Joining Forces A holistic approach to the resettlement of ex-Service personnel

Executive Summary: With a stalling European economy, housing shortages and a difficult local jobs market especially for younger people, the environment for Service Leavers (SL) is more challenging than ever before. The ForceSelect Foundation has prepared this report to offer Government evidence-based solutions to some of the serious problems set to affect Service Leavers over the coming years. It is our intention through this paper, to promote the commissioning of a more robust resettlement service based on the highly individual needs of all Service Leavers and their families, local labour markets and the wider social context they will enter after leaving their career in the Armed Forces. The Foundation has utilised the resources of ForceSelect, our sponsor esg., and a range of stakeholders to provide data, views and research to inform this report.

The Foundation has used a variety of tools to create a research
methodology; primarily:
• Data from ForceSelect’s database of over 6,000 Service Leavers
• In depth forums with a wide cross section of ex Ministry of Defence (MoD) personnel
• Detailed discussion with a group of 20 Early Service Leavers
• 1:1 interviews with Servicemen and women during their termination period
• Confidential telephone questionnaires with a sample group of 100 Service Leavers from Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines
• Supporting information from various documents and existing research papers

This research programme provided the Foundation with a detailed understandingof the common issues faced by Early Service Leavers (ESL), Service Leavers, long service personnel and their respective families. The collection of real life experience allied to the knowledge of the Foundation and the experience of ForceSelect has provided the backbone to this report. To illustrate the data we have collected, the report will focus on two fictional “life stories” of Tom and Chris – two Servicemen with different backgrounds, personal issues and length of service. These fictional journeys through a life in Service and subsequent transition to “civvy street” are the result of blending the most frequently recorded issues and common experiences discovered in our research for the main groups.

The report focuses on Tom and Chris’ journey to civilian life in three identified phases:
• “Life in the Services” – Tom and Chris’ time in Service
• “Getting ready for civvy street” – the activityduring their termination period
• “Life after Service” – Tom and Chris’experience of their transition to civilian life

The report then provides the Foundation’s response to the challenges of each of the above phases, as discovered by the research programme, and makes recommendations to Government on how to deal with them