How to Get Paid What You're Actually Worth After the Military

Happy Saturday Weekly Sitrep Readers!

The Sitreps Team is currently over in Singapore meeting with some of our international clients who are looking to hire Americans as the global supply chain detaches from China. Exciting stuff! We will post a round up once we are back.

In the meantime… We launched the Sitreps Salary Explorer on sitreps.com last week ago, its a tool that lets you benchmark comp across 14 industries and 50+ roles. It’s already the fourth most-visited page on the site. Fourth. Behind the homepage, the job board, and the AI advisor. Out of everything we’ve built, the MBA calculator, the retirement calculator, the VA disability tool, the career guides, the thing veterans are clicking on more than almost anything else is salary data.

That tells me something. You want to know what you’re worth. And if I’m being honest, most of you are undervaluing yourselves. I see it every week in the placements we run. A candidate with a TS/SCI, ten years of operational leadership, an MBA, and a track record that would make most Fortune 500 hiring managers drool -- and they’re ready to accept the first offer because it’s more than their O-4 base pay.

That’s the topic today. Let’s fix it.

We’ve got 50 open roles on the Sitreps Job Board right now. Here’s what’s hot:

Defense Tech & National Security:

• Sales Director, National Security Sector -- Remote | Defense analytics & AI platform

• VP of Engagement -- Arlington, VA | Defense tech

• Product Manager, Defense Tech Software -- Arlington, VA | Defense AI

• Engagement Manager -- Air Force Accounts -- Arlington, VA | Defense analytics

• Engagement Manager -- Army & Navy Accounts -- Arlington, VA | Defense analytics

• Forward Deployed Data Scientist -- Arlington, Pittsburgh, or Remote

• Forward Deployed Engineer -- Washington, DC

• Field Software Engineer -- Arlington, VA | Defense tech startup

• Mission Operator, Army Intel -- Washington, DC | Intelligence

• Head of Intelligence -- New York, NY | Analytics

Executive & Operations Leadership:

• Chief of Staff -- Litchfield, VA

• SVP of Operations -- Philadelphia, PA (Hybrid)

• President in Training -- Remote

• SVP, Multi-Unit Leader -- Charlotte, Atlanta, or Nashville

Plus 15+ General Manager roles across home services, healthcare, and HVAC -- all PE-backed with P&L ownership. Browse all 50 openings on the Sitreps Job Board.

Summer meetup season is here. Come talk shop and grab a drink with the community:

• San Diego Meetup -- June 10, 2026 | 6:30 PM

• Anchorage Meetup -- June 18, 2026 | 6:30 PM AKDT

• Orange County Meetup -- June 25, 2026 | 6:30-9:00 PM

These meetups are free, casual, and consistently the best networking you'll do all month. If you're in any of these areas, show up.

I'm going to say something that might sting: the biggest threat to your post-military comp isn't a lowball offer. It's you.

Here's what happens. You spent 8, 10, 15 years looking at a pay chart. Your compensation was public, standardized, and non-negotiable. An O-4 with 10 years makes what an O-4 with 10 years makes. No discussion. No variance. No leverage.

Base salary is one number. Total comp is the number that actually matters, and most veterans have never thought about it because the military doesn't work this way.

• Base salary: The number on your offer letter