thedrifter
10-08-07, 08:46 AM
Transitioning from warrior to work force made easier
Program helps soldiers take leap into civilian life
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
October 8, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS - Mike Franklin, veteran of four combat tours, has what it takes to storm a hill, but he also likes to check out what's on the other side.
"I have a sense of exploration," said the 38-year-old Army captain and former Marine. "That still keeps biting me in the keister."
Last week, the quest for "What's next?" led Franklin to take a look at new career opportunities - in his case, opportunities that will take him out of the Army.
Franklin is among 4,000 Fort Carson soldiers who sit down each year in a weathered, barracks-style building to launch their next strategic offensive: the process of leaving the military and finding a new job.
Here, as part of the Army Career and Alumni Program, soldiers can log on to computers and get an accurate picture of their financial status. They can attend classes on how to write a résumé and approach a job interview. The program is available in the other armed forces, too.
While Franklin is looking for new military opportunities, most job-seekers will find civilian jobs.
The transition from warrior to worker - from the military to civilian life - has its own subtle challenges.
Denis Leveille, the program's director, explained:
"For 20 years you've been wearing a pickle suit - the green Army uniform - and now you're in a suit and tie. You've gone from being a head kahuna, where everybody's saluting you, and now you're supposed to go out and work for a company?"
Today's military tries to help. When Leveille got out of the Air Force in 1975, "You just got out," he said. "Nobody helped you."
In the civilian world, the reception was even worse.
"You talk to Vietnam veterans - they were ostracized. People spit on their uniforms," he said. "Today, it doesn't matter what you think of the war. Republican or Democrat, people want to help soldiers and hire them."
The last time Mike Franklin went down this road, he chose a civilian job. He had joined the Marines in 1992 and left for marketing and sales work in the private sector. In 2003, he joined the Army.
Now, he faces the next, new hill.
Franklin recently received orders for his second combat tour in Iraq. But he's in a time window where he can either accept the assignment or resign.
At home, his wife, Sherry, was troubled by the looming deployment - there are the growing needs of their son, Lucas, 4, and the birth, expected this week, of a daughter.
Franklin's decision? Try for a full-time job with the Colorado National Guard, a compromise between his love for the military and a steadier home life.
"It's ripping my heart apart," he said. "I love what I'm doing, but my wife is very civilian-minded. We met in sales, and she thought she was marrying a sales guy."
From soldier to sales guy, from the armed forces to the work force, the result can be a serious clash of cultures.
So, in classes, soldiers learn how to translate military know- how into civilian-speak.
That includes scrubbing them of military jargon: "Avoid acronyms like NCOIC (noncommissioned officer in charge) and terms like 'flight chief.' These are terms nobody will understand," warns Fred Gauna, who leads the class.
Veterans brace for a variety of reactions from potential employers: They could be seen as heroes or gun-toting robots. For their part, veterans often see civilians as undisciplined and spoiled.
"Oh my God, civilians - the whining!" Franklin said good-naturedly. "I can't believe some of these people have good jobs."
And some civilians can't fathom military formality.
"Sometimes (veterans) overdo it with their 'Yes, sirs,' " Leveille said with a chuckle. "The employer wants to say, 'Wait a minute, I'm just Fred.' "
Veterans, he said, "can be a little too rigid."
Yet employers often find that a little military rigidity can make for a good hire - something that, a few years ago, Shawn Nelson never expected to be.
"I was a bad kid," said Nelson, 21, who drove a tank in Iraq. "Lots of fighting. Got expelled. I pretty much got my act together in boot camp."
A man of few words, Nelson was hardened in combat conditions he declines to discuss. But ask him what assets he's taking from the military, and Nelson doesn't hesitate:
"I learned discipline, loyalty, friendships," he said. "How to save lives, handle pressure and control crowds. A bunch of stuff."
Stuff that he hopes will help make him a state trooper.
When Leveille hears his plans, he lights up.
"A cop? Oh, excellent. (Veterans) make great cops," he said.
Markeeta Campbell, 24, was an indecisive teenager, bored with school. At least the Army was something new. "Let's see where this takes me," she thought.
Now she has a résumé that touts skills in purchasing and distribution of millions of dollars in military gear.
How do civilian employers look at returning veterans?
Franklin experienced two sides of the spectrum when, after leaving the Marines, he went job hunting. In one interview, "I said I had trained and led Marines in combat. (The interviewer) said, 'Oh, that's just an old boys' school.' It just slapped me in the face."
In another interview, for a Silicon Valley sales job, the company skeptic "got itchy in his seat and said, 'How does that add value to my sales team?' I said, 'Did you see Saving Private Ryan?' "
Like the Tom Hanks character - forced to adapt to mounting horrors as he stormed the beach on D-Day - "you always have to think on your feet," Franklin said.
The skeptic got it. " 'That was my favorite movie!' " Franklin recalled him saying. "He saw he was getting somebody that had endurance, both emotionally and mentally."
