Three Portrayals of Military Veterans: Implications for their Career Transitions

Veterans’ studies scholars have examined the military’s role in developing service member knowledge and job skills while also considering the many career transition challenges veterans experience. These examinations have contributed toward scholars’ and practitioners’ understanding of military training and military service; still, media portrayals of veterans’ attributes, characteristics, and transition challenges have not been considered through the lens of veteran career transitions. This veteran voice paper reviews how the media portrays veterans through three predominant lenses and subsequently considers how each portrayal may influence their post-military career transitions. Using Media Effects theory, the three outlined portrayals of veterans offer distinct implications for veterans and prospective employers. The intent of this paper is for readers to gain insight into how media portrayals of veterans may necessitate a re-examination of how they are treated and stereotyped in society.