SOUTH BEND -- When Marine Sgt. Roy Saenz was about to return from deployment with South Bend-based Engineer Company B, he was given a medical briefing in Kuwait, which included a questionnaire.

Two things on the form stood out, he said.

"One, if we had issues we would be placed on medical hold in Camp Pendleton until they were resolved," Saenz said, "and two, 'We are not telling you not to put any issues on the questionnaire, just that you will be on medical hold.'"

In other words, if you say you need medical help, you won't be going home to see your family with the rest of the unit.

Saenz told that to the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, which held a field hearing Friday in South Bend.His testimony mirrored the words of other military members and their families, who said that while government officials are getting better at helping veterans transition to civilian life, more needs to be done for members of the National Guard and military reserve forces.

The subcommittee, which includes U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Granger, also heard from Lori Masapollo, whose husband, Lt. Col. Gary Masapollo, is finishing his fourth deployment since Sept. 11, 2001.

Gary Masapollo has been an Army reservist for 22 years, and he's coming home to no job, his wife told the subcommittee.

"I think he's facing a lot of the same stress situations that most veterans do," she said. "If you've spent most of your life in military service, and you're coming home to a job market like this one -- he's worried."

Prior to his deployment to U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., Gary Masapollo was working for a Department of Defense subcontractor, teaching military science at the University of Notre Dame.Rather than have his job held for him, as federal law requires for those in military service, Masapollo forfeited the contract because it wouldn't be fair to leave the program without an instructor for a year, Lori Masapollo said.

Federal officials testified that programs are expanding and that the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs is working to make sure National Guard members and reservists are aware of programs available to active duty soldiers.

But that information isn't sent directly to families of reservists -- only active duty soldiers -- said Jane Burke, principal director of Military Community and Family Policy in the Department of Defense.

And the leader of Indiana's National Guard said his office has made adjustments to support its troops.

The Indiana Guard created a new office to handle the concerns of service members and their families, said Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, the state's adjutant general.The new office handles family programs and helps veterans transition back to civilian life.

But Donnelly said there are problems to be worked out in how veterans receive care and benefits, both nationally and on the local level.

"This is the hole in the doughnut," Donnelly said. "From this spot in this room, the closest VA hospital is 2 1/2 hours away."

And information about benefits needs to get from the Veterans' Administration to families in a more timely manner, he said.

"The way it's set up, the active-duty families get the information before our guard and reserve," Donnelly said. "The resources are there, but they don't know where to go. That's the connection we have to make."