Welcome to my post-military journey. While some of you may still be on active duty or some of you may have already crossed the threshold to retirement, there are some invaluable insights in my own journey that I believe will be helpful in the transition. The phases I experienced may be unique to my own experiences and there could be many, many others that I missed, but the intent is to provide the basic framework of the actual phases and emotions I personally experienced.

OH MY GOD, WHAT JUST HAPPENED

Passed over for promotion? Not selected for command? Not selected for in-residence school? Not selected for the "must have" job for promotion? Whatever it is, everyone will recognize when the glide path to success has been altered. Mine began when I was taken off of the straight path for my functional career field and sent to be an instructor at Air Command and Staff College. While my leadership identified the opportunity as excellent for my career broadening, I easily identified this as missing out on the "must have" job in my career field for my rank. I still went forth and did the best I could at the position and ended up as an executive officer to a two star general at Air War College and still successfully obtained command as a Major. It still felt like I was on an upwardly mobile path for a chance at promotion.

All of that changed in a couple of years, when I was competitively selected for an announced squadron command in my functional career field only to have it taken away because the base reorganized to eliminate the command. How does this happen without the leadership at the highest levels in the functional area not knowing about it? Why were they allowed to compete the position if they knew it was going to be deleted from the manpower rosters? All of these questions and concerns were allayed by senior functional area leaders identifying my unique position to be at the top of the list for command…which quickly led to my non-selection for command two more times.

The point here is that at some point in your career the wheels will start to come off of the little red wagon you’ve been riding to the success and ranks you have achieved. You need to recognize you have very little control over your career in the military.

GET OVER IT AND GET ON WITH IT

My "Oh My God, What Just Happened" moment led to immediate shock and trauma. I babbled incessantly about the foul features of the system and had subordinates identified my stammering. While I personally recognized my career was beginning the slow decline to retirement, I still couldn’t quite get over the pain associated with (at the time) the slap in the face after 18 years of dedicated, honorable service sacrificing myself and my family for the Air Force and my country.

I began the motions for transitioning out of the Air Force dutifully attending my transition assistance program (TAP) (as of 2014 called the Transition Goals Planning Success or Transition GPS). I even bought custom suits to impress during job interviews. But, I still couldn’t get my mind around what had occurred to my career over the last two to three years. I stormed around the office and my home angry at everyone and everything. I was mad at the manpower system, the Air Force, my functional leaders, my current job, the medical system checking on me post deployment, etc. Why was I so angry? The pain of losing control of my career is the only plausible answer I can give.

My "Aha" moment occurred when my wife identified my anger towards the Air Force and everything else was having a palpable effect me. I recognized I needed to "get over" the causes, issues, and reasons for the end of my Air Force career. I had to realize the next stage of my existence on this planet was well underway with or without me. If I wanted to continue to provide for my family, I needed to "get on" with the deed of making myself appealing to potential business suitors.

WHAT DO I WANT TO BE WHEN I GROW UP

The next phase for me was to determine what I wanted to do for a living. While I had a variety of skills and abilities the Air Force had prepared me for while on active duty, I needed to distill the truth of those towards the civilian world. There are great tools on the internet for matching your Air Force specialty code (AFSC), functional area, or military occupational specialty (MOS) with civilian termed skills and abilities. However, they don’t help you decide what you enjoy doing for a living.

By searching through my background and past job assignments, I was able to discern what I seemed to enjoy doing and excel at accomplishing. This did not happen in one sitting or over a week. This took many months of directed thought processing with multiple versions pushed out in different resumes and formats. I don’t think I actually got it down until about three month before my terminal leave and eight to ten resume versions.

Determining what you want to be when you grow up is probably the most important first step to looking for a job. By defining what you enjoy doing and can be successful at, you are now beginning to define your future. Marrying the current skills and abilities to the next job is liberating because I started to envision myself in the position and roles in the future.

Up Next in Part 2....
•Dress for Success
•Apply, Apply, and Apply Some More
•Rehearse for Success