Subtheme 1A: Difficulty finding adequate employment:

Participants expressed difficulty in translating the skills they learned in the Army into civilian life, resulting in challenges finding and securing employment. This led them to be without work—and therefore income—during the critical early stages of transition. Several participants noted that a challenge of finding work was feeling unprepared due to a routine in the Army that abruptly ended when entering civilian life.

Participant 39: “I’d say probably one of the hardest things transitioning out and finding work was a lot of it is just the culture shock. Because you’re going from a military environment and a way of life. Back to a civilian way of life and you just don’t fit in anymore. Nothing feels right. The people don’t feel right. The situation doesn’t ever feel right. Everything is uncomfortable.”

Exacerbating the incongruence between the skills possessed and skills needed, joining the Army at a young age often came up, as many had not had any previous employment prior to entering the Army.

Participant 41 noted: “I think, my general experience with transition was pretty difficult. I was [21–25 years old]. And I had saved up a lot of money from being in the Army. And I didn’t know how to spend it. I did not invest it. I never had a job before the Army. So a little hard for me to find work or to understand like the life balance and stuff…”

Notably, even when employment was found, the job was often not enough to pay for the high cost of housing. Multiple participants also noted working multiple jobs.

Participant 53: “… I ended up living out of my car for a while working a restaurant job. But I wasn’t making enough money to get an apartment or anything like that. Because the cost of living in that area was so high... and the hours were not good as well.”

Most participants who were staying with family and friends did not describe finding work while homeless to be as strenuous as those in other homeless living situations. For instance, participant 23 noted of his homeless experience, “I mean, I guess it wasn’t too bad… We stayed with friends kind of all over the country… And a friend of mine’s son was selling his house… So like my first job was basically like helping out with the work to fix the house up… Which I then eventually bought.”

This was contrasted with participant 53 stated, who stayed in his car: “The biggest struggle was I think staying presentable so to speak, because I was working after a bit… And so basically I was trying to like try and stay like looking like I wasn’t homeless for my job… So I showered like twice a week… But I was always like trying to like figure out you know like where I could park and not get… the cops called on me by people that live around there and stuff like that.”

Subtheme 1B: Lengthy processing of VA disability benefits:

A second subtheme that emerged in this area was the significant challenges participants experienced navigating the process for applying for disability ratings, citing unclear guidance and contradictory information through the claims process. These barriers and misunderstandings resulted in an extended period in which they were counting on being eligible for benefits only to find out they were ineligible, leading to a confusing situation and additional financial difficulties.

Participant 2: “I was denied my disability by the VA until [YEAR]. I tried to apply, Late [YEAR], early [YEAR] but I was told I didn’t qualify because my time of service was too short. But I guess whenever they looked that most of my time in the service was in [THEATER]. So then they were contradicting themselves and saying the time out of country counts as double or something like that, it weighs it different or something. I don’t know.”

For those who qualified for VA service-connected disability post-separation, many participants still noted they became homeless in part due to a delay in receiving their benefits. After applying, the lag in being approved and receiving pay was substantial, lasting months to over a year in some cases. There was also a lack of clarity about when they should expect to receive the payment.

Participant 24: “We also, as far as my benefits after I got out of the Army from the VA side, they never told me when those were going to start being received… so I was without pay for quite a few months and that affected me being able to take care of rent, bills, things like that. So that essentially was part of why I ended up becoming homeless...”

Others suggested that the lengthy process and lack of clarity persisted even a decade later when submitting supplemental claims.

Participant 43: “I didn’t have anybody saying they should do this or having a kind of recommendations of what I should list for injuries that I sustained while in service or anything like that. So it’s all on my own. Even right now. This is almost 10 years later. I’m still submitting supplemental claims to my original claim because for one instance, I had a surgery on my left hand while I was in a training exercise in [OCONUS LOCATION]. And they sent back on my original claim that that injury did not happen, was on active duty... I have an appointment to submit that claim… and it’s been [> 6 to 10 years]. So it has not been easy.”

Subtheme 2A: Lack of awareness of existing resources upon transitioning:

Participants noted that though they took transition classes prior to leaving active duty through the TAP, they felt the information they received was not adequate and the classes did not clearly describe the programs available to help soldiers after leaving active duty.

Participant 39: “… I mean, they, what we did go through mandatory, it was sort of lackluster and really inadequate. The programs that the military has or had, when I got out are geared more toward your senior enlisted and your officers. We didn’t, I didn’t even know it existed until 2 years after I was already out of the military. Which to me is ridiculous and it’s still that way and I have a lot of buddies and across all branches that, you know, are my rank or equivalent or less and they are saying all the same thing. That you don’t even know these programs exist until 2 years after you get out a lot of times.”

Other participants noted that though VA programs to support the transition existed, this was not clearly communicated to soldiers and it was not known how to access them. Various VA programs have outreach components for new veterans depending on their needs, but as Participant 1 reported: “I know there’s a lot of VA programs out there and stuff, but they don’t really advertise them.”

Some veterans had the impression that once they left the military, they were done with the military and did not think of seeking resources related to their military background when they were homeless.

Participant 24: “I didn’t know what else there was out there as far as you know, like I said, if I needed a place to go, I didn’t know what benefits there were for that. I didn’t know that both the Army and the VA could help me you know, to find shelter. I didn’t know that, you know, there were education benefits until later on, which now I’m, I’m utilizing that.”

