t When men and women join the military, they and their family members adapt to a new culture. They learn a different language steeped in acronyms and military slang. They participate in a community wh

Retirement and Veterans’ Needs Retirement and Veterans’ Needs Program Transcript MICHAEL WILKINSON: Retirement was very hard. I enjoyed what I did. Me personally, I would still be in if they allowed it, but unfortunately, t\ hey only allow you to stay in for a certain amount of time, depending on what your rank\ is. But the good thing abo ut it is the military sets you up when you're about ready to retire.

They have classes for people now. In that class, you're there for a week\ . They help you with resume writing. They get you ready to go for interviews. T\ hey tell you where to go look for jobs, what jobs are hiring. They tell you where good places are to find jobs. So they're trying to make it easier for people \ getting out of the military now to get back into the civilian side of the world.

When I got out of the Air Force, there was no class like that. I just le\ ft. And it's just not for retirees. It's for anybody that's done their four years and\ they're getting out. The highest enlisted Navy person might think that he's qual\ ified for all kinds of jobs because he's been in charge of all kinds of people for years, but in the civilian world, some of the stuff that you did in the military won't\ carry over, and they have to understand that.

They have to understand that whatever you did there, yes it helps, but i\ t might not carry over into the civilian world, and you might not get the job that you think you deserve. You might have to take a step down and be somebody that's actually not giving orders but taking them, and that's pretty hard for s\ ome people.

So they get you ready for that kind of stuf f.

My retirement ceremony, granted, was bittersweet, but it was enjoyable. \ We had a good time. Didn't want it to end but it did, but now I am able to be w\ ith my family 24/7 now. I don't have to go on deployments anymore. All I have t\ o worry about now is making sure that my daughter gets up for school and she get\ s her homework done. So the integration was easy, but I say the help from the \ military doing that is what eased me coming back into the civilian world.

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