Since I started CONUS Battle Drills I’ve had many people send me resume’s to review, ask me tips on handling headhunters and recruiters, and even helped proofread some college papers, but I was really unprepared for the conversation I had last night (even though I probably should have been).
A battle buddy of mine that I used to serve with gave me a call to talk about a friend of his that is getting out of the army (Let’s call him John). John suffered a combat injury that has left him with chronic pain, and that pain has led to many more issues to include substance abuse, marital problems, and depression. John is also getting out of the Army soon and doesn’t seem to have a plan for what he wants to do. My battle buddy gave me an open-ended question asking for advice on how to handle this situation or what advice to give to his friend.
Now if you follow this page at all, you should have noted that John is on the path noted in Dark Night of the Soul and is exhibiting many of the risk factors for suicide. If John doesn’t make some changes, there is a very good chance he is going to become another statistic and through his surrender, another family is going to be broken.
If you’ve read the book, then you know that one of the objectives of CONUS Battle Drills is to prepare guys in such a way that they can address some of these risk factors and get on the path to healing and success. I am not qualified to help John through many of his problems, and neither is my battle buddy, but together we are the first line of defense and can get him the real, professional help that he needs.
Surrender
My heart breaks for guys like John, but he is surrendering. It’s easier to get up and ring the bell during hell week than to continue to suffer. It’s easier to quit in mountain phase of ranger school than to endure another two months of pain. It’s easier to drop out in selection than to continue to roll in the log pit filling your pockets with vomit. The hard part, and the part that makes it all worthwhile, is to fight on, push past your limits and succeed in your goal.
Gentlemen, getting drunk and high, divorcing your wife, losing your job, that’s surrender. You know what’s hard? Fighting an addiction, repairing a marriage and building trust, getting promoted, even apologizing. I’m not going to marginalize John’s problems, however, and just say that a change in attitude is going to fix everything because it’s not, but he needs to make a commitment mentally to get off the path of least resistance, get back on azimuth, and start working towards what is important in order to find healing and satisfaction.
What is Important to You?
The second big question is to understand why you are getting out. We have explored that extensively and even argued about whether that needs to be the first big question instead of the second. Understanding what is important to you is very similar to the why because it becomes the overarching goal in which all other smaller goals will fall.
Using my earlier examples, the guys who eventually earn the SEAL Trident, Ranger Tab, or Special Forces Tab went to that school with the mental attitude that no matter what, they were going to achieve that goal, but they also compartmentalized their problems and challenges and created a series of small goals that were attainable that fed into the overall goal: Pass the PT test, don’t fall out of the run, find the next point in land nav, get over this obstacle, don’t quit. Even though surrender was an option at every turn, they avoided it because it didn’t fit into their overall goal.
So let me ask the question, What is most Important to You in Life? Think about everything that you could lose, which of those things would be the absolute worst? To me, it’s my family. I can lose my job, my house, all my things, but all of those can be replaced, my family can’t. Therefore every action I take, every decision I make, I ask myself whether or not that action or decision is helping to preserve that which matters most to me. If the answer is “no” then I need to correct my course, get off the path to surrender, and move back towards my objective.
Paying the Small Debts First
I’m a big fan of Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University. In many cases of soldiers that I work with, financial strife is the first problem that they face and things snowball from there. Dave Ramsey gives counseling every day to people sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, and his advice always starts with paying the small debts first. This gives us the opportunity to take some weight out of our rucksacks a little at a time, develop good habits, and prepare us to take on the biggest monsters because the ankle biters have been taken care of and we can laser focus on the bigger issues.
In John’s case, however, finances have become a symptom or a consequence of his initial injury that drove his addiction. Now he’s facing a major life change by getting out with no job, no career goals, and no focus. This is compounding problems in his marriage, making him want to quit. In John’s case, finding a job is his smallest debt.
Let me put it this way: John isn’t going to wake up tomorrow and not have pain. He isn’t going to wake up and not have an addiction. He isn’t going to wake up and not have any problems in his marriage. There is no action he can take today to make those problems go away. In fact, he will be fighting those battles for many years to come, BUT he can wake up tomorrow and have a job! He can take a single action this afternoon and tomorrow wake up with a career; it’s a small victory and one he certainly needs in his life right now.
John also needs to get off the path of surrender and do the hard task of asking for professional help with his addiction, managing his pain, and repairing his marriage. Gentlemen, going to a mental health professional doesn’t make you weak. It’s hard to admit that you need help, the mistake is thinking you can do it alone.
Conclusion
I know a lot of you are suffering like John is, and too many of our brothers out there are quitting life because they can’t handle the enormity of their problems. I want you to know that there is help, there is healing, and you are not alone. One of the pillars of my strength come from God, and I encourage you to seek Him out. Even if you don’t believe, joining a men’s group where you can talk openly with other men facing the same problems will give you great strength just like your battle buddy did in combat. Please don’t surrender, there are people in this world that are counting on you, and to them what you have done in your life makes you their hero. You can do this and there are people that can help.
God Bless every one of you!
-LJF
Thanks for the work in helping folks transition. I retired in October 2015 and was lucky enough to have some great mentors in the corporate arena who helped me prepare for my transition long before I retired. I’m a corporate recruiter now and I spent as much time as I can helping servicemembers who are in transition or have recently transitioned. Getting out of the military takes a lot of adjustment even if you are prepared so I think what you are doing here is great. Thanks for your effort in helping our brothers and sisters make the transition as they hang up the uniform and don the conus battle gear!
If you ever need any assistance or know of a vet that needs assistance with resumes and preparing for to storm the civilian shores, please don’t hesitate to contact me.