CEO of Veterans Aid Dr Hugh Milroy challenged students to ‘define a Veteran’ when he addressed members of the War Studies Department at London’s Kings College.

His 60 minute guest lecture invited the students to reconsider assumptions about who Veterans are in modern day Britain. To illustrate the point he talked about Veteran homelessness, institutionalisation, PTSD, transition from the military and the numbers of Veterans involved in the criminal justice system.

Despite a generally held view of Veterans being abandoned in society today he said, “I can tell you, that if you are a veteran today, and you are in trouble, you are lucky! There are more than 2,000 organisations dedicated to helping veterans. The MOD spends millions of pounds on transition and support to those who leave the Services. What other employer can you go back to 20 years after you have left and receive help?”

Dr Milroy blamed the media for many of the urban myths about Veterans e.g. numbers of rough sleepers and the existence of causal link between military Service and homelessness. Looking at emerging social problems for Veterans, Dr Milroy flagged up the growing numbers of ex-Service women, foreign/commonwealth soldiers, expats and gurkhas who were making their way to Veterans Aid.

“The problems are not new” he insisted, recalling the post-Crimea plight of homeless veterans, “but they are not related to military service. The underlying issue is poverty. Life in Britain today is hard. One in four of us will have mental health issues and we are in recession.”

Quizzed about the effect of current operations in relation to Veterans finding themselves in crisis, Dr Milroy reminded his audience that Northern Ireland involved three times as many troops for a far longer period than the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan had.

“Typically the people coming to us for help are male and in their 40s, with a few years’ service. Some have not even completed basic training. Most have never been deployed on operations.”

Asked about comparisons with other countries Dr Milroy left the students with more food for thought. “In the USA there is no National Health Service, but there is a Veterans Bill of Rights; people know what they are entitled to. Perhaps we should have one here?

“In Argentina only those who have fought in a war are entitled to call themselves ‘veterans’ – and they have only fought one war, which they lost. Many Veterans there feel that they have been sidelined by their Government.”

Currently, in Britain, in some cases, just one day’s service can qualify a person to receive help as a Veteran – consequently, there are thought to be more than 5.5 million Veterans in the UK. He wondered if this was a sustainable picture and about the role of the Government and the third sector. Given the numbers, and the growing public concern about Veterans wellbeing, Dr Milroy felt that there needed to “be a national debate about Veterans and their rights, if they indeed have any.”