Taking Off the Uniform: Coaching the Unfinished Transition from Service Member to Veteran with Maureen Rudell, PCC

The military has a deliberate and immersive process for transforming civilians into Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and Guardians. It shapes language, behavior, identity, relationships, decision-making, purpose, and belonging. Yet when military service ends, the language shifts abruptly: service members are told they are “returning to civilian life,” as if separation/retirement reverses that transformation.

Veteran identity is often reduced to an administrative status: a designation on a driver’s license, a checkbox on an employment application, or as evidence of eligibility for benefits. No comparable process helps service members understand what it means to become veterans: people permanently shaped by military service who must now learn how to live, work, lead, and belong in a predominantly civilian world.