Military Retirement: Things to Let Go
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
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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
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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.
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#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.
Dance is a nice option. I know a lot of guys who took up golf, but that lacks the ... co-ed spice of life.
but coming back from iraq my brain has never been the same bro lol
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.
Never in the service but spent 20 years in healthcare and critical care medicine- ERs, ICUs, and trauma unites. It was hard to let go and that was less encompassing than military life.
Ah, Vietnam veteran here, kind of hard if you are 100 % Disabled, Total and Permanent.
Hard to forget about the pain . That Dept the of Veterans Affairs Medical care system has been at best a D. At least in my experiences. I will say to any one thinking about joining up . Do Not , now if they reinstated induction by the Draft, ie Selective service act, You are required by law to register, after that the choices are bad to worse.
@charlesharrington9116, you guys have made a lot of good points. And I need to go back and consider what we should KEEP from our experiences. Like many of you have pointed out, we never really "let go" of everything and there are some specific experiences (for example those mandatory Anthrax vaccinations) that we should never forget.
Thank you to all those who serve in the military. I am living the military life now.
Excellent
Tough advice, but very accurate and critical information.
Thank you.
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
@sofiaciro2525, I'm glad to have been helpful. BTW, shoot me a note at chuck.weko@gmail.com if you know what the female equivalent of "growing your beard" is for a post military life.
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.
I like your comments. It sounds like you have your head screwed on straight and have been making good decisions for a while.
When my time was up, the command started stressing about my final NCOER. I reminded them that by the Reg. I didn't need one. They wiped some sweat off their collective brow. Then they told me two write my own retirement award. I had written over sixty awards for our train up, deployment, completed mission, and re-deployment. I refused their demand. If it was too much trouble to write my award, then I didn't care for one. They nearly demanded that I attend the big retirement ceremony at Ft. Hood. No way, absolutely not. I was so burned out by all of the ceremonies over 25 plus years. I didn't even want a gold watch. Just a thank you and a handshake would suffice. But I didn't even get that. No love lost. I ran two platoons simultaneously, and that singlehandedly. I didn't have a Platoon Leader for either, so I often worked to exhaustion. When they realized that they had lost another beast of burden, they totally forgot about me. I am thankful for my retirement check and the VA. They have both been good to me, and I appreciate what the taxpayers are doing for me and my family.
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
I get a similar feeling (who is plotting against me?). And I think it is telling that those feelings are so deeply ingrained while we are in uniform.
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.
I just cannot see throwing away a good set of dress blues.
My problem is that I can't figure out what to do with them.
@@the_bureaucrat When I was about five years old, my mother spent considerable time and effort making a life-size Raggedy Andy doll that she gave me as a birthday present. I kept Andy for 47 years, eventually shuffling him from one storage unit to another with all the other detritus of my life.
Three years ago, my wife and I retired for good and moved overseas, once again leaving Andy in storage back in the US. Moving is great when Uncle Sam is paying for it, but you look at it quite differently when it comes time for you to foot the bill.
This past summer, I returned to the US to visit family and to finally clear out everything left in storage. Between the cost of private storage and international shipping rates, we literally can't afford to be sentimental about any but the most miniscule and special mementos.
After selling, gifting, donating, and throwing away everything, I was still left with Andy, and the baby blanket my mother had brought me home from the hospital in after I was born. I couldn't bear the thought of nonchalantly throwing him (or the blanket) in the trash, but I also couldn't take him with me.
So, instead, I drove him out to the campground where my family had spent many a happy summer, wrapped him in the blanket, and cremated him in a campfire ring on a carefully constructed funeral pyre.
On the one hand, it was an incredibly shocking experience to watch Andy be reduced to ashes. On the other hand, I felt emotionally liberated in a way that I'm still trying to fully comprehend. One feeling I'm not experiencing is regret; this needed to be done for me to make a break from my past and move on from who I was to who I am now.
I have to admit though that I was kind of horrified by just how quickly that blanket flash ignited, as if it was made out of the most flammable fibers known to man. One errant spark when I was a kid and I would have been deep-fried into an acrylic burrito. I guess safety standards were a bit different back in the 70s.
Which is all a long way of me saying, "burn them."
