About this blog

One of the most difficult challenges that all service-members will face is the Transition. This is the act of turning off the switch, and incorporating back to the civilian world. For some it comes at the end of their first contract; others may choose to wait until retirement or a maybe somewhere between the two. No matter if you are Active, Reserve, a Lifer or a One-And- Done at some point you will have to go back home. This blog isn’t going to be composed of the usual information fed to service-members in mandatory Transition Assistance Programs. Instead, I’m going to talk about real world solutions for real world problems. I hope to help people identify what real resources are available and which ones have become corporate, spam-monsters that are driven by some agenda other than helping veterans. But in order to get into what works, and what doesn’t, let’s take a look at the situation.

What makes the Transition so difficult though is that each transition is unique to each individual leaving the military.  There are some aspects of it that can be uniform across the board, but primarily it is an experience that each service member will have to face alone. Each individual has certain strengths that they can capitalize, but they also have individual weaknesses that can prove to be devastating if not addressed. This is an important concept to understand because for many, the Transition is the first time that they are on their own after years of teamwork. This characteristic single handedly makes most Transition Assistance Programs ineffective. Many programs try to put out a one-size-fits-all Band-Aid, and it just doesn’t work.

Reserve and Active Duty Transitions are a great example of how individual transitions differ. For Reservists, especially if they deploy, are going to face multiple Transitions. Whereas the Active Duty side, will most likely only have to face one. The catch is that the one that the Active Duty faces is going to be more difficult than the Reserves, and it will require a larger effort to overcome. However, the Reserves don’t get off easy. They will have to perfect a stamina that can handle multiple Transitions in a relatively small period of time.

The Transition also has some extremely high stakes. Financial freedom, employment, education, family, friends, and even health are just a few of things at stake during this period. If a veteran enters this period of their life unprepared, they could enter a downward spiral that begins to feed on itself and is difficult to break.  It is crucial to have a clear view of what’s at stake and how to prepare for the day when all the carefully laid plans fall apart.

As morbid as all of this sounds, it’s not impossible to have a really successful experience re-entering the civilian lifestyle. Most veterans, though they might hit a bump or two, will land on their feet. This blog is going to address those bumps and give some insight on ways to work through them. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of programs designed to help with this period of change. The hard part is finding them. Stick with me on this blog, and I will try to help identify these resources and some strategies that make the Transition easier to handle.