What are your thoughts on improving the military's transition training?

2015-03-21T06:59:03-04:00

The article I've linked has some very interesting, and salient, views on the difficulties some face when transitioning. In particular, the last few paragraphs rung true for me. I would be interested to hear ideas for improving the current training's effectiveness and doing a better job of helping service members find a career path.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/20/is-enough-being-done-to-prepare-veterans-for-civilian-jobs?google_editors_picks=true

Response by SSgt June Worden made Mar 21 at 2015 8:53 AM

2015-03-21T08:53:10-04:00

Encouraging a two year degree and making it an expectation while on active duty may help in guiding the future of our veterans. I fell into my career by chance and was very fortunate to have been considered for the position without a college education.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Mar 21 at 2015 9:40 AM

2015-03-21T09:40:50-04:00

Put simply? Make ACAP/SFL a biannual training requirement. Finding out all the wonderful programs the military, ACS, etc..., have to offer during your last few weeks in the military is a bit like closing the barn door after the horses have fled. Imagine how much more prepared people would be if we didn't wait until the end to arm them with information..

Response by Cpl Michael Strickler made Mar 21 at 2015 1:30 PM

2015-03-21T13:30:10-04:00

The only thing I think that needs to be done is informing service members of all the programs and opportunities that exist as early and as often as possible. While there could be more or different programs I think that is really the only solution. I am glad that the article mentioned how SMs are pretty much catered to in every respect. Upon leaving the service ?many? have no experience with insurance, pay rent/utilities, etc. It is all laid out for us to follow. Basically upon getting out we are older high school graduates with more colorful vocabularies...

But I am going to go out on a limb and say that barring any physical or mental issues veterans today just expect too much. The one example of someone saying he had interest in movies, writing, etc. makes no difference. Civilians find themselves in that situation as well. That is why both civis and SMs take night classes, etc. to change their situations.

Since I got out I have had four overlapping jobs. Two of them I still have. They are not careers by any stretch, but veterans are not the only ones that find themselves in that situation. While it can be more difficult with our work schedules there are options available and if a single mom can take night classes and work two jobs I think we have little room to complain.

And I might also go on to say that people today are more lazy and less willing to get their hands dirty. A job at Burger King is a job. It is not demeaning, it is employment. (And I would think most of us have done far more dirty jobs in service, I remember my first day at the cell phone shop the supervisor was worried I would be offended to vacuum at the end of the day?!)

We can not all be actors, writers, CEOs, etc. There has to be some lance coolies running around doing all the dirty work. First that is why we have interests (outdoors, video games, guns, etc. And second, freedom says you can change jobs, take classes, and better yourself whenever you want.

While I think there may be some extreme cases that is where the military community cushion comes into play. I know that if I ever had issues I would be able to walk into a VA building and be like look, here is the deal, help me out, and I will have an army coming to bat for me with the money from their own pockets. And I would do the same for ANYONE OF YOU, because we are one highly dysfunctional family!

I will also say though that my experience may be bias/limited because that BS I read about how having done the same job in the service but still needed a civilian certification is retarded.

Response by SPC(P) Jay Heenan made Mar 21 at 2015 3:45 PM

2015-03-21T15:45:55-04:00

Since I am transitioning VERY soon (just waiting on my orders to be cut), I just spent a lot of time going to a lot of classes in order to make myself more prepared. I can tell you that ACAP is mandatory and a LOT of SMs do not take these classes seriously, which hurts the rest of us that want to get all the information we can from them.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2015 6:09 AM

2015-03-22T06:09:12-04:00

I agree with pretty much what everybody else has stated. Start early in your career with post-military employment in mind. If you wait for TAPS (or your service's equivalent) it is likely already too late to make a significant impact on your future.