Tag Archives: Ruehlin

Getting schooled…

Posted by Mike Grice on

I left my last post with the observation that there were three major undertakings that I needed to accomplish before I could consider my transition completed: first, transition training and education, second, administration, and third, medical evaluations.

In terms of timing, the transition and education bit comes first, and here’s why: the administration of transition as well as the medical evaluations are largely based on a timeline that is centered around your transition date.  The transition training and education, however, are not not.  Instead, the opportunity to educate yourself and learn about the transition process is available pretty much whenever you would like to take advantage of it whereas the other areas are closely tied to when you are actually departing the service.

Much to my chagrin I learned that I was eligible to attend classes and seminars on transition and retirement whenever I wanted.  It was quite the revelation!  Had I only known that I could learn about the other side long before I actually decided to retire it would have made the whole process a lot easier, but to be honest the thought had never crossed my mind.  I was too busy travelling around the world and serving in places notorious for the bad food, scorching deserts, and angry locals.  That said, here are the opportunities that exist to learn about the transition process, well, at least those that are relevant to my situation as a retiring senior Marine officer in Southern California:

-TAP (everything is an acronym! it stands for Transition Assistance Program) which is also known for some reason as TAMP (which stands for the Transition Assistance Management Program).  I really don’t know if there is a difference between the programs, but it falls in line with the military’s love affair with acronyms- adding an “M” between “A” and “P” is certainly an improvement!  I hope somebody got a medal out of it.  At any rate, the TAP (or TAMP) program is both mandated and required to actually separate from the service.  Designed for those separating from the service after serving a hitch or two, it It covers the legal, medical, and administrative requirements for transition as well as a lot of information of how to write a resume, what to wear to an interview (which is a HUGE deal for those of us who have not updated our duds since skinny leather ties and white shoes were all the rage) and how to get a job.  This class is of enormous importance because you cannot get out without attending it; your final check out sheet (a document of epic importance that rates a post of its own) will not have the required notation that allows you to stop getting your hair cut and quit wearing a uniform.  It lasts about a week, during which time attendance is mandatory and is the appointed place of duty for the participant.  This is important, because unlike high school or college, you can get thrown into the brig for skipping class.  Needless to say there is rarely a need for a truant officer to go round up class-skipping delinquents…

-OUT, or Officers Under Twenty class.  This particular class is for officers who are separating from the service but do not meet the requirements for retirement.  Generally speaking, these officers are Lieutenants and Captains who have completed their obligated service of four to six years and who are going back to the civilian world.  It is very similar to the TAP/TAMP class, but focuses at the college graduate level as opposed to the high school graduate level.  They don’t spend too much time on how to dress or what to wear, though, because these young officers are still generally in their twenties and their wardrobes haven’t aged to the point of embarrassment.

-Pre-Retirement TAP/TAMP course.  This course is TAP/TAMP for those who are going to retire after at least twenty years of active service.  It is designed for the more “distinguished” amongst us (myself included) who are greying at the temples and are at a different place in their lives than a 22 year old who will use his or her benefits to go to college or a trade school.  It covers the same required topics on benefits and whatnot as the other TAP/TAMP courses, but has additional lectures and classes on things like becoming an entrepreneur, networking, etc.

-25+ Pre-Retirement Seminar.  More of a symposium than a seminar, this one is not required but is strongly encouraged and recommended for those who, again, have been for a loooong time.  It does not go into the benefits and administration of retirement, but instead focuses on life on the other side of the fence.  In addition to job search and assistance with developing a new career there are several guest lecturers who cover topics ranging from financial management for retirement as well as financial management as a career, how to go into business for yourself with a franchise or on your own, and how to dress for success.

-Ruehlin Seminar.  This course is a week-long seminar that caters to senior officers and enlisted who are retiring- the definition of senior being length of service and advanced rank.  There is often a difference- it is possible to retire after 20 or 25 years but not be at a senior rank; for example, many officers began their careers as enlisted members- and that service counts towards retirement.  As such, they may have over two decades of service, but are retiring as relatively junior officers.  Also, some enlisted members may have the same length of time in uniform but for whatever reason do not achieve higher rank.  At any rate, this course is very small (around fifteen or so attendees), and is focused specifically on the process of starting a new career and all of the job hunting skills necessary to do so.

So there you have it.  Five different courses, seminars, or classes that anyone eligible can attend.  Amazing!  Each one is a little different in its focus and intent, but each provides a slew of information that is invaluable to one on the path to transition.  In my particular case, I attended the Pre-Retirement TAP/TAMP course as well as the 25+ Pre-Retirement and Ruehlin Seminars.  Suffice it to say the wisdom I gained under the tutelage of the experienced and dedicated instructors was remarkable and very welcome.  Without it I would have been not just a bumbling fool stumbling along until I found myself unemployed, but I would have missed out on education and training that my contemporaries in the private sector pay thousands of dollars for.

In my next string of posts I will go into much greater detail for each of the courses that I attended, starting with the required Pre-Retirement Transition Assistance (Management) Program, or TAP/TAMP.

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Lessons learned:

– Start early!  I was pretty far down the path to transition before I began attending classes.  I found myself sitting with no small number of more prescient Marines and Sailors who were years away from transitioning but were smart enough to start learning about it early.  All that is required to attend the classes is permission from your command (in civilian parlance, that means your boss has to say it is OK to miss work for a few days) and a commitment to attend the course in its entirety because seating is often limited.