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
I like your phrase of "discard them like trash". That's painful. Lots of folks have made comments on a middle ground and you make a great addition...there's a difference between "letting it go" and "throwing it away".
@SSgt, i suggest you sell those uniform online. As crazy as it sounds, there are collectors who will buy these items.
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!
Ah...the I Love Me Wall...I'm not sure what to do with that thing. It's evolving...some stuff just isn't as meaningful as it was. And those weird shaped little statues...
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.
That is an interesting office policy. I'm not sure how I would feel doing that.
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.
I really thought that my new "rank" was just going to be "Chuck", but I've happily discovered that I'm now "Pappy"....it happens to be a rank that puts a lot of life into perspective.
One of my closest friends is a retired Air Force LTC who I had met at church. Like me, he doesn't go around talking about his service. Despite being several steps above me in rank (SFC), he treats me as his Brother in Christ.
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.
@jastdi2, Thanks for the comment. Your point about memories (and which ones are important) is a useful indicator of what we should keep.
These videos by Chuck are more helpful than TAPS.
Been through TAPS six times (Reservist requirement) and each time the information dispensed was 99% worthless. I’m convinced that it’s a way of the service to cover its own ass and not benefit the service member
I did a video a while ago about WHY TAPS covers the subjects they do (because Congress tells them to). And it does tend to have a weird mix of useful and useless information....my personal bugaboo is that they don't address veteran homelessness at all. ua-cam.com/video/r0U9-uEAnEk/v-deo.html
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!
That's an interesting thing to stress about. I have this one where I am wandering around hallways trying to get something done, but I don't know what it is and every time I get close to making progress some weird complication returns. It's not horrible, but my modern equivalent of being naked in high school.
@@the_bureaucrat The stress is in the dream. Outside the dream the retirement is a done deal and a good one. Now that you mention "wandering the halls trying to get something done" I'm sure the US Army between my ears will try to introduce that.
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.
@@jonathanenglish9146 I used to work for a Col who years later retired as a LtGen. We continued to stay in contact over the years and when he retired he insisted I call him by his first name or his nickname.
@jonathanenglish9146, I think you have found the right level of mockery...the guy who wears a hat with his submarine on it...OK...the guy who insists on being called by rank...Fire away.
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.
Love it! I would have paid money to see that one. 😂 If that was my brother I probably would have said something along the lines of, "Only ONE star, eh?" before turning back around to my beer - and growing eyes in the back of my head.
😂 "Only one star?" That would have had him lying awake at night...
As a retired vet and living historian it’s not good to totally flush memories, many want to know things and we as living historians have a wealth of knowledge from WW2 vets we grew up with and can explain many things to the younger generation.
Yeah, there's truth to this. I remember as a kid finding out my dad had been in the military before I was born, but he had tossed basically all of his stuff so there was nothing for me to look at. Granted, I don't have a wife or kids and probably never will, but I have some stuff in a box if I ever have someone to toss it to. There's a happy medium between "obsessively consumed by" and "threw everything away", I think.
Great point. I am taking notes.
The memories will never go away, as bad as I would like for some of them to. I could write a book about my time in the Army. The only dreams I can remember are nightmares about the Army. I rarely talk about this, but there it is.
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.
That's a neat trick to diffuse the uniforms thru the family.
I grew up in a Navy family for 22 years and then I served in the Navy for 22 years. Kinda hard to give it up totally. I only kept my shadow box and sword.
You're right. COMPLETELY giving it up is probably impossible, but even with my family members who are still in uniform, our conversations have drifted towards "This is what it WAS like, it might be different for you".
Haha!
Done it so well, more people than not are taken aback when they find out I was in the military... let alone Retired from the military.
Nice job.
Hey y'all, High School Army JROTC really helped me and many other comrades to get our non military life back. However, it took me 25 years to demilitarize myself from 20 years of active duty army. It was my wife, children, parents, HS cadets, teachers, principals, church/spirituality; civilians, college, and military retirees' benefits just to name a few of people, places, and things that contributed to about 50% or less of my recovery from active duty. Attention veterans! Our military Service will never totally go away until we leave this earthly world. I would do it again... Veterans are one of a kind people. Therefore, I wear my retired army cap most of the time and I'm proud of it. 🥰😜🪖🐵💯☕🍰🚸⚠
I love the idea of "demilitarize yourself".
