How many stuck it out till retirement?

[birdman]

Well I retire 31 July after 20.5 years total service. I was going to do 4 more but after seeing gay pride booths set up in the BX... I knew it was time to go.
I joined the Navy first and then joined the AF in 2002.The military is not the same at all but it has been a fun ride with a lot of good times and grand adventures.

Our leaders said CHANGE is what we needed without asking anybody serving.

Looking forward to being a full time father.

 

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[Unclebuck257]

Congrads birdman on your retirement! Only did four years active duty in the AF myself, but wanted to jump in on this and say, Congrads and you earned and deserve it!!

 

[fivepak]

Army, ten active and 12 national guard. I can retire now, but my son joined and I'm going to hang in there until he's done. If I deploy again I'd like to watch out for him. We're in the same unit.

 

[Unclebuck257]

fivepak,

God Bless and be careful if you and your son do deploy again. Love that country song about "A Father's Love".

 

[Wildwest99]

Retired last June after 20 years and 1 day. I was a 1st Sgt stationed in D.C. So ya, the changes and politics just became too much. So now i'm here, ready to do some treasure hunting and enjoy retirement.

 

[PennyG]

Chiming in for my husband. He will retire next year after 26 years in the Army. He is a nervous wreck about finding a job once we move back to Texas. I keep reminding him that his commitment to serve for 26 years will look wonderful on any resume , plus the degree he is working on. Guess it's a normal feeling for someone who has lived and breathed military life since he was 17 years old.
Thank you all for your service.

 

[Wildwest99]

Chiming in for my husband. He will retire next year after 26 years in the Army. He is a nervous wreck about finding a job once we move back to Texas. I keep reminding him that his commitment to serve for 26 years will look wonderful on any resume , plus the degree he is working on. Guess it's a normal feeling for someone who has lived and breathed military life since he was 17 years old.
Thank you all for your service.

Penny I was a 1st Sgt for the end of my career and went on to become an HR business Partner. I've done lots and lots of hiring/firing, recruiting, onboarding and looked at thousands of resumes. PM me if you have any specific questions about any of that. Your husbands fears are real. Depending on his MOS, military service is great for getting you a job, but usually not the job you want

 

[whammy]

Congratulations birdman, and thank you for your service. I retired from the Air National Guard after 28 years. Also retired from a major N.Y. college as a Public Safety Officer after 37 years. Couldn't get used to it, the kids kept getting younger, but I didn't get any older. Hmmmmmm

 

[dahut]

....Our leaders said CHANGE is what we needed without asking anybody serving.

Looking forward to being a full time father.

Frankly, our so-called leaders didn't bother to ask ANYONE but their own selves.
congrats!

 

[Dave Rishar]

I managed to just make it to nine years, although that last year was involuntary. Manpower retention was getting funny around that time (2004-2005) and it took me a few tries to actually separate successfully. Most of my first-termer buddies who got out at the same time wound up getting called back. Crazy times, but my memories tend to focus on the good parts, and the good parts were good indeed.

I still work for the Navy, but as a civilian now. I see how the sailors are treated and how things are run now and it's...well, it's not good. When I got out, they couldn't enlist enough people and quality of life was slowly beginning to improve; nowadays, they're beating prospective recruits off with a stick and constantly looking for ways to unass people already serving, and that earlier push on QoL improvements has gone away entirely. Not a good time to be a sailor, that's for sure.

Also, I'm not going to lie here: having my worth as an employee judged by the quality of my work and not the lack of holes in my jeans, how many push-ups I can do in a minute, or how nicely my hair is trimmed doesn't suck. Being told that I have to stay late or come in on the weekend became a completely different experience as a civilian, and is sometimes welcomed now, not cursed. Had the Navy treated me this well as a sailor, I'd likely still be wearing that uniform. As it stands now, jeans and a tee shirt suit me pretty well.

 

[Molon Labe]

It's a shame the way the world is right now and I'm about to go into college and hopefully going Army ROTC and Serve. My parents always told me how much better everything was back then and I'm at the point where I'm afraid for my future kids with the world they will grow up in. But thats just my 2 cents. God Bless

 

[dahut]

It's a shame the way the world is right now and I'm about to go into college and hopefully going Army ROTC and Serve. My parents always told me how much better everything was back then and I'm at the point where I'm afraid for my future kids with the world they will grow up in. But thats just my 2 cents. God Bless

I'm from the time your parents speak of. Personally, I can see things going downhill.
Im fast becoming irrelevant to this generation. This is not unusual, of course. But it's the first time in my exeperience the new generation INTENDS to bring down what has brought them the blessings they take for granted.

Its a weird place to be.

 

[Dave Rishar]

It's a shame the way the world is right now and I'm about to go into college and hopefully going Army ROTC and Serve. My parents always told me how much better everything was back then and I'm at the point where I'm afraid for my future kids with the world they will grow up in. But thats just my 2 cents. God Bless

I'm probably about the same age as your parents are. When I was your age, the economy was good and only the bad kids enlisted. C'est la vie. My service time didn't get me that CEO job with Boeing, but it got me to the next job, and then the job after that...and that was before it was cool to hire vets.

