I’m not going to lie—it’s frustrating to scour the social media platforms out there to see what veterans and self-styled veteran advocates are telling those of you who are getting ready for military transition.

Most appalling is when the advocates tell you that you need to embrace the transition struggle, as if you have no choice but to suffer. The unspoken insinuation here is that their military transition sucked, therefore yours is bound to suffer the same fate.

I don’t know about you, but does struggling for struggling’s sake sound appealing to you? It doesn’t to me, either. And I am here to tell you that you DON’T need to struggle to prepare for your military transition.

This article will tell you why ALL transitioning military members need to dump this old “struggling” model in favor of one that helps you arm yourself with the framework, individual tools, and support you need before you leave the military so it is not a struggle when transition comes around. It all comes down to personal choice—and you have one.

Let’s get started.

Struggling Is the Old Model, So Why Should We Still Embrace It?

Underpinning this supposed state of struggle is an antiquated Transition Assistance Program (TAP) that’s shaped the military transition narrative for the 30 years since it was created.

In other words, since 1991, it’s been the only show in town, and this carries a lot of unintended consequences because it’s shaped the mindset landscape. Direct evidence of this phenomenon is literally in your head and thinking process right now. Here’s what I mean: When you think about how to prepare for military transition right now, what program comes to mind?

TAP, for sure. Given its promotion and long-standing position atop the mindset—not to mention the 2-year post-military poor performance outcomes we spell out in our earlier article, “Elephant in the Room”—there’s no wonder the veteran advocates associate the process with “struggling.”

Under any circumstances, if you knew you had a challenge approaching, wouldn’t you begin carving out some time to prepare? Especially something as important and life-altering as military transition when you are probably the breadwinner putting food on the table and a roof over your family’s heads?

Despite this ground-level reality, the vast majority of those I interview before their military transition can’t really articulate how they are going to get themselves from where they are to a successful military transition. When they do try to articulate a plan, it typically includes a few buzzwords you may recognize: find a mentor, network, do informational interviews. These buzzwords worked great until I asked the necessary follow-on questions like: What specific questions do you ask your mentor or network? What specific information are you looking for in your informational interviews? Things fall apart pretty quickly if there is no deliberate focus to these activities.

Since this model really doesn’t work, shouldn’t we be questioning why we continue embracing this old system that leads to
poor outcomes and struggle?

The answer is that we should stop the struggle by finding much better alternatives that focus on transition success through proper prevention.

PreVeteran—the New Model of Preparation That Reduces or Eliminates the Struggle Altogether

PreVeteran embraces a very simple, yet profound, concept—prepare for military transition while you are still in the military. Supporting that concept of proper individual preparation pre-transition are three important PreVeteran pillars: a framework, individual tools, and support. Together, these combine to create a military transition model that gets you from where you are now to preparing for a successful military transition. Here is a bit of information about each of the pillars.

Our unique PreVeteran framework focuses on helping you do two things that help guarantee your success after the military—self-transformation and early alignment to the private sector.

Self-transformation is nonnegotiable post-military. You are leaving an active component that constitutes less than 1 percent of the U.S. population and moving into the public sphere. Those who self-transform do well—those who don’t, don’t do well. It’s that simple.

Alignment with the private sector is critical because it has different needs and wants that are significantly different from the military ecosystem you’re leaving. In this scenario you have two choices: you can learn what the private sector needs and wants or you can complain that the private sector lacks what you had in the military—even though you will no longer be in the military!

Doesn’t fighting self-transformation and alignment to the private sector sound a lot like the “struggle” those veteran advocates talk about on social media?

Our proprietary individual tools allow you to clearly understand the internal and external obstacles you face when preparing for military transition.

And finally, our support model helps you get the information you need to plan for your own unique military transition while also having a group to keep you accountable in your progression.

Choose to Not Struggle with PreVeteran

At the end of the day, being prepared for your upcoming military transition is all about choice. Don’t listen to those self-styled veteran advocates who insist you need to struggle as they did in preparing for their military transition—you don’t!

All you need is an effective transition model, complete with individual tools, and support—and we’ve got you covered.

So, the choice is yours. Do you choose to prepare or choose to struggle?

Do you want to be an employee post-military and don’t know where to start or have you started and feel like you’re spinning your wheels and getting nowhere?

We’ve got just the thing for you with our Employment Prep Course. Sign up now or get the waitlist by visiting our website courses page.