Life After the Military

[NDRock]

Concluded our summer scouting trip and it was interesting to say the least! My family enjoyed getting around the country and seeing what this great country has to offer. After making stops in Texas, Tennessee, and Indiana, we have decided it is Tennessee or bust for us after I retire. The only problem I have with this decision is Tennessee doesn't have many options for me to become a teacher through online certifications. I don't want to leave the military without a solid plan to be able to provide for my family. I am happy that I have some time to figure it out and also hopefully the housing market will settle out a little. Any help or connections to assist or talk to about TN teacher certifications would be greatly appreciated! GO IRISH!

Nice. Anywhere specific in Tennessee you guys thinking about?

 

[phillyirish]

So unfortunately there are no teaching programs, but I'll leave this link for Onward to Opportunity here. Its a legit free military program through Syracuse university that allows you to get professional certifications in civilians fields. Mainly focuses on IT, Database and Business programs, but they are legit and highly valued career advancers. Great for those just getting out to add a civilian cert to substantiate your military experience and help it translate better and make yourselves more marketable. Even though im looking to pivot out of HR, im looking at getting the Senior Professional Human Resources certification through here, because it'll look great on my resume and help with Grad school apps.

Learning Pathways - D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families

ivmf.syracuse.edu

 

[bkess8]

Nice. Anywhere specific in Tennessee you guys thinking about?

My family enjoyed Wilson County. If we can find what we want there or another comparable area and schools then we will consider that also.

 

[bkess8]

So unfortunately there are no teaching programs, but I'll leave this link for Onward to Opportunity here. Its a legit free military program through Syracuse university that allows you to get professional certifications in civilians fields. Mainly focuses on IT, Database and Business programs, but they are legit and highly valued career advancers. Great for those just getting out to add a civilian cert to substantiate your military experience and help it translate better and make yourselves more marketable. Even though im looking to pivot out of HR, im looking at getting the Senior Professional Human Resources certification through here, because it'll look great on my resume and help with Grad school apps.

Learning Pathways - D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families

ivmf.syracuse.edu

Thank you and I will look into this!

 

[goldandblue]

My family enjoyed Wilson County. If we can find what we want there or another comparable area and schools then we will consider that also.

Wilson is a nice county. If your looking for Private school options, Friendship Christian is a nice school in Wilson. They have a very good baseball program. Green Hill is the newest high school, Mt. Juliet is a good school with good athletic programs. Watertown is a smaller more rural high school with good athletic programs. Wilson Central I don't know a whole lot about. Lebanon High is a 6a school (largest classification in TN)

Similar areas would be Sumner, Rutherford, Williamson counties.

 

[bkess8]

Thank you so much for the information, I’m going to look into the counties you listed! I’m hoping the prices come back down to reality but they are high everywhere in the country!

 

[bkess8]

Just finished an informative class on military retirement and it was very eye opening, so eye opening that I have decided to no pursue a career in teaching. There are too many road blocks and unanswered questions for me to put my life on hold again to try and obtain teaching credentials for a state where I don't currently reside (Tennessee). After much consideration and also some insight from a close family friend I decided to get my national certifications as a crane operator. I have a lot of prior military experience operating and inspecting but now I just need to lay out the path and get to work, plus I can use my GI Bill for fees for testing and training in many aspects. The main reason for the change is that I will be a marketable civilian no matter where I move even though I am set on moving to Wilson County, TN.

Wanted to thank all of you for the help and inputs!

 

[Irish#1]

Just finished an informative class on military retirement and it was very eye opening, so eye opening that I have decided to no pursue a career in teaching. There are too many road blocks and unanswered questions for me to put my life on hold again to try and obtain teaching credentials for a state where I don't currently reside (Tennessee). After much consideration and also some insight from a close family friend I decided to get my national certifications as a crane operator. I have a lot of prior military experience operating and inspecting but now I just need to lay out the path and get to work, plus I can use my GI Bill for fees for testing and training in many aspects. The main reason for the change is that I will be a marketable civilian no matter where I move even though I am set on moving to Wilson County, TN.

Wanted to thank all of you for the help and inputs!

Sounds like you've got as plan. Good luck.

 

[sixstar]

BKess, have you had a chance to look to the east of Wilson Co? You can get much more bang for your buck, and Tennessee gets more beautiful the more East you go.

You might also look into civilian careers at Arnold AFB and Ft Campbell.

 

[goldandblue]

BKess, have you had a chance to look to the east of Wilson Co? You can get much more bang for your buck, and Tennessee gets more beautiful the more East you go.

You might also look into civilian careers at Arnold AFB and Ft Campbell.

You live in TN? I’m in Macon county.

 

[sixstar]

Yeah, I'm near Knoxville

 

[Crazy Balki]

I'm getting out of active duty in about 16 months, at which point I'll have completed just under 12 years of service. I plan on transitioning to the guard to finish up my time.

