Reintegration Complete!

Sunday marked four years since retiring from the military and returning to civilian life. I’ve blogged frequently how serving in the military profession is like no other; for most veterans, our service defined who we are. Everyone who serves has to leave at some point and return to civilian life. Transitioning out of the military is quite the odyssey! It was so impactful to me; I wrote a book about my experience! Some veterans struggle mightily, I am very thankful to have had a smooth transition.

I’ve done a lot of growing and adjusting over the past four years. Just look back at the numerous blogs! I won’t rehash all the lessons learned this week, read my book for details. But what I do feel confident doing is declaring mission accomplished, reintegration to civilian life is complete!

Don’t get me wrong, I still miss military service, especially since I retired fairly young and probably had enough gas left in the tank to serve a few more years. I know from here on out, my civilian life will just be different. I will never work in such a meaningful profession again; it’s just a J-O-B now. That being said, it was time for my Family to depart service; I have no regrets. Furthermore, and why I’m declaring reintegration complete, I have wholly accepted this new chapter in my life. Most importantly, I embrace the titles civilian and veteran.

Early on, I identified that transitioning out of the military was a “team sport”. Not going through transition alone is a major theme in my book, Military Retirement: An After-Action Review. I am firmly convinced I got this part of my retirement right. I certainly cannot take credit for my successful transition from the military. A cast of friends, fellow veterans, co-workers and yes, even the government helped me successfully reintegrate.

But the single biggest contributor to my successful reintegration back to civilian life was my Family. I am not sure one would have ever described us as a typical Army Family. While I know my Family was proud of my service, being an Army Family did not define them.  Looking back, it probably caused some friction while we were on active duty; a hard charging, totally committed service member with a sometimes-indifferent Family at home.  

I realize now, this was a tremendous blessing. While it may have taken me four years to reintegrate back to civilian life, my Family did so almost immediately! In a somewhat reversal of roles, my Family led me on my journey back to civilian life. My Families support and leadership were critical to my successful reintegration, and I am so thankful to have them!  

I am a proud veteran and relieved to be fully reintegrated back to civilian life. It wasn’t easy, but the old Soldier in me didn’t quit. Still, glad I don’t have to do it again!

Check out the sustains and improves from my own transition from career Soldier back to civilian in my book, Military Retirement: An After-Action Review. Free e-book download or paperback purchase on Amazon. If you do read my AAR (or any of my books for that matter), please don’t forget to drop a review on Amazon! Thank you!

Check out my Amazon author page for more great books on real estate investing and personal finance!

The views, opinions and biases expressed in this blog are the authors and do not reflect those of the U.S. Army or Department of Defense.