The Veteran Artist Program, or VAP (pronounced as a word rather than an acronym), is a non-profit organization which seeks to propel artists, who are also veterans, into the mainstream artistic community through networking, mentorship, collaboration with professional artists, and original productions.  With experienced artists and veterans among its staff, and an aim to create the first National Veterans Center for the Arts, VAP has taken great strides in elevating the artwork of veterans to a higher level of prominence.  As a result, it has increased awareness of the veteran experience among the national public while helping veterans to communicate the thoughts and feelings they have about war and military service.

“The intent behind VAP is not therapy, though,” says BR, the founder and director of the organization.  “People are craving to hear from veterans, and VAP seeks to facilitate that conversation by bringing the voices of authentic veteran artists to the national stage.”

Sitting across the table in a VAP studio with a Chroma key green screen, numerous paintings of military themes, and poster advertisements for past VAP productions, I find it hard to imagine BR doing anything else.  The drive and enthusiasm he has for VAP’s mission are not only evident in the décor and function of the VAP studio, but also present in his bearing and style of communication.  And if that were not enough for the perennial skeptic, a quick summary of VAP’s accomplishments to date would rest any case for doubt:  since VAP’s inception, BR and his associates have produced and sponsored two stage productions, two Veterans Day celebrations, an art exhibition, a documentary on artists in the Armed Forces Retirement Home, and they have finalized plans for remounts of one of their stage productions in three cities on the east coast.  These productions have helped connect veterans with the American public, an objective which BR has directed VAP to pursue.

“I think that the connections between veterans and citizens are not as developed as they were in the past.  What we do at VAP will help correct that,” says BR.

However, Ms. Farley assumes that her readers have a definitive understanding of military transition and fails to define the nature of the process. Consequently, she misses the opportunity to establish the fundamental aspects of transition and, thus, help veterans fully engage the benefits of the process. Additionally, Ms. Farley does not develop an adequate set of assessment questions which veterans can use to evaluate their current situation and establish what they would like to achieve with their lives (she does address some questions and considerations, but does so in too brief and narrow of a manner to have a major influence on readers). These two flaws diminish the effectiveness of the guide, reducing the range of its audience to veterans with a clearer idea of what they want achieve with transition and how to do it.

For more detailed information on the strengths and weaknesses of Military-to-Civilian Career Transition Guide, please continue with the review.

Reflections
In the desert, there is sand
and space, filled up by wind
and heat. It’s black at night,
lightless, aside from the stars.
When the storms came one night,
I smoked out in the sand
and glowed within the world
the lightning revealed.
(from Operation Homecoming, edited by Andrew Carroll)

While recording my original thoughts about the experience and, later, reworking them into the above poem, I realized that I gained valuable benefits from the process: expressing myself in a constructive manner helped me to develop my mind, my understanding of the experience, and my ability to communicate my thoughts. As a result of these developments, I improved my sense of self-worth and efficacy, and, thus, grew into a better and happier man.

In the following essay, I will discuss the process of constructive self-expression, the benefits veterans can gain from engaging within it, and how veterans can use the process to facilitate their transition from military to civilian life.