09/05/2020
At the request of Jeff, I'm posting the following message I sent to him this morning reacting to his most recent video. The below excerpt is my experience I went through when I left Active Duty. There are a few familiar faces on this page; I hope that you are all doing well. If anyone needs any help please let me know. I am not as familiar with the military retirement process or med board process.
"hey Top,
Not sure if you remember me from Bragg. At the time you were Jen Mac's PSG in the 108th.
Anyways, I watched your video last night. You were spot on with everything you said. I hope that vets and retirees reach out to you. As you were speaking I had a quick walk down memory lane myself.
In 2012, it was a very rough year for me transitioning off of Active Duty back into civilian life. As you might remember, I had no choice but to leave Active Duty due to some National Guard BS. My BC at the time tried his best to keep me on but, at the very last moment it wasn't to be.
You mentioned that those Soldiers ETSing and retiring need to have a plan; ABSOLUTELY. I remember out-processing Bragg and just wanted to be done with it all as I felt that I got betrayed. I didn't really pay attention to the transition briefs as I spent my entire time trying to stay on. You mentioned "when your in, your in and when your out...you most certainly are out." So very true.
Anyways, before this message gets too long winded I'll quickly explain 2012. When I came back, I felt let down by the Army, betrayed and just overall angry. None of those emotions helped whatsoever. I was living with my gf (now my wife) trying to figure s**t out. There was no plan...it was one day I was patrolling Bragg the next sitting on a couch in Buffalo. I was in the unemployment lines, trying to file for unemployment and trying to figure out this new life and a new life in the Guard.
You mentioned investing. Holy s**t you are right! I thought 3K would be enough; it wasn't. That dried up in about two months with a down payment to a new place and just the overall cost of living in NY. If I could do it all over again, I would tell my young du***ss to start saving from Day friggen 1. Many hard lessons were learned in 2012. For 6 months I worked a warehouse job trying to apply anywhere and everywhere. That job paid a laughable $150 every other week...eventually I caught a break and found myself knocking on the doors of Citi Bank. From then on it was downhill from there. I got lucky.
At the very beginning of your video you mentioned "the resume"...I can not stress how important that is and agree wholeheartedly. The day that I was accepted into a position at Citi, I told myself, that as long as I can, I will help out any veteran get a job within Citi so that they never have to stand in unemployment lines, never have to stand in line at a job site hoping to get picked for a day's work, and never have to choose between rent and putting food on the table. Lucky for me, I did not have a family so I was really trying to get back on my feet for myself. At my time at Citi, I was lucky to have 6 veterans reach out and 6 veterans employed; mind you, I wasn't a head hunter and I received zero gain for getting them a job; I just received self appreciation to the promise I made myself.
Serving in the Guard I would tell my Soldiers who wanted to retire or just ETS two things: have a plan and have money saved up. Now the Guard is different as most Soldiers have civilian jobs but I reminded them that the extra change in drill pay helps and see if they can do without it. If one my Soldiers said they're done, through...f**king hated the Army, I would tell them I wouldn't endorse their separation packet until they thought it through with a clear mind. In my unit we had 30 day (commander), 60 day (1SG), 90 day (PL/PSG) counselings for Soldiers who want to ETS. Many of the Soldiers would come back and request for their ETS packet to be pulled.
Here are some of my lessons learned:
1). Beef up and refine your resume, invest in that one document as that is your ticket through the door.
2). Practice your interview skills (I was never good at speaking about myself or selling myself).
3). If a person has the means, invest in a suit...get it tailored, it will be worth it in the long run. If not a suit, a blazer or sport coat would do just fine.
4). Rainy day fund. I heard you mentioned what Nate Dicks said, I could not agree more. 3K was s**t moving to a new state, a new apartment, etc.
I left the corporate life almost three years ago after working it for 5 and half years. I had another opportunity with federal law enforcement, and I took it. I still honor the promise I made to myself as I am currently helping out two veterans enter in this organization.
Anyways, thank you for your video! Always the leader you're still helping out Soldiers and retirees. Keep up the good work! I hope all remains well down there with you and your daughter.
Take care,
Andy Day"
