Bud, I hate to break this to you but veteran is a not a word that literally means "US Military Members" (Its often abused like it is by everyone like it is though), All a vet is is someone who has put in a lot of time doing something, they might be very good at what they do (which is usually the case you normally get better at something the longer you do it) or they could be average/more experienced than average (vets typically have more knowledge of a particular field than most people). The most common usage of the word veteran is in reference to military members but it is not exclusive to them.