My advice to you (and take it for what you're paying for it, which is nothing), is if you're going to do the whole ROTC thing and get a degree, get a degree that's worth something on the outside. If that's not possible, understand that you'll want to get an additional degree while you're active duty, which has become significantly more difficult since I got out. Alternatively, don't do any of those things, but do so with the understanding that you may wind up working with your hands after you get out. That's not a bad living if you end up in a skilled trade, but you'll want an exit strategy once you're in your late thirties/early forties. Ask me how I know that.

Seriously on the last part, though...working with your hands is great and all and I'm happy that I've spent most of my life doing it, but when you get to a certain point, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Consider your long term goals. I didn't, and you probably won't either, but just remember what I said in twenty years. At a mere 38, after a lifetime of physically active jobs, I'm looking for that desk. Were I to do it all again, I'd arrange things so that I could have been looking for that desk ten years ago. I work with guys who are in their fifties and are still on the tools. I don't want to go that route. This is all crazy talk to a young person (and it was crazy talk to me when I was your age), but trust me on this. The service is set up to retire people in the 38-40 bracket for a reason, and that's at the part of your career where you don't have to be physically active any more. Why do desk jobs require people to stick around to 50, 60, or beyond?

Serve, but consider what happens after service, because that's going to happen.

 

[dahut]

I'm probably about the same age as your parents are. When I was your age, the economy was good and only the bad kids enlisted. C'est la vie. My service time didn't get me that CEO job with Boeing, but it got me to the next job, and then the job after that...and that was before it was cool to hire vets.

My advice to you (and take it for what you're paying for it, which is nothing), is if you're going to do the whole ROTC thing and get a degree, get a degree that's worth something on the outside. If that's not possible, understand that you'll want to get an additional degree while you're active duty, which has become significantly more difficult since I got out. Alternatively, don't do any of those things, but do so with the understanding that you may wind up working with your hands after you get out. That's not a bad living if you end up in a skilled trade, but you'll want an exit strategy once you're in your late thirties/early forties. Ask me how I know that.

Seriously on the last part, though...working with your hands is great and all and I'm happy that I've spent most of my life doing it, but when you get to a certain point, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Consider your long term goals. I didn't, and you probably won't either, but just remember what I said in twenty years. At a mere 38, after a lifetime of physically active jobs, I'm looking for that desk. Were I to do it all again, I'd arrange things so that I could have been looking for that desk ten years ago. I work with guys who are in their fifties and are still on the tools. I don't want to go that route. This is all crazy talk to a young person (and it was crazy talk to me when I was your age), but trust me on this. The service is set up to retire people in the 38-40 bracket for a reason, and that's at the part of your career where you don't have to be physically active any more. Why do desk jobs require people to stick around to 50, 60, or beyond?

Serve, but consider what happens after service, because that's going to happen.

Great advice. A key thought is degrees keep you in cushy jobs, so you don't actually have to work for a living.
this is true, for the most part. I often advise to get degrees in Finance, to go where the money is. Chemistry
is also somewhat universal. Ditto practical sciences in general.
It also assumes a status quo that is unchanging. Here is where the rub comes in - can we safely assume that?
I say no. Beyond that, I wish I had a crystal ball.

 

[birdman]

I managed to just make it to nine years, although that last year was involuntary. Manpower retention was getting funny around that time (2004-2005) and it took me a few tries to actually separate successfully. Most of my first-termer buddies who got out at the same time wound up getting called back. Crazy times, but my memories tend to focus on the good parts, and the good parts were good indeed.

I still work for the Navy, but as a civilian now. I see how the sailors are treated and how things are run now and it's...well, it's not good. When I got out, they couldn't enlist enough people and quality of life was slowly beginning to improve; nowadays, they're beating prospective recruits off with a stick and constantly looking for ways to unass people already serving, and that earlier push on QoL improvements has gone away entirely. Not a good time to be a sailor, that's for sure.

Also, I'm not going to lie here: having my worth as an employee judged by the quality of my work and not the lack of holes in my jeans, how many push-ups I can do in a minute, or how nicely my hair is trimmed doesn't suck. Being told that I have to stay late or come in on the weekend became a completely different experience as a civilian, and is sometimes welcomed now, not cursed. Had the Navy treated me this well as a sailor, I'd likely still be wearing that uniform. As it stands now, jeans and a tee shirt suit me pretty well.

Dave, you might have changed my mind about working to find a GS or WS position. I was going to go a different route all together but my old boss told me to come see him at Eglin AFB for a job. Still not sure which way to fly.
First of all I am going fishing, then going to roam the beaches and back bays for about a month or so and look for relics .
I was offered a PAE contractor job here in Korea two days ago but no sponsorship for my family so I would have to pay for DoD schooling which is about 20K per child.. The cost (60K)would be more then the salary offered.

