We Decided To Leave The Military And Here’s Why Part 1

The scariest part of leaving the military isn’t paperwork—it’s letting go of an identity you’ve worn for years. We open up about the exact reasons we chose to transition, from high year tenure reality to the simple truth that promotion or PCS weren’t likely and we wanted control over our next chapter. No hero edits here—just clear, candid moments where comfort wrestled with purpose, and how we finally pictured a future past the gate.

We dig into the mindset shifts that make or break a smooth exit: how to see beyond uniforms and pay cycles, why “military old, corporate young” is an advantage, and the role mentors on the outside play in turning fear into a plan. You’ll hear how to diversify your network, ask better questions about insurance, taxes, and total compensation, and translate leadership, logistics, and people work into civilian language that lands interviews. We share listener insights from retirees and soon-to-be vets, exploring why some leave at 10 and others at 30, and why both paths can be right if they’re aligned with your goals.

Then we walk through the moment most people never talk about—the quiet click. No cheering crowd, just a confirmation screen and a rush of excitement, fear, guilt, and relief. That’s where clarity showed up for us. If you’re wrestling with “this is all I know,” or wondering when to choose a date, this conversation maps the fog and points you toward first steps you can take today.

If this helped you think differently about transition, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s on the fence, and leave a review with your biggest question so we can tackle it in the next part of the series.

Transcript

New Year Live Kickoff & Set Up

SPEAKER_00 0:42

What's up, buddy? No, I just like my stuff. I didn't get to test my stuff out. What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? Party people. What's happening?

Why We’re Making A Transition Series

Defining Today’s Focus: The Decision

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Happy Sunday, everyone. Happy Sunday, everyone. Happy Sunday, everyone. Peace, human beings. Peace, human beings. Peace, peace, peace, peace. It's your boy, Philly DC, with my co-host Pete. And then my other co-hosts, Jessica Playa and Dell Brown. We are your unpopular celebrities live and direct for another show this Sunday, the last Sunday of 2025. And if you're here and you're going to join in here in a second, we appreciate you being here with us to close out the new year. So we have a special show for you today. If you know uh Pete and I, we have been going through our journey as we start to begin our transition from military life to civilian life. And so you, a lot of you folks have reached out to us and asked us how it's going, what are our thoughts about it. We gave you some uh some different points. And you told us, hey, you guys should do a show to talk about your experiences for folks who are thinking about transitioning from military to civilian life, for those who are currently transitioning, for those who have already, should I say, crossed over into the promised land, uh, the DD214. And so we thought, uh, what better way to close out the year by doing a first show? So this will be likely a series where we can't cover everything in one video or one show. It's gonna be a series, maybe three to four. We'll see how it goes. But the whole purpose of this one is is we're gonna talk about today what would our what would our what was our thoughts? What was what were our thoughts? Okay, get my mind together. Um, what drove us to the decision to transition, to to decide to transition from military life. So I think it will be a good one today. It will be a good one. So thoughts before we get started.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Uh I'm trying to do one thing and then I'll be right with you.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Oh, don't worry, just jump in when you're ready.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Okay. Uh sorry, people are asking to share it on our Facebook page. It should be on the Facebook page. Don't know what y'all are looking at, but I'm seeing it on mine. All right. Uh, if not, I shared it on my personal page. So y'all could find it on there if we are friends. Uh, and you could find it on there. But I'm seeing it on ours. And you could also check it on YouTube as we always say. If you don't see it, Kim Bracley, what's up, big dog? Uh bro. Faith Evans, what's going on? Faith Donovan, Faith Evans. I said Faith Evans. That's why Faith. It's really tough to commit. Yeah, hey, for all of everybody, we got 27 people in here. For anybody in here who's retired already, if you want to share when we're sharing your thoughts, man, please feel free. And if you have any questions as we're going through this content, please feel free. And know that everybody's journey is different. So if this does not, if this does not hit you or hit the right spot, tickle your fanny, that is okay. That is okay. Or if you're thinking about it and have specific questions and want us to answer it or or get in touch with it, then let us know. Uh Nikki Drago, happy holidays, P. Uh, check the typo. What is the typo? Oh, good looking out. Thank you, Drago. Oh, good looking out. That's been up there forever. Okay, I'll change that. It was a typo on our uh Facebook page. That's what they were saying. I will definitely it says I might it says I may not be not be, it says not be up there twice. Man, that's been up there forever. But uh, yeah, anyway, as we already see, like oh Sean Jefferson, retired and loving and fam. Yeah, we'll talk about some of that, uh, but we're gonna take it from the from the first start. So, do you want me to jump first? Do you want to jump first? How you want to do this?

