Combat Medic to Developer: Skills That Transfer Better Than You Think

I spent four years as a combat medic. Two years at Fort Hood, two at Fort Bragg. Led a team of three medics and two combat lifesavers. My job was to keep people alive under the worst possible conditions.

Now I build software for a living.

People ask me all the time: "How did you go from the Army to coding?" Like it's some massive leap that requires superhuman reinvention.

But honestly? The skills transfer better than you'd think.

Why This Story Matters

Veterans make up less than 1% of software engineers. That's wild considering how many of us leave the military every year looking for new careers.

I think part of the problem is perception. We tell ourselves: "I don't have a CS degree. I'm not a 'math person.' I'm too old to start over."

I had all those thoughts. I was 27 when I got out. No tech background. No degree. Just a GI Bill and a willingness to figure it out.

Three years later, I'm a full-stack developer running my own consulting practice. I've built production apps handling thousands of users. I've worked with startups, enterprises, and everything in between.

If you're a veteran considering tech, this post is for you. Here are the skills you already have that translate directly to software development.

Skill #1: Triage and Prioritization

In the field: You show up to a mass casualty event. Eight wounded. One medic (you). What do you do?

You triage.

• Who's bleeding out right now? (Immediate)
• Who can wait 10 minutes? (Delayed)
• Who's stable enough to self-care? (Minimal)
• Who's beyond saving with available resources? (Expectant)

You make decisions with incomplete information under extreme pressure. You prioritize ruthlessly because lives depend on it.

In software: You wake up Monday morning. Production is down. Users are complaining about slow load times. Your CEO wants three new features shipped this week. A security vulnerability just got published in a library you use.

What do you do?

You triage.

• What's actively breaking right now? (Fix first)
• What can ship this week with existing resources? (Scope it)
• What can wait until next sprint? (Backlog it)
• What's a nice-to-have that won't happen? (Cut it)

The mental model is identical. You assess the situation, prioritize based on impact and urgency, and execute methodically.

Debugging is triage. You don't fix every error at once. You identify the critical path, stabilize the system, then work through lower-priority issues systematically.

I see junior devs (without military backgrounds) panic when multiple things break at once. They try to fix everything simultaneously and end up fixing nothing.

Combat medics don't panic. We triage.

Skill #2: Learning Under Pressure

In the military: You learned your job at a pace that would break most people.

Basic training: 10 weeks. Combat medic school: 16 weeks. You went from civilian to certified emergency medical professional in under seven months.

You didn't learn by casually reading textbooks. You learned by doing, under pressure, with immediate feedback. Screw up an IV in training? Your instructor is in your face. Screw up in combat? Someone dies.

High stakes. Fast iteration. Continuous improvement.

In software: I taught myself to code the same way the Army taught me to be a medic: repetition, pressure, feedback.

I didn't spend two years watching tutorials. I built projects. I broke things. I fixed them. I read error messages, googled solutions, and tried again.

Here's what self-taught coding looks like:

• Week 1-4: Built a basic HTML/CSS portfolio. Looked terrible. Didn't care.
• Week 5-8: Added JavaScript. Broke everything. Learned debugging.
• Week 9-12: Built a to-do app with React. Finally understood state management.
• Month 4-6: Built a full-stack app with Next.js, Supabase, Stripe. Shipped it.

I treated coding like military training: show up every day, push through discomfort, learn from mistakes, repeat.

Veterans already know how to do this. You've done it before. The domain is different, but the learning process is identical.

Skill #3: Documentation and Checklists

In the military: SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) keep people alive.

Before every mission, we ran through checklists:

• Medical supplies? Check.
• Comms working? Check.
• Evac plan confirmed? Check.
• Fallback positions identified? Check.

You don't wing it when lives are on the line. You document everything, follow procedures, and brief the team so everyone knows the plan.

In software: Good developers document everything too.