 

[birdman]

Chiming in for my husband. He will retire next year after 26 years in the Army. He is a nervous wreck about finding a job once we move back to Texas. I keep reminding him that his commitment to serve for 26 years will look wonderful on any resume , plus the degree he is working on. Guess it's a normal feeling for someone who has lived and breathed military life since he was 17 years old.
Thank you all for your service.

Penny, I am sure after 26 years of service your husband has a far better resume then most. No worries but I understand the anxiety felt with having to go on job interviews and what not.
That's going to be new territory for me.

 

[usandthem]

I'm probably about the same age as your parents are. When I was your age, the economy was good and only the bad kids enlisted. C'est la vie. My service time didn't get me that CEO job with Boeing, but it got me to the next job, and then the job after that...and that was before it was cool to hire vets.

My advice to you (and take it for what you're paying for it, which is nothing), is if you're going to do the whole ROTC thing and get a degree, get a degree that's worth something on the outside. If that's not possible, understand that you'll want to get an additional degree while you're active duty, which has become significantly more difficult since I got out. Alternatively, don't do any of those things, but do so with the understanding that you may wind up working with your hands after you get out. That's not a bad living if you end up in a skilled trade, but you'll want an exit strategy once you're in your late thirties/early forties. Ask me how I know that.

Seriously on the last part, though...working with your hands is great and all and I'm happy that I've spent most of my life doing it, but when you get to a certain point, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Consider your long term goals. I didn't, and you probably won't either, but just remember what I said in twenty years. At a mere 38, after a lifetime of physically active jobs, I'm looking for that desk. Were I to do it all again, I'd arrange things so that I could have been looking for that desk ten years ago. I work with guys who are in their fifties and are still on the tools. I don't want to go that route. This is all crazy talk to a young person (and it was crazy talk to me when I was your age), but trust me on this. The service is set up to retire people in the 38-40 bracket for a reason, and that's at the part of your career where you don't have to be physically active any more. Why do desk jobs require people to stick around to 50, 60, or beyond?

Serve, but consider what happens after service, because that's going to happen.

Wise words.

 

[Unclebuck257]

Chiming in for my husband. He will retire next year after 26 years in the Army. He is a nervous wreck about finding a job once we move back to Texas. I keep reminding him that his commitment to serve for 26 years will look wonderful on any resume , plus the degree he is working on. Guess it's a normal feeling for someone who has lived and breathed military life since he was 17 years old.
Thank you all for your service.

Penny,

I'm in North Central Texas and if you folks are moving back to Texas, I guess it all depends on where with regard to the job thing and your husband's skills aquired in the Army. It used to be ( and now understand that I'm 68 and a vet from another war when I say this) that a college degree was what my father and his generation would suggest that a person get in order to secure a good job position. Degrees in some career fields are a must, but if I had a young person ask me today, right now, I'd also suggest a trade school as a career starter. My son in law is in his mid thirties and working as a diesel mechanic in the oil field in west Texas. It's a five to six hour drive and he only gets home one week out of four, but he earns exceptional money, into six figures easily. If he and my daughter lived out in Midland/Odessa area, he'd be home all the time but they don't want to live out there. That's why I asked where in Texas you were settling. South Texas too is starting to boom due to oil and gas.
With your hubby being a vet of 26 yrs and having all those years of Army experience, I'm sure he can and will find something in a supervisory position. My sister's son got out after 8 years in the Army and an E-6 and he was immediately grabbed up by a company in the Dallas-Ft Worth area as a supervisor in the security industry at a decent hourly rate. He'll now continue in his search for a job in law enforcement, which is looking better and better as the days go on. You folks will do fine, I'm sure. Good Luck and God Bless!

 

[piegrande]

On a man's board I moderated for a while, we had considerable discussion on college vs. trade. The general consensus is right now at this time if you have the people skills for such jobs as heating and cooling, that is the way to go. A lot of college graduates are working at Starbucks and similar jobs.

And, we had a man who told how good it felt to bill a college professor $400 for half a day's work on his household equipment.

 

[Fossil4Life]

Major kudos to you birdman on your upcoming retirement! I spent 10 years in the Air Force myself, until the job pretty much took its toll on me health-wise (former F-16 crewchief). The transistion from military to civvie was the hardest thing I've ever been through; nevertheless, a resume with the pedigree of being prior-mil, retired at that, with oodles of experience is worth its weight in gold.

I can say that with my prior service, I ended up getting a nice GS position working for the DoD; anyone retiring or separating from the military in today's climate will find that jobs are plentiful. There seems to be more pro-military, pro-service businesses seeking former military than ever before. I separated in 2006, and this type of support was far and few between. Now, you can't turn a corner without seeing employment opportunities specifically targeting former military.

Enjoy retirement and remember to have FUN! =)