What are some reasons Active Duty resist talking about separating from the Military?

2015-08-25T10:10:46-04:00

Many Active Duty Career Counselors have said that discussing post military career strategies are often not encouraged. What are some reasons for this?

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 10:15 AM

2015-08-25T10:15:05-04:00

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.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 10:20 AM

2015-08-25T10:20:48-04:00

Planning is a very important step in the transition. I believe the military is not why my end all job, it's a calling... We use the skills and values we earned and take them with us into the real world. We have more and more indivuals who don't know how to transition and are afraid of the real world. They get trapped into the routine of the the military and feel safe. We need to eventually separate from active duty and get into the civilian world where we can add the level of safety and work ethic that we came to know and love from the military. Out skills are too important to keep to ourselves.

Response by SGT Kristin Wiley made Aug 25 at 2015 11:57 AM

2015-08-25T11:57:09-04:00

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.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 12:49 PM

2015-08-25T12:49:53-04:00

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.