"We don't have specific jobs in mind but are planning on getting comp lit and horticultural degrees as of now, though we are still researching other degree options."
"Our military experience is/was as linguist and we've worked for NSA. So IC / govt. work is an option."
A horticultural or forestry degree, as suggested, are not going to get you good paying jobs. I have a Forestry degree and have been working in the field for the last 7 yrs. I work in Iowa, which is the highest paying state for those positions that I have found. I make around 50k, which is much more than a lot of more senior people do in the field, in other states. The Forestry Dept. here is small compared to other states though. I am guessing that with more people on the ground the pay has to be lower to afford the bodies. Same goes for the feds. Trust me I have been looking for a new place to move and can not find anything out West that will pay me what I make now, unless you are in a supervisor or higher position. You have to really like the career field to take the lower pay and deal with a lot of the politics that get involved in the field, they can keep you from doing the most simple thing that is the right thing to do for the resource.
I would go into the medical field, I am starting to look for schools to make a career change. I would suggest looking into a field that you can use the skills you were trained on in the military. Looking back, I wish I would have gone into an MOS that was more practical for civilian work. There is not much need for people that can shoot and blow things up. I gained leadership skills, but many companies are not going to just hire you because of those skills. They want people that are trained in working skills and it is hard to find someone to train you on the job anymore. Also, think long and hard on completely getting out. I know there is a lot going on with force reduction and morale right now, but at least it is a some kind of a pension, which is hard to find these days. I can not get back in, and wish I would have stayed in just for the pension.
Transitioning to Civ. life is not all peaches and roses that it seems like right now. Use all the resources that are available to you. If you are eligible get your VA disability rating. Don't take the first answer you get to a question as the right one. It usually take 3-10 phone calls and discussions to get the real answer from the VA or other services for education, job placement, etc. In a way you are lucky, things have changes a lot since I got out in '07. There are a lot more services for transitioning than there where then.
If you have any questions feel free to PM me.
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