Rita Silic ⋅ Springfield, MO Reflexology by Rita ⋅ 17 years experience

Hello, Adebola,
Thank you for your service!
What are your passions? Your leadership is apparent, so my guess is whatever you go towards can be successful. Many dream of owning their own business. Rather than leaving it as pie in the sky, the reality can happen with skilled training, mentorship, peer and Corporate support that provides a successful pathway. If having a business where you can hand pick recruits and business partners appeals to you along with qualifying for tax benefits for it, then perhaps we can have a consideration discussion.
All the best of success!

Doug Lawrence ⋅ TalentC - People Services Inc. ⋅ 35 years experience

I see you being great as a mentor as you have a lot of lived experiences that can be used to guide others. Those same skills and abilities are transferable into the role of a manager/leader in an organization.
There are some programs that offer training and certification in the mentoring space. There may be some value in you checking those out.
As far as the industry or industries that you should look at I have found that focusing on areas that you are comfortable works well. When it comes to mentoring though - industry knowledge is a nice to have not a need to have. You will do well in the role of a mentor and you will do well in the role as a leader in an organization.

Thomas Pear ⋅ Cape Coral, FL Keiser University ⋅ 16 years experience

You would do well in education either secondary (high school) or post secondary (college - particularly community college). A lot of kids who would like better themselves are not quite sure how to do that. As a former drill instructor, you would be great at giving them advice on how to develop self discipline and how to self motivate.

I strongly suggest you get a master's degree and go into post-secondary education because that is where students want to learn the skill of self discipline. At a community college, a lot of students feel they are getting a second chance after not having had good grades at the high school level. They are willing to apply any advice you give them.

As a professor, I have found that community college students want to learn self-discipline and are willing to practice it. Teaching and advising at the community college level is a great niche: Most of your students want to be there, and there are not too many behavioral problems.

Wayne Brantley ⋅ Riverview, FL 360 Training Solutions ⋅ 30 years experience

I will recommend three areas, Project Manager, Scrum Master, and HR. Get education and certifications in these areas. Your benefits should cover several online and local programs to where you are. I am happy to share any information that you need in regards to these professions. PMI has an active military transition program with many chapters having military liaisons to help you. Good luck and thank you for your service.

James Bishop ⋅ Columbus, OH Morgan Stanley ⋅ 8 years experience

I see your question as not having a component of compensation. If you are looking to use your skills and could afford to be under market, I could see you being a community advocate for social enterprises are or other startups. This could be funded by a large corporation who is looking for ESG credit. Your business experience is made up for by knowing process, discipline and leading people to take action. Connect on LinkedIn to follow up. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimbishop/

Jose Roman ⋅ Norfolk, VA Military Resource Center Regent university ⋅ 8 years experience

What were you most interested in doing?

I would suggest working with juveniles in corrections or the school system. Look into the JROTC programs. JROTC cadre make the same salary that they made during their time on active duty.

All the Best,
Jose

Denise Kalm ⋅ Walnut Creek, CA DPK Coaching ⋅ 35 years experience

While good, the advice on talents misses another point - what do you love to do? We are all great at a wide number of things, but what gets your juices flowing when you get up on a Monday? That's what you want to consider. I call it the Happiness Intersection (mentioned in my books and a core part of my coaching practice). You list all the things you are great at and then go back and circle just those things you love to do. It gives you a lot more guidance into what is the right step for you at this point in time. Go deep on those things you do well and consider things that aren't even work-related. There's insight in there.

John Volpe ⋅ Seaford, NY Robbins-Gioia ⋅ 18 years experience

Adebola :

The suggestions you received so far are all excellent . Based on your experience I think a role in program management would be a challenging career path . I like the suggestion regarding the expansion at O’Hare International . That’s a major $5 billion renovation which will require multiple projects performed by various companies. If you’re open to relocating , I’d try to identify the company responsible for project managing the entire operation and see if you can find a position with them . I think your skills and experience are well suited for a management role in a project of this magnitude.

Good luck

John

Steven Mathews ⋅ Spring, TX The Boeing Company ⋅ 40 years experience

Good suggestions below.

