Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Another one of my Quora answers seems to have hit the mark. Given the number of upvotes, and response comments, I thought it was worth sharing on this humble blog.
The question was “Is it true that the longer you stay in the military, especially as an officer, it will be harder to transition to the civilian world when you get out?”
My answer described my difficulties in making my transition from Navy to Civilian life. Spoiler alert: My answer is a resounding “Yes!“
The Answer
I left active duty effective April 30, 1996. However, I actually left my last ship, USS Port Royal (CG 73) at the end of February 1996, with the remainder of my Navy time on terminal leave, back at my planned retirement home of Gautier, Mississippi.
So, my answer to the question “Is it true that the longer you stay in the military, especially as an officer, it will be harder to transition to the civilian world when you get out?”
I Enlisted in the Navy age 17, went to boot camp five days after high school graduation. Ended up spending 22 years and a few months, retired as a Senior Chief (Non-commissioned officer). By then I was also submarine qualified, had served on four submarines and ships. I had operated electronic warfare systems and navigated a nuclear fast attack submarine. I had operated the world’s deepest diving submarine. I had run million dollar submarine repair jobs. I had an assignment as technical instructor, and assigned to NATO allied staff, living in Italy and working with people from multiple other nations.
When I left the Navy, I was on an Aegis cruiser on deployment, in the middle of the Persian Gulf on a semi-wartime posture. I was managing 18 people, organized into five work centers, maintaining about 5000 line items of electronic equipment.
Then I can home, after being a Geographical Bachelor (Geobachelor) for over two years.
I had to get readjusted to my wife, had to get readjusted to my community, and had to learn how to be a civilian at age 39. I quickly discovered that no one (outside the veterans community) gave a shit what I had done in the Navy.
I watered down my resume as much as I could to still show I had done employment for the previous 22 years. Then potential employers told me I was overqualified. Or asked me to prove I could do whatever chickenshit little job they were hiring for. And I had to sit in the interview and refrain from telling them I could do their job and the job they were hiring for and three other peoples jobs, and still have an easy time with lots of coffee breaks.
It took nine months for me to land my first permanent job. I was hired by another veteran who understood why I’d been unemployed so long. My marriage ended a few years later. Lots of reasons, but trying to make the adjustment from military to civilian life was part of the reasons.
Making that transition from Navy to civilian was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s 28 years later and I’m still learning to adjust. Still having nightmares about being back on a ship on deployment, or recalling bad incidents like they were flashbacks.
And I’ve never done any work that fully utilized my skills and abilities in civilian life the way Navy life did.
Follow-up
A few years before I left active duty, the Military started a “Transition Assistance Program,” essentially training us military folks how to become civilians. It was a week-long class (40 hours), and was somewhat useful for skills like “how to write a resume” and ” how to do a job interview.” All of which was good stuff, but I later learned did not seem to apply when trying to find work on the Mississippi Gulf Coast as a total newcomer. The class also covered more useful information like filing for Veterans’ Assistance and TriCare health benefits.
In the years since I made my transition, I’ve met a number of other veterans just leaving active duty and starting their first job. All of these people had varying levels of difficulties with their transition.
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