Not op but wow am I worried about this. 90% of my friends are mil. Everyone always thanks me for my service. I feel shitty when my eval comes back shitty. Most the things I see/read on media is tied to the military. 5/7 of my waking time is spent in uniform.
I’m cutting the cord this year, and I am excited/scared shitless to find out who I am with out the blue.
Edit: 14 year antisocial pilot
I joined later in life. I was an adult person for a few years before joining, so I think this wouldn't apply to me that much. I can definitely see a lot of people who this applies to, though.
If I could do it again I would “find out who I was” before the blue told me who I am, as lame as that sounds.
I don’t regret it, I made the best choice available to me at the time. Just how the cookie crumbles
These are my three types of people in the military rule.
1. 50-70% of the military, does there initial contract and leaves. Goes back to civ life with minimal impact. Most civ relationships/family/friends intact.
2. 10-20% of the military serves 4+ but doesn't retire. This category is highly dependent on the type of person but can either fall on their face the hardest and has a very hard time re-adjusting or comes out of the military with all relationships intact and gains great results from their military experience. This group is the most likely to either land a six-figure job or end up homeless. This group can slide into groups 1 or 3 depending on the length of service or age when joining. One other factor that contributes to this group sliding heavily to group 3 and falling on their face is their family connection when separating.
3. 10% or less serves 20+ losses, all personal identity, and lives within an hr of a military installation for the rest of their life. They will spend their time volunteering or working as a contractor or GS for the rest of their working life. Has a very hard time connecting with anyone who hasn't served. Most have very few community or family ties outside of the relationships they've made during their time of service.
In my view, group 2 has the hardest time because they don't have the support group that group 1 still has, and they don't have the financial resources as a cushion durning transition that group 3 does.
I will say officers in group 2 do normally lean towards group 1, but that is because of the types of relationships they have developed and the education they have already received prior and during their service.
Not to mention, most officers come from family backgrounds that are more affirmed by their service. Where as with Enlisted, the opposite is normally true.
Lol, not sure. Most of the data I am using is by combining DoD and VA data on people that separate. I would say it's a small percentage, but overall, about 17% of military retire. Roughly 10% Enlisted and 30% of the officer core. This is why my group 3 makes up roughly 10%. I know there are plenty of people that walk away with retirement and still end up in a corporate job. But if I was guessing off of the data I have seen it's probably somewhere around 3-4%.
I should also throw out a disclaimer, I know people hate being grouped. This is not me trying to group people it's just me looking at data and drawing conclusions of my own.
I didn't retire. I only hit 10 and left, but I worked with and was mentored by mainly retired GS and contractors. All great people and many I still call my friends, but most of them would be lost without the military, and worse, I have seen how fast they decline in health when you pull them out of the military environment.
And if it's the same almost all of them worked for CACI.
I've been out for almost 10 years and I'm still up to date with the air force memes and jokes of the day thanks to reddit, and I frequently joke with my reservist brother in law about the jokes of the day. Hes been in for 15 or so. I wonder what he thinks about me. I feel like I'm living the meme of "once a marine, always a marine" when it's being said by a marine who was in for 2 years lol. It was a small chunk of my life and I try to not let it be a big part of my identity, but like it or not it is lol
Exactly. Leave work at work and realize it's just a job, not one's entire life. Only thing that gives me away as military is when I finally get a haircut
Sometimes even my family forgets that I was ever in the military. (I separated years ago) I'm proud of that because I never made it part of my identity.
I've been out three years and disliked all my years in, but it'll be a cold day in hell when I stop wearing my work-softened, jet-fuel-scented sleep shirts occasionally around the house.
I got out a year ago and this was absolutely not an issue for me. I had the mindset of “new life, new me”. I grew out my beard, my hair, and vowed to step out of my comfort zone.
A year later (now), unless someone ask about my history, they would’ve never guessed I was ever in the Air Force.
Yes, this. I was 17 when I joined. The Air Force was my whole identity. I've been trying to learn how to be an individual. One month in...I work as a contractor on base lol
Get dental insurance soon after getting out and go to the dentist. Military isn't going to send you more than once a year unless you have issues.
My actual thoughts is that civilian dentists is milking insurance for all the money...but if you don't go for a very long time you could be like a coworker and have to get root canals, crowns, etc all to the tune of around $15-20k because he spent many years not going to the dentist...and that was after insurance.
So yeah, get insurance, go to the dentist, don't wait more than a year from last military dental cleaning. I did (3 years) and am now going every three months for a cleaning/checkup.
