Retired Navy SEAL Matt Stevens, this week’s guest on Tango Alpha Lima, helps The Honor Foundation guide members of the Special Forces community toward rewarding civilian careers.
Retired Navy SEAL Matt Stevens helps The Honor Foundation guide members of the Special Forces community toward rewarding civilian careers. In this week’s episode of the Tango Alpha Lima podcast, he talks about how to discover your “why,” developing contacts and other tips for developing executives.
A native of Charlotte, N.C., Stevens graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1991 and from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training in 1992 with Class 179.
Stevens transitioned from the Navy in July 2017 after serving for 26 years as a SEAL. He attended The Honor Foundation’s (THF) inaugural East Coast class in spring 2016, joined the THF SOF Advisory Board a year later, and then joined THF’s Board of Directors in February 2018.
“Getting out can be abrupt,” he says. “I used to work for Gen. (Stanley) McChrystal and your last act for the military is going to be one of rejection. Either you are going to tell them you don’t want to serve or they are going to tell you it’s time to go home, or you are going to be injured or killed. If it’s going to be on your terms, you ought to be prepared for it.”
His organization focuses on transitioning to civilian careers.
“The Honor Foundation is a career transition institute for the U.S. Special Operations community,” he explained, noting there are about 60,000 members. “What we do is run a three-month education program.”
THF, which aims to recruit students before they transition, is like a master’s program, conducting classes at night. The first phase is an introspective piece, followed by tactical tools like writing a resume or building a LinkedIn profile, followed by exposure to career possibilities. Students are also paired with an executive coach and have access to a network of mentors across the nation.
The mission of The Honor Foundation is building a niche community among Special Operations Forces.
“The TAP program is very mechanical and is geared toward large numbers so you can’t be that personal,” Stevens said. “You lose that community and then you have no community. That’s why The American Legion is great. It’s another community and you need to find that community.”
Stevens also talks about a new project, Vector Accelerator, that THF is working on.
“Our goal, our vision, is to be a catalyst for transitioning the entire DoD transition system that we all agree is mediocre at best,” he says. “And that (Vector Accelerator) is taking the best at what we do and opening it up to any veteran. It will take you through a very introspective journey.”
Also, co-hosts Joe Worley and Stacy Pearsall chat about:
• Civilians discussing Memorial Day on a Reddit thread.
• The fallout of banned books from the U.S. Military Academy.
You can also check out the more than 300 Tango Alpha Lima podcasts available in both audio and video formats here. You can also download episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify other major podcast-hosting sites. The video version is available at the Legion’s YouTube channel.
- Tango Alpha Lima