Photograph by Brady Terry
Spc. Jeremy Guza,
Charlie Company
1-128 Infantry Division
Formerly deployed to Samara, Iraq

“I signed up June 16, 2003. I was only [at UW-Platteville] a semester before I got pulled away to go to basic and was only planning on missing a semester. When we got called up I had to miss spring of 2004 fall of 2004, spring of 2005 and fall of 2005 and that’s three semesters that I was planning on being in school that I really didn’t get a chance to. It was really difficult taking two years off from school and coming back and trying to remember everything and trying to get back into the groove of college. Luckily I took easy enough classes that I was able to ease myself back into it. Since I’m going to be going over again next January, it’s going to be a lot more difficult coming back after that. I’m going to be having my junior- and senior-level classes in both my majors, and I’m going to have to jump right back into where I left off.”

– Spc. Jeremy Guza,
Charlie Company
1-128 Infantry Division
Formerly deployed to Samara, Iraq

Guza’s comments highlight the difficulties college students who are also committed to military service, have completing their education. Most students are in and out of college in four to five years, but for members of the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy, finishing school can become more lengthy and difficult. Deployment can mean extensive breaks from education, which can make transitioning back into college life difficult.

“It helped out that I still had friends from when I was a freshman,” Guza said. “They all had a lot of the classes that I was taking or were able to help me out.”

David Kieckhafer, the campus veterans official, said that in some cases, the veteran is aware of a call up before the semester begins, but in other cases, a call up may come suddenly in the middle of a semester. Kieckhafer said that with either of these situations, his office works to help student veterans with that transition.

“If a significant amount of coursework has been completed, then the instructor of the course may be able to award an incomplete or even a final grade,” Kieckhafer said. “If the student chooses to withdraw when called to active duty, then we work with the student to process the withdrawal and arrange for a full refund of tuition.”

“Students can keep in touch with our office, admissions and their adviser to make plans for returning to school before they actually end their tour of duty,” Kieckhafer said.

Guza said that even with help, the transition was difficult, but beyond schoolwork, the biggest transition was the lifestyle.

“The biggest transition when we came back was going from having to do work 16 hours a day to having time off,” Guza said. “It was different not having a set work schedule and not being told what to do all the time.”

To make the transition towards independence, Guza relied on friends and family.

“I leaned on people for a while,” Guza said. “I tried to be independent, but leaning on people for a while helped me out a lot.”

A lot had changed in the nearly two years Guza was deployed in Iraq, and when he returned home, he noticed he had changed a lot as well.

“When I was here as a freshman I was very immature. I was drinking 4 to 5 nights a week, skipping a lot of classes and not really caring,” Guza said. “One thing I noticed is that because of the situation I was thrown into, I matured at a more rapid rate, so I became intolerant of some people because of their immaturity.”

Guza said he still drank, but for different reasons than he had before he was deployed.

“For me and most of my friends alcohol was our stress relief. That’s how we got over everything and got everything off our chest,” Guza said. “I use wrestling, friends and family and I got over it, but it was bad when I got back for a while.”

Guza said that there were triggers that brought on the stress that led to alcohol abuse for him and other fellow soldiers. One of these triggers was fireworks.

“We can’t do Fourth of July,” Guza said. “I didn’t even try it last year, because I kind of flipped the lid. I kind of lost it.”

“In Samara we’d get an average of five-plus rockets or mortars a day in the area and fireworks with the thump and the explosions sound just like a mortar going off,” Guza said. “I really didn’t expect it because sitting there watching it, I knew what was going on and I really didn’t expect my mind to say ‘Hey this is a bad situation, you’re in danger.’”

Veterans returning from overseas have many ways to turn for help. One place veterans can turn is Counseling Services, located on the second floor of Royce Hall.

Director Roger Meyer said that Counseling Services can provide a number of services to veterans.

“We offer individual counseling to help veterans with their academic transition along with helping them deal with relationships or anything that would help them readjust to the academic setting,” Meyer said.

“Starting this semester, we also offer Veterans Affairs Telemental Health, where veterans can connect directly with VA services in Madison through a visual and an audio connection,” Meyer said. “They can provide mental health counseling and help them connect with their VA benefits from a computer here in Counseling Services.”

Meyer said the two most common problems facing veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq are post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

According to the National Center for PTSD, the disorder is brought on after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event such as military combat. Those who suffer from PTSD relive the trauma of the event when they are reminded of it, seclude themselves from anything that reminds them of the trauma, and are often irritable or startled easily. People who suffer from PTSD can also face depression, alcohol abuse, substance abuse, memory loss and other mental health issues.

“TBI [traumatic brain injury] is becoming one of the signature wounds of the global war on terror,” Meyer said. “The unique things about wars now is the exposure to multiple explosions, and while there is no physical injury, the impacts can create brain injuries that don’t show up for a while.”

“TBI is physiological and is not helped through counseling, so differentiating between PTSD and TBI which have similar symptoms is important,” Meyer said. “The VA can help differentiate.”

Meyer wanted to remind veterans that all services are free and confidential.

Guza is scheduled to return to Iraq in January of 2009. The trip will be his last deployment before his contract with the National Guard is completed.

“I should be back in January of 2010, so hopefully I’ll be able to come back that spring and start school again,” Guza said.

With his contract expiring upon return, Guza is unsure if he will re-enlist for three more years of service.

“Even if I re-sign up, I should be able to finish my education when I come back,” Guza said. “but even after you are out you have two years of Individual Ready Reserve so you can get called up off of that anytime, so if I sign up for three more years I don’t have to do those two years.”

According to the U.S. Army Web site, the IRR is a program where inactive soldiers remain for possible assignment to an Army Reserve unit. These soldiers may be assigned to position vacancy requirements within designated Reserve units based on the needs of the Army.

“You don’t do drill or anything to do with the ARMY, but you are on a list and if they need people to fill in they call people off the inactive ready reserve to go,” Guza said. “It’s a slim chance.”

“I’m debating resigning. It depends on how the deployment and everything goes,” Guza said. “If everything goes really well, I might re-sign up just for the bonus, but I really don’t want to be in the Army any longer than I have to anymore. I am ready to move on and finish school because the Army has already taken me out of school twice without being able to finish my education, so I kind of just want to be done and move on.”