PANEL 7
LIFE AFTER SERVICE
FINDING A DIRECTION
Returning to civilian life and finding direction is a significant time of transition often filled with challenges before there can be success. Plans may have changed since joining the service and there can be friction between the expectations and the reality of rejoining civilian life, unless they have chosen to re-enlist. Finding a job, learning how to apply the skills developed in the military to civilian employment, utilizing benefits from the G.I. Bill to pursue higher education—all of these can be daunting to the veteran as they return home.
Ray Pagán (U.S. Marines Corps, served 1969-1971), former principal of Southview High School acknowledged that becoming a marine and completing training was challenging, but he explained, “And then after that, it was more of a job. And I enjoyed the Marine Corps. After the Marine Corps, it also made me think a lot when I was there. And I said I gotta go to college. I’ll go back to US Steel during the summer. And then from there, I gotta go back to college. So I went back to college.”
Marty Martinez (U.S. Air Force, served 1965-1969), "What was my biggest challenge? When I got out of the service, since I had the GI Bill, in those days, if I didn’t want to be in a factory or anything and I wanted to prove to myself I can do it. Because I didn’t have the greatest grades, I couldn’t afford a scholarship, but I didn’t think I was any dummy either. And I had to figure out what was different about me, again, what made me different." This decision led to him pursuing higher education.
Vic Ortiz (U.S. Navy, served 1990-1995): In the year after leaving the navy, Vic explored the idea of becoming a police officer. He explained his resolution that, “If I didn’t have something concrete that I wanted to do and I could see myself doing, then I was going to go back to the recruiter. A few days before that date [1 year anniversary of leaving service], I got a call from the captain at the time and he says, ‘Hey, you scored really well, want to interview you, and if that goes well, we want to offer you a job.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, thank God. I did not want to go through [re-enlisting] again.’”
“I’ve been a Brigadier General now for a little over two years. And it’s not easy to get where I’m at…But I am definitely the first [full time] Latina in New York to be a general officer, to be a Brigadier General for the New York National Guard. But it’s been a climb. It’s definitely been a climb, but all of it positive. My position right now, I am the Director of Joint Staff for the New York National Guard and that consists of anything that’s domestic operations or civic support operations. And what that means is if there’s hurricanes, if there’s big snowstorms, COVID, all domestic operations that happen within the state of New York, that falls under my purview.” – Isabel Rivera Smith (U.S. Army and New York National Guard, served 1985-present)