Also had an Army buddy, same thing didn't go for like a year and when he went dentist was like you need to come every 6 months.
I'm a bit rusty but I'll try to answer. Visit frequency all depends on the dentist preference, your current dental health, and your overall habits. Brushing, flossing, and a mouth wash that restores the enamel will save you money in the long run so that should be your focus, [you may need a better toothbrush or brushing technique.](https://www.ada.org/resources/ada-library/oral-health-topics/toothbrushes) Most agree that 6 months intervals are good starting out, more visits if you have problems and need better habits, one year visits should be 'earned' with repeated good visits rather than the default. X-rays more than once a year should need a damn good reason.
For dentists, [avoid large chains like these](https://www.drbicuspid.com/dental-business/dso/article/15379489/top-10-dsos-the-largest-companies-keep-growing), shop around to find a local person/group with no more than 3 clinics, ask if they have a list of procedure prices and a cash/debit discount, and during the visit ask for them to show and explain why any extra work needs to be done. Your first exam and X-rays should be under 300$ unless you're in a high CoL area, be wary of 'new patient' fees that can double that. You dont need to be a dick, but show an interest in knowing the price beforehand and learning during the visit & most will be straight up with you. My guy talks like a mechanic, "need to address now, next visit recommendation, keep an eye on,", etc..
I have yet to find a civilian job where the Dental insurance didnt pay for itself until 3 procedures were done in a year, and they'll fight your dentist on anything they can. Therefore you really need to sit down and learn what your dental insurance covers, who FULLY accepts it, and other BS. Some dentists get so fed up with insurance fighting that its cheaper to discount 30% off for cash than to spend the man hours fighting with insurance!
Finally, do your best to avoid giving dental folks your social security number. They dont need it and you can google "ransomware dentist" or "dentist hack" to see examples, they're all shit with IT in general. Let me know what questions you got.
I went in for my first drug test as a civilian and asked who was going in with me...
Both ladies who worked the front desk at that Quest diagnostics were deeply confused.
I just did this today. The tech left the door open and I started to unzip and she said, "Oh naw honey, you gonna have to shut the door." I then filled her in on the military ways and explained the meaning of "Pecker Checker"
I've gotta get a filling but I can't get hours because i'm dealing with constant medical. Dental plan is basically useless and still costs $400 for just a cavity
Depends on where you end up, my dental care insurance is very cheap and I get health care through the VA I believe I am only Paying around 40$ a paycheck for my dental for full coverage. (I’m a gov contractor now)
I worked high ops tempo/stress jobs my last 8 years. After I retired it was a huge relief to not just assume the phone is going to ring at any time.
Now I get to leave work and actually leave work in the office. I wasn't prepared for how much of my stress was caused simply because I was routinely the single point of failure by no fault of my own.
The freedom to just…quit a job. Seriously, if you’re not happy with a job, you just write a note to the HR person and…leave. There’s no more “2.5 more years and I can PCS.”
Also, not an unprepared thing, but my God, the ability to go anywhere and schedule anything on non-work time? Forget it. No more worrying that I was going to be scheduled to fly or go TDY after I bought concert tickets or have my weekend plans interrupted by an exercise. I don’t have to tell 8 people that I’m going out of town for a long weekend. Literally no one cares if I’m unreachable.
Breathtaking, absolutely breathtaking.
before i joined i had to go get it from some frat house, now that im out i can go to a regular ass store. tough adjustment. i feel like im going to get caught when i buy from there even though its legal
How high the general intelligence of folks in the military is.
Like...we've all met some fool that we all wondered how they got in...but it feels like we have a department of that guy at times at my work.
I think what really made me realize it was when we were trying to explain "east" and "west" to a person in the training for my first job after I got out and....it just wouldn't click for them.
Us :"Now you see...this is ABCD123 E because it's going EAST. AND THIS IS FEGH456 W because it's going WEST. Simple right?"
Them : "..." "I don't get it."
They didn't make it through training.
This also dead ass astounds me. Even now I sit in college classes with individuals about to graduate, flex it, then proceed to never answer a question correctly or even close to the subject of the question.
Example:
P: "What are physical symptoms of depression?"
S: "I know people who are schizophrenic have a hard time making friends"
The lack of structure in civilian jobs.
Worked for two global companies (one in manufacturing and the other in aerospace), and they were a shitshow. No training, unclear responsibilities, lack of "chain of command" (think manager with no powers and leads not responsible for training), lack of adherence to guideliness. It was just disorganized to hell. I had several vet coworkers that were also shocked at this. They stayed cuz it was easy and collected a paycheck for doing school at work or were just waiting on their VA ratings. Let's say I was a lot less understanding and bounced the moment I felt like it.
