There were only a few wrinkles in his plan.

“When he retired, he had never interviewed for a job,” said Elswick, the vice president of transition programs for the USO. “He didn’t have a resume. He never wore a suit. It’s things that those of us that have lived in the civilian world all of our lives take for granted. It’s just part of the process.”

“What’s next?” and “How should I proceed?” are common feelings shared by many veterans, regardless of their age and experience while in the military. Service members spend their time in the military following orders, having many decisions made for them. When that comes to an end, veterans must make an important decision: what they want in a civilian career, if they don’t intend to go to school.

Many veterans will pursue a career that highlights their military experience, like medics pursuing an occupation in healthcare, or pilots working for an airline.

“But if you’re an infantryman, what are you going to do?” Elswick said.

Veterans should consider the answer before separating from the military, and develop a plan to pursue that goal. Organizations like the USO and Hire Heroes are ready to help service members with that transition. Another group, Veterans Transition Support, offers free career-training programs that help veterans with coaching to search for jobs, writing resumes and cover letters and how to prepare for interviews.

VTS volunteers like veteran Merlyn Cruz-Feliciano, who have gone through the same change, can relate to the struggles others can experience when in the job market.

“I loved my job as a logistician when I was in the military,” she said. “I was very good at it, but I just knew in my heart that was not what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, a lot of veterans kind of stick with what they know.”

Cruz-Feliciano eventually decided to pursue a masters degree in mental health therapy.

For veterans who want to enter the workforce, getting the guidance needed to help find the right career is critical. The next — and maybe most important — step is showing a veteran how to market their skills by building an impressive resume tailored to the job they want.

“Translating military skills to a civilian resume is a major, major struggle,” Elswick said. The USO also offers interview preparation, including a website that uses artificial intelligence to give real-time feedback.

For veterans unsure of what career they want, Elswick said trending jobs include government contracting, cybersecurity, health care and law enforcement.

“Federal resumes are very different from civilian resumes, and you need a very specialized skill set to get it through their applicant tracking system,” Elswick said.

In addition to constructing a solid resume, veterans should set up a LinkedIn account to connect with peers and companies that are looking to hire. Indeed is another popular site for seeking out available jobs. Another resource for veterans is Military Friendly Employers, which lists more than 1,500 organizations that are designated as military-friendly businesses.

Veterans may consider pursuing certifications that could help their military skills transfer to the civilian world as well. Participating in a Skillbridge program, a fellowship that can act as an off-ramp between military and civilian employment, is another option as well. And seeking out mentors who can offer advice for navigating the job hunt and interview processes, plus daily life in the civilian workforce, can be invaluable.

“There are actually jobs everywhere,” Elswick said. “But how do we prepare our veterans to enter the civilian workforce?”

Born in Mexico and raised in California, Cruz-Feliciano served in the Army as a logistician supply sergeant from 2002 to 2016. But much like in civilian life, when an organization decides it has too many resources, it lets people go. The Army no longer needed her services, so her transition out of the military happened sooner than expected.

“For 14 years, this was all I knew, right? And I was very into the military life, very structured, very by the book, according to regulations, so (separating) was very daunting for me,” she said. “I didn’t even know where to start. It was very panic driven.”

Eight years later and things are looking up for Cruz-Feliciano. She just turned 40, settled down as a homeowner with her daughter and family in California, and she’s working toward her masters degree in mental health therapy. She also volunteers with the nonprofit organization Veterans Transitions Support to help veterans with many aspects of separating from the military.

If the decision to separate was hers, Cruz-Feliciano would have started the process at least a year before leaving to lay out her plan.

“The military really does not prepare you to get out,” she said. “Their sole purpose is to prepare you to be in the military, which is understandable. But we’re going to be in the civilian life a whole lot longer than we are in the military.”

There are organizations that can help. For example, the USO serves as a resource for active and veteran military members and their families through all the stages of the process.

“We have such unique access to the service members because we have on-base access and we can get to them earlier in their career and get them focused on whether (the military) is going to be a lifelong career,” said Lisa Elswick, USO’s vice president of transition programs. “At some point everyone is going to separate. How can we actually start preparing for that situation?”

Organizations like the USO will sit down with the military members to help them sort out what their vision of civilian life looks like.

“You might want to get in the military for 20 years, but when you get out, do you want to do something completely different?” Elswick said. “Do you have the education that will help you in that career? Do you have the time, or the resources if you’re going to go back to school?”

Elswick said younger veterans who leave the military at an early age after enlisting after high school often have the toughest time dealing with the transition to civilian life.

“We work very closely with them, because they are at the highest risk when they separate,” she said. “They are usually the most at-risk for unemployment, and end up sleeping on somebody’s couch for three years and then they come ask for help.”

When the time came for her separation, Cruz-Feliciano focused on making sure her financial situation was stable, as expenses such as housing allowances are suddenly gone, not to mention the salary from the military.

“In the outside world, you have that transition period where you might not be getting any money,” she said. “I definitely was looking at my finances, and being able to save enough money to keep me afloat.”

Elswick said the best two steps separating veterans can take when returning to civilian life are to, “find a mentor and find a nonprofit connection because all of those resources are going to be for free,” she said. “They’re free for all veterans, and they will connect you for what your needs are, because everyone’s needs are all very, very unique.”

This story was updated April 29 at 3:24 p.m. to correct Lisa Elswick’s job title. She is the USO’s vice president of transition programs.

The document, providing direction to the active duty force, announced Marines would be limited to three or four months in SkillBridge ― the Defense Department program that allows service members to spend up to six months in civilian internships before leaving active duty. The document was posted on the Corps’ online “library” of publicly releasable publications, orders and directives.

But it turns out the document the Marine Corps released was “premature,” and the service hasn’t yet made any changes to its policy on SkillBridge, according to Marine spokeswoman Maj. Danielle Phillips.

SkillBridge allows soon-to-be veterans to work or train full-time at civilian workplaces, in a wide variety of fields, during their final months in the military. Meanwhile, they still get compensation and benefits from the military.

On Nov. 1, more than two weeks after the policy document was posted, Marines who handle the SkillBridge programs at each installation received an email letting them know that policy had been rescinded. A Marine official in the Corps’ Personal and Professional Development office sent that email, a confirmed source who asked to remain anonymous told Marine Corps Times.

“The policy update was pulled back for corrections,” reads the email obtained by Marine Corps Times. Each Marine installation has a point of contact for SkillBridge in the education or transition center, according to a Marine Corps fact sheet on the program.

