Programs helps prepare airmen for life transitions

Most airmen have decades of working life ahead of them after they leave the military. To help outgoing service members get a good start in their new lives, the Air Force has a designed special program.

Known as the Transition Assistance Program, the program isn’t an option — it’s a requirement. According to Air Force literature, Transition Assistance is mandatory for all personnel thinking about leaving the military, and their spouses.

In fact, beginning the program is required two years before retirements and one year prior to other planned separations.

“If individuals are not prepared to go into the civilian world, it can lead to financial problems, increased use of welfare, unemployment, and family stress,” said Evelyn Knight, Transition Assistance Program director at Cannon Air Force Base.

“A person cannot leave the military without (confirmation of program participation) being in the records,” “We try so hard to get this out, and people say, ‘Wow, I wish I had known about all this,’” Knight said.

Young airmen who enlisted right out of high school may have the same need for career planning as recent college graduates, and older airmen may have become so accustomed to the military culture that job interviews and self-promoting techniques need to be learned from scratch.

The Transition Assistance Program works with other military and civilian programs to offer the training that helps airmen prepare for the civilian world. The services range from courses in resume building, mock interviews, training for computerized job searches and dress-for-success tips to an explanation of Veterans’ Administration benefits and special programs that help veterans get job retraining. Some programs even include tax-free internships designed to work around college or technical school schedules.

Not infrequently, a serious conversation with Knight leads service members to stay in the military. Some may have skills that don’t have obvious civilian equivalents. Others hear stories about military pilots receiving greatly increased pay after leaving the Air Force and don’t realize that won’t be true for their specialization.

But for those who really want or need to leave, Knight is there to help.

“Transferring skills is a very big part of preparing for the civilian world,” Knight said.

For certain skills, the parallel civilian job is obvious and Knight’s work focuses on showing airmen how to get the certifications or degrees they may need to qualify for a job interview. In other cases, getting a civilian job may mean identifying the skills learned in the military and applying them to a different type of civilian employment.

“Weapons troops may say, ‘Where am I going to get a job loading bombs?’” Knight said. “There are a lot of things in that profession that are very transferable to warehouse management: record keeping, database management and reporting.”

For those who want to do something completely different, Knight will work with Air Force resources to help the them set up an individual transition plan that documents their past experience as a foundation for future success in a college or technical retraining program.

Knight said many employers recognize that those who succeed in the military have learned the value of rigorous discipline and hard work. Some job banks list employers who are specifically seeking to hire veterans. Many airmen don’t realize the value of such things as a security clearance to employers who need to know their staff can be trusted.

“A security clearance is worth about $30,000,” Knight said. “Unless they come to our office, they don’t even know about that.”

Sometimes taking off the uniform doesn’t mean leaving the military or government employment. Knight gives airmen special training on how to apply for government jobs doing anything from postal work to civilian jobs in the Department of Defense.

While most of the people Knight helps are young airmen, she also works with senior sergeants and even colonels to help them learn how to apply their leadership skills to the civilian world. Knight said people accustomed to command may have the hardest time adjusting to civilian life, but even there, the military training pays off.

“Sometimes high-ranking (noncommissioned officers) who haven’t gotten their degrees may have to start out at entry-level management, but are generally promoted once the company realizes how valuable they are,” she said