Politics & Government
Marine Corps Officers Eligible for Separation Seminar Before 20-Year Mark
OUT is designed to help Marine Corps officers adjust to civilian life when separating from the military before their two-decade mark is up.
Transitioning to civilian life after military service can be challenging.
If a Marine is honorably discharged, he or she will receive veteran’s benefits, financial assistance for college under the The Post-9/11 GI Bill and a separation course to help adjust to civilian life.
A Marine Corps program called the Officers Under Twenty (OUT) is geared toward officers who still have a few years left on a two-decade service contract. The program can help a transitioning Marine with subjects like civilian job salary expectations, techniques for job interviewing and current job market conditions.
Find out what's happening in Oceanside-Camp Pendletonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Retired Sgt. Maj. Walter Valentine is the creator of OUT, which gives Marines information about military separation and getting prepared for civilian lives.
“I started this program because when I retired, I received my paperwork, a 20-minute separation lecture and was shown the gate and told not to let it hit me on the way out,” Valentine said in an interview with Marine public affairs. “I want these young officers to have more of an opportunity than I did."
Find out what's happening in Oceanside-Camp Pendletonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Marines attending an OUT seminar get inside information from job recruiting firms in San Diego.
“There are specific things on how recruiting works for a lieutenant or captain getting out, which may be different for an enlisted person,” John Caputo, executive senior partner of Lucas Group, told Marine public affairs.
The OUT program is scheduled four to five times a year, with the next one set for Sept. 16. For more information, contact Valentine at 760-725-6207 or by email at Walter.Valentine@usmc.mil.
