Servicemembers and their families need to plan their military retirement long before the application for retirement is submitted. Not to have a planned retirement in many cases results in a less than happy retirement or cases of making mistakes that could have been avoided.

Changing from military to civilian life-styles is not always an easy task, but planning can be a big help. It is not only the fact that upon military retirement, families change locations (often to areas where they know few people if any out side of family members), change careers, and change life styles. The simple matter of moving from government quarters where the government took care of repair and maintenance, to ones own home where repair and maintenance is an individual responsibility is not always simple.

At least once prior to retirement a soldier and family members should attend a pre-retirement orientation provided by an Installation Retirement Services Officer or TAP Manager. There is no prohibition to attending one long before a retirement application is submitted and another shortly before an actual retirement date.

Here are some rules on employment and seeking employment after the military:

If negotiating with a company for, or have an understanding with respect to, future employment, you have a financial interest in that company (i.e. you own stocks or bonds it) that can result in a conflict of interest. This is a disqualification - you may not work for the company, and may need to issue a written notice of this disqualification.

Merely "seeking" employment (e.g., sending an unsolicited resume) creates a disqualifying relationship with the target company, i.e., you may not participate in any official matter that affects financial interests of the company.

In some cases, you may need to:

  • Issue a written notice of disqualification to superiors, subordinates and perhaps others;
  • Issue a special notice to specified individuals if participating in a procurement;
  • Change duties; and/or
  • Forgo pre-retirement job hunting with one or more companies.

Travel expenses paid for job interviews are gifts from an outside source, but may be accepted if the potential employer in such situations customarily pays such expenses.

Employment while on leave, including terminal leave:

Remember, you are still on active duty, and officers and employees are prohibited by criminal law from representing any non-Federal entity before the Federal government concerning any particular matter. If you file a financial disclosure report, you must obtain prior written approval before being employed by a "prohibited source" (e.g., a contractor or someone seeking official action from the armed forces).

Foreign Government Employment

Retired military members may not accept employment from any foreign government, including corporations owned or controlled by foreign governments, without consent of Congress (Art I, sec 9, cl 8, US Constitution). Consent obtained if the branch Secretary and the Secretary of State approve (10 USC 712).