When I deploy a new feature, I follow a checklist:

• Tests passing? Check.
• Environment variables set? Check.
• Database migrations applied? Check.
• Rollback plan ready? Check.
• Monitoring alerts configured? Check.

I learned this from the Army. Don't rely on memory. Write it down. Make it repeatable.

Runbooks are SOPs. When production breaks at 2 AM, you don't want to think. You want a step-by-step guide:

1. Check logs: `vercel logs --prod`
2. Verify DB connection: run health check query
3. Check third-party APIs: Stripe status, Supabase status
4. Roll back if needed: `git revert <commit> && git push`
5. Notify users via status page

I write runbooks for every critical system. Same discipline as writing SOPs for medical emergencies.

Veterans already think this way. You know that "winging it" in high-stakes situations gets people hurt. Software is the same. Document, checklist, execute.

Skill #4: Teamwork in High-Stakes Environments

In the military: Your team is everything.

I trusted my medics with my life. They trusted me with theirs. We communicated clearly, supported each other under pressure, and executed as a unit.

When things went sideways, we didn't point fingers. We fixed the problem, debriefed, and got better.

In software: Great engineering teams operate the same way.

You're not coding alone in a basement. You're working with designers, product managers, other engineers. You're shipping features that affect real users.

Trust matters. Communication matters. Accountability matters.

Here's what military teamwork looks like in tech:

• Clear communication: Don't assume people know what you're thinking. Over-communicate. "I'm deploying in 10 minutes, heads up."
• Support under pressure: Production down? Everyone jumps in to help. No "not my problem" attitudes.
• Debrief and improve: Post-mortems after incidents. What went wrong? How do we prevent it next time?
• Trust and accountability: If you say you'll ship something by Friday, you ship it. Or you communicate early if you can't.

I see this in the best engineering teams I've worked with. It's the same culture the military drilled into me.

Advice for Transitioning Veterans

If you're reading this and thinking "Maybe I could do this," here's what I wish someone had told me:

1. Use Your Benefits

• GI Bill: Covers coding bootcamps (I used mine for a 12-week program)
• VET TEC: Free tech training for veterans, no GI Bill required
• SkillBridge: Internships with tech companies during your last 180 days of service

Don't leave money on the table. These programs exist because companies want to hire veterans. Use them.

2. Start Before You're Ready

You don't need to feel "ready" to start learning. You'll never feel ready.

Pick a tutorial, build something, ship it. Repeat.

I wrote about my journey from medic to developer here. Spoiler: I had no idea what I was doing for the first six months. I just kept showing up.

3. Build Projects, Not Just Tutorials

Tutorials teach syntax. Projects teach problem-solving.

Build things that solve real problems:

• A workout tracker for your gym
• A budgeting app for your family
• A scheduling tool for your side hustle

Put them on GitHub. Deploy them. Show employers you can ship.

4. Network with Veteran Developers

You're not the first veteran to make this transition. Find others:

• #VetsWhoCode: Community of veteran developers
• Operation Code: Non-profit supporting veterans learning to code
• LinkedIn: Search "veteran software engineer" and connect

Ask questions. Get mentorship. Pay it forward when you make it.

5. Don't Downplay Your Military Experience

Your resume might not have "senior engineer" on it, but it has leadership, high-stakes decision-making, and adaptability under pressure.

Those skills matter.

I put my medic experience on my resume. I talked about it in interviews. Employers respected it.

You're not starting from zero. You're bringing a skillset that most developers don't have.

Hire a Veteran Developer

If you're an employer reading this: hire veterans.

We bring:

• Discipline and accountability
• Ability to learn under pressure
• Teamwork and clear communication
• Resilience and adaptability

We're not looking for handouts. We're looking for opportunities to prove ourselves.

I'm one example. There are thousands more like me transitioning out every year.

If you need a developer who can triage production incidents like a mass casualty event, I'm your guy.

Check out my work or reach out. Let's talk.

And if you're a veteran considering this path: you've got this. The skills transfer. The discipline carries over. You just need to start.