Crystal is giving back to her community by helping others transitioning out of the military as a speaker and coach at Crystal She Speaks. She spent over 15 years in the military working in both the medical career field and as a recruiter. She shared about her time in the Army, how she ended up in recruiting, gaining her commission through a direct commission, and her unexpected end to her military career. Taking the lessons she learned from transition she is working to help others.

Help with Transitioning of Out of the Military

Crystal decided to join the military because she was bored. She had graduated from college with no debt because of a track scholarship but didn’t know what she wanted to do. The Army seemed like a great option. She joined as a medic, which she later learned was a combat medic and while not exactly what she was looking for she made the most of it.

She didn’t want to be a combat medic and was looking for new opportunities so she applied to be a recruiter. Even though she was told she couldn’t she applied, which required her to side step her chain of command to get her paperwork submitted. Then she was selected and headed off to be a recruiter. As a recruiter she learned about how she could get a direct commission and went from enlisted to officer.

Living overseas

She was able to move overseas with her family. Her husband was also in the military. They had a great tour in Germany. They got to travel and see different things in Europe. Then they came back to the states and went to North Carolina. She was required to go to Airborne school so she did. Even though it was more of a miscommunication and not actually required. She went to Korea to complete a remote tour for a year which she found challenging but also interesting.

Leaving the military

She was planning to go to school and get another masters. It had even been approved and then she found out she was going to be separated. Because she had over 15 years of service she was able to take early retirement. But it was an unexpected change to her family and their finances. It took time to adjust to the change especially since the retirement pay didn’t start right away and there was a time when they were scrambling.

Because of her experience she started a business as a coach and speaker helping service members through their transition. You can learn more about her work and book a call here.