The limits on time in SkillBridge “will be in effect upon completion of the revised guidance, keeping with the Commandant’s intent to focus on mission readiness,” according to the email.

“To clarify, the policy established by NAVMC 1700.2, dated December 2022, is still in effect,” Phillips said via email to Marine Corps Times on Nov. 8, referring to the policy that allows Marines a maximum of six months in the program. “Should any policy changes be approved, they will be announced via” Marine administrative message.

Phillips didn’t respond to a follow-up query from Marine Corps Times asking how the document, entitled NAVMC 1700.2A and dated Oct. 14, had been published prematurely. She didn’t respond by time of publication to a query about when any policy changes would go into effect or who was tasked with deciding on them.

The Corps hasn’t published a Marine administrative message alerting Marines to the error and clarifying the SkillBridge policy. Phillips didn’t respond by time of publication to a Marine Corps Times query about whether the service has informed Marines of the change via other channels.

In October, meanwhile, news of apparent limits on SkillBridge caused whiplash for some Marines who were on their way out of the Corps.

The now-rescinded policy would have limited the maximum time before separation or retirement that Marines can begin a SkillBridge program to four months for those of the rank sergeant and below and three months for staff noncommissioned officers, commissioned officers and warrant officers. That would have been a significant drop from the Marine Corps’ current maximum of six months.

The email that Marine points of contact for SkillBridge received on Nov. 1 says Marine commanders may either approve SkillBridge applications under the existing policy from December 2022 or require Marines to submit applications under the rescinded policy’s “tier” system, which puts limits on time in SkillBridge based on rank.

The Corps’ rules would have set the strictest time limits in the military.

The Army and Air Force allow the Defense Department’s maximum of six months, according to each branch’s respective website. The Navy in March made the maximum three or four months for more senior sailors but has kept the maximum to six months for junior enlisted sailors.

How SkillBridge works

SkillBridge began as a pilot program in 2011 to make it easier for service members to find work as the country emerged from the Great Recession. The DoD formally established the program in January 2014.

In fiscal year 2022, 22,548 separating service members participated in the program, a Labor Department leader told Congress in May. That year, there were a total of 174,813 service members who separated from the military, according to Pentagon data.

SkillBridge opportunities are available in fields as far-ranging as electrical construction, management consulting and book publishing, according to the list of authorized partners.

The program is designed to be a win-win for service members and employers, according to the SkillBridge website. Civilian partners get access to highly trained and motivated workers at no cost, while service members get training and work experience, which sometimes translates into offers of full-time employment.

But during their time in SkillBridge, service members aren’t working at their military jobs.

The Corps’ now-rescinded limits on the program would have meant Marines weren’t eligible for the longer opportunities, and some Marines transitioning out of the Corps would have had to scramble to make new plans.

On Reddit, LinkedIn and Instagram, active-duty Marines and Marine veterans expressed confusion, consternation and nonchalance about the apparent policy change. At least one installation, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, published a guide to SkillBridge eligibility that relied on the now-rescinded policy.

Marine Maj. Antonio Contreras was thrilled when, early in October, he received an opportunity to spend six months working at the State Department. Contreras, a judge advocate and foreign area officer, must retire from the Marine Corps in July 2024 after 20 years, he told Marine Corps Times Oct. 23.

When the Marine Corps seemingly announced it was halving the time Contreras and Marines of similar rank could spend in the SkillBridge program, Contreras was left in limbo, hoping the State Department would still accommodate him.

He said he first found out about the apparent limits on SkillBridge from a coworker who had heard from an installation’s SkillBridge coordinator ― who later confirmed it to him directly. Meanwhile, Contreras saw news of the document spreading across social media.

“It was disheartening,” Contreras said Oct. 23. “There are opportunities to help you transition out of the Marine Corps, and all of the sudden all of that is swept from under your feet.”

Contreras ultimately worked out a three-month internship with the State Department, though he said Oct. 26 not every organization might have made a similar accommodation for Marines. For now, his request to the Marine Corps stands at three months.

The premature policy document also dictates that senior Marine leaders — of the paygrades E8-E9, W4-W5, O5 and above — must get the endorsement of a general officer in their chain of command before embarking on SkillBridge. Under that policy, those high-ranking Marines wouldn’t have been allowed to do SkillBridge if it would create a staffing gap.

That would have been a step up from the DoD’s requirement that service members get approval for SkillBridge from a field-grade commander with nonjudicial punishment authority.

The now-unpublished policy document encourages commands to establish a formal process for determining the effect of Marines’ participation in SkillBridge before disapproving requests. Commands should have the same criteria for evaluating requests from officers and enlisted Marines, the policy says.

The unpublished document also notes that participation in SkillBridge can affect special or incentive pay, typically offered to keep Marines in hard-to-fill or less desirable roles.

Reevaluating SkillBridge policy

The “premature” policy document was labeled as being from Commandant Gen. Eric Smith, directed to all Marines on active duty. At the bottom of the first page are the words “Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.”

The Marine Corps webpage where the document had been linked as late as Nov. 8 now reads, “CONTENT NOT FOUND.” The webpage where the current SkillBridge policy, from December 2022, had been linked reads the same.

Phillips, the Marine spokeswoman, acknowledged that the Marine Corps is evaluating its SkillBridge policy.

“It is imperative that the service evaluate and assess the efficacy and impact of these programs and initiatives over time,” she said in the email to Marine Corps Times. “SkillBridge is one of the many programs currently being assessed by the service to ensure we balance the needs of the individual Marine with Congressional intent and a mission-capable Marine Corps.”

The Marine Corps’ now-unpublished policy document came seven months after the Navy tightened its own rules regarding SkillBridge.

In March, the Navy restricted the maximum time in the program to four months or less for senior enlisted sailors and lower-ranking officers, and three months or less for officers of the rank of commander ― the same paygrade as a Marine lieutenant colonel ― and up. Previously, the Navy had stated sailors “normally” shouldn’t spend more than four months in the program, but the maximum still had been six months.

But the Navy’s policy from March is looser than the one in the “premature” Marine Corps policy: Sailors up to the rank of petty officer second class (the same paygrade as a Marine sergeant) can still do SkillBridge for up to six months, the DoD’s maximum.

But companies in the Military Times’ “Best for Vets: Employers” rankings for 2022 may have had an advantage. Officials from firms at the top of this year’s list said recruiting and retaining veterans was a solution already in hand, not one more task they had to complete.