Community Shoutouts And Participation

Mindset Near High Year Tenure

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Uh, however, you want to do it. Doesn't matter. I can do either or let me I'll I'll tell you what. Let me let me start first. Let me give a bit of an overview. Um, so let me let me start off by saying this. Just like what P just mentioned, there are some folks who are in the audience who are already still in the military, still wearing our cloth, and then you have some folks who are in the midst of transition, and you have some folks who have already been in the promised land. So just everything we express here is going to be from our perspective. And I will tell you, I'm not, I'm gonna tell you ahead of time, I don't know everything. I don't there's a lot of things I knew, and quite a few things, or quite a lot of things I did not know. So, my whole purpose is to give you um my perspective. So let me start when I was at Davis Mothod. And what I'll do is so I won't hog the mic, I'll I'll do it in spurts, and then I'll let you jump in and provide your piece. And we can do it in stages. Okay. So I'll start at Davis Martha. I was a command chief at Davis Mothead from 2022 to 2002. I'm sorry, 2021 to 2023, but of of um 2024. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I need to drink more radical. But anyway, so to put it in perspective, anybody knows me when I talk to folks and they ask me what is the highlight of my career, my favorite assignments. Two favorite assignments, Kadena Air Base, Japan, back in when I was a chief there from 2016 and 19, and then Davis Monthet between the dates I before I meant before a few minutes ago, before I even mentioned it, uh, when I was command chief there. One, because of the mission and the people. And I tell you, when I was at Davis Monthet, I was about to hit higher tenure. For folks who may not know, for a chief higher tenure is 30 years.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Can I stop you real quick? Yeah, you're frozen. You've been frozen for a minute.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

I'll jump back out.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

All right. Uh, as he's jumping back out and jumped back in, I don't know why it does that. Some thoughts. What's up, big dog? Cat, uh, let's say Clash Player DJ. Not sure what that is, but what's up, big dog? Welcome. Uh, and then uh Oshon Jefferson, always good to link what with y'all. Stay on with us, stay on with us. Uh, we'll we'll try to entertain y'all and keep y'all abreast as we're going along with this, try to keep y'all lively and stuff as we talk. But go ahead, you're back.

Visualizing Life After The Uniform

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Okay. Um, I'll speed it up. Okay, so I got to the point where I knew I was gonna hear high-year tenure. So when you hear high year tenure, you start to really think about retirement. And I will tell you, when I was close to high year tenure, before I got the job at IMSC, I wasn't, I was ready to retire, but I wasn't. Meaning I knew that I didn't have much of a choice. Once you hear high year tenure, that's it. And so I was coming to slowly the grips of knowing that it was time for me to transition. And to be honest, I was torn. Like I was happy to know that sooner or later I can have more time with my family, but I wasn't ready to transition for a number of reasons. One, I just loved a job, and number two, figuring out what I wanted to do. And some people may say, Well, why would you say that? I mean, one thing I've noticed is you've done something for so long, and for me and a lot of folks, three decades, three decades, 30 years of doing the same thing, you can kind of get caught up into the idea that it's all you know. And I think for my peers who have gotten out or transitioned before 30, I've always heard folks say it's better to know when to leave at the right time. So you can still get in the civilian marketplace and you still have, you know, you're still younger. And I always, truth be told, I always kind of frowned on that. I was like, uh, I'm here to the end. You know, what other better job is this? This is the greatest job in the world. And then here I am at you know, close to 30 years wondering, like, maybe that was a bad idea. Like, this is this is all I know. What do I do? And it just I was trying to visualize myself doing something out of uniform, and honestly, it was so difficult because I was when I was visualizing it, I visualized myself in a suit. I visualized myself talking to people. When I was talking to people, all I saw was uniforms. That's all I saw. When I visualize myself getting paid, I kept thinking first and the 15th. When I visualize myself going to the hospital to get like my teeth clean or whatever, I kept visualizing myself going to the base. And so what I'm getting at is it was hard for me to see something on the other side. And I tell you, it was it was frightening at first and a little frustrating. I'll pause there.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

All right. Uh Todd Simmons asked a question. Well, not asked a question, but gave a point. I just want to hear your two-second rant on it. It said retirement starts the day you join.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

I won't disagree with, I would say that's 50-50. And here's why. I think I applaud people who have that type of mentality, but I don't know about you. When I came in, I was just trying to survive. I was thinking about four years and out. I was thinking about retirement. At 20 years old, I didn't even know what retirement was.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Good point. Yeah, good point.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

All I knew was it's just work, work, work, work, work.

