Wounded vets starting over

SAN ANTONIO — Job applicants with missing limbs and severe burns arrived on crutches and in wheelchairs recently at a job fair designed to help veterans rebuild their lives after being seriously wounded in Iraq.

Some veterans wore bandages, fatigues and dark suits to cover their injuries as they met with recruiters that included banks, financial planners, military contractors and federal agencies. It was the ninth in a series of job fairs sponsored by the Pentagon.

Job fairs "provide the hope and inspiration there is life after the military," said Patricia Bradshaw, the Pentagon's deputy undersecretary of civilian personnel.

More than 23,000 military service members have been wounded in Iraq. Because of advances in battlefield medicine, some of the worst wounds, including burns and limb losses, are increasingly survivable.

Sgt. Chad Rozanski, 21, lost both legs above the knees in an explosion last July. He had planned to work as a firefighter or for the Transportation Security Administration after his military career, but the blast ended those plans.

Rozanski has been so focused on rehabilitation that he's only begun thinking about his post-military life. The job fair, he said, was a comfortable place to start.

"I'm going to be able to come up here and not going to be continually turned down," he said, adding that he would also be spared the chore of repeatedly explaining his wounds.

Spc. James Johnson, 38, of Middletown, Ohio, suffered a broken ankle and third-degree leg burns after a suicide bomber blew up a truck near a security checkpoint. He said the job fair was convenient for wounded service members recovering at Fort Sam Houston, which houses the Army's only burn unit and has a new rehabilitation center for amputees.

"It's a huge advantage, because I wouldn't get a second glance looking like this," Johnson said, glancing down at his crutches and Army nylon track suit.

The event is also an opportunity to meet employers in a nonthreatening environment. Wounded veterans "can still get out there, and the big world is saying, 'We still want you. You have skills we want,' " Johnson said.

For employers, the job fair offers a chance to survey a pool of disciplined, hardworking applicants, many of whom have already obtained the security clearance that is important for defense jobs.

Federal agencies must give hiring preference to military veterans. The roughly 70 employers at the Fort Sam fair included the CIA and the TSA, as well as private employers such as aircraft maker Northrop Grumman Corp. and heavy construction company Kiewit Corp.

Lamar Small, a human-resources manager for Kiewit, said the company offers jobs that require employees to move frequently, which can be a good fit for veterans.

Those with severe disabilities will not be able to work in construction, but they could be engineers or accountants or fill other positions that are not physically strenuous, he said.

Veterans often bring another strength for Kiewit, which has a number of federal contracts: They understand paperwork. "And paperwork is very important to the government," Small said.