By Jim Lavalley

Initially, we at Surplus Today had planned that the Military Life articles I would be writing would consist primarily of my experiences from twenty years in an Army uniform.

Our readers are interested in the trade and products of ex­cess military material. It follows that many of our readers are former warfighters themselves, and while I hope to rekindle some memories of their service, I also try to give some con­text to those who chose a different, equally important career in the civilian sector.

For the next few articles I’m going to deviate a bit from my usual meanderings by writing on different aspects of return­ing to civilian life, based on my own experiences.

I’ve been a civilian for the past nine years. To be honest, it wasn’t (and still isn’t) an easy transition out of uniform. I confess to some naiveté contributing to my difficulties, but much of the struggle had to do with changing cultural and economic times. At the time I retired, many of the transition programs the Army provided were geared toward moving into a private sector that had been consistently growing for the past several decades. The briefings I attended in my final six months often concerned education and employment.

Unfortunately for me, these briefings focused predominant­ly on the vast majority of soldiers who transition from the military before reaching retirement eligibility. In fact, my recent search online resulted in reports of only 10.5 – 17% of service members making it to 20 years or more to attain full retirement military benefits. So, it was unsurprising that, even though I planned to work after retiring, the employ­ment opportunities available in the transition program were almost entirely entry-level.

Still, I was confident. I realized it might be a bit difficult at first, but there was probably a good chance I would be able to get into a lucrative second career. The briefings and career sights all touted just how valuable military experience was to employers. I guessed if I moved to a historically strong industrial area, I should have no problem succeeding. I even engaged the services of a transition recruiter to better my chances. However, that mistake cost me $3500 worth of empty promises. My advice to those who would pay for such a service: don’t do it, no matter what the assurances.

The following are the major mistaken assumptions that cost me dearly.

 

Assumption: Military experience is highly sought after by employers.

In my college courses, I learned the Latin term ceteris paribus – that is, “all things being equal.” No term more accurately explained why this assumption failed me. Military experience is indeed valuable, but it will only make a difference in securing a job where:

a) The employer is seeking military leadership qualities and values/understands those skills.

b) The military experienced applicant has the same or better education and experience than others with civilian experience.

c) The products or services a company produces will benefit from a military focus.

d) The experience is sufficient to meet civilian experience requirements.

At first I looked into finding a helicopter pilot job locally, but I didn’t have the necessary flight time. I fell back on my medical credentials and worked at a local hospital for two arduous years. My own military experience later helped me get a job with a defense contractor. The contractor eventu­ally laid off much of its workforce. Military experience also helped when I preemptively jumped ship to my current government job after 250 applications submitted over three years. I was hired into a group of 25 interns drawn from 650 applicants, but only because I also had recently earned an MBA.

 

Assumption: A historically strong economy will remain strong.

It was small comfort to me that I wasn’t alone among hundreds of thousands (both civilian and former military) who chose to live and work near Detroit, Michigan. In 2006, fifty years of prosperity dissolved almost overnight as the auto industry crashed, taking most of the local support industries with it. If I had the chance to do it again, I would have planned for the possibility of needing to move in case my employment bets hadn’t panned out.

 

Assumption: Experience will make up for a lack of formal education.

In today’s competitive employment market, a master’s degree has become the entry-level requirement that the Bachelor’s degree once filled. My alma mater, a military-friendly school, gave me a generous number of credits for my military service, but after a certain point they all became electives that did nothing to earn my degree. And even though I benefitted from the Post-9/11 GI Bill, I still owe a large sum to financial aid. I had forsaken my college benefits long before I retired. I had also hoped to get student loan repayment from my government job, but those benefits were severely curtailed recently due to federal budget cuts.

It hasn’t been all bad. Without my military career, I’d probably be unemployed right now. I would definitely owe more money towards my late-term education. For those of you who can relate, I sympathize. For those in similar situations as I was, take heed. Maybe you can avoid some of my pitfalls.

There are other assumptions I made that I will address in subsequent articles about choosing where to live and using military benefits.

Jim Lavalley is a retired U.S. Army Warrant Officer and former defense contractor. He now serves the Army as a civilian contract cost analyst in Southeast Michigan.