How long after separation did it take you to equal your pay?

Yes. You are probably the 10th person to tell me that in the past year. To be honest, I feel like a fish out of water trying to start up and run a business in an industry that I am just now beginning to understand (having not had the opportunity to work in it as a civilian). I have been the practitioner who received the orders to carryout the mission, and the civilian world is most certainly not the military...unfortunately. I also do not have much wiggle room for building a business when I have 9 mouths to feed. I am weighing my options every day and moving forward, sometimes I might move diagonal, but I am still moving forwards.

SSG Mark Ives
I see you were a CTI. I actually have a couple of friends, a married couple who are retired CT's (one a Master Chief, the other a Chief) who own and run a certified female disabled veteran small business, and one of their biggest gigs is providing interpreters. Would you like me to give them your contact information? They're located in Tampa, FL.

PO1 John Miller - think you got the wrong Mark! I was an Army ELINT analyst, no language skill, but appreciate the offer.

SSG Mark Ives, you're correct and my apologies! I meant to tag PO1 Mark Filter! :)