"Despite what has been reported, the overall employment situation for all veterans is better than for non-veterans," said Ted Daywalt, president and CEO of VetJobs.com. "Yet, there are areas we should be concerned about."

Though the definition of a veteran can vary, it typically means having served even one day in uniform, and not necessarily in combat; therefore the veteran group encompasses more than most people realize.

In April 2010, within the category of 18 to 24-year-olds, 17.6 percent of nonveterans were unemployed, while 20.6 percent of veterans were. For 25 to 34-year-olds, the unemployment rates are even more disparate, with 13.6 percent for veterans and 8.1 percent for nonveterans. While the numbers slightly decreased in May and June, they were back up to 26.9 percent unemployment for 18 to 24-year-old veterans in July.

"There are various reasons why the 18 to 24-year-old group is high, including education, skill levels and the lack of work experience. While these same issues would have affected the nonveteran's unemployment, it should be noted that this is also the age group that dominates much of the National Guard and Reserve," said Daywalt.

Since serving in the NG and Reserve is considered a part-time job, those serving are listed as unemployed if they do not have another job. Most of the active duty 18 to 24-year-old veterans are finishing either their four, six or eight year commitments and are struggling to find a secondary, supportive work environment.

In May of this year, Daywalt testified in front of the House of Representatives' Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC) during the Veterans Employment Roundtable. Daywalt, who spent 28 years in the Navy, is adamant that the country needs to step in and ensure that veterans are employed as a matter of course.

A recent poll on Employing Military Personnel and Recruiting Veterans, conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management, showed that that upwards of 60 percent of employers in the United States would not currently hire as a new employee an active member of the NG or Reserve.

"I can tell you which state is calling up its defense national guard due to the calls that we receive in the weeks prior," Daywalt said. He is referring to a problem that seemingly stems from the DoD's public announcement when calling up a NG Brigade. Employers who choose to lay off NG or Reservist employees prior to them having orders in hand are not technically subject to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). Department of Labor veteran representatives, as well as agents from the DoD's own Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves organization, have reported on instances of this activity.

For example, of the 700 members of the Tennessee National Guard Brigade currently deployed to Afghanistan, 320 do not have a civilian job waiting for them upon redeployment. As a result, the Tennessee National Guard Brigade now has a shocking unemployment rate of 41 percent and it is debatable how much of that was related to the recession or normal company cutbacks.

"It is not that employers do not want to support members of the military. I believe that private industry understands the need for a strong military to protect a viable free market economy," Daywalt pointed out. "However, from the employer point of view, a company cannot go broke trying to support a member of the National Guard and Reserve. Companies cannot operate with employees being taken away for one or even two years."

Though there is no clear-cut solution, other than the dissolution of the DoD's two-year call up policy, the best advice is to utilize military-friendly job sites, like www.vetjobs.com, www.gijobs.com, www.corporategray.com or www.militaryhire.com.