Top Five Issues for Transitioning Active-Duty Military Members

Author – Joe Turkal, LtCol (Ret) USMC

Congratulations! You have made a firm decision to transition from active duty to the civilian sector. You have served honorably and now it is time to chart a new path. This is an exciting time, but with that comes the stress of change and the unknown. I faced the unknown a little over a year ago. I am now a financial advisor that serves the active duty and veteran community, so in addition to my transition, I assist other members every day as part of my new calling. Although I could write enough information to publish a book, I will take a step forward to frame the problem for military members with an overview of the top five issues military members face when transitioning. The purpose of this article is to establish a jumping off point for members who recently decided to transition or those who will start the process soon.

Top issues and the priority of those issues is always going to be subjective and situationally dependent. The intent of the article is not to debate this, instead, I will use a well-known framework to address the top issues that I personally encountered and that I discuss with clients every day. The framework that I will use is Maslow’s Hierarchy. This is a well-known framework developed by Abraham Maslow published in the mid 1900’s. The framework is a depicted as a pyramid with the highest priority human needs at the bottom, ascending to the more complex, higher order needs at the top of the pyramid. The needs are as follows, 1) Psychological (i.e. food, water, shelter), 2) Safety (i.e. security of self, employment, family), 3) Love/belonging (i.e. family, friendship, intimacy), 4) Esteem (i.e. reputation, confidence, social standing) 5) Self-actualization (i.e. morality, creativity, acceptance of facts).  Whether this framework perfectly aligns to your personal journey is an individual matter, however, let us advance through the different areas as they apply to your transition.

Psychological. It is hard to argue with this as the priority. If you were stranded on a desert island – – food, water, and shelter become imperative for survival. When going through the transition it can often feel like you are on an island alone. Job number one is to ensure enough income and/or savings to pay for food, keep shelter overhead (i.e., pay the mortgage, or rent), and pay the urgent fixed expenses. Are you getting a pension? How much do you have in your savings? Do you have any other form of income? I suggest step one is to construct a realistic budget. Identify all necessary costs per month. Identify known income sources. Identify all savings, to include liquidity (or access to those resources). That is, it. But what about potential sources of income? What about the potential for my next job? That will all come, but that’s not part of this step. I recommend you always plan on a basic, worst case, conservative basis. Step one is to understand the known. If all else fails what are your resources and what are your gaps?

Safety. Now let us move up the pyramid to safety. I realize, by nature, a military member thinks of others first but remember when the airplane is going down to put your oxygen mask on first so you can then take care of your loved ones. This is the point that we can begin to consider the unknown. How will I continue to provide security for my family? What potential avenues of income are feasible? Do we have health care? Am I able to progress to financial independence in retirement? Do the kids have what they need to further their education? This step is a combination of research and the first soul searching we must do. Research whether you get veteran benefits, or if you have taken the proper steps to be awarded veteran benefits such as finding a Veterans Service Officer (VSO) and submitting a Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD). Can I continue Tricare to cover myself and my family, or does my spouse have benefits that will cover us? Have I taken or enrolled in the transition course? Do I have a resume together and have I identified the fields / business that are most promising for future income? Have I invested in building and strengthening my personal and professional network? Have I started to conduct informational interviews to strengthen my network and get a better sense of what I want to do? Have I started a checklist for myself? Am I using my current assignment and the high operational tempo as an excuse not to take care of the future for my family? Am I procrastinating because it is uncomfortable to address the unknown?

Love / Belonging. Do not make this a “silent journey of solitude.”  Do not be silent sufferers and put the entire world’s weight on your shoulders. This is a sure-fire way to fail. Seek mentors, spiritual leaders, loved ones, family, friends. You have been the rock of Gibraltar for your entire career, you have built a bank full of good will. Now is the time to tap into those savings and let others help you along the way. Humbleness and humility may be the biggest struggle in your battle. Identify this as a weakness and make sure you open all pathways including leaning on your loved ones, friends, support systems, and colleagues. Find perspective by realizing that you have honed yourself to be an incredible leader, who can, and who has carried the weight of an entire unit on your shoulders; but you are now in uncharted waters, and you will need help. When you stare into the unknown and start losing your sense of control, do not harden your exterior shell, let others help you in your journey. Understand that people like to help others, all we need to do is ask for help. Do not fear rejection. Keep perspective that some will be more ready to help than others. Accept help and kindness from others.

Esteem. Now is the time to strengthen and leverage your personal and professional reputation. To paraphrase Adam Smith, he believed that everyone wants to be loved and beloved. Meaning we want to be loved by others for our efforts, but even more so, we are mostly driven by our desire to be respected and admired by others. This is our reputation, or how others perceive us. It is also how we think others perceive us. Everything we achieve in life is in large part due to the interaction with our environment. If you think of human interaction as the human environment, you begin to realize that how we interact with others produces an image and a succeeding effect on the decisions others make about us. You must realize that if you have conducted yourself honorably in your military career and have demonstrated your competence, you have an interest in self-realizing this worth. This is a valuable asset in your transition. You will hear a lot of talk about hard skills verses soft skills. You will also hear the opinion that soft skills are what employers are seeking. I found this to be largely true. Recognize that you have well-developed and possibly elite soft skills. You do not realize it because you are surrounded by other military professionals that have these skills. You are well served to recognize these skills. Then learn to market them in a clear, understandable, and concise manner. This is 4 of 5 in the hierarchy, and as such these are higher order needs, which translate into high order skills and abilities. You have them, be confident and market them.

Self-actualization. The highest order in the hierarchy of needs. Did you know that most transitioning members stay in their initial follow-on job for less than 6 months? It is true and my theory is that because we are so focused on addressing the lower order needs that we jump at the first opportunity to meet those needs. This strategy may ease some stress, bring comfort (temporary), and address the lower order needs. Unfortunately, with some time and distance from all the unknown in the transition, we realize that we are now miserable with our choice. Our morality, creativity, and need for a meaningful mission may manifest into more harmful stress than that of the unknown. This is typically when things slow down and we can examine what is important to us. Our integrity is paramount. We are left with a decision; do I continue to be miserable and sacrifice my needs (because this job” brings home the bacon”) or do I invest in my happiness and long-term wellbeing and seek out the role that will truly make me content. This is where we must confront risk head on. We are used to the security of knowing we can provide for our family because we are in control of our military career. Now in the private sector, we may need to take risks to achieve what will truly make us and those who count on us – – happy. Here is my “so what,” as you enter transition, flip the hierarchy. Spend time and effort on self-actualization first. Confront it. Now examine the previous lower parts of the pyramid through this lens. It may in fact encourage you to take a bit more risk early on but reach your goal much sooner. Good luck.