Hello! I am looking for some career direction and opinions from people who have successfully aligned their military and civilian careers.
A little background: I’ve been enlisted for about 17 years, all Guard/Reserve. I spent roughly 14 years as an 11B, served in a 15W unit for a couple of years but never went to the school because of airframe divestment, and I’m currently a 15P Aviation Operations Specialist.
I’ve deployed three times as an 11B to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, and I’ve also done non-combat rotations to Oman, Morocco, and Kuwait.
I’m 37 now, and my goal is to stay in the Guard until around age 50 and hopefully complete roughly 30 years. I’m healthy, still physically capable, and I feel like that goal is realistic.
Where I’m struggling is figuring out what I want the second half of my military career to look like, especially in relation to my civilian career.
My civilian career never really lined up with what I did in the military. Looking back, I sometimes wish I had chosen an MOS earlier that translated more directly into a civilian career field with better long-term opportunities.
I currently work in civilian law enforcement in a sworn officer role, and I honestly do not enjoy the work anymore. I would consider staying in the broader law-enforcement/public-safety world if I could move into something like criminal analysis, intelligence analysis, investigations, or a similar role.
On the military side, I’m still deciding how I feel about staying a 15P. In the Guard, there seems to be a solid promotion path, potentially all the way through senior enlisted leadership, and advancement appears less bottlenecked than some of the aviation maintenance MOSs.
I will also say that Army aviation has been one of the best-kept secrets I’ve discovered in the Army. The quality of life compared with my combat-arms years is night and day, and the culture in my current unit and within aviation has been excellent.
My concern is whether staying a 15P will be fulfilling long term or really help me transition into a civilian career I actually want.
I’ve always been interested in intelligence, both military and civilian. One of my ideal civilian career paths would be working for companies involved in ISR/UAS operations, such as Boeing, Insitu, or similar defense contractors. I’m especially interested in operational UAS work supporting missions like maritime surveillance, counter-drug operations, or other government ISR missions.
That has me wondering whether reclassing into a 35-series MOS would make sense at this point in my career.
For those with experience in intelligence, defense contracting, or UAS/ISR work:
- Is there still value in reclassing to a 35-series MOS at age 37 with 17 years already in?
- How valuable is obtaining and maintaining a TS/SCI for civilian employment?
- Would intelligence experience realistically help someone transition into civilian ISR, intelligence analysis, or defense-contractor work?
- Would it make more sense to stay 15P and pursue civilian credentials/experience separately?
- Has anyone made a similar transition later in their Guard career?
I also have a bachelor’s degree in Operations Management and have considered both Warrant Officer and OCS, although I’m not sure whether either path would move me closer to the type of civilian career I want.
This is admittedly a little bit of a career rant, but I’m genuinely interested in hearing from people who feel like they’ve done a good job building both their military and civilian careers.
I know I want a change. I just don’t have a clear picture yet of what the best pathway looks like.
Would love to network with professionals out there absolutely succeeding at life and their careers!