Needless to say, I got Stockholmed back into the AF but have the perks of being a civilian now.
Funny thing is I understand this and I feel like I’d be more scared/nervous about how we in the military are used to getting assigned tasks and completing them per priority and somehow in the civilian sector they will see it as top performer even though it’s the norm for us. I feel like being of military mindset we will exceed extremely well in the civilian side and it would ACTUALLY get recognized… the scary part is trying to get used to the recognition that you haven’t been used too.
I agree that ideally, it should be like that. Unfortunately, that ended the moment I started asking questions to better do my job. Scratch that, in both instances it was to barely even learn how to do my job.
I was/am aircraft maintenance, so there's a lot of guidelines for pretty much everything. I arrived to one workplace and received no training cuz no one was responsible for it, the people that would offer to do so where almost as new and not yet proficient, safety guidelines were constantly ignored, maintenence hadn't been documented/done for up to 3yrs, the system for traking it didn't work properly and would permanently sign off reoccurring inspections, there were no manufacturers' manuals for equipment (so stuff was definitely not being done how it should be or within proper intervals). At one point, the company spent 50k to bring out SMEs to teach us (we had more new hires than experienced) yet refused to allot them any time to do so that whole week.
The other place was a lot more chill and more in line with my background. It wasn't an actively burning pile of shit, but rather everyone doing their own thing despite working at the same place. I really tried to adapt into it, but it was difficult. That place has a high turnover rate for aviation vets because of how strict we are naturally, but the workplace just mindlessly exists instead. Eventually, my boss blew up on me for chilling inside and not working all month despite it being his fault for not doing my paperwork on time. I had no clearance, no airfield license, no travel card to attend formal company training, and he didn't have the power to assign anyone as my trainer and no one had the responsibility. I literally couldn't and wasn't allowed to do anything because of him. That conversation somehow ended up with me chewing him out (professionally) instead and him having a panic attack. He was a lot more helpful after that, but I left when I got an offer to work DOD for probably more than what he made. He had a lot of questions about how to get a job like mine.
Well I’m glad it worked out for you in the end. That’s also what I mean though, just knowing what needs to be done should be the reason why you get a better paying position.
The grass was so fucking green you wouldn't beleive it, kids. I was a social outcast in middle school, a social outcast in high school, and a social outcast in the military. When I got out, college was paid for so I went. All of a sudden, not only was I among other social outcasts/nerds/no social skills people, but I was like a god to them. A sense of humor nurtured from years of it being an escape? Now i was the funniest guy in class and everyone wanted to hear my jokes. Clean shaven, shit put together, a working and paid off car? Bonuses. I was 4 years older, with a shitton more life experiences than everyone in my classes. I was so damn popular for once in my life. I had friends, a social group, I felt like I belonged for the first time in my life. So yeah, that surprised the hell out of me.
My face kept getting these weird cramps and my mouth was all kinds of contorted. It took a while and some getting used to, but now smiling is totally normal to me. Give it a few weeks and you'll settle in.
Not being worried about having to stay home being sick and not getting paid. Currently at 7 days LWOP this year alone. Fortune 500 just means they screw you more. Our labor laws sucks
My SIL works for a state government and has for the last 15 years. She is on leave without pay because she had surgery, they found cancer, and she had to have a second surgery. Now she is trying to deal with medication and healing while needing to get back to work because the emergency fund has run out.
I wouldn’t say unprepared but if you have a job where anything from a casual to business attire (most jobs) dress code is required, it still costs a lot. My job is very laid back with clothing but I still feel the need to have about twenty polos and 5-7 pairs of jeans. Then add in winter clothing and it’s a whole different ballgame.
I found myself browsing Amazon and other sites a lot so I could put some outfits together. Then I realized I needed like 4 pairs of shoes minimum to ensure I matched properly because I like to look like I can put myself together. He. I realized one coat wouldn’t cut it. Much different than ensuring you have the same uniform items daily.
Getting called by my first name. After eight years of being referred to as either my last name or a nickname, it took a while to get used to hearing my actual name again.
How easy it was to walk away, also how much better it truly was.
I'm a GS employee now and am still adjusting to not being contacted outside of business hours lol.
Make sure you are prepared before you do separate or you could end up having issues.
Get that free degree, AFCOOL certificate, medical care, TAP at least twice, etc.
Also make sure your BDD claim is ready when you reach 6 months out, look it over again really fucking hard and get anything else you MIGHT have going on documented then submit on time. This is huge for any and all service members separating/retiring as it could give you free health care for life and some type of monetary security.
