Jack Bauer. Martin Riggs. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in Commando. Principal Skinner. The men have two things in common:
- They each earned a green beret, and
- After leaving the Army, each went on to fulfilling, successful careers.
The good news for you is that ClearanceJobs is in the “fulfilling, successful career” business, and can give you the kind of boost that Jason Bourne and John Rambo didn’t have, but probably could have used. Here are four jobs for former members of Special Forces.
Special Operations Forces Instructor
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. The advantages of leaving the Army as a Special Forces member and returning as a civilian contractor are self-evident. You’ll make way more money. The vacation time is great. You get to hang out with your friends all day. You don’t have to salute anyone. You don’t have to go overseas unless you really want to—and when you get home, you already know how to fill out the travel voucher.
SAIC is presently hiring a kinesiology instructor to work at Fort Bragg, where, according to their listing, you’ll train students attending the Special Operations Combat Medical Skills Sustainment Course; Special Forces Medical Sergeant Course; and Special Forces Medical Sergeant Non-Trauma Training. You will also act as a physical therapist for soldiers who have sustained injuries. Because Special Forces medics are basically walking hospitals, this job is lock.
Silverback7 is also hiring at Fort Bragg. This position is for the weapons sergeants reading this. They’re looking for men who can develop new equipment training “for all weapons programs provided by the Naval Surface Warfare Center—Crane Indiana” to all components of U.S. Special Operations Command. There is some traveling involved, but again, think of your travel voucher savvy.
Irregular Warfare Analyst
Chenega Corporation is hiring an irregular warfare analyst to be their “on-site subject matter expert.” Now I’m not telling you to walk into the job interview, slap your DD-214 onto the table, and turn and walk out, saying over your shoulder, “I’ll start on Monday,” but let’s face it: you’d probably still get hired. Your job will be to develop doctrines and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for military information support operations (MISO). In addition, you will develop presentations and briefing packets for military clients.
The job is based in Tampa, Florida, and there’s no traveling required. In other words, you’ll work in a beautiful, bustling, beach paradise and they won’t make you leave. Bummer. But the thing you really need to know comes under the job’s description of the work environment: “The employee will normally work in a temperature-controlled office environment, with frequent exposure to electronic office equipment.”
Teacher
There are several programs that help outgoing members of the military transition to civilian careers as public school teachers. Perhaps the best known is the Troops to Teachers (TTT) program funded by the Department of Defense and operated by Defense Activities for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES). It is designed to help service members, who get important, fulfilling jobs out of the deal; schools, by helping them fill vacancies in such critical areas of education as math and science; and students, who can have great teachers and new role models in their lives.
Here is how it works. Each state has a TTT office whose support personnel are familiar with respective teaching certification requirements, and can offer specialized career counseling. Veterans who hold at least a baccalaureate degree should first fill out an online profile at www.proudtoserveagain.com, and contact their state office. For some, financial aid may be available. (Some continuing education may be required, depending on the state, as well as certification exams—again, this is something that the state offices can tell you about.) State offices also have the inside track regarding job openings, and can help place you in a new career. As members of Special Forces are perhaps the most famous teachers in the military, it’s situation where everyone wins in the end.
Intel Guy
A-T Solutions needs men who are experienced in both training and human-intelligence targeting. As it happens, Special Forces are both. As a targeting trainer at the FBI Domestic HUMINT Training Center, you will share your targeting, intelligence collection, and data exploitation experience with the Bureau’s special agents. You would design courses, teach in classrooms, and train special agents for field work. Your job, in short, would be to prevent the next 9/11. Not bad for a day’s work.
The skills possessed by Special Forces go beyond kicking doors and raising indigenous armies. It’s really about leadership and commitment. The men who wear the green beret are peerless in that regard. As to the employers reading this, what does that mean for you? If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team former members of an A-team.
