Some Combat Veterans Are Bitter… With Good Reason.

In Britain today, the term "combat veteran" still carries an aura of honour, sacrifice, and discipline. Yet beneath the public ceremonies, commemorative poppies, and respectful nods lies a much more troubling reality. Many of the UK's combat veterans are angry, disillusioned, and profoundly bitter. And they have every right to be.This bitterness is not born from personal failure or a lack of gratitude. It is a rational response to systemic betrayal, by politics, by big business, by society, and by a culture that venerates military service in theory but neglects those who serve in practice. Serving in the armed forces, particularly in combat roles, is unlike any other job. It requires the total surrender of individual autonomy. Troops are trained not just in how to fight, but in how to obey, how to suppress personal feelings, how to kill. In the British Armed Forces, the focus is on discipline, cohesion, and mission. Yet, when the mission ends and the uniform comes off, that discipline and cohesion often give way to chaos and isolation. Veterans are thrust into a civilian world that doesn’t understand them, doesn’t value their experience, and often sees them as damaged or dangerous. What civilian job teaches you how to survive an ambush in Helmand Province? What employer knows how to interpret a service record that includes multiple deployments but no formal qualifications? The transition is jarring. One minute, you're leading men through a firefight; the next, you're navigating Universal Credit applications. The skills that were once praised and indispensable are suddenly irrelevant. Military indoctrination is not a side-effect of training; it is the goal. Recruits are broken down and rebuilt into soldiers who can operate in the most extreme conditions imaginable. This is necessary for survival in combat. However, that same indoctrination also creates a mindset that can be disastrously incompatible with civilian life. Service personnel are taught to prioritise the mission above all else. Emotions are suppressed. Aggression is channelled. The military teaches hyper-vigilance, distrust, and a relentless drive for results. These traits, while essential in a war zone, become liabilities in everyday civilian interactions. Many veterans report feelings of restlessness, purposelessness, and alienation. Relationships break down. Patience wears thin. The sense of belonging they once had is gone, replaced by a society that neither understands nor values the depth of their transformation. British veterans are often used as political pawns. Politicians queue up to praise them on Armed Forces Day, yet the same politicians preside over budget cuts to the NHS mental health services they depend on. Successive governments have promised to "do more" for veterans while outsourcing key services to private contractors and hollowing out the very institutions that once supported service personnel. Afghanistan and Iraq remain painful examples. Many veterans feel betrayed not just by the outcomes of those conflicts, but by the political motives behind them. The infamous dossier on weapons of mass destruction, the shifting goals in Afghanistan, the lack of clear exit strategies, all contribute to a deep sense of cynicism. Veterans fought and watched friends die for causes that were later revealed to be riddled with misinformation or outright lies. Northern Ireland is a case in point. The withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 was a particularly bitter moment. Veterans watched, horrified, as the Taliban swept back into power in mere weeks. It felt like a betrayal of everything they had sacrificed. The silence from the government during this period was deafening.Adding salt to the wound is the undeniable fact that war makes some people very rich. Defence contractors, private security firms, logistics providers, these corporations made billions during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, those doing the fighting often returned home to broken bodies, broken minds, and broken promises. Combat veterans are not naive. They know that defence contracts are awarded not based on merit but on connections. They see former generals move effortlessly into high-paying consultancy roles while rank-and-file soldiers are left to struggle. This stark inequality fuels resentment. Veterans know they were the muscle behind someone else’s profit margin. One of the most persistent lies told to service members is that their military experience will translate seamlessly into civilian employment. It rarely does. The truth is, most employers have no idea how to read a military CV. Leadership under fire, logistics coordination in combat zones, and technical skills developed in the field are often misunderstood or overlooked entirely. A Sergeant with years of leadership experience may find themselves applying for entry-level jobs. A combat medic might be told their skills don't count toward NHS qualification requirements. There is also the problem of stigma. Some employers fear hiring veterans, worried about PTSD or aggression. Others see former-military candidates as too rigid or institutionalised. The result is a large population of highly trained, highly disciplined individuals unable to find meaningful work.The issue of mental health among veterans is well-documented but poorly addressed. The mad bad and sad narrative persists but is it true? For others PTSD, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse are common. Yet the support structures are woefully inadequate. Veterans report long waiting lists for therapy and a lack of understanding from civilian mental health professionals. The MOD's own services are underfunded and overstretched. Charities attempt to fill the gap, but they are often under-resourced and cannot meet the scale of demand.The end result? Homelessness, addiction, suicide. According to recent studies, veterans are overrepresented in all these statistics. Yet the public narrative rarely shifts from shallow hero-worship to substantive support.There is a profound disconnect between the military and the society it serves. Most civilians have never served, never had a family member serve, and have no concept of what it means to live a life defined by war. This ignorance breeds misunderstanding. When veterans try to express their frustrations, they are often met with platitudes or deflected by claims of national pride. "Thank you for your service" common in America but not so much in the UK rings hollow when followed by a refusal to hire, a lack of funding to retrain or go back to futher education and/or University, or policies that prioritise optics over outcomes. The British public often sees veterans through two lenses: either as brave heroes or as broken men and women. There is little space for complexity, for understanding the contradictions of pride and pain, of strength and vulnerability. Veterans are often reluctant to speak out. The military teaches you to get on with it, to suffer in silence, to never show weakness. This culture persists long after discharge.As a result, many veterans bottle up their feelings, unwilling or unable to articulate the depth of their bitterness. Some fear being judged. Others have simply lost faith that anyone is listening. The reality is the silence must end. Veterans must be allowed to voice their discontent without being dismissed as ungrateful or mentally unstable. Their experiences are valid. Their anger is earned. The first step is recognition. Not just of service, but of sacrifice—not just on the battlefield, but in the years that follow. Government policy must go beyond ceremonial praise and offer concrete, consistent support. Perhaps most importantly, society needs to listen. To really listen. Veterans are not relics of a bygone war machine; they are living, breathing people with voices that matter. In summary, many combat veterans in the UK are bitter and they have every reason to be. They were sent to fight wars that many now question. They returned to a society that fails to understand them, a job market that doesn't value them, and a political class that pays lip service to their sacrifice while quietly dismantling the institutions meant to support them. Their anger is not the problem. It is a symptom of deeper failures, failures that must be addressed if we are to be a society worthy of their service. Until then, the bitterness will remain. And it will be justified.

Tony Wright CEO Forward assist