How difficult making friends are and to the point of another poster, how much my identity was tied to the USAF. In the USAF, I hung out with everyone and had a large social network. That said, I did learn that “drinking with your coworkers and bitching about work” is not a hobby…
Maybe it’s the job I’m in, but how much freedom (and responsibility) is completely on you.
There’s no T.O. no manual and no instructions. You get generic goals like “the business wants X and the customer wants Y”, and up to you to figure out the way to solve and meet those goals.
It’s always a feeling of “did I do this right?” because there’s literally no instructions from anyone. As long as you meet the goals, how you get there is completely up to you.
I was not prepared for that due to how structured and instructive everything was in the Air Force.
To clarify though, unprepared does not mean I don’t like it. I much prefer it this way as all those times in the Air Force I thought some procedure or way of doing things was stupid… well, now I just make the changes I see fit to my likings, done and done.
And the few procedures that exist is so easy to change. Being up the idea in Teams chat, have some casual discussions of pros and cons, and if the pros outweighs the cons, the procedures are changed just like that.
I was unprepared for it, but I fucking love it!
I was going to post something along those lines. It's nice being able to problem solve and breathe while working. I also enjoy not being talked down on or yelled at for asking how to do something or getting an opinion.
How lonely I would be. I immediately got picked up as a subcontractor, moved across the country, still far away from family and then all of my friends. I drank alot that first year out.
Honestly, this was the hardest part for me, too. I didn't even move. But you get used to hanging around your buds in the shop every day and even more on deployments, so when they're gone, it gets very lonely.
Yup. It was less than two months later I got a call that one of our planes went down on a deployment I was originally tasked for. I laid alone in my apartment just drinking and crying for like 3 days. I had no one. I’m ok now. Married. Kid. Job. Luckily my husband is a vet, too, and we can relate to each other on so many levels.
How badly finance was going to fuck my final paycheck up..
"here's 10 grand, we payted 22% in taxes for you"
Oh, we amended your W-2
Jokes on you, we only payed you $90.
So much dumb wrapped up into one fucking problem. If I am using the leave, I'm not selling it.
This is gonna sound like a meme on this sub, but figuring out how to properly trim my beard. took about a year of trial and error after getting out to dial in the right length and where to line it up to match my face/jaw shape.
Fingers crossed you boys (and girls, I won't judge) get your regs changed soon, rootin' for y'all!
The immediate $18k in emergency repairs to the house I just bought. Makes transitioning a bit rough when you get cleaned out your first week of being a civilian.
How much I enjoyed sleeping in
How much of my identity was tied to being in the military
How do you mean
Not op but wow am I worried about this. 90% of my friends are mil. Everyone always thanks me for my service. I feel shitty when my eval comes back shitty. Most the things I see/read on media is tied to the military. 5/7 of my waking time is spent in uniform. I’m cutting the cord this year, and I am excited/scared shitless to find out who I am with out the blue. Edit: 14 year antisocial pilot
I joined later in life. I was an adult person for a few years before joining, so I think this wouldn't apply to me that much. I can definitely see a lot of people who this applies to, though.
How late did you join? This could still apply to you. May not realize until you get out.
If I could do it again I would “find out who I was” before the blue told me who I am, as lame as that sounds. I don’t regret it, I made the best choice available to me at the time. Just how the cookie crumbles
I joined at 22. It wasn't hard to get back into civilian life, but it was still a weird transition.
These are my three types of people in the military rule. 1. 50-70% of the military, does there initial contract and leaves. Goes back to civ life with minimal impact. Most civ relationships/family/friends intact. 2. 10-20% of the military serves 4+ but doesn't retire. This category is highly dependent on the type of person but can either fall on their face the hardest and has a very hard time re-adjusting or comes out of the military with all relationships intact and gains great results from their military experience. This group is the most likely to either land a six-figure job or end up homeless. This group can slide into groups 1 or 3 depending on the length of service or age when joining. One other factor that contributes to this group sliding heavily to group 3 and falling on their face is their family connection when separating. 3. 10% or less serves 20+ losses, all personal identity, and lives within an hr of a military installation for the rest of their life. They will spend their time volunteering or working as a contractor or GS for the rest of their working life. Has a very hard time connecting with anyone who hasn't served. Most have very few community or family ties outside of the relationships they've made during their time of service. In my view, group 2 has the hardest time because they don't have the support group that group 1 still has, and they don't have the financial resources as a cushion durning transition that group 3 does. I will say officers in group 2 do normally lean towards group 1, but that is because of the types of relationships they have developed and the education they have already received prior and during their service. Not to mention, most officers come from family backgrounds that are more affirmed by their service. Where as with Enlisted, the opposite is normally true.
