[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We're now joined by Ray Zardetto, who's the editor and writer of ROI-NJ's "Military Matters" newsletter.

Ray, good to have you with us.

- Thank you, Steve.

I appreciate being here and having the time.

Thank you.

- You got it.

We're media partners with ROI-NJ.

Tell folks, and I get "Media Matters" on a regular basis, excuse me, "Military Matters" on a regular basis.

Tell everyone what it is and why they should check it out.

- Okay, well, "Military Matters" is one of the family publications from ROI.

ROI is, of course, a general business newspaper, but they have a number of what we call sector reports or newsletters on the most important areas of the state economy, including higher education, transportation, energy, finance.

And recently, they decided, because of the import of military activity in the state and the impact of it on the state economy, that having a newsletter and sector report on the Military was very important.

And so, back in May we launched "Military Matters".

- How'd you get into this?

- Well, when I was with the Chamber of Commerce, which was my last position before I was here, Chamber had a very close relationship with Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

And we did a lot, we tried to do a lot.

- Go back for a second Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

- [Ray] Lakehurst, yes.

- Explain to folks what military bases people were like, well, where are they?

What are they?

Please Ray.

- Okay, all right.

The Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is actually, a combination of what were three separate military bases at one time.

There was the McGuire Air Force Base, there was Fort Dix, which was an army training center base, and there was the Lakehurst Naval Center, which was for the Navy.

And in 2009, they decided to combine the three of them into one joint base.

- Excuse me, Ray, was that because there was a commission, a federal commission that was established- - Yes.

- at the time to try to save money and merge or close military bases across the country?

- Yeah, it's called BRAC, B-R-A-C, which the Base Realignment And Closing.

- That's right.

- And that's a function of congress and they're constantly looking at, you know, different bases across the country.

And what they decided was, when they decided to close Fort Monmouth, which they made the decision to do that 2005, and it took 'em four or five years to actually close it, one of the things they also decided to do was to bring together these three bases into one, because a lot of what the three bases do really in many ways overlap and interact with each other.

So, it's no longer just one service branch.

Usually, what they talk about now is the joint force.

- Got it.

- You have more interaction between the different service branches.

- Ray, what are the most pressing issues that our veterans we're literally taping this program after, right after Veterans Day.

Question.

- Yes.

- What are the most pressing issues and challenges facing our veterans?

- Well, I'll mention two.

One, is something that is called a food insecurity issue.

Ran corporate study two years ago said, there's about 25% of military families that are dealing with food insecurity issues.

Food insecurity defined as not getting enough food or not getting the right amount of types of food that they need for families.

- Is it that these families don't know what their next meal's gonna be?

Is that what we're talking about?

- Yeah, we're talking about them having to decide many times between paying the rent or having enough food put on the table on a regular basis.

And this is mostly because the spending power in a military family is eroded because of inflation.

That's number one, but number two- - Because it's a fixed amount the government provides.

- Yes, and you know, and they have raised the salary to some degree, but it hasn't kept up with inflation, especially at the lower levels of military service.

But secondly, also, military families are nomadic by nature.

Most military families will move on average once every two to three years.

And then they may go across the state, they may go across the globe.

- Why?

- Just because they moved to different, you know, different expertises.

They're moved around to different parts of the world where they're needed.

So, it happens frequently to them.

And a Blue Star family study says that although the military picks up most of the costs of the move, families' usually stuck with spending 2,500, $5,000 out of pocket for whatever moves they make.

So, that erodes the family finances too.

And the third reason is a lot of military spouses can't find jobs in, you know, not just New Jersey, but otherwise, because the transient nature of military life makes a lot of companies reluctant to hire spouses knowing they're likely to move on after a year or two.

- Ray, the other issue that you talk about in "Military Matters", by the way, check out the website will put up.

Is the website the ROI website or our media partner and then they could find "Military Matters", Ray, is that how it works?

- Yes.

Yeah, they'll find it right on the front page there.

Yes.

- Team, let's put it right up there so people can check out "Military Matters".

Talk to me about the issue of mental health for our veterans.

- Yes, that's the second major issue I think that is being dealt with that needs to be dealt with more.

For any number of reasons, mental health issues permeate the service branches.

There's no one service branch that isn't dealing with it.

There's a number of reasons for it.

And you know, the biggest eye opener for me is the Defense Department number that on average 22 active military or veterans commit suicide every day.

And there's a lot of military and a lot of veterans organizations that will tell you that number underestimates how many are actually committing suicide every day, because we can't keep track of where all the veterans are.

And so, the Military is trying to do a lot of things about it, but it's an overwhelming issue.

- So, for the average person, sorry, for interrupting, Ray.

- That's all right.

- For the average person who says, "I want to be helpful, I want to go beyond saying, 'Thank you for your service.'"

Which has value, but only so much.

- Right.

- What can people do?

- There's a few things they can do that they consider.

First of all, because as I mentioned before, military families' are transient.

They move around a lot.

If a military family moves into your neighborhood, you know, do anything and everything you can to welcome them, because otherwise they can feel very isolated.

They don't feel like they have any place to go.

And that's one of the key factors they find when they do the studies is this sense of isolation either in the community or on the base where they work.

That's one of the key problems.

Another problem is a lot of the kids who come into the military have come from tough backgrounds.

And this is their first time away from home.

It's the first time they're really having responsibilities put on them.

And sometimes that's a bit of a burden too.

So, another thing you can do is there are a number of organizations you can support, either with resources or money.

American Legion, the VFW, you know, Military Support Alliance of New Jersey, which is an organization I do some volunteer work for.

We all are trying to get as many resources to the kinds of institutions that are addressing mental health issues as we can.

- Ray Zardetto is doing important work.

He's the editor and writer of ROI-NJs "Military Matters" newsletter.

Ray, thank you for your work.

Thank you for the impact that you're making every day.

Appreciate it, Ray.

- Thank you, Steve.

Thank you.

- I'm Steve Adubato.

We thank you for watching and let's go beyond simply saying thank you for your service and ask what we can actually do for a veteran or that veteran's family.

See you next time.

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