Beneath the Service builds upon the strengths of the veteran community to redefine identity, purpose, and connection after military service.
Grounded in social psychology and designed for distinct needs, our programs equip veterans and their families to successfully navigate reintegration to become influential leaders in their communities and workplaces.
Our programs re-define identity, ignite purpose, and strength connections.
We believe the point of leadership is to become yourself.
Honor who you are, in service of who you will become.
Research
All of our work is underpinned by original, on-going research across multiple fields including adult learning, leadership development, organizational change, and social psychology to better understand the impacts of reintegration to civilian life after service.
We understand that there is more beyond the initial transition. Civilian reintegration is a continuum of subjective experiences after military service without a designated timeline or end point.
Self Before Service
Time in Service
Transition
Reintegration
We address 3 critical components of the post-transition process: loss of identity, loss of purpose, and loss of community.
Identity
Leaving the military is a significant life change that disrupts multiple social dimensions of existence. Building awareness about the identity disruption that arises during reintegration is key to successfully integrating as a civilian. Often times, this happens once you’re completely out of the service. We’re here to help you make sense of who you are.
Purpose
Serving in the military provides you with a sense of purpose, or feeling that you were part of something bigger. Upon reintegration into civilian life, it can feel that you’re no longer contributing to something as important. We support you in mapping the direction you’re going in life so that you live your purpose.
The Compass
Navigating the vastness of resources can be disorienting.
Our compass tool is here to help organize these resources based on your area of need or interest. One of the calls to action from of our programs is to explore the opportunities provided by great organizations.
Part of our mission is to be complementary to other nonprofit organizations that support the veteran community. We see ourselves as a recommendation engine to find candidates that are ready to take advantage of the benefits they offer.
Bob Woodruff Foundation
To ensure that our nation’s veterans, service members, and their families - those who stood for us - have stable and successful futures.
Gary Sinise Foundation
To honor our defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need. We do this by creating and supporting unique programs designed to entertain, educate, inspire, strengthen, and build communities.
Multiple ways to get involved and have impact
There are lots of great ways to support our mission. What matters most is that we choose to do something. Take action today, and leave a lasting impression.
Identity
Leaving the military is a significant life change that disrupts multiple social dimensions of existence. Building awareness about the identity disruption that arises during reintegration is key to successfully integrating as a civilian. Often times, this happens once you’re completely out of the service. We’re here to help you make sense of who you are.
Purpose
Serving in the military provides you with a sense of purpose, or feeling that you were part of something bigger. Upon reintegration into civilian life, it can feel that you’re no longer contributing to something as important. We support you in mapping the direction you’re going in life so that you live your purpose.
The Compass
Navigating the vastness of resources can be disorienting.
Our compass tool is here to help organize these resources based on your area of need or interest. One of the calls to action from of our programs is to explore the opportunities provided by great organizations.
Part of our mission is to be complementary to other nonprofit organizations that support the veteran community. We see ourselves as a recommendation engine to find candidates that are ready to take advantage of the benefits they offer.
domains of military adjustment and reintegration struggles
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of loss of their military culture and community
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Overall, military culture was described as a collectivist social institution that emphasizes hierarchy, structure, conformity and comaradery
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the military was described as an organization that cares for its member, providing them with ‘safety’ and ‘comfort’.
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‘bridging these two worlds’ where veterans must learn to navigate ‘different psychological and social rules’.
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where participants were ‘unprepared’ to handle requirements of civilian life.
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Participants frequently commented that civilians cannot truly understand their military experience or the consequences of their service
Connection
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During their service, participants felt they were part of something bigger than themselves.They held ‘responsibility’,and felt accomplished, successful, and empowered, and by serving, participants had ‘made a meaningful contribution to a worthy and noble cause
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It became apparent that after discharge, many felt that they were no longer contributing to something as important as the collective effort of military service
Purpose
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‘fractured sense of self’ where during the reintegration process, they had ‘lost everything that epitomized and reinforced this identity’
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participants appeared to face the dynamic process of reconstructing their civilian identity following discharge: ‘In the civilian world, it’s like, who am I? What do I dress like? How do I talk? Where do I go? What do I do?’
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Others reported difficulty letting go of their military identity: ‘No longer being able to say that … that’s who I was, was probably the hardest part.
Identity
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