Council staff understand better how to help ex-soldiers fallen on hard times after talks from the British Army.
Many Northampton Borough Council staff are expected to deal with increased enquiries about aid as a result of the new Community Covenant between councils and the Army. They were shown at the Guildhall what serving soldiers go through and how difficult they can find life at first after many years in the armed services.
Although some soldiers leave because of injury, the talk also came days after the latest round of Army redundancies were announced by the Ministry of Defence, which staff were told may see around 50 ex-soldiers re-settle in Northamptonshire.
The Army presentation team said that the vast majority of leavers are highly-skilled, educated, ethical and motivated.
But some will have only have had one job, and that with their welfare taken care of.
Lt Col Alison Falcon said: “Because they have not lived in the civilian world for several years, the system of help and benefits from a local authority is far from second nature to them.
“On top of that, they are often also very proud people who don’t like asking for assistance.
“I hope that the local authority staff will now understand, when dealing with a soldier, a bit more about the person in front of them and look more kindly on them than perhaps they may have.”