And thanks for teaching me the "helmet" icon: 🪖
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.
Sounds like the right kind of attitude.
I enjoyed my time I grew up there and learned many things it will always be part of my life, have no regrets. I’m proud and display it which is more than I can say for the current generation. If some devalue my service that’s fine but as the saying goes some look down on the military until the enemy comes knocking on the door. Retired 20 years. You serve be proud of that.
You're making a great point that I have to come back to...what should you keep? And the idea that you should never devalue your own service or disrespect the service of the next generation is key.
My 20 years in the navy were probably some of the best times of my life. I got to travel and seen and experience things I would have never been able to if not for the navy. I live near a base so I am still around the navy. I am not sure why people would want to forget about their time in the military, it was big part of my life and still is.
Agree with you 100%. This video to me is very weird.
I been retired 21 years now and gave up all 3 on the day l retired. And moved far away from military bases and been living my best life traveling and enjoying life.
I think the geography of post military life impacts the speed at which this happens. I'm in DC and it's harder to get away from.
This does NOT apply _only_ to 'retirees.'
Anyone who did not get kicked out or absolutely knew joining was a terrible mistake goes through the same thing at times.
Well said.
I still go on post every couple of months, go to PX or commissary once in a while. I also still use some of the outdoor recreation facilities when I’m in town. If I golfed, I would visit more. I will never use a military gym again unless I’m there as a contractor for more than a week. I still love the Army.
This is probably the healthiest level of contact. Use the benefits that are designed for veterans and love the service without being tangled up in their day to day.
The gym was good until we were kicked out cooft.
I didn't have to worry about the uniforms. Three teenagers, the uniforms disappeared pretty quickly.
That's interesting...my kids didn't express any interest in my old stuff.
@@the_bureaucrat Three daughters, God had a sense of humor... Two enlisted (USMC,USA)while the third became a military wife (USAF). I "outgrew" (waistline) most of the rest of it.
Some of y'all seem to be taking this to the extreme. Be proud of your service and never hide it.
I often salute US flags that wave outside of Walmarts, or Home Depots. Nobody should consider that a bad thing, yet, it's a trait I picked up in my country's service - feeling and showing national pride. I don't consider my service to be wonderful and flawless. Still, I cannot regret it and am not embarrassed of it. Too many service members I had encountered in service were not who I would consider "good people." I would find it difficult to not just punch their face, if I ever saw them today. If, in your heart, you started as the honorable and faithful member but may have gotten somewhat bitter, you are not alone. Remember your service as for your best intentions and not your interservice battles.
Right? There's a happy medium between "obsessively consumed by" and "throw everything away".
@SubduedRadical yes!
Well, I don't salute flags except in the same situations I'd salute them in uniform: While being raised, while being lowered, or while passing in parade. I'm not going to salute the flag just because I'm walking past the pole at Walmart any more than I would have on the installation. But I agree with your sentiment. In fact, in the 20 years since I retired from a 26-year career, I have grown to appreciate my service and the principles of my service even more.
@@kirkdarling4120 cool. I have to mention that when you were active duty, you were technically also supposed to salute the flag no matter what you were wearing. Being a retiree, I still hold my rank, again, technically. So it may be a question of why a person would not salute.
PS: anytime you approach a US flag you are required to salute 6 paces before and terminate 6 paces after you pass. It's not going to be the same in the civilian world, obviously (flagpoles on buildings, etc.).
@@Golgi-Gyges I think you were in a different country. We were never taught to salute "...anytime you approach a US flag you are required to salute 6 paces before and terminate 6 paces after you pass." There are US flags _everywhere_ on the installation.
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.
It's funny...I was so proud as a young cadet when someone asked "Were you Prior Service?" But nowadays I feel good about the opposite response.
I totally agree about letting go. As in, dont let your service totally define who you are, as you move on in life. OMG, the 40 year old who won some big regional sports ball game when they were in high school, but has never done anything impressive in their life since then, so they life every day in that past, never embracing today and living in the present.
The thing is, just like every single experience in our past, our military service makes up a significant part of who we are. What we are. How we think. None of us can just throw that off. Heck, we no longer live with our parents, but they taught us good values that we wouldnt want to just forget and move on. It makes up our core being.
