I’m sure you have a few questions about this website. Let me give you a little background.
Who I am.
I am an active duty Army warrant officer with over 31 years of service – over nine years as an enlisted musician and 22 years as a bandmaster. I have been stationed around the world but mostly stateside assignments. I have seen the Army transform through tremendous change, mostly in the realm of professional development (military education, training, tuition assistance, and credentialing assistance) and transition (ETS or Retirement) preparation.
I have two adult children (one married with a child of his own) from my first marriage earlier in my career. I remarried four years ago, a relationship that came with a built-in teenager who I call my son. I joined the Army as a single teenager (19 years old), was married as an E5/E6/WO1/CW2 with children, was a single custodial parent as a CW2/CW3, a non-custodial parent as a CW4/CW5 through my kids’ teenage years, and now remarried with a teenager as a CW5 moving into retirement. That’s a lot to say that I’ve seen this career through many perspectives (single/married/divorced, with/without children, enlisted/officer). It is my hope that one of these perspectives will speak to you.
I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in counseling. I have spent a good part of my career developing leaders through formal and informal training and counseling.
Enough about me. More will be revealed through the blog posts and podcasts.
What this is.
Ready and Resilient Retirement is a resource for my fellow service members and veterans to help during their transition between military service and retirement (post-service) life. There are so many resources available to you. I am not looking to replicate those that already exist. I will, however, review many of the websites and other resources available and point readers to the very best of them.
When I will retire.
I have been saying “3 to 5 years” since around 2010 when I was approaching 20 years of service. This means I’ve blown past my planned retirement date a dozen times. Earlier this year, I jumped between October 2024, 2025, 2027 and I am happy to report that I submitted my retirement request packet just yesterday for 1 October 2023.
Where I am stationed and where I am retiring.
I am currently stationed in South Korea. This is my first time being stationed in a foreign country (not counting an OIF deployment), although I have been stationed in other OCONUS assignments (Alaska and Hawaii). I will retire in Arizona next year.
Why I am creating this website.
As stated earlier, there are so many resources out there to assist service members and veterans in their transition from military to civilian life. There are so many required training sessions one must attend in order to get separation orders. Still, I speak to service members daily who are unaware of the myriad benefits available to them before, during, and after retirement. I have attended countless briefings and have heard so much of this information repeated, but I pick up on new things each time. It may be the delivery method or the timing and receptivity of the service member that causes many to miss it. The intention of this page is to share my experiences in hopes that it speaks to someone and helps others develop a successful plan for retirement.
Retirement is not a singular step but a process. Let’s work through this process and build a ready and resilient retirement together.