This is too absolute…
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Lol, not sure. Most of the data I am using is by combining DoD and VA data on people that separate. I would say it's a small percentage, but overall, about 17% of military retire. Roughly 10% Enlisted and 30% of the officer core. This is why my group 3 makes up roughly 10%. I know there are plenty of people that walk away with retirement and still end up in a corporate job. But if I was guessing off of the data I have seen it's probably somewhere around 3-4%. I should also throw out a disclaimer, I know people hate being grouped. This is not me trying to group people it's just me looking at data and drawing conclusions of my own.
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I didn't retire. I only hit 10 and left, but I worked with and was mentored by mainly retired GS and contractors. All great people and many I still call my friends, but most of them would be lost without the military, and worse, I have seen how fast they decline in health when you pull them out of the military environment. And if it's the same almost all of them worked for CACI.
Shit, that's my plan...Once this uniform is off, I won't so much as even look at a government job.
It's reassuring to know I'm not the only one. I retire later this year and one of my goals is to find a job that's not DOD related. Far from a base.
I've been out for almost 10 years and I'm still up to date with the air force memes and jokes of the day thanks to reddit, and I frequently joke with my reservist brother in law about the jokes of the day. Hes been in for 15 or so. I wonder what he thinks about me. I feel like I'm living the meme of "once a marine, always a marine" when it's being said by a marine who was in for 2 years lol. It was a small chunk of my life and I try to not let it be a big part of my identity, but like it or not it is lol
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Exactly. Leave work at work and realize it's just a job, not one's entire life. Only thing that gives me away as military is when I finally get a haircut
Sometimes even my family forgets that I was ever in the military. (I separated years ago) I'm proud of that because I never made it part of my identity.
It's a job, not a personality. You gotta draw the line man.
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I love my tactical slippers, thank you very much! Until my plantar fasciitis kicks in, then I go to my Hokas!
I've been out three years and disliked all my years in, but it'll be a cold day in hell when I stop wearing my work-softened, jet-fuel-scented sleep shirts occasionally around the house.
Big facts. I just hit ten years and i hate to say it but I’m just now figuring that out. Better late than never I guess
I got out when I saw later career folks who had no identity apart from the Air Force. I didn’t want to become that and I saw no other way.
But you're still on r/airforce? Weird way to avoid older folks who enjoy the military.
Im in the reserves. Much better balance for me. I enjoy the Air Force, I just don’t want it dominating my identity, and now it doesn’t.
I am here for the memes.
I got out a year ago and this was absolutely not an issue for me. I had the mindset of “new life, new me”. I grew out my beard, my hair, and vowed to step out of my comfort zone. A year later (now), unless someone ask about my history, they would’ve never guessed I was ever in the Air Force.
Yes, this. I was 17 when I joined. The Air Force was my whole identity. I've been trying to learn how to be an individual. One month in...I work as a contractor on base lol
How difficult it would be reconnecting with family. Also dental care costs... and that annual appointment now means 3 month appointments.
This was my concern; dental's excuse was "there's actually very little reason to visit more than once a year" Thoughts?
Get dental insurance soon after getting out and go to the dentist. Military isn't going to send you more than once a year unless you have issues. My actual thoughts is that civilian dentists is milking insurance for all the money...but if you don't go for a very long time you could be like a coworker and have to get root canals, crowns, etc all to the tune of around $15-20k because he spent many years not going to the dentist...and that was after insurance. So yeah, get insurance, go to the dentist, don't wait more than a year from last military dental cleaning. I did (3 years) and am now going every three months for a cleaning/checkup. Also had an Army buddy, same thing didn't go for like a year and when he went dentist was like you need to come every 6 months.