But you CAN still move on, remembering and embracing the good parts of service which helped to build us into the beings we currently are now. Use that to continue to grow into the future YOU you can still be. Look for the next "big thing" you can get into. Find a worthy non profit in your community and dedicate some service to that. Maybe even run for office if you're inclined. For SERVICE, not for personal gain, just like the rest of your service.
In other words, you are a SERVICEman (or woman). So continue to serve others, just in a new way. Grow into that new you and dont dwell in the past. There is a lot more to this but you all get the idea. Now move out and draw fire 😅
I love that phrase "SERVICEman". I might use it.
@the_bureaucrat ❤😊
@the_bureaucrat it can certainly be used in more ways than one 🤣
It was rediculous trying to reduce uniform inventory to ‘just one of each type worn’. The Army modded our uniform no less than seven times from Balkans through the GWOT. Eight if I counted the old ODs at boot. Getting rid of Service Branch branding was done before getting out mostly due to the Joint and Multi-National task organization of the conflict. And the culture at the time of ‘the Army left me’. A lot of peers would say we luckily ‘escaped with honor’ before we got railroaded by some garrison social trap now backed by an administrative sledge hammer. Letting go of rank I found gets wedged into case by case situations of expectation management. You get along fine in a world of former enlisted for a few months, Until they discover you were a field grade. But it seemed more like they were more self loathing about it. Then you deal with other society professionals who find out and passively and actively besmirch you for leaving the livelihood. It just makes pulling the rip cord so much easier.
I really had to channel that "The Army Left Me" feeling into the Army Song..."The Army Goes Rolling Along"...and I just sit on my porch watching it go by.
I was fortunate to have served in joint and combined duty positions so “letting go” of my service wasn’t an issue. I knew that no service can do the mission by themselves.
That is an excellent point. If you spent time with the other services, you develop an appreciation for them.
Government housing is gone. The paycheck is about half. The question of "what to do next" is there. Most people these days respect your service, but you do sometimes run into the nit wit who will insult you for it. All part of the game.
I like your point about "all part of the game"...It's nice that you recognize that and share that perspective with us.
Those people are in the comment sections.
@@the_bureaucrat I am "retired military" of sorts. I spent five years active and 25 in the reserves. I am past age 60 and have been collecting reserve retirement pay. Sometimes someone will ask if I had been to airborne or ranger school. I tell them I was a reservist and took it by correspondence. You would be surprised how many people don't pick up the BS on this.
I threw away my Class A and my ACU's!! I also put all my awards and records in a box. My challenge coins are in a drawer somewhere!! I threw away my plaque I received in Korea too when I was there. I also let go of my attitude I had. I do not yell and scream anymore. I do not talk to many other veterans any more. They cannot let those years go. I stay away from people who served and I stay away from people who were connected to the military (spouses and or brats). I can not and will not date ex military. I do not want to relive those years anymore!! I am a loner an individual once again and proud of it!! I denounce the military and all militarism in general now!!
It's interesting how you seem to be letting go of the things that "trigger" the negative aspects of your military experience. That's healthy...I hadn't thought of it that way.
@the_bureaucrat yeah. I still denounce militarism. If I could have gone back to 1999 and told my younger self not to go in, I would. Militarism and War are immoral!!
Chuck, I think that many of my friends are having a bigger problem dealing with full retirement. Most of my friends who completed successful military careers and moved on to successful careers in the private sector and the government sector are now hitting their 60's and just don't know what to do with themselves. Most are former SF or SOF members who are now just starting to deal with the effects of that breaching, parachuting and other fun stuff.
@clmccomas, I gotta be honest, I think men go thru a tough time when they hit 60. There is a major life transition there where they have to rebalance their lives. And I see a lot of people who seem shocked when it happens to them. It's doubly problematic because the military folks who retired and stopped working dealt with that experience in their 50s. But the guys who retired and got a company job were somehow able to gloss over it until real retirement looms.
@@the_bureaucrat Wait until you hit 70 and can't just say "I'm in my late sixties" anymore! ;-)
@@the_bureaucrat I tell the guys that I know, "Welcome to the F.O.G, (Fat Old Guy) team". Membership includes a 15% discount at the K&W and the Golden Corral, and a, and a, Well crap, I don't remember the rest.
