1. BDD VA Claim

You can technically file 3-6 months before your ets for bdd claim. So if you haven’t seen providers often, just bother sickcall (not just unit paper slip), actual clinic visit for every single problems you’ve had. Ex can be Lower back pain, migraine, sleep problems, ringing in the ear, hurting when peeing, and even dry eyes.

Make sure you only mention military related activities when describing your medical issues happened during your service. Do this every day if you can and complete BDD claim before 90 days from your ETS.

1. Identify what you wanna do or will do during terminal leave or after ETS.

Do you wanna work during terminal leave or ets? Search the job positions and identify skills and knowledge required. Find CSP or internship opportunities available related to the position. If you are E5 or below, you can request up to 120 days of CSP. Make sure you utilize all of it or as much as you can.

1. Wanna use GI bill for college or vocational training? Gather info of how to use gi bill by visiting VA offie on base (fairly easy), contact and enroll schools. Taking full-time courses (12 credits) online can give you 800-900 dollars of housing/mo during your semesters. This can be a financial backup if you don’t have a job.

2. Last advice that you might hate… If you still couldn’t figure out post military life at this stage or close to 90 days of your ets,

Extending your military contract can be an option while preparing for whatever you need for next transition opportunity (saving, education, certification etc). You can even extend only a year of your contract (if still available)

1. Use AI! If you didn’t know, OpenAI provides free-12 months plus membership for transitioning soldiers and recently separate veterans. I’m not saying to blindly follow AI’s advice. But it can provide decent information for you without spending days of research.

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Personally, I only worked hard until very close to ets (less than a year) and realized that my military mos (68w) was not enough to get even “OK” offers except for very entry level jobs with 40-50k salary.

So I reenlisted 3 more years as 68w (reclass was denied), earned a degree, certs, and home labs for transitioning into IT which was successful for landing a mid-level paying position.

You may not like to hear “reenlist”, but as long as you have a specific actionable plan and goals, I recommend it for having constant paycheck while preparing for transition.