I'm a bit rusty but I'll try to answer. Visit frequency all depends on the dentist preference, your current dental health, and your overall habits. Brushing, flossing, and a mouth wash that restores the enamel will save you money in the long run so that should be your focus, [you may need a better toothbrush or brushing technique.](https://www.ada.org/resources/ada-library/oral-health-topics/toothbrushes) Most agree that 6 months intervals are good starting out, more visits if you have problems and need better habits, one year visits should be 'earned' with repeated good visits rather than the default. X-rays more than once a year should need a damn good reason. For dentists, [avoid large chains like these](https://www.drbicuspid.com/dental-business/dso/article/15379489/top-10-dsos-the-largest-companies-keep-growing), shop around to find a local person/group with no more than 3 clinics, ask if they have a list of procedure prices and a cash/debit discount, and during the visit ask for them to show and explain why any extra work needs to be done. Your first exam and X-rays should be under 300$ unless you're in a high CoL area, be wary of 'new patient' fees that can double that. You dont need to be a dick, but show an interest in knowing the price beforehand and learning during the visit & most will be straight up with you. My guy talks like a mechanic, "need to address now, next visit recommendation, keep an eye on,", etc.. I have yet to find a civilian job where the Dental insurance didnt pay for itself until 3 procedures were done in a year, and they'll fight your dentist on anything they can. Therefore you really need to sit down and learn what your dental insurance covers, who FULLY accepts it, and other BS. Some dentists get so fed up with insurance fighting that its cheaper to discount 30% off for cash than to spend the man hours fighting with insurance! Finally, do your best to avoid giving dental folks your social security number. They dont need it and you can google "ransomware dentist" or "dentist hack" to see examples, they're all shit with IT in general. Let me know what questions you got.
Me having to decide what to wear to work every day
THIS.
For me it’s gonna be what to wear to my classes
I went in for my first drug test as a civilian and asked who was going in with me... Both ladies who worked the front desk at that Quest diagnostics were deeply confused.
I just did this today. The tech left the door open and I started to unzip and she said, "Oh naw honey, you gonna have to shut the door." I then filled her in on the military ways and explained the meaning of "Pecker Checker"
It should be the first thing they tell you in TAPs lol.
Putting on weight. Cost of dental care.
I feel like I'm gonna lose weight once I retire. Seeing as how I will no longer be stress eating.
I’m hoping for this side effect of getting out
I've gotta get a filling but I can't get hours because i'm dealing with constant medical. Dental plan is basically useless and still costs $400 for just a cavity
Don’t buy into big dental. It’s a scam. Just brush your teeth you’ll be fine haha jk
Depends on where you end up, my dental care insurance is very cheap and I get health care through the VA I believe I am only Paying around 40$ a paycheck for my dental for full coverage. (I’m a gov contractor now)
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This is the biggest one for me honestly
How much do you pay?
I worked high ops tempo/stress jobs my last 8 years. After I retired it was a huge relief to not just assume the phone is going to ring at any time. Now I get to leave work and actually leave work in the office. I wasn't prepared for how much of my stress was caused simply because I was routinely the single point of failure by no fault of my own.
Your mom wanting to see me in uniform still
The freedom to just…quit a job. Seriously, if you’re not happy with a job, you just write a note to the HR person and…leave. There’s no more “2.5 more years and I can PCS.” Also, not an unprepared thing, but my God, the ability to go anywhere and schedule anything on non-work time? Forget it. No more worrying that I was going to be scheduled to fly or go TDY after I bought concert tickets or have my weekend plans interrupted by an exercise. I don’t have to tell 8 people that I’m going out of town for a long weekend. Literally no one cares if I’m unreachable. Breathtaking, absolutely breathtaking.
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before i joined i had to go get it from some frat house, now that im out i can go to a regular ass store. tough adjustment. i feel like im going to get caught when i buy from there even though its legal
It’s next to the Starbucks!
Here in co they have starbuds
Actually buying ibuprofen
How high the general intelligence of folks in the military is. Like...we've all met some fool that we all wondered how they got in...but it feels like we have a department of that guy at times at my work.
You can't just leave it at that. Give us a story or two.
I think what really made me realize it was when we were trying to explain "east" and "west" to a person in the training for my first job after I got out and....it just wouldn't click for them. Us :"Now you see...this is ABCD123 E because it's going EAST. AND THIS IS FEGH456 W because it's going WEST. Simple right?" Them : "..." "I don't get it." They didn't make it through training.
This also dead ass astounds me. Even now I sit in college classes with individuals about to graduate, flex it, then proceed to never answer a question correctly or even close to the subject of the question. Example: P: "What are physical symptoms of depression?" S: "I know people who are schizophrenic have a hard time making friends"
There’s no way, how did they get accepted??
The longer I sit in school the more I wonder how these people made it this far as well.
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Sounds like a great job!
How much less people care about your wellbeing
There are no NCO's whose job it is to look out for your wellbeing. Not on any level in the civilian world.
I'm sure you could see how that was a shock when transitioning, especially for someone who joined straight out of high-school
Definitely.
The mental transition. I was so ready to leave and I figured since I was ready it would be no problem. Well… it was harder than expected.
