When I decided to get out of the Marine Corps after nine and a half years, I decided to do so with little planning for life after the Marine Corps. On my way to becoming a civilian, I did my own research on which benefits I qualified for, including health insurance. It was cumbersome to say the least. It felt like every link I clicked on led me down a never ending tunnel of useless words strung together to make a half coherent sentence, every phone conversation included an unacceptable amount of wait time for me to be transferred over and over again, and every conversation with a veteran benefits "specialist" somehow led to more questions than I had before talking to them.

I was left with knowing very little about my benefits, which did include free health care due to my disability rating of 50%. I paid for health care for almost two and a half years before I was told about this benefit.

Luckily along my journey as a civilian, I have remained open minded about receiving help, and I now have people in my life who are able to answer questions for me directly when I feel overwhelmed after dealing with the bureaucracy of the VA department. No more calling a useless toll free number, I can send an email or have a conversation and get my questions answered by somebody who cares a great amount about myself and every other veteran.