6 Great Tips for Military Transition

By Wes O'Donnell, Veteran US Army & US Air Force.

Servicemembers are a unique breed of American. For warfighters, life in any branch of the military is logistically geared toward meeting the needs of the servicemember so that they can focus on the mission.

This means that many of a warrior’s necessities are met: Food, lodging, clothing, healthcare and family support services all come together to ensure that today’s men and women in uniform can operate free from many of the issues that their civilian counterparts must contend with.

In addition, there is a feeling of camaraderie that can’t be overstated. In my opinion, the shared experience of sacrifice is one of the defining traits that transcends military branch. It is the very reason that I feel a kinship with men and women whom I have never met, from branches [Navy & Marine Corps] that I never served in, across any generation. All servicemembers swear the same oath, endure the same hardships and make the same sacrifices.

Despite our good-natured branch-specific rivalries, [GO AIR FORCE!] I would still risk my life for a complete stranger in the Marine Corps and I know he would do the same for me.

This is the true power of the U.S. military; not our technology or weapons, but our unbreakable esprit de corps.

Therefore, when it comes time to separate from the military and enter the civilian world, the transition can be traumatic. Imagine waking up one day and having not only your logistical support structure ripped away, but you’re now a member of a civilian society that understands its warfighters less and less.

For its part, the Department of Defense is making incremental progress in making the transition easier, however I am fond of likening the U.S. military bureaucracy to an aircraft carrier: once the decision is made to turn to a new heading, the ship lumbers on straight for a long time before it finally starts to make the turn.

And for today’s transitioning warfighters, separating can feel like you have just been thrown overboard without a life vest. While all warriors are vulnerable, this is especially true for servicemembers who were active in a small, high-performing unit like the special operations community.

That’s where nonprofit organizations like the All Secure Foundation come in. If the U.S. military is a lumbering cruise ship, then nonprofits like All Secure are a jet ski, able to turn on a dime when needed.

Having experienced separation from the military twice, once from the Army in 2001 and once from the Air Force in 2007, I can report that my exit was unceremonious at best: “Here are your two honorable discharges, keep the GORE-TEX raincoat if you like and good luck out there.”

So what are some things you can do to better prepare yourself for the inevitable transition?

Create Structure

While serving, we are locked into a clear chain of command. And while our military members enjoy many more freedoms than their foreign counterparts in other militaries, it is nothing compared to the freedom of the civilian world.

Go anywhere, do anything, answer to no one. [Within the boundaries of the law]

“Wait, Wes… Are you complaining about freedom? That’s a first.”

Not so much complaining about freedom as recognizing that if you joined the military straight out of high school and retired after 20 years in the service, you’re going to be in for quite a jolt. Compared to your military life, civilians live a life of reckless abandon, or so it seems.

The best thing you can do create an environment for yourself that reduces ambiguity. As Admiral McRaven says, start with “Making your bed.”

Create a schedule and develop little tasks for yourself to accomplish throughout your day. There is no shame in implementing a structure for yourself that resembles your time in the military.

1.      Get up

2.      Make your bed

3.      Do some PT

4.      Shower

5.      Catch up on the news

6.      Fire off some emails

7.      Go to work

8.      Etc…

Prepare for the necessities

One of my biggest surprises upon entering the civilian world after 10 years in the military was paying for my own health insurance! Silly, right? But it is something that I just didn’t calculate when I was looking at potential employers.

In the military, we get free healthcare, a free gym membership, allowances for housing [or on-base housing], allowances for food, allowances for clothing and on and on.

If you’re looking at a potential employer that is offering $50,000 per year in salary [I’m using this number as it was my actual salary at my first job, Siemens, after separating from the Air Force in 2007] you had better budget for all of the things that you had previously taken for granted.

After expenses, you could be looking at a much lower take-home salary than expected.

