Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

Douglas,

My suggestions / a few potential "action-items":
* request a mentor from ACP
http://acp-usa.org/Mentoring_Program

* ensure your resume and LinkedIn profile are top-notch. If you ask for advice on this board I am confident you will receive offers of assistance.

* include the URL for your LinkedIn profile on your profile page

* perhaps perform some form of self-assessment to focus your potential career search
https://acp-advisornet.org/question/725/what-are-best-tools-for-veterans-to-self-assess-their-aptitude-capabilities-and-interestss

* set short term and long-term career and life goals

* consider what training, education and certifications you need to reach your goals
e.g. Project Managment Professionbal (PMP), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), etc.
http://www.pmi.org/Certification/Project-Management-Professional-PMP.aspx

https://www.isc2.org/cissp/Default.aspx

* practice and master your "elevator pitch"
https://www.google.com/search?q=elevator+pitch

* give back and help other Veterans, non-profits, etc.

If you need specific help with any of these "action items", ask on this board. There seem to be many Advisors eager to help. Please keep us informed on your progress and let us know what is the most helpful.

Mark Layne ⋅ Cumming, GA Verizon ⋅ 28 years experience

I too was an AF weapons type - 462. My suggestions would be to pursue 4year degree and then get a Masters. The IT world is changing at record pace, and believe having the right education credentials, along with other certifications like CISSP etc, puts you in the best position. Also, not knowing if you have a 4yr degree or higher, I can suggest to you that Florida Institute of Technology has very good under grad and graduate programs - online or resident are a Veteran friendly school, secondly and just found this Georgia Tech is / has started an online Masters program in Computer Science for only $7K, what a bargain. As far as careers, please check out the Verizon Wireless website, I do know that there are a lot of technical type positions available and perhaps with your current skills can get you in the door. All the best ! Mark Layne.

John Stevens ⋅ Middletown, MD ⋅ 20 years experience

Douglas,
You're not alone. It is very common for a veteran to go through a transition job or two. I believe the key is find your passion. Identify what really interests you and motivates you. After that you can develop a strategy to get what you want. In the meantime, Tom had good advise to build up your network. An ACP mentor can really help you through this process. It isn't always easy and it can take some time to gain some clarity.

Let me know if this helps.

John

Lavonne Brigger ⋅ Frisco, TX U.S. Air Force ⋅ 26 years served

In reference to Mark Layne's post. I'm with Verizon as well and have a 35 year history in Telecom. Even if you don't currently have a degree we consider your military experience valuble and will count that first. If you want to consider us for a career I can get you in contact with our HR group that is responsible for our initiative to hire Veterans. Verizon reimburses for college and another online university that is non profit and accredited is WGU.edu (Western Governors University). If that's available in your state I can recommend them as well!

Larry Bonham ⋅ Missoula, MT ⋅ 13 years experience

Your background with aircraft systems would give you a leg up on getting your FAA Airframe and Power plant (A&P) license to repair aircraft. The hours can be a bit tough but not any worse than the military, and the pay, for the most part, is quite good. Sounds like you're not a big people person, my apologies if that is the wrong impression, so working with planes or helicopters could be the right way to go. There are a number of good schools out there, shop around and get a feel for what's required. I'm not sure, but you may be entitled to some financial assistance from Uncle Sam to go to school. Good luck.

Pamela Snyder ⋅ Savage, MN Dept of Veterans Affairs ⋅ 45 years experience

Have you tried the VA? There are 160 medical centers in the US who hire veterans for many kinds of positions. Check it out at www.usajobs.gov.

Phil C. ⋅ Fort Worth, TX ⋅ 3 years experience

I was a weapons system specialist on AH-64 Apache helicopters. After 8 years in the Army I decided I needed another technical route before getting promoted off the flight-line and behind a desk. I chose electrical engineering and now I'm a weapons system designer. I've got one of the coolest jobs in the world. I'm still in the aviation world and still get to support the warfighter. Engineering is the way to go. Yes, the degree program is crazy hard. However, it is so worth it. If I can get an EE degree, ANYONE can. Use that GI Bill. It is not a government social welfare program. You have earned every bit of it! You paid for it in advance.

R. B. Bernstein ⋅ Brooklyn, NY City College of New York ⋅ 25 years experience

I often recommend to my students that they look at Richard Nelson Bolles's WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE? -- the best career-guidance book I've ever found. It is updated every year, and even older editions present wonderful strategies for trying to craft your own preferred career path and pursuing it effectively.

Cindy Larkin ⋅ Ashburn, VA Verizon ⋅ 20 years experience

What kind of "career" are you looking for? Desk job (crunching numbers, customer service, training, project management)? Outdoors (physical labor or professional services such as sales)? A couple of my retired USAF brothers-in-law didn't feel they had the time or desire to sit in a classroom for a number of years. They instead got EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) training. They had to start out at the bottom rung doing search, then explosives, and then site management (no longer have to get their hands dirty!). But they like the mobility of moving from base to base, the learning curve, and the responsibility of the job.
So first I would recommend visualizing what you want to be doing - are you sitting at a desk in an office or in your home? Or are you out-of-doors in a crowd, at a work site, or middle of the forest? Are you working alone or managing people? Are you working with data (financials, contracts, supply chain), products (hardware/software or consumer), or people (training, customer support, call center)? (Your comments lead me to believe customer service is not your cup of tea!) Having an idea of what you want to do and in what environment it exists, might help you to focus on the training or experience you need to get there.
Also, did you work with contractors who supplied your systems? Have you contacted them, e.g. General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, etc.?
Good luck!

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

Douglas, Feel free to message me directly if you wish to have a phone call or "email conversation" to discuss your career, etc. -Tom

Lavonne Brigger ⋅ Frisco, TX U.S. Air Force ⋅ 26 years served

Not sure if you have your degree currently but have you researched Embry Riddle where you could use some of your existing knowledge and possibly retrain for something else in Aviation? My husband retired as a Flight Engineer on KC-10's, is just completing his Aviation Management degree and has been offered jobs doing Flight Crew scheduling. He's working at Southwest Airlines now but was also offered a similar job at a helicopter company. He has experienced the same frustrations as you though. I wish I had a more informed suggestion.