“With the talent wars so strong, we’ve needed to find other good avenues for recruiting folks,” said Patrick Krug, veterans community network lead at Bristol Myers Squibb, the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant and the top company on this year’s list. “And guess what? We already have that with our veterans pipeline.

“They have great transferable skills, plus they bring additional skills of leadership, flexibility, dedication and all the other intangibles that veterans bring. So in 2021 and 2022, we’re up almost 400% in veteran hiring, versus 2020 and earlier years.”

More than 170 employers participated in the 2022 survey, which provides a snapshot on where firms stand on employment policies, hiring practices and support services that target America’s veterans. Participation in the rankings is voluntary, and the final list is not meant to be a comprehensive accounting of the policies of all defense contractors and U.S. businesses.

The full list of this year’s Best for Vets employer rankings is available here.

The list was compiled in partnership with the Fors Marsh Group, a research firm specializing in the veterans and the military community.

For the past two years, the rankings have been focused on areas of importance to veterans in the workplace, including areas such as mentorship programs, military-specific training opportunities and connections with the veterans community.

The 2022 rankings included four new companies in the top five. Researchers said that was a result not of established firms doing more poorly but of many companies outperforming their past scores — a reflection of increased focus and support for veterans across the workforce.

Bristol Myers Squibb was among the biggest risers. Krug said in the last year, the company has put anew emphasis on finding additional partners in the veterans community as a way to help make connections for would-be recruits and established employees.

But Krug also said many vet-friendly policies, long been in place, are paying dividends now.

“We’ve focused on not just early-career recruiting of veterans but mid-level and executive recruiting too, because we want to help our ranks there as well,” he said. “We believe that veterans should be represented at every level.”

Recruiting despite COVID

Large-scale job fairs were traditionally a key component of veteran recruiting until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic began two years ago.

But when the virus shut down those in-person events, companies were forced to re-evaluate their approach to reaching out to veteran talent.

“Those large convention center fairs, you’re going to see a blended approach from now on,” said Lindsey Streeter, who leads military affairs strategy at Bank of America, the fifth-ranked company on this year’s rankings.

“But before COVID, we had already made a deliberate effort to move into the virtual recruiting space. We had begun digitally capturing resumes, we were already conducting remote interviews. So that platform and internal infrastructure sustained our recruiting pipeline of talent through COVID.”

Similarly, officials at Comcast NBCUniversal, the third-ranked company in the rankings, said that five years of military recruiting and hiring efforts prior to the start of the pandemic meant the company had established routes to communicate with veteran job seekers even as those in-person events disappeared.

“Our talent acquisition folks and recruiters really look towards the military talent market as an optimal place to get high-quality folks, because that has already become so ingrained into our company,” said Sean Casey, senior director of communications for the company’s military and veteran affairs.

“So now, when we see a disruption like COVID, we don’t see a market change in those recruiting numbers.”

Officials at Sanford Health, a non-profit healthcare headquartered in South Dakota, in the last year formalized their partnership with the Defense Department’s SkillBridge program, which allows troops in their final months of service to work as interns or apprentices at private sector firms.

The relationship is designed to help ease service members’ transition to civilian life, while also showcasing the skills that troops have from their time in the military.

“We’re already seeing measurable results from that,” said Paul Weckman, head of military and veteran affairs at Sanford Health, the fourth ranked company on the list. “It gives [those troops] an opportunity to see our organization and what we do, and help get the word out that we want to hire veterans.”

Remote work for vets

Weckman said one silver lining of the COVID pandemic has been normalizing remote work, which has allowed his company to more aggressively recruit veterans and military spouses across the globe.

“Once we showed that remote work was viable, it just removed a huge barrier,” he said. “And military spouses are probably the one of the most underutilized workforces out there, because they move so much. But now we can hire them to work from anywhere.”

Officials from Booz Allen Hamilton, the publicly traded consulting firm and second-ranked company on this year’s Best For Vets list, said initially less than 5% of their workforce was remote. In the initial months of the pandemic, they worried that a large-scale shift could disrupt operations.

“And by May 2020, it was clear that remote work did not have a significant negative impact,” said George Bernloehr, military talent acquisition lead for the firm. “And then the message was, ‘the demand for our work is still there, don’t hesitate on hiring, we still need talent.’”

That opened up interviews to veterans in areas further away from central offices, and hiring managers looking at skills sets more than geography.

Krug said after some initial reluctance to the idea, senior officials at Bristol Myers Squibb have begun to explore expanding remote positions for certain specialties, especially technical support, which can be an area of emphasis for numerous military-to-civilian job transition programs.

“Now we’re starting to make our partners at Hiring Our Heroes and other groups aware of that,” he said.

Staying engaged with vets

The shift to online work, however, also disrupted some firms established in-person support services and community meetings for military employees. Now, as COVID-19 cases have dropped, some of those activities are resuming.

But company officials — and employees — found creative ways to keep that sense of community amid the pandemic too. Streeter said Bank of America’s military support and assistance group found ways to complete online volunteering for veterans charities over the last few years, and saw involvement in the group increase.

“That membership was about 10,000 before COVID, and now we’re up to 17,000 members,” he said. “They found ways to write welcome home letters, raise money to donate homes to homeless veterans. And we’re really proud of what they have done.”

Casey said at Comcast, the increase in work-from-home responsibilities across the business world led officials to expand its program to provide low-cost, high-speed internet to military and veterans families.

“With the pandemic elevating the digital divide, that had to be a focus for us,” he said. “So we’re continuing to work with veteran service organizations or and military community organizations to open more opportunities across the country.”

Corporate officials said those moves show that their firms want not only to bring veteran talent into the workforce, but be a part of the veterans community.

“We work with Operation Gratitude, we work with Fisher House Foundation and others because we want our people to be able to continue their mission,” Krug said. “By continuing to support other veterans and military-connected individuals out there, we want [our employees] to be boots on the ground and continue their service in a different capacity.”

The newly extended active-duty process will allow Marines ending their contracts to have an “individualized initial counseling session” with transition readiness staff up to 18 months before their end of active service date. Those retiring from the Corps will have as much as 24 months to start the process.

The changes allow Marines to start their separation process six months earlier than they could before, Maj. Craig Thomas, a Marine Corps spokesman, said in an email to Marine Corps Times.

At the counseling session Marines will go over a self-assessment, detail their transition plans and discuss the goals they have for after they leave the Corps, the major said.

The process “gives Marines more time and opportunities for a successful transition to a new career,” Thomas said.

