First, they served their country in uniform.
Then, when the time came for military veterans to transition to civilian life, many continued serving their country by working for the federal government.
“Veterans have been trained and learned to work with teams; work for a bigger objective than just simply getting a paycheck on Friday,” said Will Attig, executive director of the Union Veterans Council.
Veterans make up approximately 30% of the federal workforce.
“Not only are you getting a great employee that has a lot of different kinds of residual skills that most people don't have you have somebody who actually cares about their country in a real, real way.”
But that's changing now.
With the Trump administration moving to drastically shrink the federal workforce, Attig said thousands of veterans might soon be out of a job.
"We do not know exactly right now the amount of people who have been fired,” Attig said. “But we do know that if there are large groups of federal workers being laid off, there are going to be veterans being laid off."
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Even those with years of service are not exempt.
Arielle Pines, a military spouse who was recently fired from the Department of Veterans Affairs, spoke about the impact of the firings on her colleagues--some of whom are veterans.
"Especially one of them, he is a retired Army veteran, disabled, with over 18 years of service in the VA - and he was also terminated,” said Pines.
It's a move that experts say could have ripple effects far beyond a paycheck.
For one thing, it would be a blow to their financial stability. They say it could also impact veterans' mental and physical health, as well as their families
"I believe this is one of the biggest betrayals to the veterans workforce in our history,” Attig said. “It's not going to go unnoticed, and it will be remembered."
