Hello all! I have recently been diagnosed with MS and I am active duty army. I know that I am looking at MEB right now, and I am coming to terms with the fact that I may not be able to continue my career. I would really love to hear from the vets that have transitioned back into civilian life. Was it hard to find another job? Is civilian life worse or better than you expected? What made the transition easier? I always hear people talk about how bad life is on the outside of the military, but is it really that bad? Any and all responses would be greatly appreciated.
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A lot of what you're asking depends on "when" and "where".
It shouldn't come as a shock that many civilian markets currently stink. In many locations people have lost benefits and wages. Just be aware that there are still oppertunities out there, they're just tougher to find.
You might want to consider getting in contact with folks you knew from your specialty/rating who got out before you did. In the civilian world this is known as Networking.
Did they find something where their specialty was a true asset? How did they do their job search, what other tools were handy, who were the right people to talk to?
There should be a transition assistance program of some kind on your base- use it.
Even if you don't find a job through it, you'll learn the right way to apply for jobs and send out resumes (resumes are a lot more tricky than most people imagine).
I've ignored the obvious stuff about MS and the VA so far. There's a lot of info in this sub-forum that might help plus there's the main forum where you can learn a lot.
This post is getting long enough as it is, if you have any specific questions just ask.
The last thing I guess I wanted to share is about the general transition back to civilian land. It can be different, sometimes VERY different from what you're used to. In many ways its usually a let down, just keep telling yourself that these were the people you were defending so they could live their mundane lives.
I'd also recommend going "cold turkey" for a while and do a full immersion back into civilian culture. There are clubs and societies out there for all former members of the armed services. They are places to re-connect but you should wait until you're satisfied that you're a civilian again.
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Guess I was a little different, couldn't wait till I got out, had a short timers calender started 1 year from my discharge date, Then again I never associated with the people I worked with much outside of the work place, I guess there is more of a bond between shipmates than there is for airdales on shore duty. (USAF)
I had no problem adjusting to civ life, I had had a desk job for 14 yrs , 0730-1630 M-F so civilian life wasn't much different. I have moved more in Civ life than I did while on active duty. As far as a job goes I was hired by a machine manufacturer and moved up in the co fairly quickly as the others did't seem to care about how well they did thier job as long as they got a paycheck. ( i did get out in 87 so job market was better than it is now).
It may sound strange but the biggest problem I had in civ life was when I was a vol firefighter, when we had to wear our uniform both dress and duty unioforms, some of the guys would show up in thiers looking like they had been tied in a knot for 6 months and then they slept in them trying to get wrinkles out. I still to this day hang my shirts in the closet the same way they had us do it in basic 38 yrs ago. Other than missing the commissary prices I cannot say I miss the active duty life much at all. Good luck with your travels.Plan for the future, but not too hard; it’s not your decision anywayComment
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Active Army at the end of MEB
Hey Brother, I was diagnosed June of 2011 and just finnished my MEB, my doccuments are at the PEB now and this is for me where the hurry up and WAIT begins.
You will be assigned a PEBLO (ARMY) for your MEB and a Liason from the V.A at the same time , mine were perfect both were senior NCO'S retired and they understood where I was comming from as a Combat Arms NCO and how I reacted to the dumb crap that went on and were able to advise me through it.
The V.A now does all the MEB's for the Active duty, so that helps a lot.
When you go through the admin process of the MEB pay particular attention to the ACAP portion and subscribe to their email offer as i get heads up info on lots of job fairs and different opportunities.
If you need any info on the MEB Process I am very fresh in the process and can talk you through it.
Good Luck.
JoeComment
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Scoot, it might be easy to take the bear out of the woods but its tougher to take the woods out of the bear.Originally posted by Scooter24 View Post
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Probably right Bob, still can't let my hair grow any longer than it was allowed to be by regs.Plan for the future, but not too hard; it’s not your decision anywayComment
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Actually, I got over that part pretty darned quick. LOLComment
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scooter24, you just made me ****reading the part of your post about the volunteer firefighters.
Sometimes I think I'm happy to be getting out but I've done this Army thing for so long that I'm going to feel like a fish out of water in civilian life.
Outlaw, I will definitely be coming to you with the tons of questions I'm going to have in the coming months. Thank you everyone for the replies; it's nice to know that my life doing a complete 180 isn't necessarily bad.Comment
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Sanctuary?
J4J, how close are you to hitting your 20 years?
At 18 years of active service, you fall into a catagory called Sanctuary where they can mess with you but they can't kick you out for medical reasons. Do a forum search for that word, it might be eye-opening.
I don't want to give you any false hopes, but if you're close to hitting the 18 year mark it might be worth looking into how to delay your MEB.Comment
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Bob, unfortunately, I have only been in for 9 years so I cant even look into sanctuary, but thanks for the advice. Hopefully I will get lucky and get medical retirement. I wont know anything till my appointment on the 8th, but im just trying to prepare for any case scenario....Comment
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Its cool.
I got pushed out when the Navy went from four classes of attack subs to two back in the 90's. Heck, I was still healthy and at the top of my game and it didn't matter. They just had too many bodies and not enough boats.
Be careful with the MEB stuff. The group wisdom says that the VA is taking over the medical part of MEBs and you'll want to be really careful what you tell them in case you wind up opting for the VA for treatment later on. Just be honest and you'll be fine. I'm pretty sure that if you tell the MEB that you don't agree with the DX, someone will write that down and it could be used against you later. If you notice, we all tend to have a love/hate relationship with the VA. The care can be pretty good- once you get it.
You might also be able to use the VA to your advantage for job interviews. While they're not supposed to ask, someone will usually fumble around with asking you if you're healthy or if you plan to miss a lot of work days.
Keep in mind that they're not supposed to ask this, but you're only being considered for a job and they think they can get away with it.
Just tell them you feel fine and you get your healthcare thru the VA. What you're saying is that you wouldn't be a load on their plan if something happened and again, they aren't supposed to be asking this in the first place.
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