Additional changes will provide flexibility, depending on what a Marine wishes to pursue after the Corps, by incorporating four tracks to the Transition Readiness Seminar, which all active-duty Marines must take six months to 12 months before exiting the service.

Marines will choose one of the tracks to spend two days on: entrepreneurship training, vocational training, how to pursue immediate employment after separation or how to receive education benefits, Thomas said.

In addition to the individualized training days, all Marines will spend one day on Department of Defense-facilitated training, one day learning about veterans benefits and one day of Labor Department employment preparation.

For Marines who enjoy procrastination: Marines still have until 365 days before they EAS or retire to begin the transition process, though they are “encouraged to take advantage of these earlier TRP timelines,” Thomas said.

For reservists, the new policy has been streamlined, so the Marines will spend less time in transition seminars. Under the old policy Marine reservists were required to attend TRS after every mobilization that lasted more than 180 days, Thomas said.

He said the new system only requires them to attend the seminar after their first mobilization of 180 days and when they retire or permanently separate from the Marine Corps.

The changes were made to bring the Corps’ transition process into line with requirements in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. While the changes can be found on the Marine Corps Community Service website, Thomas said a MARADMIN detailing the changes is forthcoming.

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So you finally came around to the idea that you might have what it takes to make it in civilian life? What took you so long? You can trudge through mud and rain while training for three days, stand watch through a humid night in the Baghdad suburbs, or maintain the latest in multimillion-dollar aircraft technology, but you weren’t sure if you could commute to an office somewhere for eight hours a day? Son, that might be your only problem.

But there’s a lot of ground to cover before you start writing TPS reports.

Getting out of the military is a big deal, about as big a deal as going in. It’s not something you just want to up and do one day. If all you do is fill out a checklist and then go back to your hometown and think everything is just going to work out, you’re gonna be in for a big surprise. There are actually some things you’ll want to think about before you go back to the block. Starting with what exactly you want to do when you get out of that uniform.

Which, we’re probably going to need back, by the way.

Will you actually be getting a civilian job? Do you want to do the same thing out there that you did in the military? Or will you go to school? Where will you do these things? How will you prepare to pay for them while you wait for benefits … do you even know how to get into the VA system? You may have it all figured out as an E-4. But the mafia doesn’t teach you about Tuition Assistance, the blended retirement system, or getting a VA home loan. Some of that’s what the Transition Assistance Program teaches. (You did know about the TAP class, right?)

It behooves you to read on. Careful though, there are a lot of big words coming your way.

All of this might seem overwhelming. And it is overwhelming, especially if you want to cover all your bases, have all the information, and make the best call for your future self. Have a seat, stick around for a while and we’ll go through everything you need to know, starting with an honest, no-BS assessment of whether this is actually the right time for you to even leave the military. We’ll cover tuition assistance and everything else you need to know and do before you blow this popsicle stand while maxing out all the benefits Uncle Sam promised you on the outside. We’ll even find out if your military job has a career equivalent in the world outside the guard shacks.

No matter what your answers to these questions might be, this guide will also help you write the kind of resume that blows away interviewers like only a veteran of the profession of arms can. You’ll find out what a job fair is for, what you can expect in an interview, and – most importantly – how to avoid screwing it up. We’re even going to teach you what to do when you land that big job offer.

Maybe some of you have skills beyond what the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines will actually trust you to look after. If that’s so, you also likely have the temperament to start your own businesses instead of depending on someone else for your payday. You all had what it took to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. You certainly have what it takes to support you and your dependents. You just have to be smart about it.

We’ll gonna break it all down for you, Barney-style, one last time.

Jump to section:

Your transition checklist and timeline

Deciding to leave the military might be as big a step as deciding to join. Most of us come in when we’re young, naive, and mostly unprepared. When we get out we’re just as unprepared. Most of us. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Almost from the moment you decide to get out, someone around you will be telling you what you need to do to make a successful jump from military to civilian life.

But stop and think for a second. Maybe someone who already made that jump is best suited to help you prepare for it. Find yourself a mentor who can help you determine if you’re actually ready to get out and if you’ve taken advantage of all the benefits available to you on active duty versus what might be available to you as a veteran. They’ll also warn you about common pitfalls (and keep you from making those same mistakes) and maybe even help you determine what career you should consider on the outside. Think of this person as a temporary supervisor in your new unit, helping you sort out everything you’re about to face.

And there are a lot of factors to consider: Are you ready for it? Will you be able to make a living? Is your spouse ready? Will he or she need to contribute to your household and are they ready? Where will you go? Are you going to school or right into the job market? Are your children ready? How much help you need will help you determine who will be a good separation mentor for you. Don’t choose a single mentor who never had kids to help you when you have a wife and family to think about.

If you’re going right into the job market, have you considered what you want to do and where you want to do it, along with the training and education required? Do you have any contacts in that industry? You may want to get a second mentor for your coming career on the civilian side if your transition mentor can’t help you with your new career.

Asking for help when you don’t have all the answers is a crazy concept, right? Almost like having a manual to tell you everything you need to know or do and when you need to do it. Speaking of which, I just happen to have a list of everything you need to know or do and when you need to do it: one-stop checklist and timeline filled with everything you need to know or do and when to do it.

Two Years to 18 Months from ETS:

• Find yourself a mentor who faced the same problems you will likely face.
• Choose your civilian career and make sure you’ll be educated and trained with what you need to know by the time you leave the military.
• Did you use Tuition Assistance and are you on track to graduate before you leave the military? Make sure you leave the military with an education or a certified skill.
• What will you do with your G.I. Bill – will you need it to Top-up your TA benefits? Will you need it on the outside or should you transfer it to your dependents? Are you even eligible to transfer them?
• Make sure you’ll have enough money saved up in case of a tight job market when you get out. Having all the skills and training in the world won’t help when no one is hiring. If you have to wait or move to get that job, be sure you’re financially prepared for that with a smart and realistic budget.
• Start meeting people in your desired career field or college – this is also known as “networking.” It’s much easier to get in to that dream school or dream job when the school or business already knows you, likes you, and believes you can get the job done.

One Year:

• Since I know you made that pre-separation budget six months ago, give that another pass and make sure you’re on track. If your destination changed, you’ll have to re-evaluate the budget entirely, to include both the cost of moving and the cost of living.
• If you’re going to school after leaving, it’s time to choose where you’re going, what to study, and start the application process. Make sure you know which parts of the application are due and when.
• This might be a good time for you to learn about VA home loans as well as the process of buying house. If you’re going to move to a new area, you might be able to get house hunting orders.
• Begin the process of getting out of the military, which includes informing your unit and command while starting all the relevant paperwork and taking all the transition assistance classes offered or required. You may even be assigned a counselor.

