Are you ready to get out of the Military? If you found this blog you’ve more than likely
asked yourself this recently, even if it was in your own head. I left the Army after 5 years in February
2017. I had zero debt, a job guaranteed in
writing months before my ETS date and had plenty of money saved up. As I began to get closer to that date and go
through those mandatory retention meetings I soon found out this was not
normal. I remember the retention NCO for
my battalion at the time asking to see my letter of employment to USAA, and
even didn’t believe I had zero debt until I showed him the title for my
car. He went on to tell me most of the
Soldiers he spoke with who were getting out, even senior NCOS, were unprepared. I saw this highlighted about a week later
when I had to go through the Soldier for Life program which is the military to
civilian transition assistance program you’re required to attend
I was shocked when I realized how greatly unprepared most (not all) the Soldiers attending were. It began to dawn on me that until you take this course, there’s really no time or effort invested by other sources to influence you to prepare to get out of the Military. Every program or meeting in the Military is about retention. This isn’t malicious, it’s just normal. No employer is going to invest time and money to help you leave them. Programs like Soldier for life are most likely only there because they are federally mandated.
It was after seeing this that I wanted to start an outlet to try and reach people preparing to get out or retire from the Military who maybe hadn’t taken the steps I did. I was working on my resume, reading books, and attending college even in my first year in the Military because I knew I wanted that security and insurance incase I decided to only go through with my first enlistment. Over the next few posts I’ll highlight a few of the small things I did to ensure I’d be successful once I was handed that DD214. Follow along, hopefully some of these words will help. If anyone reading this needs direct help or just someone to talk to, I’m always open.
I was shocked when I realized how greatly unprepared most (not all) the Soldiers attending were. It began to dawn on me that until you take this course, there’s really no time or effort invested by other sources to influence you to prepare to get out of the Military. Every program or meeting in the Military is about retention. This isn’t malicious, it’s just normal. No employer is going to invest time and money to help you leave them. Programs like Soldier for life are most likely only there because they are federally mandated.
It was after seeing this that I wanted to start an outlet to try and reach people preparing to get out or retire from the Military who maybe hadn’t taken the steps I did. I was working on my resume, reading books, and attending college even in my first year in the Military because I knew I wanted that security and insurance incase I decided to only go through with my first enlistment. Over the next few posts I’ll highlight a few of the small things I did to ensure I’d be successful once I was handed that DD214. Follow along, hopefully some of these words will help. If anyone reading this needs direct help or just someone to talk to, I’m always open.
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