The transition back to civilian life is filled with obstacles large and small. And just as we took care of each other in combat, I believe veterans have a duty to make sure their fellow service members don’t get left behind as they reintegrate into society.

When I left the military, I saw firsthand how jarring this transition can be. I was eager to go back to school and start my life. But like many other veterans, I underestimated the scope of the changes that come with leaving the armed services.

I was lucky to have a strong support network that helped me figure out the next steps. But even then I skipped simple tasks and didn’t take advantage of all the resources available to me at the time. Many veterans are less fortunate, and attempt to go down this road alone, feeling they can’t share their struggles.

Programs such as the Marine Corps’ standard Transition Assistance Program (TAP) seek to provide service members who are transitioning off active duty with the information they need to thrive in the civilian world. TAP offers Marines information on how to prepare a resume, how to conduct yourself in a business interview, and even how to tie a tie.

But quite frankly, programs such as TAP miss the mark. The information provided barely scratches the surface of what types of opportunities are available to veterans, and just checks a box. And the thing is — even these boxes are outdated. For example, the military’s standard discharge form does not include a specific box for service members to provide their email address.

Over the past two years, I’ve been working on a bipartisan bill to address this. But the fact that this problem exists at all illustrates how our transition process is operating on analog in a digital world.

Fortunately, a host of opportunities are available to veterans beyond these outdated programs. Yet many service members are unaware of their existence or how to get involved with them. These opportunities range from free donut Fridays at Festival Foods to finding ways to volunteer with your local VFW post. Such activities are critical to a positive transition for other veterans.

What I’ve learned is that the best resource for a veteran transitioning to civilian life is a fellow veteran who has gone through the same or similar experience and can help them bridge the gap. After all, veterans speak the same language with inherent trust that allows them to communicate and work together. But we don’t have enough organizations to facilitate the peer-to-peer, veteran-to-veteran mentorship relationships and help veterans reintegrate in the community.

As a result, I challenged northeast Wisconsin, the region of the state I represent in Congress, to establish a veteran-to-veteran program that would pair returning service members with fellow veterans to provide mentorship, understanding and a helping hand. The goal was to match transitioning service members with established veterans who know the ins and outs of our community, and can share their experiences and lessons.

Northeast Wisconsin stepped up. On Veterans Day 2017, Brown County veterans created the Northeast Wisconsin (NEW) Battalion, Bravo Company, to pair recently returned service members with peer sponsors.

They graduated their first set of sponsors earlier this year, and already they are making a difference. One participating veteran, Shauna Rafferty, recently left the Coast Guard to enroll at UW-Green Bay. As she told me, the group “is the missing link for the transitioning process.”

While the NEW Battalion began with Bravo Company in Brown County, the group hopes to expand to all 72 counties in Wisconsin and, ultimately, nationwide. Other parts of Wisconsin have already stepped up. La Crosse is home to the La Crosse Area Veterans Mentor Program. Outagamie County has a Veterans Mentor Group. The University of Wisconsin System has a Vets for Vets student group.

In recognition of these outstanding efforts, and countless others like them, I introduced a bipartisan resolution recently in Congress with Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, to promote the importance and effectiveness of veteran-to-veteran programs. I hope this legislation serves to highlight the invaluable service that veterans are continuing to provide to their peers and encourages returning veterans who might not be aware of these opportunities to seek them out.

If Washington were more like Wisconsin, we would have far fewer problems. This is especially true for our veterans, who have stepped up across the state to support each other just as they did in combat.