Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here. One more thing, make sure he keeps his clearances active.

How do you keep clearances active as an unemployed retiree? I thought you had an obligation to cancel your clearance as soon as you separated from service?

You don't cancel a clearance. It just goes inactive when you leave the service.(Or any job that requires it) However, there is a two year window in which it can be re-activated if you start a new job that requires it. All he needs to do is make sure that he's not due for a renewal, which is on a periodic schedule based on his clearance level. If that is due before the two year window expires, his clearance would expire earlier.

To the OP, I would suggest both pursuing advice(And leads) from any friends in the industry, as well as the suggestions on LinkedIn and other job sites. Given the qualifications you mentioned, he should have no trouble finding work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, he doesn't work with anyone now that he can network with. I will ask him about what job placement help he can look for.

We are starting to look at what it would be like to retire up here and wondering if we can afford to stay and live well. I realize I'm not really being helpful about what he wants to do, but I'm not sure he knows. We have an acquaintance that does some homeland sec. work, so we are going to reach out and see what advice he can offer.

Thanks for all the advice so far!

this is where my friend's husband is. He didn't retire from the military, although he did serve 14 years. He's former EOD in the Army. He really seems to love his job at Homeland Security.

There are also plenty of civilian jobs at the Pentagon.

My husband is also former EOD (USMC). He's now an MBA/CPA in the private sector. Bombs and spreadsheets both require one to be very detail oriented!

Find a job in the field as quickly as possible, even if it's a small gig as an independent contractor.

OP, the answer to your question really depends on your DH's career field and what he wants to do. An obvious choice is to convert into a civilian position or a job with a contractor somewhere in DoD or even State or Energy. However, in this era of budget cuts, those positions are not as ubiquitous as they were a few years ago.

He could take his specialty into the "true" private sector, which is what I call things in DC that aren't directly tied to the US Government. High tech, engineering, again depending on his background.

I've known more than a few retired military who moved into teaching, deciding to get away from the defense and intelligence world altogether.

The Army should have plenty of seminars and people to contact for transition guidance. I think MOAA does as well. And, many of the contracting companies have job fairs specifically targeting military service members.

Anonymous wrote:PP here. One more thing, make sure he keeps his clearances active.

How do you keep clearances active as an unemployed retiree? I thought you had an obligation to cancel your clearance as soon as you separated from service?