“Start the rest of your life right now!”

With those few short words, Parisa Fetherson summed up the purpose of Friday’s inaugural Personal Readiness Seminar designed to better help young Marines succeed and prepare for life after the Marine Corps.

“Remember your transition starts now because one day you will leave active duty,” added Fetherson, a retired sergeant major now serving as director of Personal and Professional Development for Marine Corps Base Quantico.

The Marine Corps-mandated program, which is now required for all Marines serving at their first duty station, instructs attendees about all the resources available to them at Marine Corps Base Quantico and other Marine installations in areas such as professional development and career choices, personal finances, personal issues, college opportunities and their eventual transition back to the civilian world.

For many of the 23 Marines in attendance at Friday’s session at the Chapel Annex, it was the first time they had received specific instructions on such rudimentary skills such as making a budget or properly writing a resume.

“Learning all this stuff is good to know,” said Lance Cpl. Chase Grotem, avionics, Marine Corps Helicopter Squadron One, Marine Corps Base Quantico. “You can’t just think about now, but you have to think about the long term, too.”

That was exactly what Sgt. Maj. Mark A. Byrd, base sergeant major, Quantico, had in mind when he addressed the attendees and stressed the importance of the daylong seminar and all the valuable information it provided the young Marines. Advisors in the once-monthly sessions are always standing nearby to answer any questions.

“This is about preparing you so you can be successful the next four years,” Byrd told them.

The program, which requires a mandatory attendance within 90 days after a Marine’s arrival at his or her first duty station, is similar to the Transition Readiness Seminar that departing Marines undergo in the 12 to 14 months prior to their leaving the Marine Corps.

In August 2011, President Barack Obama called on the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to devise a task force to develop proposals on maximizing the career readiness of our nation’s transitioning service members. One of the goals of the Task Force was to implement a “Military Life Cycle,” which requires transition preparation for service members to occur over the entire span of their military career and not just in the first few months of their military service, according to the Transition Assistance Program Executive Council.

Byrd said he expected to see anywhere from 20-30 Marines new aboard Quantico taking the Personal Readiness Seminar each month.

— Writer: jhollis@quanticosentryonline.com