I started my second career five days after finishing my first. After nearly 30 years in uniform, I was making a shift to the world of higher education. I had no idea what to expect, wasn’t quite sure what my new role would entail, and knew absolutely no one. I had a job title no one understood, rotated between offices every four months or so, and spent a lot of time questioning my choices in life. That first year was longer than any deployment.
I was the FNG.
I was in a new environment with new challenges and new opportunities. I’d entered the military when Reagan was president and threw my boots over the wire toward the end of Obama’s administration. I eventually settled into my role and, after a decade, accomplished more than I thought possible when I first walked in the door – thirty minutes early and overdressed.
THROWING YOUR BOOTS OVER THE WIRE
The decision to leave the military – especially after a long career – is not one to be taken lightly. You have to put as much time, effort, and thought into your transition as you would any major operation. The stakes are high and the euphoria you feel when you walk away with that DD-214 is short-lived. Unless you’re one of the few who scores a government or contractor gig that keeps you close to your tribe, you’re going to be the FNG wherever you land: new people, different terminology, and a strange, often alien work environment.
There’s no shortage of advice for navigating the transition. Some of that advice is good; more of it is garbage. A good portion of that advice focuses on the basic skills for entering a new work environment – how to dress for success, how to network, how to avoid making routine visits to HR to explain the things you say – but less of it addresses how to navigate the challenges of post-transition life. Settling into a new career is hard enough; settling into a new life after years in uniform can be even tougher.
Five years after my retirement from the Army, I wrote a short piece on succeeding in a post-military career, looking back on the habits – most of which were developed while in uniform – that helped me find my footing after throwing my boots over the wire. Finding that footing was a great feeling, but it didn’t happen overnight, and it was not an easy process.
1. Stick to your battle rhythm.
One advantage we have over a vast majority of the population is that we get up, get moving, and get out while most people are still sleeping. In business, that’s called a competitive Lean into it.
2. Take care of your body.
Even if it hurts, even when it sucks, keep working your body. Being fit and healthy is also a competitive advantage, one that will keep you younger longer.
3. Live your values.
Hold onto the values you lived while in uniform. In a world where values are often a rarity, wear yours on your sleeve. Those values – your moral compass – will prove indispensable to you.
4. To thine own self be true.
Be your authentic, genuine self. The more comfortable you are, you happier you’ll be. And being happy makes maneuvering a new career a lot more enjoyable.
5. Have fun.
I haven’t had a four-day weekend in five ten years. I thought that would be the end of fun as I knew it, but it wasn’t. Live every day in moment. Have fun.
Navigating the post-transition space can be tough. Everyone’s experience is a little different, but find a mentor – ideally, someone you trust who has transitioned within the past five years – and start asking questions. Buy them lunch. Ask them more questions. Do this and you will persevere.
FIRST BOOTS ON THE GROUND
The moment you walk in the door at a new workplace, starting a new career, it will hit you: Am I ready for this? The answer to that question depends largely on what follows. I leaned hard into something said by Medal of Honor recipient General Jonathan Wainwright: “Start being a leader as soon as you put on your civilian clothes.”
As much as transition requires you to adapt to a new post-military reality, success following that transition depends largely on your ability to play to the strengths gained through military culture. The same skills and attributes that drove your success while serving will prove crucial to your ability to land solidly on your boots and hit the ground running.
1. Leadership
Take Wainwright’s words to heart: Be a leader. The military is a leadership crucible, with a culture rooted in the ability to lead, make tough decisions, and take care of others. Once you show a willingness to lend your leadership experience when it matters, people will take note.
2. Planning
Our culture also reflects a strong bent toward planning. Almost by default, we resort to a level of analytical thinking that is uncommon in most circles. We see over the horizon when others might not, quickly identifying patterns, relationship, and consequences. Leverage this skill to advantage.
3. Work Ethic
Remember the old recruiting slogan, “In the Army, we do more before 9:00 a.m. than most people do all day”? It’s true. Be the person known for hard work and dedication who shows up ready to roll and doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit.
4. Entrepreneurism
Whether keeping a fleet of vehicles running ten thousand miles from your source of supply or developing an innovative model to optimize strategic lift for a short-notice deployment, out-of-the-box solutions are in our DNA. Be that creative thinker who is ready to roll up their sleeves and prove that the road less traveled might be the best way to go.
5. Values
It’s no accident that values are a recurring theme. We come from a values-based profession, where we swear an oath to support and defend the tenets on which our nation was founded. In your second career, you may be the only veteran your co-workers have ever encountered. Be someone they can respect, admire, and look to for ethical direction.
I often tell the story of watching the Rose Bowl during my senior year in high school when a commercial aired with a simple theme that would resonate for decades to come: Be all you can be. Those five words should fuel your transition. Stay true to who you are and everything you represented during your military service. Be all you can be.