The issue of age was again mentioned in this context. Several participants noted joining the Army right after high school and therefore not being prepared after coming out.

Participant 5: “… When I joined the military I was 18 years old, like I had never been on my own ever at like 18… never, you know, lived on my own… From what I remember they talked about the loan stuff, but they didn’t really talk about the process of buying a house right so, or even getting into an apartment.”

Subtheme 2B: Personal challenges with planning:

It is notable that some participants stated that they felt the inadequate planning was their fault, rather than that of the Army. Participants noted that they had unrealistic expectations and did not anticipate how hard it would be to find employment or manage money during reintegration. These findings were distinct from the lack of awareness listed above, as they revealed self-insights about why they may have struggled. For instance, one veteran shared that while he took classes, he had difficulty paying attention.

Participant 11: “I want to say I’m going to take personal responsibility for not knowing how to manage my finances. I would think my common sense tells me [that they went over preparing a plan or applying to jobs], but I was not able to pay attention in class.”

Another participant noted that he could have planned better and bought a house sooner, but this was difficult because he did not have a job and therefore did not know where he was going to live, demonstrating intersecting factors:

Participant 31: “You know, I guess, it could be lack of planning, I guess, but it’s hard to, I think secure additional housing. I guess I could have done that. I guess we could have bought a house before we got out, but we didn’t know where we were gonna live because I didn’t have a job yet. So I think that’s part of [why] the job insecurity piece led to a delay in housing for us.”

Many of these individuals were explicit in stating that it was not the Army’s fault and that there was nothing that could have been done to prevent their homelessness.

Participant 37: “That’s a hard question because I’m big on self-accountability, so like, I, I don’t consider it their problem, you know, or that their fault, you know.”

Relatedly, others stated that it was hard to accept help. The military culture’s focus on self-reliance may have influenced veterans in this respect.

Participant 4: “My pride would not have allowed it. Like I said, when I got out. I really didn’t wanna have anything to do with government stuff for a while.”

Notably, one participant mentioned that military culture influenced him to think he could do something that he should not actually do.

Participant 14: “Just bad planning on my part. I decided it would be a good idea to try and do a vacation. You know, to a foreign country that I didn’t really have all the money for. So, definitely I guess is a bit of that still had that like machismo about, I’m in the infantry, you know, what’s to stop me? And then getting over there and being like, yeah, I don’t have the money I need. I don’t have you know the various supplies that I need. So that kind of dumb part essentially is what led to it. Nothing drug or alcohol related just being a real dumb one, that’s all.”

Subtheme 3A: Loss of a primary relationship:

Multiple participants highlighted the profound impact of losing primary relationships during the transition. They described the financial and emotional difficulties of managing breakups, separations, divorce, and death as key factors contributing to their homelessness.

Participant 48: “You know, my wife left. And took my kids to [STATE]... I ended up not getting any work and so a lot of time passed by. And right about at the same time the unemployment stopped is when I finally got someone to sell our house... So she had started the divorce out of state… Now this money that I was really banking on ends up going into a trust in the state of [STATE]. I’m like kind of behind on a court case that I didn’t really know existed. So I ended up getting a lawyer and that was like all the money I had. And so I, you know, just kind of ended up me being on the streets.”

Several participants again noted that joining the military at a young age, not long after high school, made it particularly difficult to re-establish social relationships after separating from the military. Their trajectories had abruptly shifted due to military service and it was difficult to return to their prior life.

Participant 21: “I guess mentally too just trying to figure out, you know, your life outside of the military, cause you join at a certain age at [<21], you know, your whole life changes. Then once you out, you know. Your life has changed, your friends is different, everything is different, you try to come back home and hang with them, but you can’t fit in because you don’t fit in no more. Just all that type of stuff.”

As above however, participants also attributed several converging factors, for instance going through a divorce while simultaneously struggling to find adequate employment, further compounding the challenge of maintaining housing.

Participant 25: “It was nowhere near enough time to have enough money… I didn’t have relationship anymore, I didn’t. So it was trying to come to terms with my family and be for a little while and then trying to find another job. Which wasn’t as easy as I thought to be. It was hard trying to transition into the workforce. Oh, that was challenging as well.”

Subtheme 3B: Connection between mental health and relationship struggles:

Several participants identified a bidirectional relationship between mental health struggles, such as alcohol use disorder and bipolar disorder, and relationship loss, including death, as leading to homelessness. Some revealed that the mental health issues led to relationship loss.

Participant 21:“Basically my mental health caused me to get a divorce, somewhat. You know I had to leave and I didn’t have, you know, we were staying together, but when I left, you know, I think I was like in a manic state, so I wasn’t really thinking straight. It hit me once you start realizing you gotta be in a hotel and then you got to think about funds…”

Others indicated that the relationship loss led to mental health and substance use issues. For instance, participant 6 described a complex journey that included using drugs due to the death of his best friend from the Army just after getting out as a way to “numb myself.” He stated that it was normal to drink every day in the infantry and that he and his military buddies kept drinking together when they returned to civilian life, which evolved into hard drug use. He was working odd jobs, had a delay in receiving disability payment, and then six months later ended up getting a back payment. With this large sum of money he quit his job, moved into a girl’s place, and was kicked out due to drugs. He then moved in with his parents and was eventually kicked out of his parents’ house due to drug use. Though he was able to rent a room, he eventually ended up sleeping in a car due to his ongoing drug use.