Are there any veterans out there that have found that they are at a disadvantage in the civilian world due to their military service?

Are there any veterans out there that have found that they are at a disadvantage in the civilian world due to their military service?

If you have served for a longer time, there is always the risk that you’ve become institutionalized. In other words, you've forgotten to think independently because the army has a narrow and regulated way of doing things.

One of the old Quorans, the late Rory Young, once complained that the two French foreign legionnaires that he had hired as park rangers in Africa were completely useless because they were used to getting orders to perform even the smallest tasks. They didn't move if no sergeant was breathing down their necks.

Another problem with longer serving career militaries is what I always call “cerebral atrophy”. The army tells you a million times not to think (in Germany, we even have an army saying that goes: “Leave the thinking to the horses, they have bigger heads than you!”). Then one day, before you even became aware of it, your brain has shut down.

Large parts of military culture, especially in elite and combat units, are incompatible with the workplace etiquette in a civilian job environment. (Picture: Cpl. Tyler Abbott, USMC)

Then there are the social and cultural differences. Soldiers talk louder, swear more, and aren't necessarily the politest people in the world. A future civilian employer may not appreciate these behavior traits.

Again, the most extreme case of failed integration into the civilian world I know of comes from a former French foreign legionnaire:

He told his new girlfriend that he wouldn't sleep with her unless she was able to do fifty push-ups. Needless to say, the man quickly became single.