The U.S. Army has picked San Antonio as the location for its new military transition center, according San Antonio Fox affiliate Fox 29.

Just outside Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, the Army plans to build its new facility to help new veterans transition back into civilian life following military service. The center will be a one-stop facility to assist veterans with housing, health care and employment and the Army hopes to have it operational next year.

"This is Military City USA. If you're going to try to something new for the Army to assist soldiers, why not try it here?" Robert Naething, deputy to the commanding general of Army North, told Fox 29.

More than 4,000 people transition back to civilian life from Fort Sam Houston every year, according to Naething, with "about 35 percent still unemployed well into the year."

City and county officials in San Antonio and Bexar County are teaming up with the Army to coordinate the center.

"We will be in contact with active-duty military before they transition out. That's never been done before," said Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff. "Everything from services they might need: housing, to physical care, to mental health as well as jobs," he added.

The center will employ case managers that can assist with finding a house and doctors, while also assisting in finding a job with the area's top employers. Toyota, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, as well as cybersecurity firms, are all prominent in the area according to Wolff.

If the center proves successful, it could serve as a model for similar military transition centers to be set up nationwide.

"It breaks anyone's heart to see a veteran homeless or struggling," Naething. "It's just the right thing to do."

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