Culture Shock - Leaving the Military

Here is a piece I co-wrote with Nick Wood and Matt Sheerin, in relation to helping people understand the broader aspects of Transition from the Military.

LEAVING THE MILITARY is a frenetic time with lots to do and think about and so often the cultural, emotional step is missed out.

William Bridges was a renowned expert in transition within businesses and considered the impact of the transition from the business level down to each individual. His quote was:

“Change is situational. Transition, on the other hand, is psychological. It is not those events, but rather the inner reorientation or self-redefinition that you have to go through in order to incorporate any of those changes into your life. Without a transition, a change is just a rearrangement of the furniture. Unless transition happens, the change won't work, because it doesn't take.”  William Bridges

Introduction: The transition from the Armed Forces needs to be completed with a more complete understanding of the differences between the military and civilian cultures, values, ethics and practices. While having this knowledge and forewarning, there will still be some level of “shock” associated with the move to a less structured and less regimented environment. It is important to have this in mind and always be ready to share experiences with people from the broader Armed Forces community, they will be able to support and share.

Your First Culture Shock: It is worth considering when you joined your service. As a relative youngster, it is easier to adapt, and you were stepping knowingly into a role that came with anticipations, expectations and also the possibility of not being good enough and not making the grade. Nevertheless, the “culture shock” of joining the military is stark, rapid (less than 6 weeks) and is managed. Further, you are surrounded by people going through the same experience, share and form as a team.

The Essence of the Culture Shock: Upon leaving, you are “on your own” (or with your family as a unit) and have little or no contact with the people that are going through the process. Even if you were in contact, their view would be completely different, as transition is personal based on your Service, Cap badge, Trade, rank achieved, length of service, operational background, service experience, familial circumstances and location to which you are resettling. No one will have the same experience profile coming out. However, there are elements of the pathway that will resonate.

When first arriving in civvy st, most people feel a sense of “not belonging”; not part of the serving military and yet, not feeling part of the “veteran” or civilian community either. Our recommendation is that there is engagement and support from the ex-military community beginning in the transition phase, as this will provide a number of bridges: social network if you are moving to a new area of the country; business network equally, as many ex-military move into employment; support network of people that understand the transition process having gone through it and can advise on many aspects of being in civvy street. There are a number of ex-military networks on social media and also face to face networking groups such as the Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast clubs that can offer support, advice and guidance.

Nevertheless, the impact of the move can still be quite daunting and so, having an understanding of the changes can support in the mitigation of the shock and help in the integration into the new world of work and socialising. Here are some elements for consideration.

Core Values: The military core values are instilled in Basic training and reinforced throughout service. While the three services differ marginally, they can broadly be described as CDRILS – Courage, Discipline, Respect for Others, Integrity, Loyalty and Selfless Commitment. The training and the core values instilled are underpinning the strong team ethics necessary in the military. Leadership training is predicated around the Task, team and individual further recognising the importance of the triumvirate. This strong team ethos belies the instilling of the mental and physical resilience through training and ongoing development.

In the military, people progress through the ranks based on three core elements – military skills, trade skills and leadership. Individuals need to be able to be ahead in all three areas to get ahead in their careers.

In civilian life, people have self-developed core values dependent upon nature, nurture and their experiences in life. The multiplicity of behaviours can appear foreign to the service leaver entering their new place of work. This is not “bad” it is just different, and people progress in their work and careers based on how good they are at their job – the one single aspect that is important to the employer.

The military work environment is mission focussed and the team works to progress so much as they can towards the mission, in and out of barracks or on deployment. This is part of the selfless commitment values instilled.

In civilian work, there is more of a collective approach to work; less defined “missions” or objectives, in many organisations, less structured workforce teams, and a more collaborative and less command and control management style. The people in the civilian workplace have many different motivations and drivers and this manifests in their attitude and style.

Having an understanding of the prospective differences in mindset, attitude and motivations of your co-workers can support in a smoother transition and mitigation of the culture shock when arriving in your new work environment.

Ethos: The ethos of the military is to continue to work until the workload is completed. Working late is the norm, working weekends is frequent and being on call pretty much 24/7 is all part of the services ethos. 

Things may be different in some civilian businesses where the workplace is the place of work only. Carry out your tasks irrespective of what other people are doing, collect your wages/salary and get back to your family and friends. There are, of course, exceptions for example in the parts of the Public Sector- and this may be an area of employment nearest to the familiar military ethos. It is noted that there are a lot of people that leave the military and go on to have successful second careers in Police, Fire and Ambulance Services and also in HM Prison Service and the Border Force. Nevertheless, do note that the skills and competencies brought to the civilian marketplace are well respected and much needed in other roles.

The bonds developed in the military are very much about belonging to a team with a focus to deliver on a mission. There is pride in the quality of the work done and a seemingly endless sense of rivalry with other sections, platoons (flights), companies, squadrons, regiments, branches, ships etc. The sense of team starts with the buddy-buddy and goes all the up to Service!

