Al LewisWar vet gets a shot on Wall Street
7/20/12 11:11 AM ET (MarketWatch)
Al LewisLucas Mohr is a military veteran and part of the
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Lucas Mohr has averted many of the horrors of returning home from war.
After two deployments to Iraq, he is now tooling around the New York Stock Exchange. In the autumn, he will start work on his MBA in finance at Columbia University's business school.
"These are my first steps down the path toward Wall Street," the solider said.
Just months ago, Mohr, 31, was a supply sergeant moving military hardware around combat zones. Now he's learning to move capital around the world.
He is one of 15 veterans who got into the new NYSE Euronext Veterans Associate Program. This eight-week tour of Wall Street sure beats the usual drill for returning warriors, which amounts to "Welcome home, now get in the unemployment line."
The Labor Department reports an unemployment rate of more than 30% for veterans between the ages of 18 and 24, and 13% for those between the ages of 24 and 34. With the nation's unemployment rate at 8.2%, they have to get in line with civilians who may have been standing in line the whole time they were deployed.
"There are going to be a lot more veterans coming back over the next five years as the wars wind down," Mohr said. "The problem is going to get bigger. But programs like this are going to help."
It is only fitting that NYSE Euronext (NYX) open its heavily guarded doors to vets. The 9/11 attacks shut down the exchange for days. And, to some extent, the attacks were a symbolic strike on our economy and even capitalism itself.
Mohr became part of this global narrative six years ago when he joined the Army. He wasn't gung ho, excessively patriotic, or even worried about another 9/11. He simply felt himself stagnating in his hometown of Racine, Wisc. He needed a way to pay for college, and he longed to be a part of something bigger than himself.
In his two deployments to Iraq, he learned to duck, dive and run for bunkers. He learned to lead soldiers in combat zones. He learned to do his job in a hostile environment, risking death and dismemberment from frequent mortar attacks.
He at least deserves a shot in the economy he helped defend, yet it doesn't come easily.
"It's intimidating to come out of the military," Mohr explained. "There's a stereotype about military people. You think of the military guy and you instantly get an image of what this person is: This is someone who maybe isn't highly educated, and maybe has some experience, like cleaning weapons. They can put together a tank, but can they operate in this world? That stereotype is hard to overcome."
The truth is, many employers really don't want to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. They don't even like people in their ranks getting called up for active duty because they have enlisted in the National Guard.
Mohr said he still sees Vietnam vets on the streets of his hometown, struggling to adapt. There are hospitals that don't even seem to care for the war wounded. We are a society that doesn't always care for those who defend it.
If every company listed on the New York Stock Exchange would follow its lead, maybe we wouldn't need another war to keep millions of returning military folks employed.
Just coming home is hard enough. Mohr said he arrived too early to a recent reception by a group called Veterans on Wall Street. That's what you do in the military: You show up at least 10 minutes early for everything. Unfashionably early, Mohr milled about the nearly empty room. He noticed white-coated waiters standing sentry with trays of fine glassware. Eventually, he considered their purpose.
"I said, "Oh, those are for us?" I was in shock. I'm not used to that happening to me. I wasn't sure if all those white gloves and platters and Champagne flutes full of Bellinis were really for us. It was a lot different than going through a line at the chow hall."
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