Another option to consider: Consulting.

Amazon has a "Consulting for Dummies" for $16. Step-by-step process to decide if that is a good fit for you and how to get established. Perhaps get on with the O'Hare renovation and then leverage that experience into a consulting business.

Henry ("Dr. Hank") Stevens ⋅ Fort Lauderdale, FL Human Resources Quality Assurance, LLC (Now Retired) ⋅ 50 years experience

Thank you for your VALUABLE & CONSIDERABLE service!

Cutting right to the chase, a career search should begin with following your TALENTS. Sure EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE counts for some; but in my vocational counseling experience, not much - for lots of reasons I'll not go into here - unless you ask for more!

Bottom line is to DEFINE YOUR TALENTS - what comes naturally to your persona?

Here is a free web site that will get you pointed in the right direction. If you need help with interpretation, let me know and I will share my thinking with you (free). hlstevens42@gmail.com

http://www.humanmetrics.com/hr/jtypesresult.aspx

Regards, Dr. Hank

Nancy Quartey ⋅ Palo Alto, CA ⋅ 1 years experience

Helo Adebola,
Have you considered running your own business? As a business owner you can build and lead teams and have that mentor/manager role. As a Senior NCO, you have the experience and soft skills that many franchisors appreciate and value. Because of that many franchisors participate in the VetFran program which offers a veterans a discount on the franchise fee (the initial fee to buy into a franchise system). If you would like to learn more, I would be happy to schedule a conversation with you to discuss.
Nancy

Chad Eaves ⋅ Barrington, IL Eaves Group ⋅ 21 years experience

Hello Adebola,

Here are a couple of areas you may want to explore:

- HR ( www. shrm. org)
- Change management ( www.acmp.org)

If relocation is an option, the City of Chicago is getting ready to begin a $5 billion renovation at O'Hare Intl Airport. If that interests you let me know and I can connect you with someone involved in the diversity side of the project.

Chad

Drew Schildwächter ⋅ Wilmington, NC Salesforce ⋅ 8 years experience

MGuns: you are probably suited for a wide variety of things and there is an almost unlimited amount of things from which you can choose. What do you want to do? What interests you?

I would begin with your interests, and then look at the roles there to see if any are a skill fit. This way you are not trying to boil the ocean, and you have a better chance of finding something you will actually enjoy.

Glad to talk offline if you want.

Good luck!

Jodie Prieto-Rodriguez ⋅ Pittsburgh, PA Allegheny Health Network- Highmark Health ⋅ 21 years experience

Sir:

I see a few opportunities that fit your experience.

Your time in regulations makes you an asset to civilian aviation safety teams. I know of a few Crew Chiefs and Rotary Pilots who decided to work for Private Aviation and Hospital Safety Officer roles. Your Leadership experience makes you an ideal candidate for program management-to-regional safety director type of positions.

I served as a Combat Medic (Corpsman equiv) in the Army. I managed prison, aviation, infantry, small, and specialty clinics during my career. I gained a solid understanding of regulatory compliance dealing with ACA, FAA, TJC, OSHA, and NFPA compliance. I was able to get a career in hospital regulatory management from my experience, education, and time serving in those leadership roles. I believe your history would make you an ideal candidate for most large corporations e.g. Boeing, med-excel, general dynamics, Sikorsky etc...

An old Aviation 1SG (Master Guns equiv) friend I served with in Europe decided he wanted a break from Aviation, but still wanted to use his skills as an helicopter mechanic to do some good. He partnered with Veterati (a veteran mentorship program) and ended up being mentored by GM. His mentorship went so well he was offered a position as a program manager in their crash testing program; his team is charged with developing engine prototypes, testing them, conduction post crash investigations, and other task related to developing and testing prototype engines. His experience with readiness, operations, product/process knowledge, and time/project management made him the ideal candidate. He does not work on engines, his team does, and he keeps them on task to complete the mission.

Lastly, I always encourage Senior NCOs' to run for local office. I know we have the self discipline, emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, and drive to complete task that others can not.

I hope some of my recommendations resonate and/or inspire you in your employment search.

All the best- Jodie.