Six Months To Go:

• Make sure your budget projections are being filled and still make sense. Isn’t it great to know you’ll have all the money you’ll need for all the small expenses that come up along the way?

• Learn to write a resume and write up your own, preferably after meeting with a career counselor and having them look it over. Be sure to show this to your transition mentor and your civilian career mentor (if they aren’t the same person). You can never have too many eyes on your resume.

• Use this resume to start your job search if you haven’t started looking already.

• It’s time to put in for your last household good shipment. The military will pack up and send your belongings to the location of your new life or to your home of record one last time, all you have to do is arrange it and decide where it will all go.

• Consider your post-military health care options. The VA will cover you for a while after you leave the military, but unless your conditions are service-connected that coverage will end. If you have a new employer who offers health care, be sure to enroll in that. You can also find health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act website. Tricare offers temporary health care coverage for newly-separated members under the Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP) and Transitional Assistance Management Program (TAMP).

• Be sure to update your wardrobe. Jeans and the T-shirt you wear under your OCPs won’t cut it in the real world, especially at a job interview. Ask the career mentor or professional network you definitely developed when I told you to over a year ago.

• Decide where you’ll roll your military blended retirement savings. For plans worth less than $100,000, consider a fiduciary app like Wealthfront. You can manage your savings from your smartphone for minimal fees, much less than most brokers.

• Update your important documents while it’s still free. Documents like living wills and powers of attorney can cost a lot of money on the outside.

• Start your household goods shipments and other PCS/ETS procedures.

Three Months Left:

• Begin working on your VA compensation claim paperwork. Declare everything on your outgoing medical exam. The sooner you finish this process, the better. You may find your own healthcare is entirely service-connected. Your duty station and Veterans Service Organizations (like the DAV) have people on hand to assist with this process. Some states, like New York, have offices to help veterans get this done. Check out the benefits your new or home state offers.

• This is the last chance you’ll have to ensure that budget you made when I told you to is still good to go.

• Review your life insurance options, especially SGLI vs. VGLI. Younger people may scoff at this step, but if you do as this list implores you to do, you’ll be happy you did.

• Get your own copies of your medical and dental records and never give them away. Only ever give away copies.

• Visit your doctor and get medically checked out for free one last time. It gets pricey from here on in.

One Month:

• Choose your health insurance.

• Know your home states veterans benefits.

• Stay on top of your VA disability claim.

• Keep looking for work, considering job fairs, LinkedIn, and other websites as part of your efforts.

• Meet with your school’s veterans benefits office.

Remember that this can all be overwhelming if you wait until the last minute to do everything. So don’t. Staying proactive and ensuring you arrive at each point when you’re supposed to – or even 15 minutes prior to 15 minutes prior – will keep you from losing your mind as the ETS date approaches.

Then you’ll really be able to celebrate a job well done.

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Education

Do you want to go to school? Are you even smart enough to get out? Don’t ask what other people think. What do you think? No matter what the retention office tells you, separating is not about loyalty to your branch of service. You proved your loyalty the day you signed up and by doing your job every day after. The Department of Defense is one of this country’s largest employers. They’ll find a replacement for you — don’t worry about that. This is about you for once. This is about being prepared.

What the retention office is right about, however, is that life is tough out there. There is no safety net, no unit to fall back on. There’s no BAH, no BAS. No BS. Once you’re out, you’re pretty much on your own, so it’s important to set yourself up for success from the get-go.

When you were in basic training, some of you likely signed up for this thing called the “G.I. Bill,” which is a great way to get started maxing out those bennies. The rest of you were enrolled automatically. I’ll cover the G.I. Bill in-depth in a few minutes, but first, let’s talk Tuition Assistance.

Listen, TA is as much a benefit as eating at the DFAC with none of the regret afterward. Tuition Assistance offers 100 percent of your tuition paid for while you’re on active duty. It varies slightly by branch but we’re talking about lab fees, special fees, computer fees, and up to $4,500 in tuition paid for to any accredited institution with semester hours that cost $250 or less. Fees add up, make sure you use the benefits you earned to pay for them.

And keep in mind this is not a loan. Once you finish school, you don’t have to ever look back. But you’d better work at it or be prepared for the consequences of failing a class. If that happens, Uncle Sam takes his money back in one lump sum. There are no payment plans, there are no do-overs and you can’t use TA for the same class twice. You also have to pay that money back if you leave the military before you graduate. But why would you want to leave the military without a free college degree or trade certification?

The correct answer is that you don’t.

Now you might also decide you want to go to grad school, business school, or decide to stop being a barracks lawyer and become an actual lawyer. Be sure to take those aptitude tests before you ETS. Free testing is just another educational benefit you can get for free while you’re still in. You just have to go to the education office after work instead of the Class Six.

Earning a diploma, even if it’s from Charleston Southern or Northern Illinois and not the Harvard your mama knows you deserve, will really cut into your time picking up the locals at TGI Fridays, but it’s worth the effort. Just make sure you’re not going to Bob’s Discount Degree School or anything offered on television. You can get any level of degree that you don’t already have.

If college isn’t your jam, you can use TA to learn skills like carpentry and ASE certified car repair. This is all before you ever touch your G.I. Bill benefits or take off the uniform for the last time.

Maybe you don’t have time to finish a degree using Tuition Assistance, but still want to get the most out of your education benefits — plus you’re a hotshot who can pass any test. In that case, you can go to your education office and take CLEP tests – College-Level Examination Program – for free. Pass the test with knowledge you already have and you’ll get college credit for the class. These tests are free while you’re in and are covered by your G.I. Bill when you’re out.

So take them while you’re in, genius.

Some of you could conceivably CLEP an entire degree program after going through military training. Depending on the school and the course of study you choose, you can take your Joint Services Transcript to a number of regionally-accredited school and see what they can do for you. Don’t just take the first good deal you get. Shop it around – someone might accept the whole thing.

That’s right. College credit just for basic training.

If your school of choice is more expensive than the limits set on Tuition Assistance, you need check to see if their admissions department accepted the right person and if it’s a legitimate academic institution. If a real school really did accept you and TA doesn’t cover it all, you can fill in the gap using the “Top-up” benefit of the G.I. Bill.

Now, the G.I. Bill might be the most important benefit of joining the military, so stop playing grabass on Instagram and read closely.