Civilian companies may not operate on a single team ethos and some may have a more competitive approach between shifts or teams, with the possible consequences of a breakdown in morale where the sense of the smaller team has been detrimental to the purpose of the wider corporate team. Many service leavers will create, quite naturally, a sense of team with their work colleagues and create a sense of purpose for that team, and it will start to stand out in the company. Nevertheless, this can equally become the cause for frustrations and issues.

The civilian workplace is more collegial meaning that there is shared responsibility and less command and control so you may find you a need to create “political” powerbases to get things done within the team and across departments. This can be challenging to the new service leaver and is a real call upon skills to “improvise, adapt and overcome”. 

Time Keeping: While there is a pervasive humour about the “5 minutes before the 5 minutes before the 5 minutes before the… etc” it instils a very strong sense of punctuality. It also creates a strong sense of “time and motion”, that is, how long it will actually take you to achieve a task with the resources you have a available. When a mission requires a task to be completed by a deadline, that forms part of the appreciations of what needs to be done. This is a common theme discussed in the ex-military community as a gripe when stepping into civilian life.

There is a very diverse perception of time keeping and punctuality in civilian life. While people make every effort to get into their place of work on time, when it comes to meetings and delivery deadlines, there is a spread of standards on what is acceptable… it is something that you have to come to terms with, but it will grate.

Humour: The workplace humour of the military is unique, although has some similarities with other communities. A dark humour is a mental mechanism for dealing with some harsh realities whether experienced or prepared for, however it does not translate well into the civilian workplace. Likewise, the “banter” enjoyed within the 24/7 environment of the Forces can be quite scathing and inappropriate in the civilian work and social scenarios.

There is a need to be aware of this, and without reducing a person’s sense of humour, it is important to get a flavour of what is and isn’t acceptable and adapt accordingly.

Time Freedom: In the military, there is an expectation of being available at all hours; mess and unit/subunit socials, on exercise, on operations, in preparation of all the previous. This changes when you enter the civilian environment, and consequently there is more time to spend with your nuclear family, wider family and friends and more time to explore hobbies and interests. This greater time freedom can be quite daunting and so setting some early goals such as reading more, doing some courses and learning some new skills will quickly fill the time and mitigate the sense of shock in a positive way.

Costs: The military provide so much for the serving and families that it is easy to forget what additional costs exist in the civilian world. It is well recognised that even junior ranks have a greater disposable income in comparison to their civilian counterparts and this extra money is often spent on consumables and luxuries. 

In Civvy St, it feels like there is pretty much a cost or at least an increased cost to EVERYTHING – Gyms, prescriptions, drinks, accommodation, utilities, etc etc etc. Getting an understanding of the cost of living outside of the forces prior to leaving can in many cases inform a decision on whether or not to leave, but certainly inform a decision on salary level required to maintain a minimum or expected standard of living.

Self-Identification:   Critically, being able to re-identify yourself from your military self is essential to mitigate the sense of culture shock. Many leaving the military at any stage feel a sense of loss of purpose, authority and responsibility. Junior ranks often have more responsibility and authority than their civilian counterparts on similar salary levels and so it can affect all.

The loss of the uniform is more than just a token of the belonging. Look at the military uniform and what it constitutes as part of the self-identification: Service, rank, cap-badge, trade skills, courses attended (Para, SF, Commando, marksman, signaller, language skills, etc), on some uniforms, medals are worn showing operational experience and perhaps even length of service. All of this is an overt display of the person you are and people who see you can identify you with a glance.

In civilian life, (Emergency Services, HMPPS etc. notwithstanding) other than the quality of the cut of your clothes or the suit, smart casual, overalls, PPE of your role, there is nothing much to define you or identify you externally to other people. No one will know of your abilities, interests, courses and skills, let alone your operational experience, and they will pay more regard for how you perform your work and how you get on with them and your fit into the team and organisation.

It is therefore important to find a way to re-identify yourself and internally accept the change that has taken place after leaving the Forces. The Military require so much of the individual, and there is that selfless commitment to service and often to the detriment of the family. Leaving this you need to find many things that make up a composite of who you are as a person out of the military. Here are some suggestions. Identify as:

·      A parent

·      A son/daughter

·      A sibling

·      A worker (select nurse, tradesperson, manager, project manager, team leader, bus driver, or whatever)

·      A hobbyist (a cyclist, a runner, a stamp collector, a reader, an amateur chef and many more)

·      A volunteer for a charity or community

·      A future (father, mother, General manager – capture your aspirations as part of the new you and internalise them.

·      A Veteran!!

The new you can be greater than the sum of the parts and can lead to a more freeing view of the World into which you have moved.

Summary: Moving from the structured, regimented world of the military can be both freeing and daunting at the same time. Having an understanding of the prospective cultural pitfalls and potholes can support in preparing for, if not completely avoiding them, creating a stronger, more effective and sustainable transition.

Always interested to hear of others' perspectives and experiences. [email protected].

Credits to @Nick Wood (The Military Human) & Matt Sheerin (After the Military)