A Simpler Breakpoint: Promotion And PCS

SPEAKER_00 11:01

It almost it almost sounds like the you start dying when you're born type mentality. Yeah. That's kind of how I how I think of that. Which is it's true, it's true. But I think, like you, when you first come in, it's I like you, like I don't think I thought about retiring, retiring, retirement. I know it was a possibility, but I think it was like a a thought, and then that's it. Like, you know what's funny? All the people that have retirement ceremonies, like when I was a young airman, I never thought I'd be there. First, I was like, I never want a retirement ceremony, and then I was like, I'll never even make it to retire. Anyway, we're going on a tangent. Uh West said that's my issue. I believe this is all I know. We'll talk about that as well. I'm not sure if we'll get into this part or the next part, but uh, thanks for that. Uh that part, accepting the end, uh, the mindset shifts can be overwhelming. I'm glad you brought that up. And uh as we're talking about when we first thought about it, mine was a lot simpler. I didn't make it to higher tenured. I didn't want to see higher tenure, I didn't want the air force kicking me out. I wanted to get kicked out on my own accord. Uh the second thing is when I decided, it wasn't like, oh my god, I hate the Air Force. Oh my god, this tragic thing happened to me. Uh, oh my god, my family, uh, we don't want to move no more. It wasn't anything like that. It was very simple. It's I don't think I'm getting promoted, and they're not going to PCS me. So I didn't was like, what's the point? What's the point of sitting here for the next two to three years when those two things are a far along possibility? It's almost like the Air Force was moving along without me, and I didn't want that to happen. So I was just like, I'm not going to PCS. I don't think I'm gonna make promotion. So the best thing to do is control what you can control, and you know, just bow out gracefully. Very simple for me, very simple.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Yeah, and I think it's uh two different uh points here or parallels here. Here you are, you look like you said, you weren't near higher tenure, and I was. And I kind of want to unpack that a little bit. Like for you, since you weren't high at higher tenure, you had a a longer, you know, or uh a wider ceiling, a higher ceiling, you know, being uh where you were at rank-wise, you could have theoretically gone another three, four years.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

So two, three years, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

And two, three years, and could have gone may rank and extended it a little bit longer, right? And you were in a special duty position as a first sergeant. So in theory, you were in a position in your career where you well, I guess I'll let you answer that, whether you were you were um fulfilled at what you're doing. Because there are some people out there that decide to make the transition because they don't feel fulfilled or where they're at, either they're not progressing or they have the leadership that doesn't listen to them and they just feel frustrated. And they feel like it's time to leave out of frustration. Whereas you were you at that point?

Fulfillment Without Future Movement

SPEAKER_00 14:07

No, I wasn't at that. I love, I mean, I think the first sergeant gig or job was the one of the best. I mean, I had a lot of good jobs, but it was one of the best I did. So I was very fulfilled at that point for what I was doing. Uh, it just came simply down to those two things. They're not gonna PCS me. I was at Luke, my mistake, right? I did a special duty 365 and came back, you know, what they call homesteading. Uh, so I was there for technically seven years, but with a year gap in between. Uh, so it's a little different for me. I want to read Todd Simmons' point real quick. Uh, he said I don't either, but at some point I realized, and Todd Simmons is retired. Man, we got a lot of retirees coming in here. I love it. I love it. Uh, at some point I realized the mistake I made uh for the first decade I was in. So, with that knowledge, who do we ensure those day ones was prepared for anything? Uh forced or volunteer separation, get out at 4, 6, 10, 20, or 30. My comment was about preparing everyone day one to lead the military. I understand that. Is I I think it's yeah, yeah. Man, okay, we got a lot of people coming in, so we'll read all these, and then I got a question for you too. Uh, retirement, after all, that uh Thanos. Okay, feels go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

I'm I'm reading the wrong one. Which one are you reading? I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

The one that's on the screen.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Oh, okay. I was looking at the chat.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Oh, I gotta give you the chat. That's my fault. Yeah, I don't see it. Proceed, wait, I'm sorry. Hold on, hold on. I'm gonna give you the chat so you can take this one. Uh there you go.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Okay. Oh, Sean Jefferson says retirement after all, that ascending feels like starting over. Having mentors on another side is critical. Oh man, you get two for that one. And here's why.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Don't go on to it, don't go on to it. We got a lot of comments.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

