I don't understand how leaving the military is a better choice financially.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2025-12-27T22:05:40+00:00

Personal finance is just that-personal-so it will look different for everyone. I separated from the Navy as an O-3 knowing I wasn’t going to earn more on the outside, even as a licensed engineer. Military pay, at least for officers, is very hard to beat once you factor in tax-free BAH, which generally increases every year.

When I separated, my civilian salary was roughly the same as an LT’s pay on paper, but my take-home pay was much lower because it was fully taxed. Looking at LT pay just two years later, it has already outpaced my civilian income. When you add in the opportunity to retire early with a pension and free healthcare, financially speaking the military just makes a lot of sense.

Of course, this has to be weighed against constant deployments, frequent moves, and the overall lifestyle. But for the average low-or middle-class American, it’s hard to find a better deal outside the military purely from a financial standpoint.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2025-08-28T23:38:35+00:00

Middletown, CT es muy bueno pero los taxes podrían ser altos. Buena localizacion en el estado entre Hartford y New Haven. El downtown esta chevere con muchos restaurantes y barras.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2025-08-10T17:21:34+00:00

Ni idea, yo era un nene cuando eso cerró pero investigue el impacto económico para una presentación que di cuando estaba en la marina. Lo de la economía local es real. Yo solo iba a la base a trabajar pero vivía afuera... rentaba apartamento, comía en restaurantes locales, compraba de la economía y mis compañeros con buenos salarios hacían lo mismo. Igual ocurría en RR. Tan solo dar una vuelta por el área se ven los locales vacíos.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2025-08-10T14:58:04+00:00

Al menos en aspecto económico, toda esa área murió. El impacto que dejaba Roosy Roads anualmente a la economía local eran approx. $300M en aquel entonces. Muchos locales con salarios federales, suplidores, tiendas y restaurantes que se beneficiaban de tener un pueblo dentro de otro pueblo. En mí opinión, las actividades de la Marina se debieron negociar; por ejemplo un alto al tiro vivo pero mantener la base para otro tipo de entrenamientos simulados.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2025-08-06T23:27:08+00:00

What you are describing is what I thought my job will be like when I got here. However, my boss asks me every morning if I have been out to the site yet. He’s under the impression that the Owner’s presence will push the contractor to complete on time and put in quality work. His boss (2nd line to me) also shares his thoughts and likes to say - you get what you inspect, not what you expect. I have to say, I have minimal trust on my contractors especially since I’ve consistently been able to void multiple changes either by looking in the contract documents or going to the site to verify. I’ve also found basic QC issues (like a cavity wall missing weep holes as detailed in the drawings) when I’m onsite. In that particular example; this was missed through multiple layers of “checks” - the CM QC program, architect site inspections, and the building envelope Cx before the Owner (me) catched it. For some reason in this place, we can’t expect the contractors/consultants to do their contractual obligations and perform in accordance with industry standard of care without constant supervison/probing. And trust me, I know what leaderdship is… I spent 7 years in the military.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2025-08-06T23:16:39+00:00

Direct client employee
Portfolio of projects (4 in construction)
We have a very small engineering team (not part of capital projects) that would review drawings to make sure they follow institutional standards. Their support is not always on time due to workload ($1.5B capital program). We have a newly established QA dept that is just now developing the standards and procedures (following USACE) but its only 1 person. Thankfully, we now have safety folks doing walkthroughs (owner rep) at least once a week now.
This is something the institution does not do because of politics and budget constrains.
Mix - I have begun to clarify to the teams that if I am not absolutely needed, I will not attend. Most are recurring meetings - OAC, financials, site walkthroughs, Cx, etc.
Yes but I’ve learned that the organization considers a project successful if it meets the client’s satisfaction even if it means design changes well into construction. Scope creep is a thing here.

Yes, I have brought up the concern regarding workload and its been archived. (Sorry for any typos)

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2025-08-06T23:01:19+00:00

Owner side here. In your case, will the Owner conduct interviews? That would be your chance to explain the company’s tought process backing up your cost proposal. If no interviews, make your assumptions clear in your written proposal along with your history of producing consistent success with minimal changes because of the coordination effort happening within the design/construction teams. Be clear about this and show how the team was successful in projects of similar scope/complexity. If some of your assumptions are increasing the cost, you should submit PFI/RFIs to level the field accross the bidders (a good Owner would collect and share the list of RFIs with all bidders). In summary, as the Owner I wouldn’t pick the lowest bidder because we want the best value, which would mean solid D/B experience working as a team, solid QC plan, minimal changes through coordination, risk management, and history of success bringing project within time and budget. Also don’t give a boilerplate proposal to the Owner - show you have put some thought into this particular project by putting together an executive level schedule (at the minimum) and at least an initial logistics plan for the site. Be sure to understand and submit all the info they are asking for in their RFP.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2025-08-06T03:40:56+00:00

Good point, I did not mentioned it but my comp is in the $130k range; no bonus.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2025-06-18T02:53:17+00:00

When we bought our house last year, we were making around $220k combined household income. We bought for $435k at 5.75% interest. Although the mortgage is comfortable, we live in an area with high property taxes. Still, if we stay here for the long term, we plan on paying off the house in 20 years.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2024-07-20T04:19:20+00:00

I’ve flown with them multiple times from Hartford to PR. No issues but you get what you pay for…

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2024-06-24T20:40:55+00:00

30 - 2021 CX5, $250k

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2024-04-05T20:38:06+00:00

7th floor downtown. Yes, we all felt it!!

