Tag: career

What do You want to be when you get out?

I don’t know why, but so few of you actually ask yourselves about what career you want to get into before you ETS.  It baffles me how many of you get out without a plan.  It’s like someone pissed you off so you said: Now what?

If you get out without a plan you’re going to end up going to school on your GI bill to get some criminal justice degree, or you’ll end up on some .gov jobs site trying to get employment doing your MOS as a civilian. If you don’t like our MOS, if it’s not your dream to be an S6 for the rest of your short time on this planet, then you don’t have to do that ok?  Seriously, you can do something else.

When I got out, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn’t want to work with the government.  I talk about this in detail in the book, but I got to interview with a ton of different companies that make products I use every day like Unilever, and Fidelity, and Diageo.  I finally decided to start my career with John Deere and it has been an awesome ride!

I had a chance to learn all about factory operations, work alongside the United Auto Workers union and learn how to weld. I got to run agriculture equipment all over the US and Canada.  I got to visit factories in Mexico and farmers in California, Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and more.  I also got to lead the team to bring out the new 459E baler and create the intro videos for it.  Now i’m the lead guy for Tweels and i’ve gotten to work closely with Michelin. That’s a far cry from being a platoon leader and an intel analyst!

I’m not the only one, there are many other veterans with successful careers in companies and organizations all around the world.  Other guys have started their own companies like RangerUp, Warrior Soul, Crossfit Sua Sponte, and Southern Pines Brewery.  Some guys have started charitable organizations like Warrior 360 and 22kill.

Look, the point is that if you get out without a plan like the dude above, you’re going to end up having to go back to what you were doing before.  If you make a plan and think about shit for five fucking seconds, you can do a lot of really awesome stuff.

This is not to disparage the guys who actually WANT to do their MOS as a civilian, i’m talking about the guys who run out of options because they weren’t prepared.

If you are getting ready to ETS and don’t know what you’re doing and don’t know what to expect, get a copy of the book.  There are a ton of details on how to get interviews and other challenges you’ll face when you ETS.  If you’re too cheap, I want to help you anyway, so check out the 4 big questions and read through that at least.

If you’ve already gotten out and realized this was you, please share this post so your buddies maybe won’t make the same career mistake.  Seriously, it takes two seconds and will make a big difference to the guy who needs it.

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“…the best that is in me.”

Guys don’t become soldiers for the paycheck, they do it because they believe in something.  As a soldier it is easy to find meaning and purpose in what you do. There is plenty of symbolism and history for us to hang our hats on.

I still get goosebumps when I stare at a flag during the national anthem.I remember reading about the 504th Parachute Infantry 82nd Airborne and how our unit was named The Devils in Baggy Pants by a German soldier in WWII.  Jumping in Arnhem with men that were there that day, and fighting alongside my brothers are all things that give me pride in what I accomplished in my time in uniform.

That part is easy.

What about when you get out though?  Not only does that camaraderie not exist, but few companies have a rich an awesome history for you to be a part of.  Some guys like my buddies John Dill and Micah Neibauer decided to venture into the great unknown, take huge risks, and start their own businesses.  Crossfit Sua Sponte and Southern Pines Brewery are both successful businesses and each of them can be proud of that accomplishment. By the way, if you’re in the Raleigh or Ft. Bragg area, I recommend both!

I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that I chose John Deere.  Deere is a company rich in history and symbolism as well.  It’s a logo that is recognizable and stands for quality products.  It’s a market leader and a company that I can say I’m proud to work for.  It’s been around 175 years surviving a number of recessions and depressions, and has always been at the forefront of innovation.

Every day, as I walk in to start, I’m greeted by this picture below:

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“I will never put my name on a product that doesn’t have in it the best that is in me.” -John Deere

Every time I see it, I want to go back through time and high-five him.  It’s the civilian equivalent of this:

 

Airborne!  Nothing Runs Like a Deere!

 

 




ETS Points of Performance

Do you know the points of performance for when you ETS?

As soon as the light turned green the anchor line cable began to hop up and down as troopers jumped from the C-130 Aircraft.  I was in the middle of the stick, so I really couldn’t see much except the parachute of the guy in front of me.  The whooshing of the cold winter air was already enveloping the plane and I could hear the distinct roar of the planes engines.  Finally we started to move forward.

I had my fist firmly in the pack of the guy in front of me as we shuffled towards the back of the plane.  Even though we were in the dead of winter, being rigged up for so long, I had beads of sweat collecting around my eyes.  I blinked furiously to keep the salty water out of my eyes since one hand held my static line and the other was on my reserve.

I was already looking past the guy in front of me at the safety when he stopped.  I tripped and bumped into him, feeling the tug of my ruck on my waist as the rhythm I had going was halted.  It had been a while since this guy jumped, and apparently he had a last minute second thought…didn’t last long though, only about a second and he jumped.

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As I handed my static line, I shot a fleeting glance to my left as I turned to my right and jumped out the door.

“Shit.”

I jumped almost at the same time as the other door.  As soon as I buried my chin into my chest, my helmet fell forward and covered my eyes.

“Shit.”

Any of you familiar with the ACH helmet know that the pads are hard as a rock when it’s cold, then as you warm them up they get soft.  My chin strap was no longer tight, and my dumbass didn’t fix it in the plane.

“One Thousand…Two thousand…Three thous…”

I felt the opening shock and lifted up my helmet to quickly check my chute.  All I saw was canopy in my face.  I was directly on top of another guy’s parachute.

“Shit.”

I tried to stand up and run off his chute, but I couldn’t get my footing with my ruck and I began to slide off the center towards the edge of his chute.  Then his canopy began to taco around me.

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“Shit.”

