By State Representative Dave Belton (R-Buckhead), Chairman of the House Military Affairs Working Group
(722 words)
The Department of Defense is the single largest employer in Georgia, providing jobs for a third of a million Georgians with an annual economic impact of nearly $20 billion. With so much at stake, and with the military and president discussing another round of BRAC, Georgia cannot afford to ignore our state’s military needs, especially as our rival states budget millions of dollars every year to protect their own installations.
Regarding K-12 education, Georgia ranks poorly, a concern Pentagon officials said is our state’s biggest weakness. The new Military Affairs Working Group has passed several bills in the House this year, including a measure that would provide school choice for military children, the “Educating Children for Military Families Act” and a measure that would provide a competitive grant for K-12 schools with large military children populations to receive additional counselors for those military children. However, Georgia’s university and technical colleges excel in their military friendly practices, winning many awards for their pro-military initiatives.
Just this year, Armstrong State University was named the fourth best military friendly university in America, followed by Georgia State University at No. 7, the University of Georgia at No. 42, the College of Coastal Georgia at No. 52 and Augusta University at No. 112. Another list ranks the University of Georgia as the No. 1 military friendly top-tier research university in America, Albany State University as the No. 8 small university and ranks the University of North Georgia, the Military College of Georgia, extremely high. An amazing 10 percent of Georgia Southern University’s students are veterans, and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has a very generous endowment for our returning warriors. Columbus State University, Kennesaw State University and Valdosta State University also rank very well. Additionally, Augusta University is coordinating directly with the National Security Agency to enhance our nation’s cybersecurity efforts.
Georgia’s technical colleges fared just as well: Savannah Technical College is ranked No. 1 in the nation, followed by Wiregrass Georgia Technical College at No. 13, Gwinnett Technical College at No. 19 and Central Georgia Technical College at No. 25.
Georgia allows veterans to receive in-state tuition as well as the HOPE scholarship, and 90 percent of Georgia’s universities and technical colleges have a military outreach center. The military liaison at these universities and technical colleges reaches out to veterans the very first time they call, keeping a life-line of support as they navigate through a completely different environment. Veterans leave the extremely structured life of the military and are immersed in the incredibly unstructured life of college student, a transition that often leads to early dropouts. Military liaisons, counselors and peer advisors help find that soldier’s direction.
“Veterans know what it is to serve, but they feel disconnected from the camaraderie of military life,” said Mark Eister of Georgia State University’s Military Outreach Center. “The first semester is the most critical time. Once you give a soldier a direction, he knows how to accomplish the mission.”
Veterans benefit from the post 9/11 GI Bill scholarship, but the process is incredibly cumbersome and requires a great deal of help from military advisors. As most soldiers do not receive help from their parents, these advisors also help these veterans find part-time jobs, accommodations and methods to cope with their disabilities, as most veterans leave the military with a physical or psychological disability.
Many of our universities also create “Green Zones,” or military-friendly areas where soldiers congregate to restore their lost sense of community. Veterans are 10 years older than most other students and have unfortunately witnessed horrible things that no person ever wants to see, and they often feel alienated from the frivolity of campus life. Faculty and staff at these centers of higher learning undergo voluntary military-friendly training so they can better serve these returning heroes, which is huge commitment to our warriors.
My committee gathered with these award-winning institutions of higher learning this week to share best practices. As one of the presenters stated, “Learn from the best, and give to the rest.” We’ll gather their experiences to create military-friendly flagship K-12 public schools not only to protect our military bases, but also to serve the children of our military men and women who serve us so well.
We can be very proud of Georgia’s universities and technical colleges for their efforts in supporting our veterans.
Representative Dave Belton represents the citizens of District 112, which includes all of Morgan County and the eastern side of Newton County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2014, and currently serves as the Chairman of the Military Affairs working group. He is also a member of the Economic Development & Tourism, Education, Energy, Utilities &Telecommunications, and Interstate Cooperation committees.
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