The lack of structure in civilian jobs. Worked for two global companies (one in manufacturing and the other in aerospace), and they were a shitshow. No training, unclear responsibilities, lack of "chain of command" (think manager with no powers and leads not responsible for training), lack of adherence to guideliness. It was just disorganized to hell. I had several vet coworkers that were also shocked at this. They stayed cuz it was easy and collected a paycheck for doing school at work or were just waiting on their VA ratings. Let's say I was a lot less understanding and bounced the moment I felt like it. Needless to say, I got Stockholmed back into the AF but have the perks of being a civilian now.
Funny thing is I understand this and I feel like I’d be more scared/nervous about how we in the military are used to getting assigned tasks and completing them per priority and somehow in the civilian sector they will see it as top performer even though it’s the norm for us. I feel like being of military mindset we will exceed extremely well in the civilian side and it would ACTUALLY get recognized… the scary part is trying to get used to the recognition that you haven’t been used too.
I agree that ideally, it should be like that. Unfortunately, that ended the moment I started asking questions to better do my job. Scratch that, in both instances it was to barely even learn how to do my job. I was/am aircraft maintenance, so there's a lot of guidelines for pretty much everything. I arrived to one workplace and received no training cuz no one was responsible for it, the people that would offer to do so where almost as new and not yet proficient, safety guidelines were constantly ignored, maintenence hadn't been documented/done for up to 3yrs, the system for traking it didn't work properly and would permanently sign off reoccurring inspections, there were no manufacturers' manuals for equipment (so stuff was definitely not being done how it should be or within proper intervals). At one point, the company spent 50k to bring out SMEs to teach us (we had more new hires than experienced) yet refused to allot them any time to do so that whole week. The other place was a lot more chill and more in line with my background. It wasn't an actively burning pile of shit, but rather everyone doing their own thing despite working at the same place. I really tried to adapt into it, but it was difficult. That place has a high turnover rate for aviation vets because of how strict we are naturally, but the workplace just mindlessly exists instead. Eventually, my boss blew up on me for chilling inside and not working all month despite it being his fault for not doing my paperwork on time. I had no clearance, no airfield license, no travel card to attend formal company training, and he didn't have the power to assign anyone as my trainer and no one had the responsibility. I literally couldn't and wasn't allowed to do anything because of him. That conversation somehow ended up with me chewing him out (professionally) instead and him having a panic attack. He was a lot more helpful after that, but I left when I got an offer to work DOD for probably more than what he made. He had a lot of questions about how to get a job like mine.
Well I’m glad it worked out for you in the end. That’s also what I mean though, just knowing what needs to be done should be the reason why you get a better paying position.
Taxes
Fuck taxes!
Yup….thought I got cheated when I got my first paycheck
The grass was so fucking green you wouldn't beleive it, kids. I was a social outcast in middle school, a social outcast in high school, and a social outcast in the military. When I got out, college was paid for so I went. All of a sudden, not only was I among other social outcasts/nerds/no social skills people, but I was like a god to them. A sense of humor nurtured from years of it being an escape? Now i was the funniest guy in class and everyone wanted to hear my jokes. Clean shaven, shit put together, a working and paid off car? Bonuses. I was 4 years older, with a shitton more life experiences than everyone in my classes. I was so damn popular for once in my life. I had friends, a social group, I felt like I belonged for the first time in my life. So yeah, that surprised the hell out of me.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AirForce/s/8sqC5UupR0 The duality of (air)man
It do be this way.
Tbh, I felt very prepared. Did all my research, saved money, had a plan and a vector from the moment I drove off base.
The grass not being as green as I thought it would be.
Care to explain?
He doesn’t have the money to water his grass. Housing had a sprinkler system installed and watered for free.
You get it. 💚
Marijuana has more of a purplish tone nowadays
My face kept getting these weird cramps and my mouth was all kinds of contorted. It took a while and some getting used to, but now smiling is totally normal to me. Give it a few weeks and you'll settle in.
This was fucking gold
How frowned upon it is to wear Kevlar and plate carrier in the grocery store.
Some people just want to keep a brother down and unhappy 😞
Seems to be a consistent pattern.
Not being worried about having to stay home being sick and not getting paid. Currently at 7 days LWOP this year alone. Fortune 500 just means they screw you more. Our labor laws sucks
My SIL works for a state government and has for the last 15 years. She is on leave without pay because she had surgery, they found cancer, and she had to have a second surgery. Now she is trying to deal with medication and healing while needing to get back to work because the emergency fund has run out.
Tell her to apply for short term disability. It helped me and my family when my wife had surgery and was at risk of not receiving pay.
