Operation Retirement: A Four-Stage Model of Military Retirement and Transition to Civilian Healthcare Leadership

Abstract

Introduction. Little research has been done on the retirement transition of military officers to second careers in the civilian sector. Even less has been done about Military Health System officers transitioning to leadership roles in the civilian sector. This study takes an in-depth look at the process of retirement from the MHS and transition to civilian leadership. Materials and Methods. The researchers conducted an interview-based qualitative study of N=28 Medical Service Corps officers who had retired one to five years prior from the MHS and started second careers in leadership roles in (non-Federal) civilian healthcare (UNH IRB #6462). Medical Service Corps officers were selected because they did not have clinical roles they could fall back on, and had to transition to leadership roles. Results. A four-stage model of retirement emerged consisting of stages similar to an offensive ground operation: Planning (preparation for retirement), Movement to Contact (job search), Attack (integration into a civilian leadership role), and Exploitation (continuing to develop a satisfactory second career going forward). Each stage presented some unique challenges to the retiree, however underdeveloped networking skills had negative impacts at each of the stages. Conclusions. A successful transition from leadership in the MHS to leadership in civilian healthcare is aided by developing networking skills, network leadership, and a professional network that extends into the civilian market well in advance of retirement.