Practically Speaking…Veteran Transitions
“Veteran is not a job category”
Published in
2 min readDec 8, 2015
- Since leaving the Navy in late July of 2013, I’ve accumulated some nuggets of wisdom in my transition out of the Navy and into civilian life. This is probably the best, in that it’s not an insult nor is it profoundly inspiring. It’s just a fact that eludes a lot of service members that are either just about to leave the military or have recently transitioned out. It’s called a “transition” for a reason, it will require patience, introspection, and experimentation to figure things out.
Why I think I should write
- While at Haas, I also served as the Veterans Club VP-Admissions as a student. This role allowed me to interact personally with dozens of transitioning military veterans as they left their respective services and entered into civilian life. I’ve coached a handful of veterans a bit more in-depth, and I’ve seen a lot of patterns of behavior emerge from people during this transition.
Why I have to write
- To call the Navy’s TAP (Transition Assistance Program) a “joke” would be a gross understatement. A better term would be “insult”, as the week-long program literally incinerates your tax dollars. This blog in some way is trying to recoup the taxpayer money I wasted by attending TAP.
- I don’t think that it’s the DoD or any military branch’s job to carry most of the burden prepare its service members to become successful civilian professionals. These organizations are not vocational services, and their end-goal is to preserve national security by direction of this country’s civilian leadership. Most of the burden to succeed is on the individual himself/herself.
- Successful transitions happen when veterans are self-motivated to start a new career and they have the chance to interact with other veterans who have successfully transitioned out of the military. I think by sharing some of my observations, I can make that process faster and smoother for those with the right motivation.
What you might expect
- Recommendations on resources that have been helpful for me in transitioning out of the military
- My strong opinions on why I’ve seen some people succeed and some people struggle
- Some learnings from times where I’ve seen myself fail.