Never forget who you are and your service.
Indeed.
22yrs Army and I retired and never looked back
I’d say 36 mos after you leave service there should be no evidence that you ever served.
36 months seems about right. And by that point, the things that do remain are no longer "yours"...they are just something that someone did once upon a time.
Fantastic Moto Veteran.
Semper
Thanks
0:42 Done, done, done. Can't wait to retire.
Believe it or not, it seems healthy to be looking forward to retirement instead of fearing the day they send you back home.
@@Tyrantking7 get your medical records copied, file with va all ailments
What sucks is being visibly wounded. It’s gets to the point I just tell people I was in a car accident 😂
That is interesting. I know people who have stopped mentioning their military background unless specifically required, but I hadn't thought of those with visible evidence of service.
I've got 3 generations of BDUs, ABUs, and OCPs destined to be a lifetime of work clothes!
I'm betting that the OCPs outlast them all.
Everything we do in life adds to our life experiences. Fools tell you to forget about what we did. The community of life you are joining after service is envious of your experience. It's up to you to adjust and make your new colleagues feel comfortable with the experience they'll never have.
I really like your point about adjusting and making your new colleagues comfortable with your background. That's a level of empathy that I haven't heard, but which is obviously valuable.
I keep one set of each of my past uniforms: BDU, DCU, ACU, Multi-Cam, and if we get rid of it or I retire, one set of OCPs. Same with boots: still got my green jungles and black Corcorans with a spit shine. Something I can show my kid someday.
That's smart. One of the neat things about the BDUs vs. the OCPs is how and where the long seams are stitched. The OCP is much harder to tear up.
I gave uniforms to a JROTC program.
I gave mine to Civil Air Patrol
That is a really good idea.
I have an expression I use to describe people post DD-214. "He's taken off his pack".... or he hasn't taken off his pack yet. The notion of "rank" can get interesting when you get off active duty and get a GS job, but the GS-15 you report to retired as an E-7 but you retired as an 0-5. But everyone holds on to the branch they served in.
I like that expression.
I did a short stint in the Tennessee National Guard. On drill weekends, the First Sergeant worked for the Captain. But back to work on Monday, the Captain (O-3) was a postal worker, and the 1SG was the Post Master.
I gave my newer (BDU) uniforms to one of my soldiers right after my retirement ceremony. That weekend I went to the garage and built a shadow box, took everything off the Class A jacket, stuck it in said shadow box, and hung it up on the wall in the garage (it's now in the master bedroom of my current house). I still have a pair of desert boots that I wear occasionally for working around the house, but uniforms? Yeah, no.
You hit on a pet peeve of mine - folks that still bring up their rank at work. When I was GS we had a new guy come in to another shop. His new boss was an old friend of mine, and bet me that within 3 minutes of meeting me that this dude would bring up being a retired CSM. It came out in the initial verbal exchange - less than a minute. So, HE said CSM, but what I heard was douchebag. Your rank in uniform means exactly zero in most work environments. It may help land a job (level of experience/management etc.), but seldom means much afterward. And for heaven sakes NEVER put up your "I Love Me" wall in a civilian office! One or two things maybe, but keep the coin rack and awards at the house - nobody cares.
Some people care
@Golgi-Gyges, I gotta think about your comment. @oldtop4682 reflects the view that hanging onto rank is strange (and a little depressing), but you make a good point to look at it from the perspective of the guy doing it. Why does he do it? And honestly, I don't understand, but they are probably doing it for a deep personal reason.
@the_bureaucrat no. It's not deep. The rank is just a title that you may never, or rarely use, like on paper.
I guess it depends on where you retired to. Down here in the south people care very much about veterans. I don’t have my entire I love me wall in my civilian office, but I have enough of it. And I am not alone. There are a lot of prior military where I work.
@@garywillford I hear you. I also live in the South, but I'm personally just not into putting my service on display. Folks know, but I don't wear it if you know what I mean.
I'm kind of a that was then, this is now type. Does not mean I'm not proud though.
Listen I have my tactical cool guy gear and stuff for my personally benefit. But the US Army gear and uniforms I got rid of rank and US Army Name.
Interesting point...Never thought of that.
