I recently partnered with some great guys, Phil and Jake, over at Get Out Get Ahead to record a podcast series on getting out of the military.  If you have received any value from my sporadic blog posts on retiring from the military…check it out!

You can also download my entire step-by-step checklist for how to retire or separate from military service.

How many years has it been since you first joined the military? Ten, twenty, more?

For a long time you’ve put aside your personal life. You’ve been there when your team and your country needed you. Now it’s time to move on and transition from military service to civilian life. As you prepare for this change, you may find the choices overwhelming.

Where do you start?

Historically, people who experience the greatest success transitioning out of the service are those who enlist the support of experts. The business world operates very differently today than it did ten years ago. Competition is fierce.

In today’s economy, you won’t get a second look if you fumble an interview or submit a business plan with unclear intentions. Get the support you need with a team of experts committed to helping you achieve your transition goals.

Transition Assistance Program (TAP) classes offer information on veteran’s benefits and basic job hunting skills. However, they don’t provide enough information for a thorough transition. Leaving the military involves much more than simply writing a resume and finding a job. To increase your chances for success, you will need more – more information, more resources, more help. You need a team.

A basic civilian transition team might consist of:

** A professional writer to help with resumes, cover letters or business plans. I know you’ve been told you don’t need to hire a writer. But why struggle? A professional can save you a lot of time and frustration.

** A headhunter or job placement expert to market you to companies looking for people with your skills and experience. They have inside information and access to jobs not advertised to the general public.

** A financial advisor or tax strategist to position you for what lies ahead. One of the biggest shocks during your transition will be your new tax bill.

** A business planning specialist to save you time and money if you plan to start your own business. They can help you avoid the mistakes and pitfalls that new business owners face.

** A Transition Coordinator to work with you to clarify your goals and co-create a strategy for achieving them. They will keep their eye on the big picture, coordinate your team’s efforts, and make sure nothing is overlooked during your transition.

At Front Line Transitions, we are experts at coordinating military transitions. Drawing from our extensive database of experts, we will help you put together a team that’s perfect for you. We have been through the “transition minefield” and mapped it out. We will guide you through and point out obstacles before you reach them.

You are navigating some dramatic changes in your life. You want assurance that you are making the right decisions. You know from the military that teamwork is essential to success. Let Front Line Transitions coordinate your team for you. Let’s work together to create your best life – Let’s start right now.

Contact your Command Career Counselor or the nearest Fleet and Family Support Center and schedule yourself and your spouse for the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) seminar.  This is a mandatory seminar per OPNAVINST 1900.1D.

They normally have several speakers over a few days giving out lots of advice and providing checklists on what you must/ should do prior to/ immediately after leaving the service.  Each base provides slightly different material and information.  Be sure to get hard copies of everything they offer in class.

This seminar is best attended 2 years prior to leaving and again within 6 months of leaving, if possible.  This is the place to ask questions about what the latest government requirements and benefits are, get copies of any forms you may need, gather phone numbers for your primary points of contact in the Personnel Office and do a little networking.

Don’t become overwhelmed (or under-whelmed) by the information they’ll give you during this seminar.  Because you’re using this checklist, you are already miles ahead of everyone else in organizing your retirement.

Check out TAP Facilitators for more military transition resources.

This is part of a complete step-by-step military retirement checklist. I’ll be posting weekly action steps here, so please subscribe over in the right-hand column so you’re sure to get each update.

When I decided to retire after 26 years in the Navy, I found myself overwhelmed by two things:

1.  Too much information on how to make a military transition, and
2.  Not enough information on how to make the transition into military retirement.

One, there is an abundance of information and resources available for folks retiring from the military and entering civilian life.  You can find advice on how to clarify your skills and talents, write a resume, survive an interview, and network like a pro.  The Transition Assistance Program (TAP) coordinators make every effort to provide valuable information on what you need to do and what your timeline should be to do it in.  There are self-help and career transition books, career and personality assessments, headhunters, and hundreds of websites loaded with information.

While this is all very valuable, I discovered I didn’t know where to start and couldn’t find anyone to tell me.  Some would say “Start with your resume”.  Okay, but I don’t know what I want to do.  Others would suggest I take some personality assessments.  I did.  And discovered that I was perfectly suited to do what I was doing in the military.  So why wasn’t I happy doing it anymore?  Did I really want to pursue my second career in the same field?  (By the way, you can take these assessments at different times in your life and get different answers.)

Which brings me to number two, not enough information on how to make a military transition. I felt like I was sitting in the middle of a large pile of jigsaw puzzle pieces.  I had numerous skills, tons of experience and an abundance of enthusiasm.  I needed help putting it all together and making sense of it.  All I needed was the first few edge pieces of my puzzle to fit together and the rest of the picture would fall into place.

I realized that the first piece missing from the puzzle of information was a checklist. My military training had taught me to always read the book, look at the manual, use the step-by-step checklist.  Don’t rely on your memory or try to reinvent the wheel.  People got hurt and equipment was damaged when we did that!

I’m not trying to reinvent the transition process here.  There’s really no new information.  Rather, I offer you the missing piece.

I’m offering you the step-by-step checklist so you don’t miss anything.

(I’ll be posting weekly action steps here, so please subscribe over in the right-hand column so you’re sure to get each update.)

Panic, doubt and fear all stem from a lack of knowledge, the unknown.  Not knowing what to do, what will happen next or even how to begin.  I have combined everything you have to do for the Navy before you retire with the personal things you want to think about and explore before you actually leave.

My desire is to help you find the edge pieces to start putting together your own puzzle. What I wish for you is to have an effortless transition, to enjoy the process, and to create a civilian lifestyle that brings you constant joy and deep satisfaction.  God bless you on your journey.