– Find out which courses are most suited to your situation.  If you are getting out after four years, then obviously the Pre-Retirement courses are not for you.  You may be in a situation, however, where you may not be eligible for a “senior” retirement seminar due to not having over 25 years in uniform, but there may be an empty slot you can take advantage of.  Contact your local transition program coordinator to see what is available.  Take every opportunity you can to educate yourself!

Learning from “The List”

Posted by Mike Grice on

I left the retirement counselor’s office with a smile on face.  He had given me exactly what I needed to chart my course for transition: a comprehensive checklist of tasks to perform along with a roster of contacts that would help me get those things done.  Happily I sat down and took a good look at the list.

It was several pages long, and I won’t bore you with the mundane and excruciating details, well, at least not all of them! I read through the whole packet and pondered what to do.  Should I just start at the top of the list and charge through until I reached the end, or was there a more logical way to complete the rather lengthy assignment?

The first two lines made me chuckle:

RETIREMENT CHECKLIST
I. CHECKLIST

More repetition!  It only makes sense that the “Retirement Checklist for Retirees” would have a Checklist as the first item in the Retirement Checklist section.  Maybe I could just read every other line and still get all the information I needed?

Nope.  The checklist’s first bullet, which was next line on the paper quickly got my attention:

􀃎12-24 months before separation:

Ack!  I was only about nine months from the big day.  According to the list I was already over a year behind, and I just got started!

Yikes!

I took a deep breath and read through the entire document (which you can read too- just follow the link in the blogroll).  It was arranged in reverse chronological order in a countdown of sorts to the date of retirement.  Beginning two years out, it quickly went to six, and then three months before retirement.  Since I had already missed out on over a year of preparatory work, I decided to ditch performing the checklist as written and instead to figure a different way to get everything accomplished.

What I found was that there are basically three facets of the retirement process, so I reorganized the checklist into those three areas and then arranged the various subtasks in order of importance and time sensitivity- basically, the things that I needed to do right away hit the top of the list and those that could wait migrated towards the bottom.  By regrouping the dozens of things to be done it made them more manageable, and hopefully I would be able to accomplish them more efficiently.  The basic areas I came up with after studying the checklist were 1) transition training and education, 2) administration, and 3) medical evaluations.

Transition training consisted primarily of a series of seminars and classes that prepare the “separating or retiring service member” (me!) for return to civilian life.  As a retiring Marine (meaning I have more grey hair and wrinkles than those who were separating after only few years of service) I was required to attend one course and was eligible to attend two more.  The required class, called the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) Employment Workshop, is necessary for each and every person on their way out of the military despite their length of service.  It covers a lot of really important topics ranging from veteran’s benefits to tax rules, and you can’t get out (at least not legally!) without attending it.  The other two courses were designed for more senior (again, the “distinguished” looking grey haired and wrinkled set) people like me, and they are designed to help with resume writing, and other important job skills.

As for administration, this area addresses the nuts and bolts of leaving an incredibly bureaucratic profession.  There are forms to fill out, papers to sign, and about a billion things to read and initial.  The administrative boxes to check ranged from deciding where you would establish your home after the service (back where you enlisted from?   Where you live now?  Tahiti?  They all have their upsides and downsides…..but you can only choose one!) to what uniform you will wear to your retirement ceremony.  The administrative requirements ran for several pages and would take a long time to accomplish, but fortunately many of the items could be knocked out simultaneously as I met with various administration specialists, which is what we call Human Resources experts in the military.

The medical bit is just as important as the administrative requirements, and is likewise just as lengthy.  For all separating and retiring servicemembers the physical evaluation and rating for disability has potentially the greatest impact on them of any part of the transition process.  Many people departing military service will have developed some physical problems that will follow them for the rest of their lives, and if they are properly evaluated and documented then they are eligible for medical care long after they take off their uniform.  (After all, carrying a 75 to 100 pounds of equipment on your back while patrolling in 120 degree heat for weeks on end takes a toll on the knees just as operating a tank, flying a helicopter, or shooting artillery will likely make you a bit hard of hearing…what did you say?) It is crucial that these problems be evaluated while in uniform, however, because if they aren’t a bureaucratic nightmare awaits should you try to get them evaluated as an ex-servicemember.

So, after revising the checklist into these three areas I set out to check each box on the list as quickly and efficiently as I could.  With less than nine month to go until my retirement date, I immediately attacked those items that I was delinquent on and started emailing and calling the points of contact on the first page of the checklist to schedule everything else.  It was going to be a bumpy ride, but at least I knew when it would end!

In future posts I will go into greater detail on the three areas on my revised list, starting with transition training.  I had no idea how little I knew about how to quit my job, but the transition classes would ensure that I didn’t punt anything into the stands.  All I need to do is check every box on the list…

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Lessons learned:

– First and foremost, time is incredibly important.  The recommendation is to start transitioning two years before you take off your uniform because it takes that long to do everything properly and at a leisurely pace.  I started transitioning with less than half of that time, and as a result I find myself working a lot harder than I need to to get everything done.

– As soon as you make the decision to get out or retire you need to get organized!  Obtain a copy of the appropriate checklist (retirement or separation) and start checking things off as far out as you can.  Even if you have not decided on a firm date, there are things that can be accomplished easily (such as reviewing your personnel and medical records for accuracy and researching where you would like to go when you get out).

– Find out what administrative section will be processing your separation or retirement and schedule a meeting with them.  They can provide you with contacts and guidance that you can put to good use immediately, and without the time wasted by adventure learning and trying to do it all yourself as I had done initially.