Once I finish 2 CLEPs, I'll have my Bachelors (public policy and emergency mgmt) and I may start on my Masters during the final few months. Just ready to move on, and I really wasn't up to moving to Nebraska (Yes Mike Frank, I know the pizza's great...). Didn't help that the BAH difference would essentially mean that, even if I promoted, I'd be taking a substantial pay deduction.

I'm pretty confident that I'm making the right choice though, so I like that. I feel with my experience and credentials, both educational and duty-related, I'll be able to find some decently paying jobs in the Bay Area. A lot of emergency management/homeland security-related operations around that area, so I feel it's definitely a nice spot for me to settle into.

 

[bkess8]

BKess, have you had a chance to look to the east of Wilson Co? You can get much more bang for your buck, and Tennessee gets more beautiful the more East you go.

You might also look into civilian careers at Arnold AFB and Ft Campbell.

Yes I have been looking closer to Knoxville lately. Not sure what bordering cities I should look at because I don’t desire to live downtown. I need atleast 1 acre of land and be close to or on the water. I wanna work and fish! Looking forward to any recommendations so I can start scouting on realtor websites.

I have also considered selling my house in CA and having my family move into a 5th wheel or RV until we move so I can get the most money out of my house while I can. If I went with this plan I would by land in TN and build my own barndominium.

 

[bkess8]

I'm getting out of active duty in about 16 months, at which point I'll have completed just under 12 years of service. I plan on transitioning to the guard to finish up my time.

Once I finish 2 CLEPs, I'll have my Bachelors (public policy and emergency mgmt) and I may start on my Masters during the final few months. Just ready to move on, and I really wasn't up to moving to Nebraska (Yes Mike Frank, I know the pizza's great...). Didn't help that the BAH difference would essentially mean that, even if I promoted, I'd be taking a substantial pay deduction.

I'm pretty confident that I'm making the right choice though, so I like that. I feel with my experience and credentials, both educational and duty-related, I'll be able to find some decently paying jobs in the Bay Area. A lot of emergency management/homeland security-related operations around that area, so I feel it's definitely a nice spot for me to settle into.

I made the decision before I enlisted that if I served a minute over 10 years I would finish out the 20. I still contemplate getting out now because I am use to the steady paycheck but I am tired of everything else that goes into being active duty. I would recommend that you ensure all your medical documentation is in line and also take a retirement course and pay attention, they put out too much valuable information in a short time.

Good luck and let me know if I can do anything to help out!

 

[ozzman]

Give it a lot of thought, guys. Have you ever dealt with guard/reserve before? Find the unit you might be connected to and talk to someone there. I'm at 21 years in the Navy reserve with two year long deployments. A lot of active duty people don't understand the time suck of the reserves. If you have to do 8 years still to hit your 20, that's an eternity if you're not prepared. Every month, it seems like the big plans want to fall on drill weekend. I've missed countless birthdays, weddings, games, parties, etc. You also gave to do a decent amount of work during the month as you get more leadership responsibility. The other big thing is you don't get to collect your retirement pay as soon as you retire like you do getting off active duty. You have to wait until 59, although that moves forward with activation orders.

The best benefit for me and my family is Tricare reserve select. My family health insurance is $220/month with something like $1000 max out of pocket. That's a game changer over the insurance offered from my civilian employer.

 

[sixstar]

Yes I have been looking closer to Knoxville lately. Not sure what bordering cities I should look at because I don’t desire to live downtown. I need atleast 1 acre of land and be close to or on the water. I wanna work and fish! Looking forward to any recommendations so I can start scouting on realtor websites.

I have also considered selling my house in CA and having my family move into a 5th wheel or RV until we move so I can get the most money out of my house while I can. If I went with this plan I would by land in TN and build my own barndominium.

There are so many great options with affordable housing near lakes.

West Knoxville is, in general, the nicest side, followed by South. UT is in East Knoxville. No really dangerous areas to speak of.
Farragut is the best suburb on the water with the best athletics and the best schools, but you will be paying top dollar. Louisville is rural and where the millionaires live. Hardin Valley is middle-upper class suburban with good schools.
Maryville is a further away from the water, but not as expensive as the two above. Home to private Maryville College and close to the Smokeys.
Sevierville is great because it's close to Knoxville, close to Douglas Lake, and close to the Smokeys, but it will get hammered with tourists in the summer. Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are tourist traps, and visitors must go through Sevierville to get there.
Lenoir City isn't as nice as the three above, but it is directly on the water and close to Knoxville.
Kingston is a sleepy tiny (~5k) town directly on Watts Bar Lake and within 30 minutes of Knoxville amenities.
Jefferson City / Morristown are nice, quiet, smaller towns on Cherokee Reservoir. I haven't spent a lot of time in either place, but they seemed pretty decent to me.
Norris is a good entryway to Norris Lake and still close to Knoxville. It's pretty rural.
Oak Ridge has a ton of history from its days supporting WW2 era nuclear research, but it's an ugly town with a dwindling population. Clinton is ugly too. I'll throw Loudon in there as well. All three are ugly.