All right, all right. Ah, Juana, how you doing? She's a good example, she's another good example who made the successful transition. So she says, I knew I would get promoted, I knew we would PCS again, and I knew they would separate us. And I love my last team and commander and group chiefs. It was time to leave. So that's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

See, she's the opposite end of me. Yeah, Thomas White, Eagles fan.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Thomas White, go birds. Retirement is like that, Thanos. Dread it, run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. That's my Marvel villain quote for the week. That was a good one.

unknown 16:51

I like that one.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Jeremy Shepard says, Always appreciate always appreciate hearing those perspectives or these perspectives. This is all I know. Narrative, definitely his home.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Yeah. We're gonna talk about that because that's what I got for for uh Philly next. But go ahead, three more comments.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Wes, what's up, brother? Wes Lawrence says, I told someone I'm afraid I'm too far gone. And oh man, doctrinated to be successful on the oh man, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. O'Shawn says, I love my job when I retired, but I was exposed to other things, so I was able to visualize the future. I know it was time to go. That's a good one, too. And then Sky Roy, what's up, brother? West Lawrence, this Pete. That's right.

“Retirement Starts Day One” Debate

SPEAKER_00 17:35

All right, you hater. Uh what up, what up, Mick Mick Williams? And what up, two C's? All right, go birds, boo. All right, good. We got through all the comments, so I got a question. Wait, I got a question for you because I was at the opposite end, and we gotta answer these quick so that we can move on through everything. Uh I was at the point where I was like, I'm not gonna PCS, I don't think I'm gonna get promoted, it's time to leave. You were at a point for almost 10 to 11 years, you could have got out. Yeah. So, what was your mindset for staying if quickly for 32 years? Especially at like 27 to 32, that last five years.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

I felt like the Air Force was like my life, my family. You know what I mean? Like, and I know it sounds silly, especially now retirement. You know, people say when you leave, the Air Force is not gonna care about you anymore, somebody's gonna replace you, and to some degree, that is true, but I really felt like this was my niche. Like, this was my family, and I wanted to stay. I enjoyed it. It was, and I must admit, I'm gonna be transparent here. A lot of us being comfortable. I was comfortable where I'm at. I knew what I was doing, I knew I was relevant, I knew people depended on me, I was happy where I was at, I was loving the mission. Why would I leave this to go to the civilian sector and start all over again? I wasn't even thinking, and like I said, I wasn't even thinking about retirement or doing something in the civilian world. I knew in the back of my mind, you know how you know, like say, you know how your your drive, you know how you're about to do something and you're dreading something coming, and you know it's coming, but you ignore it because you just I'm not gonna even think about it. You know it's coming. It's like you're not thinking about it. And that's why I knew. I knew eventually I have to I would have to leave, but I kept thinking, I'm not gonna dwell on that now.

SPEAKER_00 19:36

And that's long. That's a good point. And it uh that's uh an excellent point. You know, everybody knows it's coming, but it's like pause, but it's like when do you think about it? Uh Todd Simmons says when Pete worked for me as a senior airman, I had no idea uh anyone would let him re enlist after he left the office. Ain't be asking about that. That is no Cap, no cap right there. Uh Scott Roy said at DC, could you do 30 years in today's Air Force?

SPEAKER_01 20:10

No. Although, let me re let me let me re let me recant that. I would say for me, no. I think in my with the mindset I'm in now, I couldn't do it. And in full transparency, I told my son not to do it. My son, he never had the aspirations. My youngest son, who was now staff sergeant and at Guam, he never had aspirations to do 30. But if he asked me or he told me, Dad, I'm thinking about staying, what would you think? I would say no. I think a lot of the things that we were promised, that the new folks that's coming in now, such as the retirement, the high three, you know, the um that you don't, they don't have anymore. The protections and things that they would have that we they should have that we have, case in point. Um, I won't go into details, but you know what I'm talking about. The things that they pulled back, they don't have anymore. And I question not all, but there are some great leaders out there. But what concerns me is some of the young leaders that are coming up. Not all, but some. They don't, there's not many Todd Simmons out there. There are not many uh um Sarden Blackmans or Tony Johnson's or Khalif Rice or you go down the line, Scott Royce, there's not many out there left that actually would see somebody's potential and ensure that the lessons they learned while they were in, while they were going through the gauntlet, they want to avoid to make sure they don't go through. There's not many that's gonna take a Dominic Peterson under their wing and say, hey, look, not only do you need to do good at your job, you need to do good at life too. And this is how you do it. And then not only that, be the example for them to show them. In other words, not not not say do something, but they don't do it. There's not many out there like that.

