FORT HOOD, Texas – About 100 soldiers sit rigidly in their chairs, contemplating life after the military. They are fresh off tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, where they survived roadside bombs and dodged sniper fire.

Their reward? In a matter of weeks or months, they will enter the most brutal job market in a generation.

They're students now, sitting in a three-day employment preparation class, one of the ways Fort Hood tries to help soldiers make the transition to the civilian world. Outside of the huge installation, these veterans face a number of barriers to landing a job.

Many, especially those who joined the military out of high school, are writing résumés and going to job interviews for the first time. Others struggle to translate their military duties into civilian qualifications.

And veterans' advocates say they could face discrimination from employers who worry they might be riddled with mental disorders and too risky to hire.

"It's going to be very important for employers to understand" veterans, said Paul Sullivan, head of the Austin-based advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense. "They have endured the most dangerous working conditions imaginable. We have sent them off in our name, and we have a responsibility to understand the challenges they face when they come home."

As military service members return from America's twin wars, they are swelling the ranks of the jobless. According to the Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for veterans younger than 24 was 14.1 percent in 2008, outpacing the general population's rate of 11.6 percent for the same age group.

And returning veterans who do find jobs earn an average of $5,736 less a year than their nonveteran counterparts, according to the Veterans Administration.

The disparity is even greater for veterans with college degrees: They earn $9,526 less a year.

The tough job market is enough to make Tasha McCoy, 23, wish she were still in the military. McCoy, a South Carolina native who was stationed at Fort Hood, left the Army last year after five years and two tours in Iraq, where she drove trucks.

In Killeen, next to Fort Hood, McCoy faced a string of rejections from employers and had to apply for unemployment benefits. She soon realized that while she was in the Army, her peers were learning job-seeking skills and developing networks.

Several months after she left the Army, she landed a job as a security guard but hopes to find something better.

"I was thinking I wasn't going to make it," she said. "If I could do it all over again, I would have stayed in the Army. It's hard for someone like me, without college."

Veterans already receive preference in hiring for some federal jobs, and now the Obama administration's stimulus package includes $2,400 tax credits for employers who hire veterans.

Texas, with its large veteran population – 240,000 Texans saw combat duty in Iraq or Afghanistan – has worked to help veterans get jobs. Last year, the Texas Veterans Commission helped nearly 44,000 veterans find employment.

Military officials say that employers who take a chance on veterans often see benefits.

"What employers tell us is that once they hire one GI, they want more, no matter what the economy is," said Bob Oakes, head of the transition program at Fort Hood. "And it's because of the job ethic. They don't have the entitlement attitude."

But as the recession grinds on, there are fewer opportunities. Fort Hood's semi-annual job fair in June attracted far fewer employers than it did in past years, Oakes said.

Aaron Mickens, a Texas Veterans Commission employment representative who teaches job preparation classes at Fort Hood, said that a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis can also make it harder to find work.

Veterans "know as they go outside that sometimes they have to deal with discrimination," he said. "The reason some employers are worried is that they really don't understand."

Veterans' advocates are quick to point out that though an estimated 30 percent of combat veterans will develop mental problems related to their service, most return without those lingering issues.