My father used to always tell me a story about a grasshopper and an ant to drive home the importance of proper preparation preventing... well poor performance. The story was simple and contained only the two fore-mentioned characters. All summer long the ant slaved away in the hot sun to store away food and materials that he would need later that fall once the winter arrived and resources became scarce. For more information please visit: http://www.GreenCollarVets.org

2. My father used to always tell me a story about
a grasshopper and an ant to drive home the
importance of proper preparation
preventing... well poor performance. The story
was simple and contained only the two fore-
mentioned characters.
All summer long the ant slaved away in the
hot sun to store away food and materials that
he would need later that fall once the winter
arrived and resources became scarce.
www.GreenCollarVets.org

3. Watching him work was the grasshopper that
lived in the moment, simply content to lay
back and let the sun wash over him as food
was plentiful and life was good.
The ant throws out a caution to the
grasshopper stating that he will be hurting for
food once the winter comes and that he had
better store some away now if he is to survive.
www.GreenCollarVets.org

4. Well as the story clearly unfolds the winter
comes and the ant though not especially
happy about the cold weather and bleak
conditions has enough food and proper
shelter to somewhat comfortably make-due.
The contrast is of course the grasshopper who
is sitting outside in the snow freezing, starving
and eventually begging the ant for food due
to his poor planning.
www.GreenCollarVets.org

5. This story is simple yet it rings true for many,
how many times do we wish we had thought
something through a little better or took an
extra moment to plan the minor details before
arriving at the moment of truth.
Anyone who has been camping and
encountered a summer thunderstorm without
the adequate equipment surely knows what I
am talking about.
www.GreenCollarVets.org

6. If planning is so important, when then should a
member of the active duty services begin
planning for his or her departure from those
services and subsequent transition back into
the civilian world?
This may seem like an easy question, much
the same way the story seemed like it was
obvious enough, but is this question as straight
forward as it may seem? Is the answer simply,
as early as possible?
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7. Or is that too naïve a response given that many
service members do not even know for sure what
conditions and factors will be present that may
either push them toward getting out or
encourage them to remain in the military?
It has been my experience thus far those two
years out is simply too far away for any level of
planning beyond taking college prerequisites for
credits which a service member would probably
do regardless of whether they are getting out or
staying in.
www.GreenCollarVets.org

8. Even a year out from an individual's End of Active
Service seems like a large enough gaps to leave
many Veterans wondering how they could
1. Pause work long enough to think about what
to do next and
2. 2. Know for sure whether they want to get out
or remain in. For enlisted military often times
the tipping point for a decision comes in the
form of re-enlistment deadlines and closed out
occupational specialties before they come
from personal preference and well thought
out planning.
www.GreenCollarVets.org

9. Are we approaching one of the biggest
transitions an individual can make with the
mindset of the grasshopper who sits back and
sees decisions as too much work until it's too late
and then scrambling to throw a few ideas
together prior to getting handed the DD214 and
finding ourselves on the other side of the looking
glass.
How many members of our military have thought
their "plan" was just as robust and in alignment
with their happiness as the grasshopper did sitting
in the sun and soaking up the "good times"?
www.GreenCollarVets.org

10. How many quickly found out as the winter months
set in and the accessibility to resources became
far scarcer that when tested their plan was little
more than a few leaves in the cold winter
breeze?
There is and can be a better way to approach
this monumental transitional phase of a Veterans
life, but it will require an equally impressive effort
from both the services that the person is
departing as well as the civilian sector that he or
she is entering to properly guide, prepare and
train him or her for the winter months ahead.
www.GreenCollarVets.org

11. They will need to know where to look for food
now that the automatic payments on the 1st
and the 15th have dried up and how to illicit
the help of others like them to create
powerful leverage and results from their
experiences and skill sets gained in the
military.
www.GreenCollarVets.org

12. If you feel that perhaps you have been
caught in "grasshopper" mode once or twice
please visit Green Collar Vets and tell us
about it so we may share your trials and
tribulations with transitioning members of the
military and hopefully show them the
prudence of being a little more "ant-like" as
they get ready to get out. We also offer army
veteran jobs at
http://www.greencollarvets.org .
www.GreenCollarVets.org