Prioritizing Military Transition in Ukraine
October, 2024
Prepared by John Boerstler & George Chewning
Background:
The U.S. has invested billions in support of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion of 2022, and many more billions during the previous evolutions of the Russo-Ukrainian War, including the Donbas War. While we do not know under what conditions the war will end, we must prepare for what happens when it does. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers will be immediately disbanded with limited or no reintegration support. Over the following months and years, millions more will follow as Ukraine demobilizes, creating a significant amount of highly qualified, displaced workers. Demobilized veterans who are in need of healthcare, mental healthcare, and employment transition services and who may be at-risk of political radicalization, family challenges, homelessness, criminal behavior, and suicide will present myriad challenges for the Ukrainian government and civil society. While these challenges will impact different oblasts and cities differently, the potential for many multi-faceted public problems will arrive overnight across the country.
Nations have overseen both successful and unsuccessful rapid demobilizations in the past throughout Europe and North America. This white paper intends to outline the lessons learned from both sets of experiences with specific recommendations for U.S. lawmakers, agency leaders, investors, Ukrainian officials, civil society, and private sector leaders to consider. All these stakeholders can contribute to a comprehensive strategy for veteran reintegration and support that will strengthen the Ukrainian government as a bulwark against future Russian aggression and stabilize the region.
Key Challenges:
Fragmented Support System: Ukraine's current veteran support infrastructure is fragmented, leading to inconsistencies in service delivery and a lack of coordinated care.
Limited Access to Services: Many veterans face difficulties accessing essential resources such as mental health care, education, and employment opportunities.
Bureaucratic Barriers: Navigating government processes can be time-consuming and frustrating for veterans seeking benefits and support.
Strategic Recommendations:
Establish a Unified Transition Framework: Develop a comprehensive plan that outlines clear roles and responsibilities for government agencies, NGOs, and the private sector to ensure a seamless transition process for veterans.
Improve Coordination and Collaboration: Create a centralized platform for stakeholders to share information, resources, and best practices, fostering a more cohesive support network.
Streamline Bureaucratic Processes: Simplify procedures for accessing benefits and support services, reducing the administrative burden on veterans at both national and local levels of service delivery.
Strengthen Grassroots Organizations: Empower local veteran support groups to provide tailored services and act as intermediaries between veterans and government agencies.
Strategic Recommendation #1: Establish a Unified Transition Framework: Develop a comprehensive plan that outlines clear roles and responsibilities for government agencies, NGOs, and the private sector to ensure a seamless transition process for veterans.
Drawing from the Ukrainian Government’s recently published “New Veterans Policy”, as a starting point for a comprehensive national strategy that establishes a Unified Transition Framework at the national, regional, district and community level to ensure consistent and targeted support for veterans throughout Ukraine.
Develop broad-based communication strategies and programming to advise veterans of their legal rights and social protection guarantees as veterans.
Adopt a proactive communications framework to effectively message about veteran care as a key element of public diplomacy. By clearly communicating the benefits and services available to veterans, the government can demonstrate its commitment to those who have served, fostering trust among veterans and the public. This messaging can also enhance Ukraine's international image as a nation that values and supports its military personnel, while promoting societal cohesion and showing partners and investors that the country is dedicated to long-term stability and reintegration efforts.
Enhance Employment Opportunities: Develop targeted programs to help veterans transition into the civilian workforce, leveraging their transferable skills and experience, reconstruction projects in particular.
Develop and adopt national employment protection policies that establish rights and responsibilities for uniformed service members and their civilian employers to ensure that returning veterans have equal or greater employment opportunities with their employer when returning to civilian life.
Develop and adopt a national program to incentivize employers to recruit, train and retain returning war veterans.
Develop a plan to support veterans employment in reconstruction projects, potentially drawing on U.S. legislation which specifies veteran preference for competitive contract bids.
Prioritize Mental Health Support: Increase access to mental health services, including nature-based therapies and specialized treatment for trauma, to address the unique challenges faced by veterans.
Develop and modernize national standards for psychosocial treatment by bringing together professional associations and boards of mental health professionals to determine standards for ethics, governance, training and delivery of professional services.
Develop a multi-year strategy for veterans in collaboration with leaders from the NGO sector and veterans groups, based on previous initiatives such as the 2018 Veterans Empowerment and Transition Summit (VETS).
Identify and support the critical and urgent needs of combat veterans when they transition from the battlefield to their homes through separation counseling, and seek international advice and funding for:
Procedures for medical examinations on discharge, which would include physical and psychological baseline testing to support a continuing health care plan.
Comprehensive reintegration evaluation, looking at veterans community support, employment transition, and training needs.
Joint rehabilitation programs for veterans and their families.
Programming for families of deceased service people.
Invite international leaders and experts to assist in the development of this comprehensive strategy.
Strategic Recommendation #2: Improve Coordination and Collaboration: Create a centralized platform for stakeholders to share information, resources, and best practices, fostering a more cohesive support network.
Provide funding for data collection and tracking efforts on reintegration gaps and government programming to improve oversight and assess effectiveness of veterans support nationally and locally. The lack of data is an issue across the Ukrainian government and impedes the identification of citizen needs and the assessment of government progress.