I reached frantically for the edges of his parachute and pushed myself off.  He was already pulling slip as I got under canopy again.  I looked up and realized quickly that I was drifting backwards towards him again.

“Shit.”

I spread eagled as wide as I could and bounced off of his risers.  It worked!  I bounced off and was about to be on my merry way when it felt like someone cut my chute off.  When I bounced off, I lost all my air and began to free fall again.

“Shit.”

Instantly I went from spread eagle back to tight body position and wrapped my hand around my reserve handle.  A millisecond before I pulled it I felt a second shock.  Without letting go of the reserve handle I looked up and saw I was under a good canopy.  The other guy was more than 100 feet above me vigorously pulling slip when he yelled down, “You ok?”  I responded, “Yeah, you?”  “Yeah, get the fuck away from me.”  I smiled as I looked down, the ground was already less than 50 feet away, I released my ruck and realized I was hauling ass backwards.

“Shit.”

 

When I jumped that day, a lot of shit went wrong, but I was trained and prepared for every scenario.  All of that happened in probably less than 30 seconds; I needed almost no time to react.  I can also guarantee that probably every paratrooper that read this knew exactly what to do as he read the story as well.

Being prepared is the difference between life and death.

Knowing that, you still have no fucking plan on what you are going to do when you get out?

You need to have your finances in order, know why you’re getting out, know where you want to live, and know what you want to do, and you need to do that at least six months out.

I’ve seen far too many soldiers think that getting out of the military is going to magically solve all their problems, it’s not.  You need to get yourself ready before you become another statistic…you need to be prepared for that shitty jump.

-LJF




Why you should hire a combat veteran

Even giants like McDonald’s need combat veterans on staff, I realized that yesterday.

Before I even begin to recount this story, I want to start by saying this is in no way a bad review of McDonald’s, I fed my tribe of 5 for $21, I’m not going to complain about that.  I did, however, notice some things that I think businesses need to take note of.

Yesterday we decided to have lunch at McDonald’s because the kids love it there.  They enjoy the french fries and the play area, and I enjoy the cost of the food.  We went to the restaurant that many readers of this blog are familiar with, you know, the one on Skibo road near Fort Bragg?  I looked down at my receipt of $21 and the MBA in me marveled at how they made money, realizing that their margins must certainly be in the pennies per item.  Well, after about five minutes of pondering the profit margins of this fast food behemoth I realized that I was not going to be getting my food very quickly, several people in front of me in line were still waiting, and it wasn’t looking good for them either.

I leaned back to watch intently on the operation, switching from MBA mode where I was thinking about the supply chain, volumes, and margins, to military mode and I began analyzing the leadership in this fast food establishment.

Although there were at least 8 employees on staff, there were only three employees working.  One was making the food, one was taking orders inside, and one was taking orders for the drive through.  These three were trying diligently to keep up with the demand, but were failing to meet customer expectations. I felt like a lane grader from my ROTC days as I had the thought that any Ranger Instructor would agree with, “If I can’t tell who’s in charge, someone is getting a no-go.”

The prep station was a mess.  Someone had started to unload a box but didn’t finish, and now it sat right in the area where they prep trays and bags for customers.  That created further disorganization and chaos.  The next order came up, and as one of the employees handed it to an older gentleman next to me she commented, “I know it was for here, but we’re out of trays.”  I noticed three trays under the box in the prep station, and as I looked to my right, five more by the trash can.

One employee was standing next to the fryer watching something cook…don’t those things have timers?  I know i’ve heard that annoying alarm.

Another walked by several times, apparently looking for apple pies; don’t know if she found them.

A guy with a different shirt, maybe the manager?  Doesn’t he notice there are four employees standing around doing nothing but staring at screens?  Guess not.  Where’s he going, there’s 15 people waiting on food?

I looked at my wife, “They’re staffed appropriately, but they’re not using the personnel properly.”  She rolled her eyes, as she often does when my mind wanders this way and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.

It was at that moment that I realized I could walk five miles onto Fort Bragg, grab any guy with Sergeant Stripes and a maroon beret, with absolutely zero training and place him in that McDonald’s and in five minutes he would have that place totally unfucked.  Everyone would be doing something…mostly cleaning (the place needs it).  No one would be standing around, and everyone would know what everyone else was doing.  Most of all, everyone would know who was in charge.

That Airborne E-5 would notice the same things that I did:  You, the prep station needs cleaned and someone needs to be stationed there, getting orders ready, nothing else.  Two people cooking, not one.  You there, stop staring at the fucking fryer, it has a loud ass alarm when the shit is ready, go clean something.  What are you doing?  Looking for apple pies?  Ok, find them, and don’t walk by trash on the ground again, you pick it up and throw it away, slob.  You, go pick up all the trays around the restaurant.  You, you’re not on break, put out the cigarette and go clean the bathroom, smells like shit in there.  That’s seven…he still has two more people to assign tasks to.

McDonald’s, the fast food giant, which clearly knows how to make money, that analyzes every single detail of the business, made one critical error:  they didn’t hire a leader.  They wasted salaries of unused labor and frustration on the part of customers, which will cost them money as myself and others will certainly be more apprehensive about going there again in the future.

What the combat veteran has is a keen understanding of how to get a team working united towards a common goal.  He has trained himself to see the battlefield and through the chaos, identify weaknesses, and move quickly to stop them.  He has been under a stress that you simply cannot imagine, and he did it with a smile on his face.  He may know nothing about your business, but he knows how to lead, and it’s not the stuff you’re going to learn from reading a John C. Maxwell book, it’s the stuff they make movies out of.

Your people are your most important asset, and they need leadership.  The US Military knows how to train leaders. Go ahead and exploit that for your gain, I know plenty of guys that would be willing to work for you.

-LJF