As a side note, I must recommend Siemens as a phenomenal employer for former-military. As a German company, they had a comfortable amount of structure that made the transition for me much easier. In addition, as a general rule, the more employees a company has, the lower your health insurance premiums [typically] and Siemens is a company of 400,000 people! Plus, I enjoyed a company car with free gas for my particular position.

Don’t sell yourself short!

Let’s bust some myths: According to Forbes, there is a common misperception that unemployment among vets is much higher than the national average. Actually, the opposite is true: vet unemployment is lower than the national average.

The main issue here is the quality of the job. Many veterans settle for jobs that they are overqualified for. This destroys the retention rate with a recent study showing that 43% of veterans remained in their first civilian job 12 months or less. The data suggests that some recently-separated veterans get nervous about being unemployed and take the first offer that comes their way.

Plan for the job you want at least a year away from separation, and don’t settle.

On the other side of the coin, civilian companies have a responsibility here to understand veterans better. I specialize in training companies to recruit, onboard and retain veterans. So what can a company do? For starters, the company can appoint a veteran liaison or fellow veteran employee to assist with the onboarding process.

According to leadership consultant Richard Levick, “it takes a veteran to understand what military people go through in transitioning to the private sector – the kinds of apprehensions they have about its impact on family life, on their kids’ schooling, their spouses’ well-being. Soldiers and sailors tend to be more comfortable in talking to a vet in the recruiting and training phases. Smart organizations recognize that and not only appoint veterans to key liaison roles but also go the extra mile to ensure that the special needs of veterans and their families are being met.”

Network, Network, Network

I’m not talking about exclusively networking with veteran-only groups. Lord knows there are plenty of those on Facebook. You should be connecting in person and on LinkedIn with as many people as you can in the specific industry that you want to go into. Having said that, don’t limit yourself to just one industry; you never know where a relationship will lead.

Ditch the military lingo

Here’s a funny observation: Civilians are mostly clueless of our military acronyms and jargon, but they have invented their own incomprehensible corporate jargon that is just as mystifying! And while it seems like military lingo was created to increase communication efficiency, corporate jargon seems to us like it’s trying to destroy communication efficiency

My first conference call in corporate America sounded something like this-

“We here at Jargon Corp realize that it is better to incentivize seamlessly than to mesh virally. The branding factor can be summed up in one word: C2B2B. If all of this may seem alarming to you, that's because it is! What does it really mean to transition "proactively"? We realize that it is better to orchestrate virtually than to facilitate virally. Without appropriate aggregation, applications are forced to become mission-critical. We pride ourselves not only on our feature set but our newbie-proof administration and user-proof use.”

Remember, every time you say the word “Deliverable”, somewhere on the planet a puppy dies…

Still, I can remember the confused look on my boss's face when he told me to head to a meeting with a client and I replied “Oscar Mike.” Try to move away from military jargon.

Reach out if you need help

At last count, there were 23 million veterans in America. That’s a lot of brothers and sisters who have your back if you need guidance. Together, we are both an unstoppable force and an immovable object.

Whether it’s veteran-focused nonprofits, the Department of Veterans Affairs or any number of veteran-hiring organizations, you are most definitely not alone.

Here are a few of my favorite organizations:

All Secure Foundation Empowering veterans in the civilian world

Hire Heroes USA Hire Heroes USA is one hundred percent committed to veteran and military spouse employment

Team Rubicon Disaster response by military veterans

Bunker Labs Veteran Entrepreneurship

American Military University Continuing education

Here's the thing... Your new civilian life is a fresh start. You had an amazing career as a _____________ [insert your MOS, Rating or AFSC here]. Don't live your life as a "professional veteran." Use your education and skills gained in the military as a launchpad to write the next chapter.

As an adult, I now have 10 years in the military and 10 years in the civilian world. It's not as bad as some people might think. Veterans are hot right now.

We have your back. The world is waiting to see what amazing thing you do next. Get out here and make a name for yourself.

Wes-out...