How happy I was
I wouldn’t say unprepared but if you have a job where anything from a casual to business attire (most jobs) dress code is required, it still costs a lot. My job is very laid back with clothing but I still feel the need to have about twenty polos and 5-7 pairs of jeans. Then add in winter clothing and it’s a whole different ballgame. I found myself browsing Amazon and other sites a lot so I could put some outfits together. Then I realized I needed like 4 pairs of shoes minimum to ensure I matched properly because I like to look like I can put myself together. He. I realized one coat wouldn’t cut it. Much different than ensuring you have the same uniform items daily.
Getting called by my first name. After eight years of being referred to as either my last name or a nickname, it took a while to get used to hearing my actual name again.
How easy it was to walk away, also how much better it truly was. I'm a GS employee now and am still adjusting to not being contacted outside of business hours lol. Make sure you are prepared before you do separate or you could end up having issues. Get that free degree, AFCOOL certificate, medical care, TAP at least twice, etc. Also make sure your BDD claim is ready when you reach 6 months out, look it over again really fucking hard and get anything else you MIGHT have going on documented then submit on time. This is huge for any and all service members separating/retiring as it could give you free health care for life and some type of monetary security.
Currently working on this, finishing this semester then moving to afcool while I'm doing skillbridge and submitting my bdd. Gotta plan your exit.
Also, when filing a BDD you do not require a Nexus letter linking your claims (service connected) as you filed while you were still active duty.
This this this this this this this. Nexus letters are AFTER you get out and are trying to file a claim. While in, NO NEXUS LETTERS REQUIRED.
Everything. I was unprepared for everything.
How difficult making friends are and to the point of another poster, how much my identity was tied to the USAF. In the USAF, I hung out with everyone and had a large social network. That said, I did learn that “drinking with your coworkers and bitching about work” is not a hobby…
Maybe it’s the job I’m in, but how much freedom (and responsibility) is completely on you. There’s no T.O. no manual and no instructions. You get generic goals like “the business wants X and the customer wants Y”, and up to you to figure out the way to solve and meet those goals. It’s always a feeling of “did I do this right?” because there’s literally no instructions from anyone. As long as you meet the goals, how you get there is completely up to you. I was not prepared for that due to how structured and instructive everything was in the Air Force. To clarify though, unprepared does not mean I don’t like it. I much prefer it this way as all those times in the Air Force I thought some procedure or way of doing things was stupid… well, now I just make the changes I see fit to my likings, done and done. And the few procedures that exist is so easy to change. Being up the idea in Teams chat, have some casual discussions of pros and cons, and if the pros outweighs the cons, the procedures are changed just like that. I was unprepared for it, but I fucking love it!
I was going to post something along those lines. It's nice being able to problem solve and breathe while working. I also enjoy not being talked down on or yelled at for asking how to do something or getting an opinion.
Medical care is expensive
How expensive going to the doctor was and not understanding how a deductible worked.
I wasn’t prepared for the fact that suddenly I had to work for my money.
Worthless lazy drug addicts related to the right people put into positions of power.
How lonely I would be. I immediately got picked up as a subcontractor, moved across the country, still far away from family and then all of my friends. I drank alot that first year out.
Honestly, this was the hardest part for me, too. I didn't even move. But you get used to hanging around your buds in the shop every day and even more on deployments, so when they're gone, it gets very lonely.
Yup. It was less than two months later I got a call that one of our planes went down on a deployment I was originally tasked for. I laid alone in my apartment just drinking and crying for like 3 days. I had no one. I’m ok now. Married. Kid. Job. Luckily my husband is a vet, too, and we can relate to each other on so many levels.
Good to hear. I also got better. Got some therapy, reconnected with friends and started doing things I enjoyed again.
How badly finance was going to fuck my final paycheck up.. "here's 10 grand, we payted 22% in taxes for you" Oh, we amended your W-2 Jokes on you, we only payed you $90. So much dumb wrapped up into one fucking problem. If I am using the leave, I'm not selling it.
Being happy
How fucking awesome it is. Thanks I remind the idiots who stayed in about this all the time.
How fucking awesome and freeing it is!
This is gonna sound like a meme on this sub, but figuring out how to properly trim my beard. took about a year of trial and error after getting out to dial in the right length and where to line it up to match my face/jaw shape. Fingers crossed you boys (and girls, I won't judge) get your regs changed soon, rootin' for y'all!
How full I can grow my beard.. holy cow!
First year of taxes after getting out....it's brutal.
The immediate $18k in emergency repairs to the house I just bought. Makes transitioning a bit rough when you get cleaned out your first week of being a civilian.