There are a lot of programs the G.I. Bill will cover. The “Top-up” program I just mentioned is a great benefit, but should only be used if you aren’t going to school after leaving the military. Even then, you need to consider if you’re eligible to transfer your benefits to your spouse and/or kids. If you have 10 years time in service and for some reason can’t re-enlist, you should consider transferring those benefits while you spend the rest of what’s left of your time in service wisely.

If you are going to use this benefit after you leave the military, you need to know what to do with it. College isn’t for everyone and that’s okay. You can use it for other training classes like flight training, apprenticeship programs through private employers, licensing and certification testing, and some technical non-degree programs.

For the rest of you, the Ins and Outs of the G.I. Bill will be covered in the next section, one I call

“Probably the most important benefit of joining the military.”

Your GI Bill

You get a lot of stuff for joining the U.S. military — so much it’s difficult to keep track of it all. Luckily, everyone around you is constantly trying to inform you about them, from your TAP class to the article you’re currently reading. You get a retirement plan, school tuition and fees, a competitive home loan, and so much more, depending on how long you stay in. But the one thing everyone gets after staying on active duty for a certain amount of time is the benefit of the G.I. Bill.

Knowing how to maximize its potential is essential to maximizing your own.

In the last section we talked about maxing your Tuition Assistance benefit before you get out and making sure you use the G.I. Bill after you leave the military. If you’re not sure if you’ve been effective with your use of TA, feel free to go back and read. There used to be a time limit to using the educational benefits of the G.I. Bill. That’s all gone now. Like the nickname you earned in Fayetteville, this is with you forever. The only other consideration is if you decide you might want to transfer the benefit to a spouse or dependent.

Transferring to a dependent is an option if you’re finished with school or training, but only if you’re still on active duty and only if you have ten years in service or have six years and will serve another four. Once you transfer the benefit, it’s theirs.

If you’ve already decided on going to school or vocational training, let’s continue.

You need at least 36 months of time in service after 9/11 to get 100 percent of the Post-9/11 G.I. benefits. Or you need a Purple Heart. If you weren’t wounded by the enemy and don’t yet meet the 36-month requirement, you’ll need to find out what percentage of benefits you can claim.

Most of those reading this will receive Post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefits, which pays 100 percent of a state school’s tuition. For private and foreign schools, you can count on around $24,000 per year and a lot of private schools will share at least most the rest of the cost with the VA through the “Yellow Ribbon” program.

Be advised: for very costly programs, you still might end up having to take on some student debt. Most of you will be fine. But that’s just tuition and fees. A lot more goes into college than just paying for the privilege. You still need to live and buy books, geniuses. The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill has you covered there too.

The bill gives a stipend of $1,000.00 for books and supplies as well as providing a monthly housing allowance. That amount is determined for a member at E-5, who lives in the same zip code as your school. For supplies, you’ll get that in a lump sum at the beginning of a semester or quarter, so be on the lookout and ensure you don’t blow it on a case of Natty Light.

You get 36 months of this benefit as long as you have an honorable discharge or a discharge characterized as honorable, which means you need to keep your nose clean. Once you’re in college, live it up because you need to get a job after this… just try to stay as clean as possible.

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Veterans benefits

Listen, there are a lot of benefits to military service. There are so many the military actually hires people to explain them all to you. But chances are good this information was in a handout packet from your Transition Assistance class you didn’t read.

Luckily, I’m going to give you a quick & dirty rundown of the major points. It would behoove you to go seek out the details of these benefits, since they cover basic needs that people will need their whole lives, like income, housing, work and things like that, since your mama and Uncle Sam aren’t footing the bill anymore.

The first thing you need to do is file a claim for your VA benefits. The second thing you need to do is keep following up on it. Based on your submission and the VA’s subsequent (likely terrible) review of your records and a physical exam, the VA will designate a disability rating for you and assess if any of your chronic conditions are a result of your military service. If they find a condition like that, they call it a “service-connected disability” and will take care of that condition for the rest of your days. If they find enough things wrong with you that are related to service, they’ll just take care of all of you for life. You will also get a check in the mail every month to help ease your pain.

See how important that is? So you are strongly advised not to go through this process by yourself. Once you give up your military medical records, you will likely never see them again so you should photocopy everything and fill out your VA disability claim with an expert. Many Veterans Service Organizations (Like the American Legion) are more than just old guys sitting around drinking beer in the middle of the day. They can connect you with someone who can shepherd you through this process. If you do nothing else, take the time to do this right before you go to that new job or start school.

Now, if you decided more education isn’t for you, that’s okay. Be sure you transfer those G.I. Bill benefits to your spouse or children, though. But if you’re six months away from your discharge date, you still need to get moving. It’s time to find a job for yourself. By now you should at least have a post-military career resume squared away and know what field you want to go into. If you’re looking to go into government, you’re in luck, the government’s veterans preference policy gives you an edge over other applicants. Governmental agencies are required by Congress to weigh their applicants with this preference.

Not everyone automatically gets veterans preference. There are even different levels of it. You also need to be discharged under an honorable or general discharge, so I hope you kept your nose clean. You get a ten-point preference if you have a service-connected disability with the VA or were awarded the Purple Heart. You have a five-point preference if you are authorized to wear a campaign or expeditionary medal. There are actually a few gray areas and exceptions to these rules, so be sure to actually look up the details before you start applying.

The next thing we need to talk about isn’t something everyone in the military just gets, but it can be clutch when finding a job if you do have it: your security clearance. Chances are good that somehow the military actually trusted you with sensitive information. Lucky you.

If your military career required a security clearance and you want to do the same job as a civilian, you’re still gonna need it. Even if you’re looking to work in another field but still need a clearance, that clearance is going to save your new company time and money in hiring you, and they know it. So don’t go crazy after your last day in the military and lose that clearance. You can still pull stupid stunts when you retire from your $200,000/year aerospace defense job, so don’t risk it all now.

That’s not even the biggest benefit. There is one benefit so powerful as soon as you activate it, your phone will not stop ringing and your email inbox will explode: the VA Home Loan. The VA guarantees part of these loans, making them so attractive to lenders, they’ll throw themselves at you like you’re a female deployed to a tent city. If you’re smart about this, you’ll know exactly what kind of interest rate you want and how much you can afford. Do your research and get the right loan, the banks will take your money but they won’t do the legwork for you.