Collect data on veterans that can be segmented by gender and develop programming targeted to women’s and men’s different needs.
Gather data to identify gaps in services and measure the effectiveness of interventions, allowing for evidence-based policymaking.
Encourage greater public-private partnerships for veterans support with civil society, volunteer and business organizations.
Create an inventory of local and national veteran resources to provide veterans with clear pathways to housing, healthcare, employment, and educational opportunities.
Strategic Recommendation #3: Streamline Bureaucratic Processes: Simplify procedures for accessing benefits and support services, reducing the administrative burden on veterans at both national and local levels of service delivery.
Clearly articulate city, state, and regional administration responsibilities. The tasks of the national government should include a legislative framework for reform, with the adoption of social standards, norms and criteria for evaluation of social services, and continuous monitoring of the provision of social support across all levels of government.
Disseminate best practices between regions and communities in Ukraine through roundtables and white papers. For example, the best practices of building a quality rehabilitation program or center for veterans.
Allow local discretion in the provision of social services and protection to veterans when nationally-mandated services don’t fit the local context. For example, monetizing privileges that are not available locally (land), or arranging contracts with transportation carriers to provide free transport for veterans in rural areas or small towns.
Strategic Recommendation #4: Strengthen Grassroots Organizations: Empower local veteran support groups to provide tailored services and act as intermediaries between veterans and government agencies.
Support the development of standards and norms of veterans care, and abide by them when they are adopted.
Support and provide opportunities to veteran-led advocacy organizations, both financially and through capacity-building initiatives. These organizations play a crucial role in bridging the gap between government services and the unique needs of veterans.
Seek ways to pool administrative resources to reduce indirect costs and ensure that more funding goes to veterans themselves.
Find ways to facilitate veteran access to social support programs by co-locating organizations.
Conclusion:
Ukraine’s impending demobilization of hundreds of thousands of soldiers presents both a significant challenge and an opportunity. The country's ability to reintegrate these veterans will be crucial to its long-term stability, both socially and politically. By prioritizing healthcare, employment transition, mental health services, and community reintegration, a coordinated effort can help prevent the potential risks of radicalization, homelessness, and social unrest. With the right strategies in place, Ukraine can transform this demobilization into an opportunity for national resilience, security, and sustained growth, strengthening its position as a defender of democracy in the face of ongoing threats from Russia.
About the Authors:
John Boerstler - John currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Public Sector at Ipsos Public Affairs. Prior to his role at Ipsos, John served as the Chief Experience Officer at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In this role, John provided oversight of the qualitative design and quantitative survey capabilities housed within the Veterans Experience Office and worked collaboratively within VA’s leadership to help achieve greater access and outcomes for Veterans. Prior to his appointment at VA, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Combined Arms, a disruptive technology company that ensures the social determinants of health (SDOH) are uniquely addressed for underserved populations. John is also a recipient of both the Eisenhower and Marshall Memorial Fellowships, having traveled globally to compare and develop military to civilian reintegration systems. As the first Marshall Prize recipient, John completed a 3-year project in Ukraine to assist in the development of their Ministry of Veterans Affairs – the first of its kind in Europe. John is a native Texan who served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps as an infantry unit leader in the Iraq War and in East Africa.
George Chewning - George Chewning is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and served as an Army Infantry Officer in Afghanistan. He has worked in various technology roles and served on the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Commission. George is also a former Presidential Innovation Fellow where he was a senior advisor at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He is currently the Executive Director of the US-Ukraine Veterans Bridge.
References:
These recommendations draw upon several key articles and papers:
"In Fellowship We Find" by Martin Klingst (GMF, 2022) emphasizes the importance of fostering connections and shared experiences to strengthen international relations. Veterans, who have served alongside one another, can be powerful bridges between nations.
"The Trip from Donbas: Ukraine's Pressing Need to Defend its Veterans" by Van Metre and Boerstler (Atlantic Council, 2020) focuses on the specific difficulties faced by Ukrainian veterans, particularly those who served in the Donbas conflict. Their well-being is essential for national security and stability.
"When Veterans Deploy in Service of Transatlantic Relations" by Doherty and Boerstler (GMF, 2019) explores the valuable contributions veterans can make to transatlantic cooperation by leveraging their skills and experiences.
“Warriors Are More Than Warfighters: A Strategy for Veteran Reintegration in Ukraine” by Dylan Tete (Combined Arms, 2023) proposes a strategy to build a more efficient and effective veteran support system in Ukraine. It emphasizes empowering grassroots veteran organizations and service providers at the local level first, then connecting them to a centralized platform co-managed by the Ministries of Veterans Affairs and Defense.
“US-Ukraine Veterans Bridge Post-Trip Debrief July 2024” by George Chewning and DJ Skelton (USUAVB, 2024) highlights key insights from a team of U.S. veteran experts and advocates on a 2024 trip to Kyiv, Dnipro, and Vinnytsia. The delegation identified three priority challenge areas with opportunities to organize U.S. support.
“Ukrainian New Veterans Policy” by the Government of Ukraine outlines 5 priorities for the government and the state to create appropriate conditions for the adaptation, rehabilitation, development and well-being of veterans.