful that this is gonna be what's gonna last me for the rest of my life.

Life is good right now.

(soothing piano music) - [Announcer] Even with the challenges veterans face getting into the right job, for the employers that add vets to their ranks, the value is clear.

(soothing piano music) - [Al] Vets bring loyalty, right?

They bring all the Army's values, bring all the military values, right?

There's personal courage there, there's loyalty, there's commitment.

- Character and aptitude and values and demeanor.

- There's honesty, there's trust.

- There's so many ways that veterans can adjust and become really impactful members of our workforce.

- We also do it with excellence.

So when we do that thing, we do it to the best of our ability.

- That's a really good selling point for employers to be able to employ veterans, 'cause you're gonna get some of the hardest-working people you'll ever have on your staff.

(joyous music) - [Announcer] Don't forget the training.

Don't forget the discipline.

Learning to work as a team.

Don't forget, hire the vet.

(joyous music) (gentle music) - [Announcer] Veterans are diverse and dynamic.

They come from all walks of life and bring unique points of view to anything they do, including this documentary, which was made by a veteran.

(gentle music) (cheerful music)