Posted on Aug 25, 2015
CPO Sultan Camp
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Many Active Duty Career Counselors have said that discussing post military career strategies are often not encouraged. What are some reasons for this?
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Responses: 4
SGT Kristin Wiley
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The second you mention you're separating, is when your command no longer cares about your future in the military. You will no longer be able to attend training, be competitive for promotion, and you're likely to be put on all the crap details. Despite regulations that say this isn't allowed to happen, in a he said/she said world there's nothing the service member can do to prevent this outcome. It's better to silently count down the days until you get your DD214 without saying a word of your intentions.
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MAJ Civil Affairs Officer
MAJ (Join to see)
9 y
That sounds like a situation where there's toxicity throughout the command. Senior leadership should be able to identify subordinate leaders mistreating Soldiers (regardless of the "why" - in this case, civilian transitions) and snuff that behavior with the quickness. My Soldiers all know I have an "open door" policy and I would gladly sit down with my SNCO/1SG to discuss what's going on and initiate the proper response.

I don't disagree that the situation you're referring to happens more often than it should - however, to imply it's an epidemic in the Army might be a bit much ("almost every Soldier you know that has gotten out has been subject to the aforementioned treatment"). The soldiers you mention - are they all from your current unit/post?
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SGT Kristin Wiley
SGT Kristin Wiley
9 y
MAJ (Join to see) No, none of them are from my current unit or post. They are soldiers I've met throughout my career who I maintain contact with. It may not be at epidemic levels, but I'm positive it occurs more often then senior leadership believes it does.
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MAJ Civil Affairs Officer
MAJ (Join to see)
9 y
SGT Kristin Wiley - I'm inclined to agree to a point. Senior leadership only knows what to be true if junior's open up and tell the truth about the current command climate (whether during a sensing session/command climate surveys or utilizing the open door policy that the majority of commands have (every command I've been in has had an open door policy - in which you simply start with your first line supervisor and if that doesn't suffice, you slowly move up until reach someone that can deal with the issue(s) at hand). It's a double edge sword - coming from the enlisted ranks, I knew a ton of peers who would talk crap about how things were messed up...however they never stated any of it to their supervisors, nor would they ever propose how they would fix it. I was brought up that if I identified a problem, to let someone know and to propose a potential solution. I've carried that with me throughout my career.
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MSgt Curtis Ellis
MSgt Curtis Ellis
9 y
SGT Kristin Wiley Even as an E7, I ran into that very thing bu my leadership in Iraq, and my leadership prior to and when I returned to retire... And I don't mean hidden. It was blatantly obvious to me and those around me to the point they were questioning me why... I gave a typical "support the team in anyway you are asked" answer, but in all honesty, those were the worst 2 years of my career from that aspect, and knowing you can only do/say so much as you were still governed by the UCMJ for the slightest of BS, as you stated, despite regulations that clearly indicate this isn't supposed to happen (not me making this up, saw it happen to another E7 about a year prior). It would have been better to keep my mouth shut until the last possible minute... but it was like I was forced to retire 2 years before I actually did... But? I did get to retire as an E7, and I still got to work with some of the best Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines anyone could ask for!
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MSgt Squad Leader
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You can't even mention post military life without putting nails in your career coffin. We are constantly reminded to "better" ourselves because the military won't always be there for us, but you had better not mention that to anybody. This week a new boot was asked what his 5 year plan was, he mentioned that he wanted to get a degree so that he could be marketable on the outside and the Chief lit him up for already having one foot out the door.
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CW4 Brigade Maintenance Technician
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CPO Sultan Camp, they are not ready to face that reality. I cans understand that. I have a little while longer to go, but I know that it will be hard to retire from a job that you have enjoyed and worked at for 20 plus years.
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