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The job hunt

If you think you can do better on the outside, we’re not here to tell you you’re wrong. We’re just going to tell you a suit doesn’t look half as cool without your medals and rank. But if you insist on going to a different office every day, you need to figure out which ones you want to get into, which ones will actually have you, and then how to actually get in there.

Maybe you actually liked your military specialty and just want to do the same work on the outside. Then, good news! You can. Google has a search function for veterans looking for work in their field. All you need is your MOS, AFSC, NEC, or rating (if you don’t know what some of those are, they don’t apply to you). Just google “veteran job search” to find the search box and google will find openings in your area. You might have seen a Super Bowl commercial about it.

If you aren’t sure if your military career is for you, talk to an advisor or use some online tools to find out. Don’t freak out if you’re unsure. Most people leave the military relatively young, so there will always be time for a career change later.

There’s a chance you don’t want to continue working in your military occupation. If that’s the case, I hope you’ve spent some time getting an education in the field you want to work in. Most jobs don’t just open the door to anyone. The uniform looks cool but no one is going to hire you just because you wore cool clothes once. Assuming you have the basic skills necessary, you will need to have a resume, master some interpersonal skills, and be ready to do some serious legwork.

For writing a resume, there are a thousand tools that will help you learn how to do this but the most important thing to remember is to use the English language. Spell check everything. Look for typos. Act like this document is going to the Sergeant Major of the freaking Army because it’s an employer’s first impression of you and you don’t want them to know how much of a fool you are until it’s too late. Know all the jobs you’ve ever had, the skills and tools you learned for it, as well as all the education and certifications you needed. Once you have all that, it’s just a matter of putting it together in a concise way.

If you need help translating your EPR bullets into civilian resume terms, have no fear, click here.

Remember how I told you you don’t want an employer finding out how much of an idiot you can be? Well if they like you, chances are good they’re going to check out your social media pages, so you might want to either go ahead and delete the memories of all your nights around Fayettenam or just make all your profiles private and give access only to the people who know you in real life. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, all of it. While you’re at it, take that nifty new resume and create a LinkedIn page with a decent photo of yourself. Employers are looking for this nowadays. Be sure to make that one public.

Maybe you don’t know where you want to look, if you want to live where you’re stationed or live near your home of record, or maybe you’re out to shoot for the moon and look for work somewhere entirely different. All of that is ok; the choices are big when the world is your oyster. Just remember that some companies are better at hiring vets than others. Some cities are more vet friendly than others, and before you land that big job offer, make sure you know how to negotiate a starting salary that takes your experience into account.

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Entrepreneurship

You think you’re gonna get started in civilian life being your own person, do you? Alright, then. Just make sure you know what you’re getting into. Starting and running your own business can be expensive and more work than punching a clock for some other guy. Not to say that anyone can’t do – this is America, after all – just make sure you know what’s about to happen.

Maybe you want to make it easy on yourself and open that Subway sandwich shop you always thought about. That is called a franchise, young entrepreneur. You know, where all the branding and marketing are done for you, you just have to open the business, lease the building, buy the food, and everything else that comes with it. That’s one way to start your own business, and it’s not a bad one. It can take a lot of the guesswork out of getting started, it just costs a whole lot more up front.

But here’s what you may not know: fast food restaurants aren’t the only franchisers out there. Did you work finance in the military? Maybe you want to franchise a Padgett Business Solutions branch. Or maybe you were a civil engineer? Then a Mr. Rooter franchise is a possibility for you. Auto mechanic? You might have the Midas touch. Something you visit on the daily might be something you can work and own one day. Look it up.

If you have a dream of opening your own business and building it from the ground up, that’s okay too. That’s what your parent’s garage is for – don’t let them fill your head with garbage about parking their cars. Research the market, plan for what you’re trying to sell. You could even do a test run for the product. There’s nothing wrong with a free sample, as long as they’re coming back for more.

But there’s a good chance you have no idea where to start. That’s alright, you can still start your combination weightlifting gym and t-shirt company. You might even start by asking your spouse where to start, because there’s a good chance he or she already started a business from home while you were really struggling on your deployment to Ramstein. The U.S. Small Business Administration also has a Veterans Business Outreach Center, there are even civilian non-profits that want to get you into the game. They’ll teach you everything you need to know, from the supply chain to the demand center.

The best part about all of this is you don’t need an MBA to get started. Many, many successful businesses and corporations were started by people who had a good idea and would not give up on it. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started Apple in the parent’s garage we talked about. Ray Kroc got McDonald’s going by sheer determination and ergonomics. Mat Best launched Article 15 using funny veteran videos. There is nothing in these examples you can’t do and they’ll be the first to tell you that.

Since many of you will be coming into a real job market and/or a real business market for the very first time, chances are good you’re strapped for cash and have little to no great credit history to fund your first business. In that case, there’s a lot you should probably know about getting started — but don’t freak out just yet, people want to help you there too.

The important thing to remember when starting your first business as a newly-separated veteran – or whenever you’re starting a business, really – is to not fear taking risks. There is no significant reward without significant risk, so if you’ve done the research and you took the training, there’s no reason you shouldn’t trust yourself to see this through. Our allies in the British Special Air Service have the perfect saying for this situation: Who Dares Wins.

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Picking a place to live

You’ve heard a lot of talk – from me and from other people, no doubt – about what you’re going to do when you get out of the service. Just as important as what you’re gonna do is where in the world you’re gonna do it. If you’re lucky, this location will be determined by your school or your job and you won’t have to think any more thoughts about it.

And then, you might. So where would you go if you had the world to choose from?

Every year, reputable sources publish a list of the best places for veterans to live, and they aren’t wrong. They take into account everything vets need and are accustomed to having, which includes VA medical services, quality of life for people entering the civilian world, and even support from other veterans. The list might not surprise you, as places in Virginia, Maryland, and Texas rank very high on the list, while Colorado Springs sits at the top.

Let’s go back to your new degree program or new job choosing the place you live when you leave the military. Is the location of the school something you took into account? Did you consider the local area if you have a family? What about the new job – it’s great to work for a federal agency, but chances are good living in the District of Columbia might be out of your price range. Are you ready for that daily commute? How will you get to work or class? How will your family meet those same needs? These are all important considerations as you transition into the next phase of your life.

This decision doesn’t necessarily have to change the rest of your life. After all, if you get another big job or you graduate and take a big job, you’ll end up moving again anyway. The whole idea is to have a support system in place and make your transition to civilian life a simple as possible. So let’s be real for a moment: it’s gonna be difficult. No one ever got out of the military without a single hiccup or regret. You can follow every one of these suggestions, completely stick to the timeline we gave you, or the one the transition office gave you, or the one anyone gave you because you received so many, and things are still going to happen.

