Own Your Military Transition

A Marine shares his story of starting early

By Joe Snowberger

0utside of U.S. Marine Corps Major Josh Ambrose’s office on Blount Island Command is a typical cubicle wall. Behind it are a number of workspaces with Marines doing the logistical work of coordinating the prepositioning of equipment and supplies needed across the globe to support Marine Corps training, operations, and, when necessary, warfare.

Plastered across that cubicle wall are numerous flyers for job fairs, networking events, and military transition workshops that Ambrose encourages his Marines to participate in. Ambrose strongly advocates that, as a Servicemember, you should “own your transition.”

“Start your transition at least two years out. It does not matter if you move on to the corporate world or if you open up your own business. Someday you will be replaced and no longer be in the Marine Corps (or another branch of service). Begin the planning and networking early on,” laments Ambrose.

Ambrose leads by example. While still serving in a demanding role as the company commander and planning his retirement from nearly 24 years of active duty as a prior-enlisted Marine Corps officer, the major—along with his family—are already operating a residential and commercial mosquito and tick pest control franchise.

“This truly is a family business,” Ambrose said. “My wife co-runs the business. My father is my lead tech. My nephews come down from South Carolina to help hang door hangers. My mother watches our 8-month-old while we work.”

The requirements of serving on active duty and simultaneously starting a business can be both mentally and physically strenuous.

“It is demanding, but the challenges are worth it, and I will reap the benefits in the future,” Ambrose said. “Essentially, I work from 6 a.m. to at least 10:30 p.m. each night, even on the weekends.”

The idea for a franchise came from a friend as they were, of course, discussing military transition.

“He talked to me about franchising and using a franchise consultant,” Ambrose said. “From there all I had to do was keep my ears open and not close any doors on my own accord.”

“Franchises are fond of Veterans because military members know how to follow a business model, are tenacious and persistent, and both expect and achieve results.” Ambrose recommends reaching out to a franchise consultant and listening to what they have to say.

“Knowledge is power and making false assumptions about becoming a business owner or franchising is a foolish mistake,” Ambrose said. “I learned that being a business owner is not just for those who come from wealthy families, which was my naïve assumption.”

Staying true to his own advice at owning one’s transition, Ambrose also investigated the more common job-seeking and corporate employment career path for his post-military service life. In the end, he didn’t choose starting a business over getting a job, he did both.

In addition to franchising, Major Ambrose has been selected to a prestigious executive management program with a pro-military, Fortune 100 company after his retirement from active duty. Ambrose intends to continue his full-press schedule.

“I will run [the family business] semi-passively, leveraging my wife to do the majority of the managerial oversight and my father serving as my lead technician. I could not do this without them, and I am truly grateful to have them,” Ambrose said.

Owning one’s transition from military service is an advocacy Ambrose practices every day. He routinely participates in transition activities across The Liberty Coast and has become a transition subject matter expert.

“The best advice I would give is to not close any doors on opportunities yourself,” Ambrose said. “I have no experience owning a business, but I have experience in operations, analytics, and managing human resources. I have an undergrad in Business Management and Finance and an MBA in Logistics Management, but those helped little compared to how much more my time in the Marine Corps prepared me for this venture.”

Ambrose is usually a composed and even-toned military leader but becomes a passionate advocate when discussing post-military career planning and military transition preparation. Below are key points he feels strongly about instilling in Servicemembers:

• Start your transition at least two years out. Let that sink in for a second. It does not matter if you move on to the corporate world or if you open up your own business. This means to begin the planning and networking early on. Own your transition and do not let your ill-advised peers and leaders second guess your efforts to prepare for transition or question your loyalty to the service branch. When the time comes for them to transition, I guarantee they will think differently!

• Leverage LinkedIn two years out. Don’t wait until months before starting the transition processing. At some point [you will not be in the military]; be prepared for that day.

• Get as much education as you can now utilizing tuition assistance so that you can transfer any benefits to your family, if applicable. Consider it a financial investment.

• Lastly, when you depart the military, your family will be what is left. Do not neglect them and expect them to be standing by your side when the time comes to transition.