Loyalty to our country and mission is often what military service is centered on. But rarely is service simple. For many who wear the uniform, service is shaped by the duty to their country but also by their identity, community, and the realities they carried long before taking the oath of enlistment.

Dr. Bryon L. Garner's work has created space for conversations that Black veterans have lived but could not always put into words. As a former HigherEdMilitary Fellow, interim president of the Veteran Studies Association, and author of "Black Veteranality: Race, Identity, and Patriotism in America," Dr. Garner offers a new approach to thinking about how service, race, and belonging often clash rather than blend together.

Black veteranality grew out of more than academic curiosity; it came from Dr. Garner's personal life. Even after earning numerous honors such as the Sailor of the Quarter and the Navy Achievement Medal while serving in the Navy, he never truly felt like he belonged.

During an interview, Dr. Garner shared what it was like growing up in Gary, Indiana, in the 1970s. In his community, joining the military was seen as the "norm" toward opportunity, mobility, and discipline. It was not just the broader community, either; it was personal. His father also served in the Navy, making military service deeply personal. Military service always looked like a ticket out or a way forward. But even in places where military pride ran deep, race remained below the surface. Patriotism never erased that true reality.

Instead of shrinking Black veterans into a single demographic category, Black veteranality explains how Black service members move through the military while still carrying what it means to be African American in America. An experience similar to W. E. B. Du Bois's idea of double consciousness, which can be defined as the sense of seeing yourself through your own eyes but also through the eyes of a society that has its own views on Blackness. Black veterans are asked to show loyalty and patriotism to a system that can still push them to the margins.

Black Student Veterans and Moral Injury

Moral injury is defined as a psychological and spiritual wound where individuals or communities experience, witness, and are forced to participate in acts that violate their moral beliefs. Most people think about military trauma as something tied to just combat, but Dr. Garner challenges that view. For a lot of Black veterans, racial trauma and institutional silence can have a severe impact on them. Unhealed, these wounds can swell, leading to real psychological stress, even symptoms of PTSD.

The numbers tell the story. There are more than 18 million living veterans in the United States, representing about 6% of the country's population, and approximately 6.3% of our veterans are African American.

How Are Colleges and Universities Supporting Black Veterans and Veterans in General?

Dr. Garner notes that institutions have definitely made strides. Veteran resource centers, student veteran groups, and campus events are meant to bring people together; these all help create places where veterans can find support and community.

Dr. Garner does believe some universities are still missing the mark, "They miss it because it is an experience that is not at the front of mind for most people," he said. The reality is that most faculty and staff do not really get military culture. Sometimes they just flatten the whole experience into a single stereotype.

Too often, helping veterans in higher education becomes all about checking boxes, signing off on education benefits, managing paperwork, and helping them enroll. Academic and social support tends to fall through the cracks. Dr. Garner puts it simply: "It's more than benefits. Way more than benefits." What veterans need is real mentorship, programs that matter to them, and spaces where people recognize who they are beyond the uniform.

He also looked into something bigger on our campuses: representation. "They do not know where to place you. They do not know how to quantify you." For Black veteran scholars, just getting seen and valued in academia can feel like an uphill climb. The sense of being invisible does not always vanish when the uniform comes off.

If institutions want to bridge these gaps, Dr. Garner stresses that colleges and universities need to do more than just offer services on paper. It will take honest training, meaningful mentorship, and letting veterans actually lead in these spaces on campus. That is how support turns from a checklist into something that really changes lives.

For me, as a Black woman serving in the military while pursuing a doctorate, Dr. Garner's analysis felt less like theory and more like recognition. His words push me to tussle with questions of power, belonging, leadership, and visibility.

Dr. Garner transforms understandings of what ''service'' is. It is not just a one-size-fits-all concept; it can vary depending on who the person is, where they come from, and what they have endured. The idea of Black veteranality finally gives depth to a lot of experiences that veterans have carried silently for so long.

Dr. Garner reminds us that growth is very possible. When institutions choose to create these spaces for genuine conversations, authentic mentorship, and representative leadership, veterans will be able to gain more than just a seat at the table but will also gain a sense of belonging. Supporting Black veterans and all who have served requires institutions to acknowledge the barriers they may face and dismantle them to make room for them at the table.

What's Next on Your Campus?

Supporting Black student veterans isn't the responsibility of one office or one program. It's a campus-wide commitment to understanding lived experiences, building meaningful relationships, and creating pathways to success. As your institution plans for the coming academic year, consider these questions: What is one step your campus can take today to help every veteran feel seen, supported, and valued? What programming and spaces do you have that foster conversation and mentorship for Black student veterans? Where can you build further support? What offices and departments can you partner with to increase these efforts and programming?

Article Topics

Military Friendly Institutions Research on Student Veterans Serving Military in HigherEd Veterans Academic Success Women Veterans

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