But being able to get to school while your spouse heads off to work doesn’t need to be one of those issues. Finding a doctor for yourself or your kids doesn’t need to be one of those issues. And finding a place you feel at home shouldn’t be one either.

So if you’re a big city person, just do the research. You’ll have no problem finding schools for everyone who needs one, along with jobs, food, and fun. You’ll probably even find multiple VA facilities to serve your needs and finish your VA disability examination. In a small town, you might have more difficulty checking every box but it’s not impossible. Do the research and figure out what’s right for you and yours.

When you know where you really want to go and find a new home there, be sure to update your home of record with the MPF. When you leave the military, you will get one free shipment of household goods to that home of record as a final send-off from America’s greatest fighting force. Be sure it’s all going to a place you really want to meet it.

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Guess what, your spouse and family are transitioning to new lives just like you are. Gone are the days where Uncle Sam dropped a bag of money on your homes on the 1st and 15th of every month. With this in mind, your husband or wife will likely need the same separation help you’re trying to get, except they aren’t forced to take a TAPS class as part of their separation outprocessing checklist – but that doesn’t mean the options aren’t available. It just means you haven’t looked for them.

So the next time your spouse makes you mad, go sign them up for one of these spouse transition courses your base 100 percent definitely has available. In the Marine Corps, they’re called STARS, Spouse Transition and Readiness Seminars, and they’re three hours long. Remind your spouse it’s full of good information they need for the coming years and then go watch the latest Avengers movie without them. Treat yourself.

After he or she has all the information they need, they will likely feel as overwhelmed as you did when first presented with it all. Maybe it will be a good idea to help them plan their transition as any number of people are working to help you plan yours. Without telling your spouse you’re as overwhelmed as they are, sit down in a relaxing environment and have a frank discussion about their goals. Maybe stop at the local Red Lobster (treat yourself) and find out what they want to do when you no longer attached to the military lifestyle.

They might want to go back to school or start their own business if they haven’t already. Maybe they want to live closer to their family and not yours. Maybe they’ll question the entire premise of your marriage, considering you didn’t know they were already an HerbaLife partner and has been for years, that they wants a brick and mortar store in St. Louis, and how dare you watch Endgame, they can smell the popcorn on your clothes. It’s about time you started thinking of someone else for a change.

After you and your spouse make up for your blatant lack of cinematic consideration, get copies of their medical and dental records, update all your legal documents, and prepare financially for the new life you’re building for yourselves, all that’s left will be taking care of your children, if you have them. Luckily all you need to worry about is child care while you’re at school or work because the good folks at Sesame Street have this covered.

The bottom line is your spouse needs all the same information you do. Your family will soon be the only unit of which you are still a member, so whether you’re the commander or just the director of operations, be sure you disseminate necessary information accordingly so he or she can be as prepared as you’re trying to be.

Besides, everything goes better with a partner. There are a lot of people doing this on their own.

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How to be a civilian

Veterans are quickly becoming a bigger part of the American population. We now make up slightly more than 10 percent of the U.S. population but there are many, many more civilians. Depending on the very careful, well-thought out decision I know you made on where to live, you may not ever see another vet. So along with all the other things you need to know about getting out of the military, now we need you to learn how to not be in the military anymore. You’re in for some culture shock.

A lot of civilians do not show up to things on time. They sure as hell don’t show up 15 minutes early to everything. They also eat their food at a normal pace. And there are so, so many slow walkers out there. But they don’t have the same ingrained training you do. Does that make you better than they are? Absolutely not, and you can’t let that get to you. Civilian life can be stressful enough without adding to it unnecessary and stupid irritants.

There are so many ways to confront the stress of everyday life. Your new civilian job is highly unlikely to give you the same time to PT as you had in the military, but working out is a great way to burn off the stress of walking behind an entire school of people who don’t seem to have anywhere they need to be anytime soon. The internet is full of ways to lead a low-stress life. You can find out what juice cleanse Gwyneth Paltrow is using this week or you can try some yoga with pro-wrestler Diamond Dallas Page. The point is that you do something.

The Marine Corps Community has five mindfulness steps you might find interesting, because no one knows a stress-free life like the United States Marine Corps.

1. Don’t give negative thoughts more than 5 or 10 minutes of attention.

2. Focus on the positive. This could be a new job, a good book or a great hike you’ve enjoyed recently.

3. Change your activities. This could be as simple as moving from one room in the house to another. When you find yourself starting to think negatively, start washing the dishes or put a load of laundry in the washing machine. The idea is to remove yourself from the location where your negative thoughts occurred.

4. Go for a walk. Nature walks are really great at defusing heightened reactions from a memory of your past.

5. Talk to someone. Sometimes simply sharing your worries with another person can help you feel better. A trusted friend can provide support and help you focus on the present.

Those are just suggestions. A little trial and error and a little experimentation will help you find out what’s right for you. Just remember that drugs and alcohol aren’t the answer. They will eventually just become a problem in their own right while compounding the rest of your problems. The world has enough homeless, addicted, alcoholic veterans to take care of and we don’t need one more. That being said, be sure to look out for your brothers and sisters while you’re at it.

It’s great to identify as a veteran but since most vets leave the service at a very young age, it’s important to remember that your life is really just beginning. The military is not the only thing you’re gonna do with your life. It’s not even the best thing that you’ll ever do. To ensure you make it, you need to know that money will be tight for a while.

There’s nothing wrong with buying a Grunt Style shirt to go with your new Propper pants and backpack, but rein in your spending. You or your spouse might face periods of unemployment. Not having many of the base services you became accustomed to will strain your budget. And you may need a brand new wardrobe for your new life. Unplanned expenses come up all the time, but if you have a budget, you will survive.

There are a lot of budget styles out there to look at. Tailor one to your life. But the simplest budget is the 50-20-30 budget: put 50 percent of your paycheck toward expenses, 20 percent toward your savings, and then you can blow the last 30 percent on whatever you want – because you still need to have fun in life.

That’s all civilian life is: meeting your needs, managing your expectations, and setting your own priorities. Only now the Armed Forces of the United States isn’t meeting, managing, or setting any of that for you. So feel good about buying that scooter, going to Coachella, or ordering $20 of avocado toast, which is what I assume the kids are all about these days.

Blake Stilwell is a writer and former Air Force combat photojournalist. He lives in Los Angeles.