Avoid military license plate. Whatever you do, don't put service branch sticker on your CAR
@@lifesabeach5405 It is a personal choice. Some may see it as a form of bragging. I see it as something I did to set myself apart from normies. If I - being hella scared -was able to make myself jump from military aircraft 25 times, then I am going to quietly let people know. Besides, those bronze star license plate drivers (that can't drive well 😄) will certainly display what may actually be a BS award. We should know about how awards sometimes go.
@lifesabeach5405, I gotta think about this one. My mom gave me a license plate frame reading "Army Retired". I liked it when I got it, but nowadays I look at it and wonder what I'm doing.
In a high tax state, took that free license plate quickly.
Purple Heart license plate only one worth it. No taxes on my car
@issahumps yeah. In TX we don't pay anything extra for the military plates. I'm not sure about other states. I also know that if you have a certain level of service disability, the toll roads are free.
To each his own.
Well said.
Forget your service branch - Hogwash - - especially for the Army-Navy game!
@bobteachout, OK, you have a point there.
Still have four sets of my woodland & desert BDUs….
Classic!
Civilian instructors at Brown Hall, FLW.😂
Oh...yes...
While it has been 38 years since I got out for some silly reason I still write the date by date ,month,year ie 5/1/25 which was standard when I was in .and to this day still cause some slight befudment from people .
That is a great example of one of those habits that gets ingrained so deep you can't begin to shake it off.
FYI😊
Thanks
"Let go"??? No! Our brothers and sisters have an unbreakable bond. No! We will not let go!
Good point. You should never "let go" of the PEOPLE who serve or you served with.
Its sad to see those that think they are their rank..😂😂
I was faked it through a 20 year career. I never cared. Only wanted the quick pension and the VA rating. Most of the military was not worth my time.. But hey, i gotta eat..
A while back I met a guy who was a retired Army COL (and I know because it was the first thing he told me). And he was SO SAD to be around. I'm not sure I ever put my finger on what it was, but there was something depressing about him.
I have my instructor nameplate in the office and that is it.
@@lelandgaunt9985 You're part of the problem.
how can one let go of their Military past when military is establish in Amendment XIV Section 3 since 9 July 1868? the Words, civil or military, are found there;
I gotta fine tune the idea of "letting go". I don't mean "throw it away". There are things about service that should be retained
@@the_bureaucratin My Case : I cannot get out of the Military; I am U.S.ARMY HOSPITAL was born Citizen, Commission General Militia Officer; I was born at U.S.ArmyHospital on FortsILL : Fort SILL; now I am U.S.MARINES Marine Commission General, Age and Class, Laws Marines Militia Officer;
DoD is about to find out they owe I a crap load of Money since I am covered under the “common Defence and general Welfare” Clause of Article I.8.1 since 17 September 1787;
Should we start doing this before we have hit our retirement date?
A little bit, but not too much. I think that is healthy to recognize that as you pass thru your retirement transition that you will slowly feel less connected to the service. But at the same time, being too obvious about it might sour people on you. Towards the end of my career I tried to shift to doing "unimportant" stuff that helped those around me but slowly distanced me from them.
How does it vanish when you were wounded there and can't sleep at all. Some are missing many body parts and hurts me more looking at them and I have my own to deal with. Before you scribble something think about
Some had to pick up dead body parts so family can have a funeral. Yes it does not help holding on but pain at 2;00 am rings. Won't be dogmatic. Leave the people alone as they chose this journey and where were you. Only the agency of the ultimate concern keeps them keeping on somehow.
This is a great comment because it gets after some of the things that you should (or must) keep. Particularly memories. I gotta work on how it fits together, but the 50 year old who hosed body parts off the concrete so they could get the checkpoint reopened holds a rare perspective that the next generation of soldier & veteran needs to be able to talk to. Without those memories and the wisdom that time brings, we can't help those who come behind us.
Rifle?!…it’s called a weapon! Unless you were AG 🙃
I knew someone was going to get on my @$$ about that...I'm just surprised that you didn't notice I called Sailors "Soldiers" in the Burial at Sea video.
As always, Coast Guard is missing from your graphics. 🙄
Not because I don't love them...I thought you were going to raise the issue of the Coast Guard's Burial at Sea Program.
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