Fear Of “This Is All I Know”

SPEAKER_00 22:08

Right. Uh a couple couple comments as we go along. Faith Donovan said, Todd Simmons, hey chief, and now look at him, Tuesday's his last official day, and he's still out here sharing nuggets. Oh, got to, man. Got to, got to. I don't know how long it lasts. But you know what? This this makes me happy when somebody like Todd Simmons said they're proud of you. I mean, a lot of people, if they ever said they're proud of me, and I hope everybody else has the same boat when they retire. Uh, two Caesars just retired, if I'm not mistaken. Uh, just retired. Yep. So she would understand. Oh, okay. Uh Scott Roy said, well said. Wes Lloyd. Well, Slor is another one who you were just talking about. Um, the military is hard placed to break up with. We have issues in need counseling, but we love each other. Yeah, for real. Uh, Donovan uh Devon, I'm messing that up. Devon McCoy in the building. We're still supposed to collab with you and you, but anyway, uh, as I start talking about this, you're frozen again. If you want to jump out and jump back in. Uh, so as I'm talking about this, Wes, you bring up a good point. And I'm interested in not only, Philly, your answer to this, I'll give mine as well. Miss Boston in the building. I definitely is definitely a different beast on the other on the other side. Definitely. Yeah. Uh nope, we'll be two years and 26. Uh, so do you think the military puts a chokehold on you? What you mean? Like to stay in. Do you think there's, you know, everybody used to tell me like you make it 10 years, you might as well stay the other 10 and retire, right? That was like the hump. Do you think after I think it's actually worse what you hit the 12, 14, 15 years, because then it gets to a point like you were talking about earlier. This is all you know. You've been doing this for longer than most people have been doing this longer than they've been alive. Like, when you think about that, if you join an 18 and do 20 years in the military, you've been doing this longer than you've been alive. Like when you really rationalize and thinking about that, that is bonkers. You go to school for what 12, 30, 40, 50, 16 years, and you thought that was long. Imagine doing one job, and some people do two or three, right? One job for for you, three decades. Three decades. If you meet somebody on the civilian sector that's been doing a job for three decades, they're probably like 60 years old, 70 years old. Like you are the prototypical wisest person in the military. You and a couple generals, you and General Patton are probably like the wisest people because you've been doing it forever. All right, we got a lot of comments, but I'll let you talk for a couple seconds and we'll go through all the comments.

Mentors On The Other Side Matter

SPEAKER_01 25:10

I don't even know how I'll I will say I have been guilty of that too. I've even to this day, I've tell I tell young people if you stay, leave at 10. Don't go beyond 10. Because if you do, you're leaving money and benefits on the table. And it took me a while to think about that because I've always met people in my travels that say they're retiring before 20. And when I would tell them, congratulations, and I would put a smile on my face and say that's awesome, they would look surprised. And I think it's because the folks who stayed longer, DC ain't 60. They would, in other words, people would almost shame them for leaving the military. And I think part of it is they want to, they don't want people to leave and win. I'm not saying they don't want people to win. I just looked at it as there's so much more for staying in, but it's also so much more for following your dreams than getting out there. I mean, if you I mean you look at it, right? Me, when I came in from Philadelphia, I was just trying to take care of my family. I just wanted to do four years of new psychologists. I didn't know what until that's all I wanted to do. But life happens, you start getting good at your job and you keep going, right? But there are some people this is not for them. The military is not for everybody, and for people who served for four to six to eight to ten, eleven to twelve years, and so on and so forth, and you decide to leave. Hey, I tell people now, leave, thank you for serving with us honorably, and then you'll go tell other people, hey, I didn't do 20 years and got retirement from the military, but this is what the military taught me. That may encourage other people to come in. I would rather you give me a solid four years than somebody who gives me 20 years and they're garbage. I would rather hey, real quick.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

