From 2011-2019 I served as an Army Officer. Starting off as a rifle Platoon Leader in 3rd BCT, 82nd Airborne Division, I later attended Civil Affairs Assessment and Selection and spent 3 years in the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade.
Somewhere in my 2nd deployment, to Syria, I decided that Army life was no longer for me. The weight of the bureaucracy, a series of failed relationships, and the desire for more freedom in my own life led me to decide that it was time to hang up the boots.
So what the hell was I going to do?
I finally, as I’m sure you’ve joked as well, had to decide what to do when I grew up and entered the “real world.” Having GI Bill benefits in my pocket, I decided going to grad school was the best option, and that getting an MBA would be the best degree for me to get. As I recently told an old Company Commander who was commenting on all his Captains asking for letters of recommendation for business school:
“An MBA is what officers go get when we don’t know what the hell else to go do.”
Business school seemed like a good utility knife fit for my desire to pursue an entrepreneurial path, spend time as a student again, and expand my personal network beyond just the people I knew in uniform.
I then started the path of leaving the Army and began to feel the weight of my decision.
My transition journey left me with three main frustrations:
- The sheer amount of resources available to veterans when you leave is slightly overwhelming and there is not a good single source to access and understand all of them. Both the public and private sectors have a myriad of resources you can access, many of which take internet rabbit holes for you to uncover.
- The military’s transition process is focused on finding you a job. Not fulfilling employment or pushing you to try something new or challenging.
- I couldn’t find good info regarding veterans applying to grad schools.
And so I started this site.
While veteran unemployment is for sure an issue, so is veteran underemployment. Veterans have an immense amount to contribute to society and we are leaving some of what we have to offer on the table. We leave behind the uniform, the challenge, and the service and most of us just seek to get something that simply pays the bills.
Frankly, that’s bullshit. We have a lot more to give.
My goal is to help you access higher education, pursue professional careers, and most importantly find meaning and purpose in your life after the uniform.
I like to write and find it immensely helpful in helping me coalesce information and organize my thoughts. Instead of having fellow service members spend hours and hours combing the internet, I wanted to put it all in one place.
Thank you for visiting my site. I encourage you to reach out to me and share thoughts and resources so I can help share them with the community. I look forward to hearing from you.