Your 3 to 5 year Plan? Transitioning

SFC Rich Carey — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 09:52:17 -0500

I use to ask military service members exiting the U.S. Army, What are you planning to do? Where do you want to be in 3 to 5 years?

Have you asked yourself that question?

I work at a university that has a military & veterans resource center and I ask the student veterans the same question and most of the time I get a long pause, "Finish my degree" I ask "Then what?" and the response is "Get a job".

How can we get folks exiting the military to come up with a better plan?

I hear, "Well we have TAP" and I ask them have you been through it? Plus when do you get to attend, right at the end when you are walking out the door, not enough time to effectively plan a course of action.

I was a U.S. Army Career Counselor and interviewed everyone exiting the Army. I would ask those questions and 90% of the time I got the "Deer in the headlight look" or "Do something".

Looking back, What was your plan of action exiting the military? Were you financially ready? Were you mentally ready?

Response by SFC Lafayette Green made Dec 6 at 2013 10:07 PM

SFC Lafayette Green — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 22:07:20 -0500

I have less than 3 years remain until I retire. I am finishing my degree now, working on my resume with plans on applying for Government service positions as well as contacting positions. What other areas should I be considering?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 11 at 2013 3:31 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 15:31:16 -0500

As a commander I had the highest retention in the BN just by asking that question.

Response by SFC Lafayette Green made Dec 11 at 2013 6:58 PM

SFC Lafayette Green — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 18:58:49 -0500

Will do. I'm a IT professional so I was planning on applying for positions like Help Desk support, systems administration, information security...etc. Thank you for the advise. I will look into various sectors.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 11 at 2013 10:01 PM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 22:01:58 -0500

Educational plan is very well thought out. I will have finished my Masters in Mental Health Counseling with Certificate in Trauma before I exit. What I am uncertain of is the financial/medical/personal preparations needed. Many of my mentors over the years have departed and they all say they wished they did "this or that" before they exited. I have a few years left before I walk that stage but their comments have me wondering what should I be doing now. So I went to the ACAP page and asked that question. I was hoping for some sort of checklist to guide me. I was instructed to download and join 3dicc. It is 3d Immersive Collaboration Consultants. I have downloaded the program they suggested but have not used it yet. That is a project for a down day here in Kabul. Until then, any tips or insight on financial/medical/personal preparations you feel important would be great.