By Mark A. Thompson, U.S. Army, Retired and Reina Vasquez, Army Retirement Services     July 2025

LESSONS LEARNED

I recently met the chief of enlisted incentives for the Army, Directorate of Military Personnel Management (DMPM), G-1, Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA). He is a friendly, unassuming guy, usually dressed in a business suit, walking the halls of the Pentagon and greeting friends and colleagues with a jovial demeanor. He is “the bonus guy,” as he likes to say, that is, he is responsible for overseeing the pot of money allocated specifically for Army bonuses for enlisted Soldiers.

Mark Thompson is a resolute fighter; he’s a retired Army sergeant major with twenty-four years in uniform who began his career as an air defense artilleryman before becoming a career counselor, about five years into his Army career.

“I grew up wanting to become a teacher. In fact, after graduating from high school with 32 other kids, I went to college to study elementary education,” Thompson said.

Growing up in Iowa and coming from a small town of about 300 people, Thompson said, “military service was always applauded, but no one I knew growing up had it.”

“One day, I was sitting in my college dorm, looking out at the corn fields, and thinking, ‘this is not the college experience I thought it was going to be,’” he said. “Call it fate, I’m not sure, but my resident advisor at the dorms had Army experience, and I kept seeing Army marketing posters all around, I heard radio advertisements about the Army, and saw Army commercials on televisions, it was an easy decision.”

Thompson decided to get out of that small town and joined the Army for four years, looking for the “Army experience.”

“My first duty station was Fort Riley, Kansas, not a far stone’s throw from where I grew up, it was still the Midwest… and it wasn’t the Army experience I was hoping for. It did allow me the opportunity to meet with my career counselor and a new world opened up that didn’t include the motor pool, and to me, that was exciting!”

That introduction would change the trajectory of Thompson’s future career in the Army.

“With the offer to reenlist and move to Germany, I couldn’t have said ‘yes,’ fast enough. There I was, about to have that ‘Army experience’ I was looking for,” he continued. “I submersed myself in my new career field, and soon found myself reenlisting again and completed 6 years in Germany before returning to the states.”

Upon his return to the U.S., Thompson was about to encounter an obstacle he never imagined.

“At 23 years old, I was diagnosed with adult-onset Type 1 diabetes,” Thompson said, “It was not the future I’d envisioned.”

“I was a brand-new staff sergeant and had to go to the Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course (BNCOC) for my promotion to be permanent, but there was a problem. With this new diagnosis, I was immediately put on a medical profile with the doctor instructing me and my leadership of the tasks I could not take part in. This would prevent me from attending BNCOC and that was not an option for me. I vehemently disagreed with my doctor, and we continued to go back and forth. I didn’t know any better, but I did know I had to try, always leaving my appointments with an “I absolutely can do these things!” determined and defiant attitude,” said Thompson.

Relentless in his persistence to attend BNCOC, Thompson reached out to the endocrinologist, a doctor specializing in disorders of endocrine glands, at the Fort Bliss hospital and asked him if he could, if needed, take care of a Type 1 diabetic while at the schoolhouse.

“His name was then-Maj. Tom Oliver, and not having the opportunity to treat Type 1 diabetics in the Army, he happily agreed at the unique opportunity. I went back to my regular doctor and told him about reaching out to the endocrinologist at Fort Bliss who agreed to take care of me while I was in school. My doctor, by now, clearly aware of how determined I was, asked about this other doctor. Wouldn’t you know, we were both floored to learn it was his medical school roommate in college. Finally, he blessed off on giving me a medical probation status, and off to BNCOC I went.”

Unsure of his future in the Army, Thompson diligently took care of his health and took advantage of Army opportunities ahead of him. He followed BNCOC with success at Army Airborne School, multiple other courses, and scored high on his physical fitness tests. Despite having a chronic disease and tired of hearing “no, you can’t,” and “it’s not possible,” he continued, refusing to take no for an answer.

“I knew that as a full-time retention NCO, I had a better chance of staying in the Army, more so than if I were in a combat arms role. I really liked helping Soldiers with their career goals and helping someone else through their career. All I was trying to do was stay in the Army. I did still have to contend with the medical board and couldn’t put it off any longer. By this time though, I was able to prove that I had been successfully living and serving in the Army with Type 1 diabetes for a year and a half, and I was found fit for duty!” In 2004 and 2005, Thompson deployed to Tikrit, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom II. Of course, that deployment didn’t come without obstacles either, but if it was meant to be, it was meant to be. Thompson’s hard work, dedication and perseverance allowed him to prevail once again.

With years of navigating the ups, downs, and sometimes sharp turns and loops life throws our way, Thompson has learned a thing or two about expecting the unexpected and traversing the unknown. Retiring from the Army after decades of service and transitioning back into civilian life is an unfamiliar landscape many of us have to traverse as well.

Helping Soldiers plan out their careers and reach their goals helped Thompson when he got ready to retire.

“What I did not plan for was a global pandemic. I wouldn’t recommend retiring then,” he said with a laugh.

“As a career counselor, I’d ask Soldiers, ‘What are your goals? What do you see for your future, and what do you want to accomplish?” These are important questions to ask in all aspects of your life, because at the end of the day, everyone eventually must leave the Army.”

“Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Transition for yourself while you’re still in uniform. You don’t get this time back. You are fortunate to have the resources, be it people or programs, all around you. Research and learn all you can from the support network you’re familiar with. Invest in your transition.

2. During your transition period, go in with the “I know nothing” attitude, because you don’t. You’ve never transitioned before. This is especially hard for leaders. Too often Soldiers who are retiring are comfortable with the knowledge they have of the military, but none of them have knowledge of transitioning … yet. You need to focus on yourself and that’s difficult because we’re taught to be of “selfless service,” and to take care of others first.

It’s not selfish at transition time to focus on yourself. It’s not about dropping your pack, it’s about taking the time to go to the classes, be present in the transition process. Carve out that time, do your checklists, learn about TRICARE, as a Retired Soldier you now have choices, whereas before, you had no choice.

3. Do your research. It's incredible how varied the benefits are for Retired Soldiers from state to state. You now get to decide where you want to live. Be the best advocate you can for yourself and your family. Read all you can from official .gov sources, read the fine print and ask the questions!

4. Document it, claim it, validate it. Before you retire, make sure your medical records are in order and prepare to put yourself first. While you’re still in uniform, get everything documented, not for the purpose of disability, but for the purpose of living a better life. Ideally, when you fix what’s wrong, you live better. Claim it: Make sure your records accurately reflect what happened throughout your career. You really want to make sure it’s documented, acknowledge that it happened and make sure that your record reflects it. Validate it: This is up to the VA. Do your part … the first two points I’ve made. At the end of the day, don’t you want a better quality of life? And finally, understand that each retirement and all the benefits, entitlements, pay, healthcare, and programs are unique to everyone’s situation.”

The biggest transition challenge Thompson sees are Soldiers who have trouble with having a new identity and having a new naming convention that they’re unfamiliar with.

“You have to take the time to discover what your next purpose will be. It’s a hard thing to have that identity shift; you have to take stock in your accomplishments and be willing to forge new ones. Trust your gut instinct on what’s going to make you happy. And most importantly, fight for the experiences you want, even if all you hear around you is, ‘no.’ I promise it’ll be worth it!”