Howdy, I am humbly seeking advice and networking!

I am retiring from the Active-Duty Air Force after 23+ years in June (officially 1 Oct). Having been an AF officer for my entire adult life, (since the day I graduated from A&M) the next step is exciting but daunting. I am currently living in Anchorage, Alaska but am looking to move back closer to Texas upon retirement. Both of my kids are currently A&M students, and I am particularly interested in moving to the College Station area (would jump at an opportunity to live in Aggieland, even for less money). But I am flexible and just want to be close enough to visit the kids and parents in Texas

Over the past few months, I have been working hard on civilianizing my resume, building my linkedin profile and networking as much as possible. I am interested/a good fit in the defense industry but am open to anything. Knowing that I am 45 years old and starting a 2nd career, what tips do you guys have? What should I be doing at 6 or so months out from military retirement to set myself up for success?

My career field isn't an exact match for too many civilian jobs, but I think I'd be a good fit for Project Management, Operations Management, or Human Resources from commanding/leading Airmen.

Any advice from those who have been through this transition or networking opportunities are much appreciated! Thanks and Gig'em.

Reach out to companies like NextOp and the like, they specialize in helping with translation of military skills to white collar work applications, and have relationships with big companies that do a lot of hiring.

As a side gig I recruit vets for my company after they get their MBAs and mentor a lot of vet interns and early career employees. The most important thing I can say is that you really have to think through how you want to spend the 9-11 hours a day you'll be working. Some people think they want office jobs because they pay well, then they actually do them and hate it tremendously.

Shoot me a PM and we can talk more, but the key is to really homework the type of work you want to get into (and stay away from) in order to increase the odds of you finding a company and a job where you feel like you belong, vs working at a place that feels soul sucking.

Thanks guys, will do. I agree that I don't want to sign myself up for something I am not going to enjoy. I've already put in a full career and I am blessed in that I don't need to make more than $50K to make what I make now along with my Air Force retirement.

There are a few smaller defense contractors in CS. KBSI, Blueforge, and all the research they have going on at the Rellis campus. Of course, you could throw a rock and hit a number of places in SA or DFW that would at least look at the resume of a retired military officer with PM experience.

If you do land in BCS, check out the American Legion in Bryan. Lots of good folks over there.

I constantly see open positions posted for Lockheed on LinkedIn. No idea if they're legit or not. And a lot of times they're remote positions.

You may want to consider State of Texas jobs. Not only does the Texas Veteran's Commission prioritize hiring of veterans, but all state agencies are required by law to do so. You're practically guaranteed an interview if you're the most qualified veteran for a job, even if there are 100 other more highly-qualified non-veteran's preference candidates in the pool.

I had great success hiring a number of veterans in my previous work doing procurement and contracts for a state agency. Supply chain, logistics, project management, procurement… a lot of your military experience is going to be directly applicable and a great fit for doing contracts/purchasing roles. Some of the vets I hired, started as temps, through either Peak Performers or GHG (Goodwill). Those temp roles would give you a taste without committing to something full-time, but ultimately you'd want to create a profile on the WorkInTexas and CAPPS (centralized accounting personnel payroll) websites. (Tip: Less is not more when filling out those state of Texas applications. Be sure to mention any and every little thing in answering the application and interview questions, and translate it from federal/military speak for the folks screening the applications to understand what it means and how it applies to the job duties in the posting.)

Now, the elephant in the room, most jobs are obviously in Austin, so you do have to deal with being surrounded (and I do mean surrounded) by a bunch of arrogant (and often ignorant) t-sips and their hangers-on. It ain't College Station by any means, but Austin is only about an hour and a half from there… plus, there's Central Texas BBQ… everywhere.

Strategic Staffing Solutions is also a strongly pro veteran company - they do a mix of permanent placement to company services and staff augmentation services. They told me once something like 60% of their people are vets. They are in 20+ countries and multiple Texas cities.

This lady helped several of my friends as we left the military and they all had great experiences.

I appreciate that. I also am connected with her on LinkedIn. Translating military to civilian for resume is her specialty…very helpful.

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