With the realization that his work was not making him as happy as he thought, the first step was to look for employment beyond his activation.
For this, Fleet and Family Services is King! At NS Roosevelt Roads, they work from 7 to 3, so if you can't make it, take your spouse. They are very helpful, their Internet Connection speed rocks, and they even have Relocation help. Be advised, if you are a Mobilized Reservist the help they can give you is limited, and for Relocation Help the Activated/Active Duty Member has to go - your spouse cannot do that for you; but you or your spouse can work on one of their computers (as long as you are looking for work or relocation related stuff).
I worked about 40 hours on it, but it really opened our eyes.
Another good source is the Base Library. At NS RR, they have Internet and color printers and scanners, a great tool after 3 pm while I was still waiting for my husband to finish his training for the day during his first week activated..
This week of work led us to realize there was really nothing keeping us where we are right now, so we are gung-ho for a change.
Step 1: Find where your skills are marketable, there are even military-to-civilian-life job web pages out there - I cannot really tell you about those, since my husband wants to continue being what he was before activation, but they seem great for people wanting a career change after activation or those wanting a job after a long stint as Active Duty.
Step 2 (interchangeable with Step 1): Find the General Area where you want to live: North, South, East or West is enough in the inital stages.
Step 3: Narrow it down - for us, the ultimate decision factor, was the fact that I have to finish my degree (locally, I have 3 courses to go, if I change schools it will take a bit longer). After we had picked our state, we used a page to find which Universities in that state offered my Major.
* Hint 1: Try to contact the Chamber of Commerce in the State you like. A good starting point is: www.statename.gov if that does not link to the official web page for your desired state, it will probably point you in the right direction.
