My esteemed colleague and legendary ClearanceJobs contributor Steve Leonard could probably write a book on this subject, but as I reflected on my two years in my current position, I realized there were many things that I had learned in making the transition from military to academia.
My interest in making an academic transition was rooted in a couple of different areas. First, my love for the community, and university I graduated from (and lived near growing up) were important parts of most of my life and I wanted to keep them there as I moved on. Second, the ability to help converge the great potential of cybersecurity, education and applied learning, local industry, and my former unit, the 184th Wing of the Kansas Air National Guard (an ANG leader in cyber/intelligence missions and experts), was something I had desired for years prior to my retirement. I had a wonderful opportunity in front of me and was not hesitant in pursuing it.
5 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Made my Military Transition
With every transition, there are growing pains and a knowledge base required to succeed. I had to learn some things – somewhat spontaneously with my progression into the academic world.
1. Understand what goes into the university operations and decisions.
If you are at a research university, those projects, dollars, and relationships not only cause the world to go around (along with enrollment), they can also leave you behind if you do not understand the importance of such. Industry research for hire, such as what we do at our university on a grand scale, is unique and a world unto its own. Pure academic research, funded usually by public grants, is a complicated process filled with multiple parts and steps, touching several areas of the university. It befits those who begin a career coming from DoD, who is often the end user of such research, to learn the nuts and bolts of the system early on so you can become a valuable contributor, directly or indirectly to the process.
2. The organizational charts will be a little different.
DoD has a chain of command with COMMAND capitalized. Academia has a chain of command that is not quite as clear. Do not get me wrong; the organizational charts depicting various branches, colleges, schools and departments are very structured and easy to follow. However, sometimes the decision making is more of an inclusive group process within those specific areas, especially when it comes to hiring leadership and restructuring departments. For someone who lived in the opposite world for thirty years, it was a bit eye opening.
3. Your past world matters in your future world.
The amount of interest that my new peers, bosses, and even students have in DoD and its respective culture was of great surprise to me. Perhaps it was media stereotypes depicting the chasm between the two worlds that I bought into or just my pure unfamiliarity with the curiosity of the academic mind, but I was refreshed to know that my past world made a difference in their work, their lives and their philosophies. Be prepared to discuss all viewpoints and experiences on your military career. Diversity of thought and experience is the backbone of higher education.
4. Commonality between the two worlds was surprising as well.
Most students, just like most airmen, want to be mentored and advised on how to succeed, what to learn, and who to network with. You may or may not be the right person to mentor them, but in many senses, students are the customer, and you are ethically obligated to try and produce a person ready for the next step in entering the workforce or advance degree programs that what you started with. On the other hand, some of the same frustrations occur in academia as well. The all too familiar scenario where one person in one branch of the organization is working on something that is identical to what another person in another branch is also working on due to lack of communication is not just a DoD or Government breakdown, it occurs everywhere and probably always will.
5. Find mentors for yourself.
It is easy to see why many, at the end of a military career, seem to give up on the idea of being mentored for a variety of reasons. I had a little bit of that mindset myself. However, when you switch jobs, there is often nothing more important than trusted advisors. Luckily, I feel like I am a decent judge of character. I latched on to an Assistant Professor, a Department Chair, and Associate Dean because of their honesty about the good and bad, critical thinking skills, and incredible working knowledge of the new world I was about to enter. All of the transition challenges above were made easier by those three individuals.
Know Your Why
As I mature in my role, challenges continue to emerge I had not considered when I started, such as post pandemic recovery back to a traditional academic environment. Finding subject matter experts to share their knowledge on such relatively new topics such as deepfakes is another. However, the baseline reasons why I am here, which is my ability to make a difference in the community and institutions I love have never been stronger. Whatever you choose to do, there’s always a learning curve in a career change.