Further away:
Cookeville is a cheap small (~35k residents) college town about 20 miles from Center Hill Lake.
Dale Hollow is probably my favorite lake, but all surrounding towns are very rural.

 

[phillyirish]

Give it a lot of thought, guys. Have you ever dealt with guard/reserve before? Find the unit you might be connected to and talk to someone there. I'm at 21 years in the Navy reserve with two year long deployments. A lot of active duty people don't understand the time suck of the reserves. If you have to do 8 years still to hit your 20, that's an eternity if you're not prepared. Every month, it seems like the big plans want to fall on drill weekend. I've missed countless birthdays, weddings, games, parties, etc. You also gave to do a decent amount of work during the month as you get more leadership responsibility. The other big thing is you don't get to collect your retirement pay as soon as you retire like you do getting off active duty. You have to wait until 59, although that moves forward with activation orders.

The best benefit for me and my family is Tricare reserve select. My family health insurance is $220/month with something like $1000 max out of pocket. That's a game changer over the insurance offered from my civilian employer.

I feel ya. One of units was the worst with this. They literally planned drill on Super Bowl, Halloween, and St Patricks day weekends one year. Blew my mind. Like they intentionally wanted to screw us.

 

[Irish2155]

I have jobs in Maryville, TN which I understand is close to Knoxville. PM me your resume. Always happy to help a vet.

 

[NDRock]

Maryville has a great football program. Watched them last night. FWIW.

 

[bkess8]

There are so many great options with affordable housing near lakes.

West Knoxville is, in general, the nicest side, followed by South. UT is in East Knoxville. No really dangerous areas to speak of.
Farragut is the best suburb on the water with the best athletics and the best schools, but you will be paying top dollar. Louisville is rural and where the millionaires live. Hardin Valley is middle-upper class suburban with good schools.
Maryville is a further away from the water, but not as expensive as the two above. Home to private Maryville College and close to the Smokeys.
Sevierville is great because it's close to Knoxville, close to Douglas Lake, and close to the Smokeys, but it will get hammered with tourists in the summer. Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are tourist traps, and visitors must go through Sevierville to get there.
Lenoir City isn't as nice as the three above, but it is directly on the water and close to Knoxville.
Kingston is a sleepy tiny (~5k) town directly on Watts Bar Lake and within 30 minutes of Knoxville amenities.
Jefferson City / Morristown are nice, quiet, smaller towns on Cherokee Reservoir. I haven't spent a lot of time in either place, but they seemed pretty decent to me.
Norris is a good entryway to Norris Lake and still close to Knoxville. It's pretty rural.
Oak Ridge has a ton of history from its days supporting WW2 era nuclear research, but it's an ugly town with a dwindling population. Clinton is ugly too. I'll throw Loudon in there as well. All three are ugly.

Further away:
Cookeville is a cheap small (~35k residents) college town about 20 miles from Center Hill Lake.
Dale Hollow is probably my favorite lake, but all surrounding towns are very rural.

Wanted to take the time and thank you for all the information about Tennessee, I have used it a lot lately when researching jobs and where to live. I still haven't settled on a spot yet and have been focusing on jobs first. With that being said is anyone a part of a union or specifically the IUOE? I am trying to get as much information as possible to ensure that I make the smoothest transition upon retirement. I don't need a big hourly wage because I will be able to offset that with my retirement from the military. I would rather have a stable job with a good company or union that I know will continue to allow me to put a roof overhead and food on the table. Thank you all again for any and all information!

 

[Irish2155]

Wanted to take the time and thank you for all the information about Tennessee, I have used it a lot lately when researching jobs and where to live. I still haven't settled on a spot yet and have been focusing on jobs first. With that being said is anyone a part of a union or specifically the IUOE? I am trying to get as much information as possible to ensure that I make the smoothest transition upon retirement. I don't need a big hourly wage because I will be able to offset that with my retirement from the military. I would rather have a stable job with a good company or union that I know will continue to allow me to put a roof overhead and food on the table. Thank you all again for any and all information!

I might have what you are looking for in Smyrna and/or Marysville, TN. PM me if interested in learning more. My client is not union (at these sites anyways) but they are a very significant and preferred employer.

 

[bkess8]

I might have what you are looking for in Smyrna and/or Marysville, TN. PM me if interested in learning more. My client is not union (at these sites anyways) but they are a very significant and preferred employer.

PM sent

 

[Irish#1]

Dale Hollow is probably my favorite lake, but all surrounding towns are very rural.

Lots of cheap land around Dale Hollow. The lake is so big with so many long inlets and feeders it will take a lifetime to fish the place.