Uh, we have a contest going on. If y'all don't see it, exclamation point win, and you can win some money for yourself. You just got out of uh the holidays, you just got out of the Christmas spirit, you need some extra cash. Unpopular celebrities giving out gift cards for y'all and a pretty large amount. Uh, and we'll give out one winner. You gotta stay to the end. Exclamation point win, automatically selected. 10 people in. We will do the drawing at the end. Not 10 people in. Hey, keep it moving. All right, Todd Simmons. A lot of comments here. Uh, love the wisdom you dropping, DC. You are the best messenger for this. Ooh, recently irrelevant. Thank you. Uh, shut down whoop my shut down whoop my ass. Definitely got a tap in. Oh, what shut down. Interesting. Uh I woke up or I wrote a I wrote a breakup journal. Breakup, breakup journal for my military self as a way of letting go. What is a breakup journal? I like that.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

It's pretty much it's uh go ahead, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Yeah, it's a way of reflecting and thinking my past so I could move on. Interesting. We got two people that just entered the drawing. Keep it going, keep it going so we can give away this money. Uh, we are losing a lot of experience in severe leadership, uh, service, servant leadership, service and to be an example. Being the example used to be a part. Well, Faith, I think just like when you came in, when I came in, there's a lot of people that can take over. And hopefully you learn from your leaders before who are leaving, you know, they could take over too. Uh, because you either sit down and do nothing else, or you have to start over. We'll talk about the start over. That's a different chapter. That's a different chapter. It's wild because uh thinking about being a doctor or a lawyer or someone who doesn't start a real profession career until 38 to 45 is wild. Age is nothing but a number. Don't forget that. Age is nothing but a number. We have a lot of comments. Uh you go from military old to corporate young overnight.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

Oh man. Oh, man, that's a good one.

Why Stay: Comfort, Identity, Belonging

SPEAKER_00 29:23

Uh, I never did. I tell my I tell them to do what is best for them in the moment. If they're thinking it's leaving, then go. But if you think it's staying, then do it. But do what you feel is right. Yeah, amen. What's up, Chief Hall in the building? Agree, that's perfect. Do you do your jobs do it well and build your resume? No. No, no, unless you want to go in there. No. Three people entered the drawing. We need seven more. We will do the drawing. Four people in. Keep it going, keep it going, keep it going. We try to give away this money. Uh we have to remember it's all just advice at the end of the day. Do what's best for you. Exclamation point win. Exclamation point win. Wes Lawrence says leaders have a tendency to stop taking care of people when they express plans of getting out. Yes, oh, that's all that was a comment. Oh, shot Jefferson, less than 1% put on the uniform. I salute anyone that puts it on for one month or 32 years. Lot of lot of child DC. Question for you. And now I'll get three more comments. I'll let you answer this. What happened to the forest if our talented people start leaving at 10 years? Hold on with that. Hold on to that comment. West Lawrence gotta disagree. That depends on the leader. Uh, I understand the point, and I agree a little bit, but I'm just curious on your thoughts. Uh okay, that he was talking about the 10 years. Exclamation point win. We talked about exclamation point win. Six people keep it going. Uh, yeah, I agree, but I haven't seen uh it happen a ton. Say that again. Exclamation point win for Cliff Kennedy, also retiree. Uh Scott Roy, same and exclamation point win, keep it going. All right, back to your question. Answer, man, we have a lot of things going on. Uh, and we still have to talk about our topics. Uh where was it at? There we go. What happens to the force if our talented people start leaving at 10 years?

SPEAKER_01 31:22

So that's the key. It's not like you're gonna have a complete brain drain of talented people. There are some people that will stay behind. Um, I think there are you're gonna have two different two different dynamics. Okay, you're gonna have talented people that lead because they have the aspirations of doing something great. They were well taken care of, they did phenomenal at their job, they got promoted, they got awards and stuff, but they still leave, right? And that's great. But then you have talented people who weren't taken care of, and they leave because they're not taken care of. Nobody's listening to them, none of the ideas they present, they're ignored. And so I think, and then I'm sorry, I said two, three. Then you're gonna have the other three, the other third dynamic of people who are talented and they just have whatever blood blue or whatever insert whatever service color blood that you want in green or whatever, they feel it and they keep going because this is what they enjoy. And those are the people you want anyway. So I don't think you would lose so many people that the force would suffer. There will be some people that stay behind. But we don't need we let's look at it, we don't really need everybody to stay because don't you want talented people to leave so they can tell the rest of the world who never served what they learned and how great it is to encourage talented people to take care of their place? How many of you guys have been in a unit where you say TechSarge and so-and-so did the Excel sheet, they did the access sheet, they're the only ones that know how to do it. We can't let them retire a PCS. What do we do? And then you go through a little trial and tribulation period, and then there's always somebody that comes along that's able to take their place.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

