What are some of the struggles that Veterans face once leaving the military?

2015-05-13T12:23:05-04:00

Response by SFC Joseph James made May 13 at 2015 12:26 PM

2015-05-13T12:26:39-04:00

First thing for me was trying to learn how to be a "Civilian". All of my adulthood was military. I really didn't fit in and was finding myself trying to stay away from people. Next was trying to turn my job experience into a civilian job. A "Fire Support Specialist" doesn't translate over to the other side very well. Most of my brother in arms became cops or worked for the government. I am injured so that option was gone. I'm still figuring things out and if i ever do... i'll let you know lol. Thanks for the question SGT Jamell Culbreath!

Response by COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM made May 13 at 2015 12:51 PM

2015-05-13T12:51:37-04:00

Struggles that Veterans face when leaving the military.
- Culture shock. Military culture and civilian culture are significantly different.
- Expectation Management. Some veterans have unrealistic expectations during and after transition. These expectations are on a variety of things to include but not limited to: negotiating power during hiring process (more than they think), salary band they are competitive for (less than they think), support structure in civilian world (less), etc.
- Freshman 20. Most veterans quit doing PT after leaving the military yet retain their previous eating habits which results in gaining weight in the first year after leaving the military.
- Civilian knowledge and understanding. Most civilians have no clue what the military is/does or what its members have experienced. Many civilians seem to view veterans as damaged goods that need to be treated with kid gloves or we will "go postal".
- Job Transition. The military usually is a sustained commitment even if we change jobs/locations every year. We view transitioning civilian jobs frequently as disloyal. This is NOT how the private sector views transitions.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made May 13 at 2015 1:49 PM

2015-05-13T13:49:03-04:00

What "leadership" is defined as in large civilian companies. Contrary to what we've been taught, some "leaders" are more worried about their personal "perfect attendance" award then they are about their subordinates and the actual job they are supposed to be doing. Can't tell you the number of situations I've been in and/or observed where the "leader" doesn't have a clue how to lead, how to deal with subordinates, how to care for subordinates and their careers. I miss having the equivalent of strong NCOs in the workplace. People you can seek out for guidance and advice.

Response by PO1 John Miller made May 13 at 2015 1:58 PM

2015-05-13T13:58:36-04:00

Civilians tend to think that all veterans have PTSD and think they have to be extra careful not to "set us off."

Us vets tend to be blunt. We say what we mean and civilians think we're "being rude and argumentative." Because of this we also "make people very nervous." These are actual quotes from my first supervisor post-Navy.

Some civilians also aren't used to our work ethic. When we get a tasking we tend to take care of it right away, and therefore it looks like we're either "slacking off" because we're taking it easy while other people are taking care of their own taskings (because ours are already done) or we're "trying to make our co-workers look bad."

Response by SGT Ben Keen made May 13 at 2015 2:00 PM

2015-05-13T14:00:45-04:00

There are a lot of different articles concerning this topic all over RallyPoint. Some were started by me some by others but it's always a good topic to discuss for several reasons.

First, these type of discussions get lost in all the craziness of RallyPoint. Second, its important that Veterans are reminded that what they are going through is normal. Lastly, it's good to see some newer faces talk about what they are facing and then we can see how we can help each other out.

A lot of the members of RallyPoint already know my story of what I went through in the early stages of my transition. Divorce, alcoholism, issues with the VBA, issues fitting in, dark thoughts, etc. Yet out of all that, through the help of some amazing people, I'm here today and trying to pay it forward.

Not everyone has to take the path I took. Not everyone will want to take a path that leads them to starting a nonprofit organization and all that "fun". The one thing we must remember though is that our issues, while different in some aspects are the same across the board and are totally normal. If you are like me and find yourself asking for a new table at a restaurant because you can't see the exit, that is normal. Or if you are driving down the street and your first response to seeing something in the road is "that might kill me"; you are not allow. Being nervous to enter crowed locations or scanning your surroundings, that is normal.

People must remember that we, the Post 9/11 Veteran, have been involved in this nation's longest continuous combat operation in our history. Some of us have been deployed over 1,000 days; some might be over 2,000 by the time it's all said and done. Our brains had to re-wire themselves in order for us to adapt to those surrounding. That is something you just can't switch off or on depending on the situation. For us, the less than 1% of the entire nation's population that serves, that switch remains on.

Yet, it's not all negative. We have strengths and skills that put us in the top 1% of our peers. We have the opportunity to take the skills that kept us alive and use them not just in the corporate world but to help our communities as well. We are leaders, thought-makers, success multipliers. We aren't trying to parade ourselves around like "heroes" because while we did somethings that people are very thankful for, very few us I think are okay with that label of "hero".

So while we sit back and answer this question keep in mind that you are writing for that one person who will log in on here feeling as though they are alone and see that the issue(s) they are facing are faced by so many others. Regardless of rank, gender, branch, male/female, race or whatever other factor of grouping you want to place people in, the issues we face are NORMAL and it is up to us to help police each other and to be there with willingness to help whomever may call out for it.

Response by PFC Tuan Trang made May 13 at 2015 7:40 PM

2015-05-13T19:40:35-04:00

Financials and Ptsd.

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Jun 9 at 2015 2:51 PM

2015-06-09T14:51:03-04:00

Finding a job has to be the top one

Response by 1SG Michael Blount made Jun 9 at 2015 2:56 PM

2015-06-09T14:56:19-04:00

1. Translating their MOS to a civilian-world equivalent (especially if it's a combat MOS)
2. Translating military-speak to civilian language (if you thought the military was trying to be PC, try civilians)
3. Veterans are a proud bunch. Sometimes too proud to ask for help either finding a job or knowing how to network (RP anybody?)
4. Jobs being located in places most people don't want to live (example - North Dakota)
5. Civilians talking about trying to hire veterans, but not doing much else.
3.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2015 3:08 PM

2015-06-09T15:08:08-04:00

1. Culture shock. Not everyone in the civilian world has the same work ethic and team first mentality that we were all imbued with.
2. Time management. Work/rest cycles are doctrine in the military, not so much in business.
3. Networking
4. Loss of identity. Everywhere we go in the military, people we know see our unit, our uniform, and our rank. It is a part of us, and a positive one. In the civilian world, while people are curious about your service, it is not a positive association. Somehow your path to a position was "different", so you don't really belong. It is subtle, but present.
5. Direct prejudice. In many places, it is assumed that you are a killer, suffering from PTSD, just needing a trigger to snap. It is a stereotype and ill-informed, but present.

Response by SGT Rick Ash made Jun 9 at 2015 3:13 PM

2015-06-09T15:13:16-04:00

1. Confidence ( actually lack thereof ) of how skills gained in military will move to civilian life.

2. No camaraderie like back in our unit 3. No joint experiences to build on like we did with our fellow soldiers on deployments. 4. New experience in sharing our spouses / significant others in our everyday life unlike how we did in the service to our country 5. Finding ANY employment in this economy where we can apply our military experience other than LEADERSHIP!

Response by SGT Jesse Walton made Jun 9 at 2015 4:26 PM

2015-06-09T16:26:11-04:00

One of the challenges to adapting the civilian workforce. We are adapt to regimental rituals in which civilians really don't follow, as well as judging the workforce for not being as discipline to as you were in the military.