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Hi, wondering if anyone on here can help me with a problem i have been trying to solve for the last year or so. I am a US citizen and have been all my life, i do hold duel citizenship though with the United Kingdom and back when i was 18 my family lived in London, England where i joined the British Army and served 7 years. I now live back in the United States and and although everyone i meet is appreciative of my service especially after they learn i served alongside American troops in Kosovo and Iraq (actually crossing the Kuwait-Iraq border during the first breech in 2003 with the USMC) i don't have my vet status recognized here. I know there has to be a line drawn but i wondered if anyone knew of any similar circumstances or anyone i could talk to, i am not after money but some help with employment as the jobs in which i am qualified now give preference to veterans. I did see this-
and have tried contacting them but nobody gets back to me. Any help would be much appreciated, i sometimes wish i would have served in the US military because of the help it would give me now but i am still very proud to have served in the UK Army. The United States and the UK are strong allies for a reason and im very proud to bridge that gap.
Hi, wondering if anyone on here can help me with a problem i have been trying to solve for the last year or so. I am a US citizen and have been all my life, i do hold duel citizenship though with the United Kingdom and back when i was 18 my family lived in London, England where i joined the British Army and served 7 years. I now live back in the United States and and although everyone i meet is appreciative of my service especially after they learn i served alongside American troops in Kosovo and Iraq (actually crossing the Kuwait-Iraq border during the first breech in 2003 with the USMC) i don't have my vet status recognized here. I know there has to be a line drawn but i wondered if anyone knew of any similar circumstances or anyone i could talk to, i am not after money but some help with employment as the jobs in which i am qualified now give preference to veterans. I did see this-
and have tried contacting them but nobody gets back to me. Any help would be much appreciated, i sometimes wish i would have served in the US military because of the help it would give me now but i am still very proud to have served in the UK Army. The United States and the UK are strong allies for a reason and im very proud to bridge that gap.
A civilian employer (with no governement contracts requiring such preference) is free to decide any prerefence they wish to give to any veteran, foreign or domestic, based soly on their internal decissions.
Many employers do not grant preferences due to almost every state law that makes it illegal to discriminate in hiring and employment based on military and veteran status. The intent of the law was to ensure that serving and former militray members would not be rejected based solely on the fact that they were/are in the military.
But,
discrimination is a two-way street which means the employer is basically to put on blinders when it comes to a person's veteran status so as not to make any decission based on them being OR NOT being a veteran. Lawyers have long argued that by granting any non-mandated preferences, the employer is discriminating based on veteran status if they give out preferences to veterans that are not given equally to non veterans. Since state laws do not apply to federal government, they can still give preferences. State and local governements are also exempt because they do receive federal monies for many things so they can give preferences if they like.
A lot of companies have and do ask if you are a veteran. How they use it is up to them so long as they are not denying a veterans a job just cause they are a veteran, and they are not hiring the person just cause they are a veteran. Its a slippery slope.
To add, the US only recognizes mebers of it's own armed forces or those who served within the US Armed Forces and thus recognized by Congress the same as a US militray member. The fact that a US citizen served in a foreign militray, even if a side by side allai, is not grounds to be treated with preferences equal to a US served veteran or highre than what is accorded her own citizens.
Last edited by PacificFlights; 08-03-2012 at 12:48 PM..
You would not be considered a "Veteran" in the sense that we mean when talking about the US military. You did not serve in our military and you are not elligible for any of our benefits. Sorry. Try asking the UK for some benefits.
I now live back in the United States and and although everyone i meet is appreciative of my service especially after they learn i served alongside American troops in Kosovo and Iraq (actually crossing the Kuwait-Iraq border during the first breech in 2003 with the USMC) i don't have my vet status recognized here. I know there has to be a line drawn
Thanks for your service to...uh, another country (albeit an ally, but we have a lot of allies). There were way more countries involved in Iraq than just the US and UK. Do we draw the line with Britain and just leave those others out? I think yes; sorry, but veterans benefits are intended for and funded for US veterans.
You would not be considered a "Veteran" in the sense that we mean when talking about the US military. You did not serve in our military and you are not elligible for any of our benefits. Sorry. Try asking the UK for some benefits.
Not true, the VA has a list of Countries whose veterans have eligibility as there is a list of countries where US Veterans are entitled to care
Not true, the VA has a list of Countries whose veterans have eligibility as there is a list of countries where US Veterans are entitled to care
So you are telling me that when a typical American says the word "Veteran" that we don't mean veterans of US Armed Forces? We, in general, take that to also mean other countries?
I really wish you would provide a source. The VA Does not provide any benefits to anyone other than veterans of our branches. At least not that I could find in an hour of searching. Maybe there is a PRIVATE volunteer organization that does something differently, but VA benefits from our government are only afforded to those that served our government.
Read the VA Benefits Handbook, all soldiers who fought on the Allied side in World War II are eligible and there are reciprocity agreements with some countries that provide for those countries veterans to be treated here as well as ours to be treated there. The only way to find out if he is covered is to check with the VA. I am sure there is a reciprocity agreement with Britain, which would provide for that country to pay for treatment he recieves here just as they provide for our veterans to be treated there. The source you provided is fine, read it
I'll second that...check with the British Embassy and the VA here.
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