Very well said. Uh, you're frozen again. Uh very well said with that. Uh exclamation point win. Three more people, minimum, minimum, just three more people. All you need to type out is exclamation point win and to be entered. We have seven people in the drawing. We have over 40 some people in here. Let's get it cracked. How we don't get 10 people for money to give away. All right, good point by Todd Simmons. So I'll try to read this. I'm I'm thinking I'm getting a little better with the reading. Doesn't feel like it.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

Ty Simmons says, okay, emotions aside, regardless of what people you are at, where what point you are at in your career, diversify your network. If you are only getting advice on leaving from those serving, then you are only getting 50% of the advice needed. Agreed. Find out about insurance. Oh man, find out about insurance benefits, taxes, the real job market now, building upon that knowledge. Yo, I'm gonna tell you, full transparency again. Yo, boy, failed at that. I mentioned that earlier when I was talking about knowing that the avalanche was coming. I knew it was coming, but I ignored it because I was like, I'm worried about what I'm doing now. You know how they always tell you, don't worry about the next job? Ty Sims is right. You need to worry about this job because if you wait to the last minute, it makes it so difficult.

SPEAKER_00 34:38

Hey, very Todd, we would love to have you on when we get to that point about uh trying to get people in there for selection or or what you're doing outside. We'd love to have that point. Uh 2C says, I actually used to change how I guided them. I guided them for the future goals. Gotta still model them and grow them no matter what. Very true, very true. Don't forget, hey, Cliff Kennedy is a great example. Love to have him on for real. He did 10 years and is super successful. Super successful. Talk about somebody who gambled on themselves, and I just know his story. I don't know if he wants to share, but super successful.

SPEAKER_01 35:19

I'll just I'll just say Ken Cliff is the exact person, and Eric Thiergood, he's not on here, who had a vision, had a goal, and they left before they went over 10. And you talk about you, you so I'll tell you, I won't go to rank. Give me 10 seconds. You talk about a leap of faith. Right. It's one thing to retire at my stage when you've got you know uh several degrees, you've been a manager, command chief, all that other stuff, right? And you got connections. But somebody young at 10 and they decide to cut it and they're doing good, like Ken Cliff when he was in, he was super sharp. And he had people that knew he was sharp.

Would You Do 30 Years Today?

SPEAKER_00 36:07

He was an instructor, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

He was an instructor when he left okay, one, but I'll just I'm just kidding. But anyway, shout out to him.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Yeah, all right, we'll get to all these, and then I have another question as we go through this retirement thing. So start thinking about what was your decision when you click the button, uh, or when you were about to click the button, maybe a month before, a week before, and then day of. Uh, all right, because we'll talk about that, how that react or how that plays mentally in your psychic. Uh Wes Lauren said, Hey, if you just put exclamation point win, you'll be entered. You put all this other BS, you won't be entered. All right, exclamation point win. Let's get it cracking. We got our 10 people. So y'all let me know when y'all want me to do the drawing. Y'all let me know. How about that? We actually got it. I can't wait to give this money away. All right. I think no matter what, oh, I think no matter what, we can want our humans to win, exclamation point win to be entered, uh, whether it is staying or leaving. Uh Olivia said, and people who will always step up in the roles. We hope, we hope people do. DC frozen again, but audio is clear. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Single point. No, no, no, you weren't. Oh, he wasn't frozen. All right, exclamation point where. Hey, you gotta just type in exclamation point where you type in anything before, after, it won't register. You were frozen, he would just say that's an old comment. Anyway, all right. Uh Pete, we're gonna send you hooked on phonics with the money we win today. Thank you. Shout out to you. Can you read this one?

SPEAKER_01 37:39

These next three. O'Shawn Jefferson says, any successful company has talent, leave. True. If you are still in, you are part of the talent that stayed. Do the work you are, who is needed in this moment. Cliff says, I got out at 10 and a half years. All right. Sky Roy, DC also got social security. I wish I was getting social security. I wish. But actually, that's a good point. It would be great if Samel Brown was on here. He's kind of going through some things with that too, some positive things. Ty Simmons says, Cliff is the perfect example. He will tell you how he was fifth Air Force Airman of the Year. Really? He wasn't a good one.

SPEAKER_00 38:21

Yo, I think he got a bronze star too, but I'm not gonna keep putting his business out there. I'm pretty sure he did, but I'm not sure. He was one of the first, he was one of the first security force people to go to Buka. Like he this dude has an incredible story, still got out at anyway. Just successful people are successful people. Go ahead. Uh-oh. Now your audio went out. Did our audio go out? Oh no, you're good. You're good. All right, you're good now.