For the combat veteran, the victory was sweet. "It was my highest-paid job in the Silicon Valley," Franklin said, chuckling.
torkelsonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5055
Ellie
Program helps soldiers take leap into civilian life
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
October 8, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS - Mike Franklin, veteran of four combat tours, has what it takes to storm a hill, but he also likes to check out what's on the other side.
"I have a sense of exploration," said the 38-year-old Army captain and former Marine. "That still keeps biting me in the keister."
Last week, the quest for "What's next?" led Franklin to take a look at new career opportunities - in his case, opportunities that will take him out of the Army.
Franklin is among 4,000 Fort Carson soldiers who sit down each year in a weathered, barracks-style building to launch their next strategic offensive: the process of leaving the military and finding a new job.
Here, as part of the Army Career and Alumni Program, soldiers can log on to computers and get an accurate picture of their financial status. They can attend classes on how to write a résumé and approach a job interview. The program is available in the other armed forces, too.
While Franklin is looking for new military opportunities, most job-seekers will find civilian jobs.
The transition from warrior to worker - from the military to civilian life - has its own subtle challenges.
Denis Leveille, the program's director, explained:
"For 20 years you've been wearing a pickle suit - the green Army uniform - and now you're in a suit and tie. You've gone from being a head kahuna, where everybody's saluting you, and now you're supposed to go out and work for a company?"
Today's military tries to help. When Leveille got out of the Air Force in 1975, "You just got out," he said. "Nobody helped you."
In the civilian world, the reception was even worse.
"You talk to Vietnam veterans - they were ostracized. People spit on their uniforms," he said. "Today, it doesn't matter what you think of the war. Republican or Democrat, people want to help soldiers and hire them."
The last time Mike Franklin went down this road, he chose a civilian job. He had joined the Marines in 1992 and left for marketing and sales work in the private sector. In 2003, he joined the Army.
Now, he faces the next, new hill.
Franklin recently received orders for his second combat tour in Iraq. But he's in a time window where he can either accept the assignment or resign.
At home, his wife, Sherry, was troubled by the looming deployment - there are the growing needs of their son, Lucas, 4, and the birth, expected this week, of a daughter.
Franklin's decision? Try for a full-time job with the Colorado National Guard, a compromise between his love for the military and a steadier home life.
"It's ripping my heart apart," he said. "I love what I'm doing, but my wife is very civilian-minded. We met in sales, and she thought she was marrying a sales guy."
From soldier to sales guy, from the armed forces to the work force, the result can be a serious clash of cultures.
So, in classes, soldiers learn how to translate military know- how into civilian-speak.
That includes scrubbing them of military jargon: "Avoid acronyms like NCOIC (noncommissioned officer in charge) and terms like 'flight chief.' These are terms nobody will understand," warns Fred Gauna, who leads the class.
Veterans brace for a variety of reactions from potential employers: They could be seen as heroes or gun-toting robots. For their part, veterans often see civilians as undisciplined and spoiled.
"Oh my God, civilians - the whining!" Franklin said good-naturedly. "I can't believe some of these people have good jobs."
And some civilians can't fathom military formality.
"Sometimes (veterans) overdo it with their 'Yes, sirs,' " Leveille said with a chuckle. "The employer wants to say, 'Wait a minute, I'm just Fred.' "
Veterans, he said, "can be a little too rigid."
Yet employers often find that a little military rigidity can make for a good hire - something that, a few years ago, Shawn Nelson never expected to be.
"I was a bad kid," said Nelson, 21, who drove a tank in Iraq. "Lots of fighting. Got expelled. I pretty much got my act together in boot camp."
A man of few words, Nelson was hardened in combat conditions he declines to discuss. But ask him what assets he's taking from the military, and Nelson doesn't hesitate:
"I learned discipline, loyalty, friendships," he said. "How to save lives, handle pressure and control crowds. A bunch of stuff."
Stuff that he hopes will help make him a state trooper.
When Leveille hears his plans, he lights up.
"A cop? Oh, excellent. (Veterans) make great cops," he said.
Markeeta Campbell, 24, was an indecisive teenager, bored with school. At least the Army was something new. "Let's see where this takes me," she thought.
Now she has a résumé that touts skills in purchasing and distribution of millions of dollars in military gear.
How do civilian employers look at returning veterans?
Franklin experienced two sides of the spectrum when, after leaving the Marines, he went job hunting. In one interview, "I said I had trained and led Marines in combat. (The interviewer) said, 'Oh, that's just an old boys' school.' It just slapped me in the face."
In another interview, for a Silicon Valley sales job, the company skeptic "got itchy in his seat and said, 'How does that add value to my sales team?' I said, 'Did you see Saving Private Ryan?' "
Like the Tom Hanks character - forced to adapt to mounting horrors as he stormed the beach on D-Day - "you always have to think on your feet," Franklin said.
The skeptic got it. " 'That was my favorite movie!' " Franklin recalled him saying. "He saw he was getting somebody that had endurance, both emotionally and mentally."
For the combat veteran, the victory was sweet. "It was my highest-paid job in the Silicon Valley," Franklin said, chuckling.
torkelsonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5055
Ellie