The Military Fallacy 🪖 

My good friend is still serving in the Marines…

He’s about to embark on an exciting new career outside of the Corps, but he still has 6 of his 12 months notice period to serve.

This is a bit of a double edged sword - you get lots of time to prepare for your new venture, but it also means you’re struggling to remain motivated in a career that demands a HUGE sacrifice. That’s tough, when you’ve decided thats no longer what you want…

Largely due to a recruitment and retention crisis that Military is in the throes of, he finds himself, at the start of summer leave, recalled and returning to base to deploy…

Not great.

It’s something now that I’m almost 3 years outside of the Military, I find incredibly strange - I can’t imagine being told to come off leave, pack my bags and hit the road - even if it is for an adventure. And have absolutely, zero say in the matter.

Anyway… He’s been keeping me updated… and many ex-mil subscribers will appreciate this.

On the bus 🚌 

Off the bus… 🚌 

The saying is common place, especially with junior ranks, who tend to be at the mercy of the “decision makers”. It’s basically an informal way of saying - “Nobody has a clue whats going on, and you may as well accept that because plans are constantly going to change…”

The Fallacy …. 🙃 

This got me thinking, about the concepts that people who are leaving/have left the Military throw around as their skills.

Or often, here’s a list of skills the Military give you…

The fallacy is in the last point - the Military don’t GIVE you those skills - you develop them as a result of having served in the Military…

Subtle, granted, but different nonetheless.

The subtle difference is that - you have to learn to be ⤵️

• Adaptable

• Organised

• Resilient

• Calm under pressure

Exactly because, the Ivory Tower as they’re often referred to, are the COMPLETE opposite to the above.

Plainly speaking - you better have your life organised, be packed and prepared for every possible eventuality, have your mindset well adjusted and remain flexible - because the powers that be - haven’t the foggiest idea what they’re doing.

Okay… play nice 🤣 

I’m maybe being a little bit harsh - the Stoic in me would ask me to turn the lens on myself and say ⤵️ 

Would you do any better?

Quite possibly not.

Nevertheless here is the critical point -

The skills you have from your Military career are not necessarily derived from your training - more likely your adaptation to the complexity, inflexibility and under prepared, planned and organised system.

My final thought… 💭

Someone once said to me “If you hadn’t served in the Military - you would never have gotten into J.P. Morgan.”

This statement beautifully highlights my point and key takeaway.

This is just the type of closed minded thinking that I love to unravel

What he was saying was - “You’re successful because the Military gave you the skills and taught you to be successful”.

The inverse is true.

I’ll say that again - the inverse is true. 

I joined the Military - the Military didn’t join me.

I passed their tests - they didn’t pass mine.

That is to say - your worth, skills and experiences are not tied to an occupation! You may have a particular flavour of experience, from your own particular career journey - BUT this doesn’t define your success. You are successful, often in-spite of an occupations limitations.

ERGO - I may not have joined J.P. Morgan or started a career in finance had I not joined the Military - that much is true.

But I would have been successful in whatever other endeavour I pursued..

Simply - because your occupation/company/job is nothing more than skills or a name on a piece of paper.

Your success is tied to who you are. The choices you make, the values you hold and the attitude you bring. Not who you work for. ⚡️ 

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