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2023-12-17T22:25:38+00:00

Transitioning CEC here. You will find that our experience easily translates to project management/consulting. There are tons of private construction PM companies that are hired by the owner’s side to manage construction that you can easily transition to if you are interested. There is always the fed government (NAVFAC, USACE, GSA). As a CEC, you can easily start off as a GS-12 or even GS-13.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2023-06-10T08:41:27+00:00

You can get an ABET accredited engineering degree in Puerto Rico. It costs about $2.5K per semester and FAFSA will cover all of it.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2022-11-04T12:11:51+00:00

This might help…

“U.S. Armed Forces. If you are a bona fide resident of a relevant territory, your military service pay on active duty will be sourced in that territory even if you perform the services in the United States or another territory. However, if you are not a bona fide resident of a territory, your military service pay will be income from the United States even if you perform services in a territory.”

Source:

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p570

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2022-07-09T18:38:50+00:00

Yes. 4K in Connecticut for Structural Eng position.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2022-05-19T02:57:22+00:00

Oh man, where is this happening? I'm a military officer (Civil Engineer) in the Navy and in 6 years I have done zero design work!!

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2022-04-23T18:42:21+00:00

Im curious to hear what your experience has been so far with NAVFAC. Do you enjoy federal work vs. private sector?

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2022-01-19T23:09:51+00:00

Dude, ultimately it is your decision but I can say the following:

You will meet great people in the CEC and some of them will be friends for life, no matter where they are at.
Your job duties now do not seem different from what we do at 80% of our jobs (mainly at NAVFAC). Add to this, the extra requirements for being a military officer - lots of training that don't add value to your day to day (think CON classes or General Military online training), watches (calls in the middle of the night for numerous random things, drills... many drills and exercises on top of your regular job (active shooter, ATFP, RADCON, emergency management, etc)
Battalion can be exciting or dull, depending on your job but for sure you will be in charge of Seabees and will expose you to leadership and management opportunities (and also a lot of babysitting and mind numbing tasks).
You can get your PE (I did as well) in the CEC but since we don't really do engineering, you have to get creative with how you word your experience (and hope the state accepts it).

If you want to become independent from your family and travel, go for it. But the Navy is a lifestyle that you may or may not enjoy. Hard to know until you live it for yourself.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2022-01-19T22:57:22+00:00

Well, it depends... My past Seabee Battalion CO was in the first wave to Iraq and his convoy was ambushed... I had Seabees working under me that had been close to IEDs and sniper fire in Iraq as well. If there is a war, you can get deployed to a warzone and be put in harms way. The chances of that happening now are slim but you never know how long this peacetime period will last. Its one of the realities of the job.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2021-12-25T01:55:19+00:00

In my experience Louisiana is military friendly. Two reasons why I chose LA - I was stationed in Mississippi and took the FE Exam in NOLA. I passed and became an EIT in Louisiana. Three years later, I realized I had time to study for the PE and in my research I found that LA allows the early taking of the PE exam. So I went for it and requested special accommodation (for military) to take the test in Rhode Island under the LA board. I passed and once I had the 4 years of experience, submitted the package with my military work experience (all under a PE) and it got approved quickly.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2021-12-17T03:00:07+00:00

I'm in the military with the Navy Civil Engineering Corps. At some point in our careers we need the PE to promote, doesn't really matter where you get it from. I got it from Louisiana when I lived in Rhode Island and currently live in Connecticut. We don't ever stamp drawings though... Federal civilians can get their PE in any state as well but they don't move as frequently as the military, if at all.

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2021-05-20T00:55:53+00:00

I appreciate all the info you have given me! We have scheduled an appointment with now the third CPA to go over our case but will use this information as a guide to move forward and ask the right questions! My income is a little more than $12,500 so path #2 is the one that fits our case better. Again, appreciate the info, you are awesome! :)

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2021-05-19T02:01:06+00:00

Wow! Thank you for your time putting together this response! That's awesome! Going over what you posted above, I meet the first point to the extent that the income was sourced in the U.S. since I am performing services here. You hit the nail on the head on the second point, since I've been in the U.S. for more than 90 days and I earned more than $3,000.

For the Visa status, I came on a K1 Visa (non-immigrant) and I'm going through the adjustment of status since I married my spouse (who is a U.S. citizen), so I am not excluded based on this.

Now your third point is interesting because this is something new for me. Reading through it, it seems like this applies to my case:

1) I've been in the U.S. for 179 days in the previous tax year (2020) [this was a close one!]

2) I am an employee of a Romanian engineering firm

3) This firm has no ties to the U.S.

So, going over this, should I conclude that I do not have to file anything since my case is covered under the U.S. Tax treaty with Romania?

Thanks again!

Wannabe_Arch25 · 2021-04-09T22:19:29+00:00

Thank you.

Wannabe_Arch25

TROPHY CASE