What did you do in the days and weeks afterward when you left the service?

What did you do in the days and weeks afterward when you left the service?
I continued looking for work as I did when I was on my terminal leave; plus I enjoyed my ‘vacation’ and spent lots of time with wife, kids and dogs. I went for multiple interviews with so-called ‘military friendly’ employers, only to be told I was over qualified. I believe the biggest issue was what media has painted, military, retired, and individuals in their 50’s – they make everyone believe all military has PTSD, if your retired you don’t want to work hard and if you’re in your 50’s you are not in good health – while some military members do indeed suffer from PTSD – they shouldn’t assume all do, not everyone that has retired wanted to or wants to remain that way, not all of us baby boomers in their 50’s are in bad health (for those of us in the military we had to pass PFT’s 1-2 times a year – hell we are in better shape than most civilian police officers) As the months went on my savings dwindled (military retirement pay is nothing compared to active pay), and I had to apply for and receive unemployment. As I was coming upon the end of my unemployment (6 month mark), I found a job opening with Amtrak – they were actually military friendly.

Sir, I will let you know in 25 years...

I am about to go through this in April of this year. I am transitioning to Washington Army National Guard. I will am and will continue to look for work, there is no time to sit down and enjoy a break. I will be looking for an entry level corporate job and will start working my way up.

I move back to Alaska because my wife was still active duty. We to time to see both sides of the families for thirty day. When we arrived at Fort Wainwright first priority was to find a place to stay and get the wife singed in. Once we got a house I started looking for work right away. I had a job inside of three weeks.

I went straight to work in my civilian career. Heck, I was still technically on active duty (terminal leave) the first month of my new job!

I took 88 days terminal leave. I had retired to So.Cal where we had been living, so didn't have the added stress of having to move. I continued job searching and networking. Also took some family road trips/vacations to Vegas/Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, Mt Rushmore, trip up the coast to WA State to visit relatives while camping along the way. My three kids were on summer vacation so it worked out perfectly.

I remember feeling so relaxed that i could do what i wanted, when i wanted and didn't have to answer to anyone except CinC House of course..lol. At the same time i was also apprehensive about getting a job in a timely manner with having a family of seven at the time (wife's parents living with us). It ended up working out quite well, my retirement date was 30 Sep and i was hired by CSC about two weeks later. The year of preparation paid off, I felt almost giddy with relief.

Got a job! Isn't that what you are supposed to do? Also went back to school.

About 6 months after leaving, I was invited to work as a consultant with the Philippine government. At the time, President Aquino's administration was one year old after the People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos in 1986. My uncle introduced me to the Director of the of the National Bureau of Investigation who then hired me as a consultant (The NBI is the Philippine version of FBI). There, I supported joint operations with the then Naval Intelligence Service (now NCIS), the US Treasury Department (Secret Service), the FBI and other US Embassy staff. From there I went on to the Office of the President. I worked there through 3 administrations (President's Aquino, Ramos and Estrada) working at the Presidential Commission on Good Government, the National Security Council, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of National Defense. Concurrently, I was also supporting US activities in the Philippines and Southeast Asia (under President's Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush Jr.).

I never thought that a 71L could go as far as I did. Because I am a US citizen, I could only be granted a contractor appointment. It was very interesting work, particularly during the Aquino years when there was a coup attempt every several months or so.

I now live a sedate life, by comparison: no more 95 hour work weeks...just 40-50 hours during 71L work. Four children and 2 grandchildren...so far.

Sir, in June 1972, I was discharged from MCB 29 Palms. I drove to the Colorado River and swam across and back. I was quite a distance downstream by the time I swam back. I then drove to Pasadena, Texas where I would live. I took a couple of weeks off to go see my Fiancee. She ended up breaking off the engagement, which was mostly my fault. I started working as a chemical plant operator and going to college. Being kept very busy helped me adjust because I did not have time to dwell on things.

Well, I haven't crossed that bridge yet COL Mikel J. Burroughs. In fact, I will be re-enlisting for another 5 years come 5 July! When that is done with, I'll be at 20 and we'll see what happens from there!