Military Retirement: Things to Let Go

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When you begin your military retirement, there are three things that you are going to have to let go of. It won't be easy, but it will happen over time and it will help your progress.

1) Your Uniform
2) Your Rank
3) Your Branch of Service

#militaryretirement #militarylife #militarytransition

Note: The views expressed in this video are the presenter's and do not represent the policy or guidance of the Department of Defense or its subordinate elements.

[joshkellogg]

#4 - Excessive caffeine intake. Find something to drink other than coffee, Monster, Red Bull, or RipIt. You're not working 20-hour days anymore. You're boss isn't going to make you stay up for 60 hours because things got busy. Are you struggling with insomnia or anxiety? Stop fueling your body like you're on deployment.

[charlesharrington]

Retired 24 years. You never fully "Let it go". The military shaped who you are in some of your most formative years. I tossed most of the plaques, coins, etc... about 15 years ago. Cannot bring myself to throw away 1 set of still starched BDUs and my Dress Blues as well as my old Drill Sergeant Hat. In the retirement community I live in, I often golf with retired Senior Officers who served in Vietnam and one Korean War pilot. Very interesting people.

[TonyJer]

Thank you to all those who serve in the military. I am living the military life now.

[afropana]

Tough advice, but very accurate and critical information.

[sofiaciro]

Chuck, I don’t know how I would have made it without your videos. I can’t thank you enough for laying a path for me. Cheers and keep them coming!

To comment on this video, I may not be able to grow my beard, but I can certainly follow your advice! Thank you

[PapasDino]

Boy, thought you were going to recommend that I do away with my "I love me wall" of plaques! ;-) Two out of three ain't bad, once a soldier always a soldier...thanks Chuck, Happy New Year!

[disgruntledconservativevet]

The day I retired I put everything behind me, I don’t participate in any of the functions on the base and we don’t go to the base for anything other than paperwork. After 25 years that part of my life is behind me, and I never look back. I’m retired and that’s all that matters. In two years I’ll start pulling my retirement, and that’s all that matters to me.

[EricDaMAJ]

Per the other comments, letting go is way easier said than done. I dispensed a lot of what you mention. Or pared some things (like the uniform stash) radically down. But I continue to have reoccurring dreams - like even up to 15 minutes ago - about being in the Army. A common one is about stressing over staff stuff. The most common one is, oddly, clearing post before retirement. I spent the last 10 years in dreamland clearing every post I ever served in except down range. Sometimes with way more drama than the actual retirement clearing!

[cgsai]

Great point! I’ve seen so many struggle with disconnecting. Particularly with high ranking veterans, there’s a fear of going from Lieutenant Colonel to just Rick. We all have an expiration date, some of us just refuse to accept it.

[SSgt-]

Retired 22 years ago. First thing I wanted to do was leave the military town and go back to my hometown area. That took a couple of years, but meanwhile I sold off excess uniforms and try to create a new persona who didn’t sound like the Company Gunny.

Chuck I landed in a federal alphabet agency near my hometown that’s very veteran heavy. Unlike the job opportunities near the bases though I don’t feel like anyone here is still trying to wear their rank. We do however have a lot of fun with inter service humor and work together well.

Sadly, I do still have some uniforms in my closet. I just can’t bring myself to discard them like trash. The Dress Blues are for my burial but not sure how to respectfully dispose of the rest.

Semper Fi

[nickcarranza]

When I retired 2004, I woke up in the middle of the nite looking through the blinds as though i was being stalked or cased went for months, still feel that feeling, but u never really let go, 11B4V retired of course, RLTW

[coffee_qi_and_me]

The day I retired 14 years ago, I filled several 30GL garbage bags with almost all my uniform items and chucked them in a dumpster. I figured that if I ever got recalled, the Army would re-issue anything that I needed. The only items I saved from the trash bin were the boots, socks, underwear, and ACU pants, but only because they were useful and/or comfy (I do love me a nice pair of cargo pants for doing some yard work or splitting firewood!).

All the memorabilia got tossed as well, though I did make enough money selling my challenge coins to a collector to take my wife out for a nice dinner. Turns out there is a surprisingly active community of challenge coin enthusiasts out there eager to add to their stack.

Being in the Army was an important phase of my life, but it was not the defining phase of my life. More of my life has already been spent outside of the Army than in the Army. Once it was over, it was time to move on.

The only things I kept were photographs, memories (both good and bad), a few friends for life, my work ethic, discipline, punctuality, tendency to wake up early, ability to sleep anywhere at any time, and enthusiasm for regular exercise.

These have served me better than would a set of old dress blues gathering dust in my closet.

[jastdi]

This is an OK video. The comments reinforce your basic thoughts. At 83 My most deeply remembered memories are those of my company grade years. My retirement jobs (enhanced by my active duty rank and experiences) are well behind me now. But, who you were will always be who you are. Thanks for the great videos, Colonel.

[kirkdarling]

For twenty years after I retired from active duty, I worked for a company that encouraged us to wear our uniforms to the office on Veterans Day. It was a quite pro-military company that even continued to pay Guard and Reserve members while they were active and deployed, and held their jobs for them.

[davidlindstedt]

Rank...I was visiting my in-laws, and there was a gathering of my brothers in-law shortly after one of them had retired as a BG. During some drinks and good natured ribbing, one brother turned to his retired BG brother and asked him, how did it feel to be a PFC, a Private Fing Civilian? Next thing I knew the two of them were wrestling on the floor and throwing punches. I guess somethings are harder to let go then others.

[jonathanenglish]

Fortunately or maybe unfortunately I knew I was going to join the Army and I can say I actually got to live my dream. I was an Infantry soldier for most of my career in peace and war, through the good and bad units, leaders, and times. Halfway through my career I found out that I didn't want to be one of "those guys", the ones who's entire life was the their service time. You know the ones who have the entirety of their 214 plastered on their car, hat, shirt, and house. I do not regret my service nor demean those who like to show off theirs, but it usually ends up to be measuring contest of who had it tougher. I will however mock, deride, and generally make life miserable for those former service members who insist you call them by the former rank. I have run into one man who insisted we call him "Colonel" when addressing him and on the other side one who also insisted he be call "Sergeant Major" while at a VFW and an American Legion functions.

[GmanJC]

These videos by Chuck are more helpful than TAPS.

[andrewyoung]

I was so happy when somebody said to me, 'you were in the military?' Yeah, I shed all that stuff. But I am still super proud of what I did and the people I served with.

[TheBlackToedOne]

I held onto my uniforms after I got out because I didn't know what to do w/ them. Wasn't going to give them to Goodwill and certainly wasn't going to throw them away. My kids finally got older and asked if anyone was interested in anything, and all of them wanted some. One daughter took my entire set of Class As from my bus driver hat all the way to my chlorframs. I worked a contract job for a few federal agencies in DC and the majority of the people I would work w/ were either still AD or prior service. OMG the inter-service trash talk that went on. It was like we were all still in uniform. It was great. The best thing about it was regardless of who we worked for we still have that level of comraderie and we all pulled together and got it done, day in and day out.

[sandovalperry]

To quote a former sailor, “I yam what I yam, and that’s all I yam.” I retire 25 years ago and all I have are my dog tags and my ID card. I come from a military tradition: father (22 years) father-in-law (30 years), three brother-in-laws and my wife. I’ve been to the nearby AF base four times to renew ID cards, don’t use the commissary or PX. I had good times and bad times and memories for a lifetime. But, in the end like so many - I came, I saw, I left.