Transitioning from Military to Civilian

By Willow, published Oct 01, 2007
Published Content: 20  Total Views: 7,374  Favorited By: 1 CPs
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In this writers opinion it is not worth joining any Branch of the Military unless you have already completed college. I have seen many people, from family friends, and my fiance go from Military to jobless with no chance at getting work in the field they worked in while serving the country. Yes the Military pays for you to go to College and they even send you to schools to be educated and trained in the field you chose to serve in. However, once you are out of the military those credits you earned at military schools and the years of experience you earned in your field add up to nothing in the civilian world.

Unless you were lucky enough to get a degree from a college in your field there's very little chance you'll get hired doing what you did during your Military career. For example my fiance, like many others these days, was "let out" of the Navy before his ten year mark due to "Military Convenience". He got an Honorable Discharge, but gets no real benefits including retirement as he was "let out" before hitting that crucial 10 year mark. In the Navy he worked on billion dollar, top secret and high security computers. He had an extremely high security clearance, and passed all of his Computer based courses with flying colors.

Since he got out he has worked at 7-11, a shipyard where he worked as an Electrician, and now he's trying to find work in the field he loved and spent 8 years working in. Everyone he's come across is impressed with his skills, his education in the field as well as his DD214's or "EVALS" from all the years he was in the Navy. But when they see he has no degree they shy away. If you take all the schools he passed while in the Navy and turn those credits into college credits he is only 8 credits away from earning the Degree he needs. The trouble is finding a school that will accept those credits for that particular field. Some colleges have already said they'd count the credits but only as General Education credits. So his 8 years of service, his hard work, the government trusting him with billion dollar equipment and he's not good enough to hire just because he's 8 credits away from a degree?

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Sucks for him. The Air Force has its own community college and lists the schools outside the service that accept those credits. From day one of my service I was told to work on my education benefits,i.e online courses. I already came in with a BS and did enlisted beacuse a) the Air Force only wanted pilots and nurses at the time for officers and b) I wanted to see the world for a few years. 10 years later I'm starting my graduate school degree, but I only pay for books out of pocket. and it's not even in a field I work in! SO it isn't a military issue in general, it's a BRANCH issue. And yes, I've deployed.

Posted on 10/01/2007 at 5:10:00 PM

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