That First Civilian Job After the Military: At his first job following his discharge from the U.S. Army, Michael Chionopoulos was surprised that many of his co-workers didn't report on time for their 9 a.m. or 11 a.m. shifts. "People would meander in about 9:05 or 11:15 and not get fired for that," Chionopoulos said. "I was absolutely amazed." Richard Stallo, a former military policeman with the U.S. Marine Corps, and Mark Plank, Army captain, were similarly shocked with their transitions to the civilian world eight and 10 years ago, respectively. "In the military, you could depend on something or someone being there when you needed it," said Stallo, 35, a lab manager at UroCor Inc. That's not always so in the civilian work force, he said.