I changed my sig block.

[Bluesman]

Because I've reached a milestone today, and I'll reach a turning point on 18 February.

I signed my enlistment papers to join my beloved Air Force 20 years ago today. I was on the 'Delayed Entry Program', and so I did not report to Basic Training until 18 February, 1986. I have selected that date to hold my retirement ceremony next year, with an official retirement date of 1 March. Seems very...symmetrical.

What a ride.

Anybody that can come down to Tampa for my retirement, please do. I welcome all of the friends that I've never met, and I'd be proud to shake your hands and I might even drink a beer with you. ;)

It's going to be a rare event, because even though I'm entitled to a general officer to preside...my beloved Lt. Bluesman will do the honors. A junior officer retiring a senior NCO - that just does not HAPPEN! But it will give me immense pleasure to have her bring my career to a close, she that was such a large part ot it, for almost the entire duration of it.

So, I'll keep this sig block for another few months, and then change it again on 1 March - when I become Mr. Bluesman again, something I haven't answered to for almost 20 years.

[troung]

One less hero protecting our nation...

I am sure you will be missed...

Best of luck in the private sector...

[sparten]

Good luck in your retirement sir.

[Neo]

Enjoy your retirement Sir!

[Gun Grape]

Congrats.

How many retirement classes/seminars have you attended?

How about resume writing classes?

As a semi recent retiree, heres a little advice.. This is your time to prepare yourself for the civilian world. Take advantage of every opportunity you can. Don't feel as if you are cheating your airmen because you didn't stay late, go on that JTF training or are spending time away from the office.

Little stuff that no one in the military thinks about. Are you Microsoft Office certified? Doesn't matter that you have made PP presentations for years or submitted reports/briefs using Word. Unless you have a certificate saying you have taken a course in MS Office, to show your perspective employer then in his/her eyes you cannot use the programs.

Come March 1 (minus term leave and TAD for house hunting) you won't be going to the office again. Let them get use to it. And the reality is they have a replacement for you. They will make another MSgt. Don't think you owe them anything.

Come 1 April, no one from HQAF is going to call you to see how your doing. And your replacement will have changed things to work his way. Just as you did when you took the job.


Don't think I'm some pissed off retired Marine. I just saw too many SNCOs that were unprepared for civilian life. Didn't attend any of the classes because "My Marines need me" "I've got a COs meeting that I have to go to" and retired with no clue or plan.

I also have some VA advise if you would like. But won't bore you and everyone else.

Once again, Bravo Zulu on a job well done. May you always have Fair winds and following seas.
:)

[Selective]

Good luck on civy street bluesman.

[giggs88]

yea, good luck with civvie life now, Blues. Welcome to the suck. ;)

[Bluesman]

Thanks, fellas. And Grape, I sure do appreciate the advice. I already see it creeping in: "Well, If I shift your sked around a bit, Sergeant Bluesman, then you can still take leave, but we only lose you for nine days instead of twelve in November."

No way. I put in my leave form that way for a reason. I intend to maximize my time off, because I earned every dam' day. I'm taking a three-day pass, every holiday, and every single day of terminal leave, and for once, the sked is going to work the way I need it to work for ME.

I need to get those transition assistance classes, and the certification course is very good advice, as well.

[TopHatter]

Anybody that can come down to Tampa for my retirement, please do. I welcome all of the friends that I've never met, and I'd be proud to shake your hands and I might even drink a beer with you. ;)

When's the big day? I'll mark my calender and request the time off, assuming I need a weekday or 2

We still need to get together up there or down here prior to then though :)

[dalem]

Once again, Bravo Zulu on a job well done. May you always have Fair winds and following seas.
:)

With friends like us, how could he go wrong? ;)

-dale

[dalem]

I need to get those transition assistance classes, and the certification course is very good advice, as well.

As a current (and always civvy) job searching guy myself, I can't agree with the certs thing enough. My old boss used to try and get me to take those things when offered by the company but I was always "too busy doing my job to take time out to prove I can do my job to some lameoid third party".

Bzzzzzzztttt!

Wrong answer! As I am finding out. ;)

-dale

[kmchugh]

Bluesman

Don't know what it's like in the USAF, which is almost like being in the military (that's a joke, son). However, after 14 years in the US Army, I was offered the option of a medical discharge. A fairly rare event, but my MOS was such that I could have stayed to finish my 20 or taken a walk. So, I asked what I would get taking the discharge now, and learned about too many things to mention here. Then I asked what I'd get for staying, and they said 6 more years of the same sh** I had already put up with. It was 1993, and we were in the middle of Clinton's "peace dividend," so I signed the medical papers so fast the pen smoked. Wait, there is a point to all this.

As I was waiting for the paperwork to process, before I could start outprocessing, I had a number of other senior NCO's (I was an E-7 at the time) start bagging on me for getting out. "You won't know what to do with yourself, you'll just sit around and deteriorate day by day." "You are going to spend the rest of your life looking back and missing the military." I was a bit worried about that, because after all I'd seen a number of senior NCO's and officers either get out or retire and essentially fall apart immediately afterwards. I swore I'd do everything to prevent this, so I came up with a plan. Started immediately looking into what the job market was like, where the jobs would be for the forseeable future. Then I looked at the things that might interest me, and looked for overlap. Oddly enough, I, who had started out as an infantryman, later to become a CI Agent and Russian linguist, decided to go into nursing. I'd found that they were paying nurse anesthetists a pretty good salary, and it looked like something I'd like doing. Now, I am 12 years past discharge, I make a great (six figure) salary, live a great life, and do not regret for one minute my decision to take my walking papers before somebody handed them to me, without the disability rating.

The point is, make a plan for what you are going to do after Uncle Sam bids you farewell. Look for things that interest you and that might have good prospects for future employment. A whole lot of folks just don't plan for that day after they take off the uniform for the last time. And on that day after, they find themselves sitting on the couch, wondering "what the hell do I do now?" Start planning now.

One other thing: Make sure that you have any medical conditions evaluated before you retire. That includes injuries and medical conditions, such as hypertension. If you didn't have it before you joined up, it can reasonably be attributed to military service. It's a whole lot easier to get it evaluated and rated before you get out than it is afterwards. Trust me, you don't ever want to find yourself in the position of having to trust the VA.

Oh, yeah. Congrats on the retirement. You've done good, you've done your bit for king and country. Take pride in it, you deserve it. Frankly, while I don't miss the military even a little bit, I take pride in what I did while I was there.

Kevin McHugh