SPEAKER_01 38:51

Sometimes we get guidance from a mentor sphere. Getting out is a risk, but it takes faith, will, and work ethic to marry what you're playing. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Out now.

SPEAKER_00 39:03

Let's talk about money. Where's my money? Exclamation point. Hire someone who will be uh designated.

SPEAKER_01 39:12

That's how you say my reading needs this challenge, too. I think I do a decent job. Sky Royce said DC been in before, Social Security. All right, guys, look. I'm trying to share some personal stuff. I don't need all these personal attacks to anything.

SPEAKER_03 39:26

So much better.

SPEAKER_01 39:27

DC Swiss the cricket. Devon, you know what? You should be attacking Pete. He the one that jacked up your name. Oshan says DC, the air rod. Look, y'all, look, and y'all please stop this.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

Not the Philadelphia. I'll pour my heart out, too. So uh we'll do the drawing right after this question. So give us at 50 minutes live. So we'll do that. So get your uh exclamation point wins in the chat at 50 minutes live. So if you guys are watching this live. Look at the counter, 50 minutes. We'll do the drawing. All right. So we're at 42 minutes minute right now.

SPEAKER_01 40:05

I need my dog.

SPEAKER_00 40:07

All right.

SPEAKER_01 40:07

You guys are question for you.

SPEAKER_00 40:09

So we talk about retirement, and I'll answer as well. So go quick because we gotta do this in six minutes. Your thoughts one month before hitting the button, maybe a week before hitting the button, and the day of hitting the button. What was your thoughts?

The 10-Year “Chokehold” Question

SPEAKER_01 40:25

That's a difficult one because we're speeding. There's a lot. It's hard for me to kind of gather my thoughts because remember what I said earlier, I took another job. So in this other job, it was a little bit more clear because of the situation I was in. You know, the Air Force was changing. Anyway, all right, I'll just answer the question. My thoughts were like, I'm ready, let's go. But then there was a small part of me like, are you sure? Right. Like, are you really sure? And I've seen videos of people crowding around them, pushing the button, FaceTime, and when they pushed the button, when I pushed the button, it was to be honest with you, it was very um, it was sad because there was nobody around me. I just, and maybe that's my fault. I could have gotten a bunch of people around me to do it, but I didn't. I just pushed the button, waited patiently for the prompt that comes up, and that was it. And then it was almost like somebody hit me in the face like this is it. And it just seemed like there was like a whole cloud that just lifted up. It's almost like, you know how you um you're walking in the fog or you're driving in the fog, and then the fog just all of a sudden just dissipates, and you see clear. That's what it was like. And I'm I've and I when I seen everything, it was like I was like, I could not believe what I saw, and I've just saw the future. And it was a little scary, and it was a bit exciting too. It was exciting because I didn't have to worry about EPBs, decorations, deployments, PCS, but now I had to worry about resumes, job, disability, you know, being stationary. Because you know, a lot of people you get used to PCSing, but now you have to worry about being stationary.

SPEAKER_00 42:25

All right, you're for you're frozen again. Uh so 2C says, excitement, fear, guilt, and ready. I think that's the best way to describe it, is in those four words. And you know, kind of what I was looking for is something in those four words. I think for me, the month before was like uh like you just sit there and style, like, okay, how do I do this? Where do I go to go? I go on uh my FSS and then you hit that button that says, I don't think I've ever clicked that button. I think it just says retirement and something separation, I think it says. Uh so you click there and then you get prompted a you know a couple places, then you gotta make sure that you know the system says you're good to retire, and then you go ahead and click the button. Uh, I think a month before, I was like, all right, I'm going to do it on this day. That's what I was thinking about a month before. This is the day I'm going to do it. I didn't tell nobody, I didn't talk to nobody. I just like this is the day I'm doing it. The week before, I was like, when I come in next week, because I think it was on a Monday, whatever day it was, I was like, I'm gonna do it first thing in the morning. I'm gonna come in early before anybody gets here because I don't know if it's gonna send a prop or send something crazy. I did tell my commander, and that's a question I got for you, is two, and then we'll do the giveaway in five minutes. I did tell my commander beforehand, she's the only one I told that I was gonna because I knew she would get the notification. The day of sat there on my computer at my desk, went through the process, and I'm thinking something is going to happen. It's no different than applying for a job.