Military to Civilian Career: A Transition Guidebook (eBook)

The objectives for Chapter One

• To understand the decision-making process that one uses to transition from the military
• To understand the areas which the decision impacts when deciding to leave the military
• To use decision-making tools and worksheets to help the transitioning military person decide the best option for their life, family, and career.

Job Options and Market Trends

There is no wrong way to do this transition. Some of you may decide quickly that you want to leave the military. Some of you may go back and take another 10 years before you finally leave. Some of you may decide to retire but still work as a consultant or in the defense industry which technically means you are still with the military. And some of you may decide altogether to never do anything military again. Whatever your decision, this chapter is here to help you.

This chapter is devoted to helping you decide whether to stay or to go from the military. Now if you are clear in your decision to leave, you can probably skip over this chapter. But I recommend still looking at the material and maybe even doing some of the worksheets and some of the activities to see if you are ready.

I have worked with all ages of service members and all of them have different reasons for why they left the military. I have heard every reason why people want to leave the military. What this chapter is going to lay out for you are ways to make this decision. You may decide to stay. Then I would tell you to tuck this book away and revisit it at a later time. Every soldier and sailor will have to transition from the military someday and this book will help.

The Military Reason

The main reasons why people join the military usually revolve around the situation or events of the times.

In the 1980s, it was the call to serve and family histories. President Reagan had built up the military and all the popular movies were military focused. Patriotism and family ties to the military were pushed from all sectors of society. Most parents or grandparents had served at some level in the military.

1990s family history: Grampa/Gramma served WWII, Mom/Dad in Vietnam plus the incentives such as the GI Bill being the focus for why people served.

2000 was due to the situations from 9-11 to the war in Iraq. The sense of duty and call to serve.

2010 saw a rise in people wanting economic stability due to the recessions, also to help with school funding/training, adventure, and travel.

2020 saw more of the necessity for economic reasons, many also felt a call to serve, plus the benefits and travel were a major pull for some.

Reasons to Leave

Some reasons why people decide to leave the Military that we need to discuss:

• Family Life – Constant deployments, changes and moves, lack of financial raises, and the issues faced by military personnel through warfare.
• Health and Wellness – Constant deployments, long working hours, the environment in which you work, and of course the mental and physical stress. Continuous warfare experiences have driven up the numbers of men and women leaving the Military.
• Rank Advancement and Leadership – The changes in who one serves with, how groups are commanded, and who gets promoted. The desire to stay in has diminished.
• Values Have Changed– When the uniform is harder to put on, the purpose and passion have been lost and isolation/separation from your unit, friends, and the unit becomes the norm. It is time leave.
• Civilian Life – A belief that being a civilian is somehow easier and better because of fewer restrictions and rules. Also, a belief that civilian life will be more stable.
• Temporary Solution – A view that the military life was only temporary to gain school funding or as a stepping stone to adulthood.
• Civilian Jobs Pay More – A belief that you can make more money outside of the military in a civilian job doing similar work.
• Less Work in the Civilian World – Military personnel are often overworked with no overtime pay – many believe that civilian work is often paid more for less time, comparing the 8 am to 4 pm job schedule of a civilian versus that of a soldier’s schedule.
• No Micromanagement/No Structure – Belief that in the civilian workplace, no one is micromanaged in the same fashion as is done in the military. Viewing the civilian workplace as lackadaisical.

This chapter is designed to work on the reasons why you should stay in the military or leave, but as you move on in this guidebook, you may decide to leave in Chapter One but stay by Chapter Five. There are more views of this decision than the ones listed above.

Let us look at the family reason. Family is everything. They will be the ones with you in your older years. They will give you the love and comfort that every human desire and needs. This decision needs to also consider their perspective. It will depend on the factors of what is important for you but also for your loved ones. I have heard many veterans tell me that they decided to retire and move back home so their families could be close to loved ones. Many told me it was only fair since they traveled for the military and now in retirement, they could choose to be near loved ones. The problem that the veterans found was that in their hometowns, there were no jobs or opportunities for them. Remember, if you have been serving for over 20 years, the hometown you left will have changed drastically and employment opportunities may have decreased. Sometimes moving hours away to a better job market is more beneficial for the family.

Health and wellness factors are sometimes out of the soldiers’ control. In recent times, with COVID-19, some soldiers and sailors are considering being discharged for medical reasons as a result of becoming sick. I have worked with many medically discharged soldiers and sailors and it has always been a difficult transition due to the medical paperwork. Some would not wait for the medical discharge fearing job selection would be affected. Please consider applying for medical discharge if you can; it is worth the effort to have that medical help in the civilian world. Also, your job prospects should not be affected, many disabled veterans still qualify for multiple opportunities in the civilian world. Side note: I have had people defer their transition because of medical testing and I have seen the government defer a retirement based on needing that soldier or sailor for a mission or training. Sometimes medically discharging takes longer but the disability offerings by the VA and government are worth the wait. Seek medical information about your current conditions before making any decision to transition. You must have a VA doctor medically evaluate your conditions before exiting the military.

Let us look at when the government forces the separation. An example of this was in the 1990s when the Navy bases were being closed in certain areas across the world due to budget overhauls in the federal government. Many soldiers and sailors found themselves honorably discharged. For the first time, America saw that our military can have pink slips. It was very hard for many of the sailors and soldiers who wanted to stay till retirement, only to be told their unit or division was budget cut. Sometimes leaving is not the soldier’s choice but the government’s.

The military is always changing. Keep current with changes in leadership, policies, and how rank advancement occurs. Some ways that these changes can affect service. Military personnel can become frustrated with leadership especially when it effects deployment, their MOS or even the reason why they serve. Leadership in the civilian world can have these same issues. I can tell you that in the civilian world, very rarely do you get to move jobs or even locations in a company like you can in the military. Unless it is a global or manufacturing company, many American businesses hire a person to stay in that job indefinitely. The military does allow you to move your MOS, ask for a transfer and even change directions in your career. You have choices in the Military that you might not have in the civilian world.

Using the choices below, what would make you leave the military? Check all that apply:

family

health & wellness

leadership issues

inability to advance in career

changes in the military

tired of the structure and restrictions

desire to have a “Normal” Life

lack of money or opportunities

having more freedom at a job

wanting an 8 to 4 job schedule

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