Abstract:Mentoring provides significant benefits for both mentors and mentees, particularly for military veterans transitioning to civilian life. This study is an exploration of how civilianmilitary veteran mentors describe fostering the effective transition into civilian life with their civilian-military veteran mentees in the United States. Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), the research was conducted using 25 participants, selected through convenience sampling, and utilized data from three focus groups with 12 managers and 13 semi-structured interviews with diverse mentors. The data were manually coded and thematically analyzed to explore the research questions. The results revealed nine key themes including providing guided support and clear tasks, cultivating growth and confidence through experiential learning, fostering tailored mentorship with active listening and mutual respect, building resilience and risk management, and promoting leadership and critical thinking with military-inspired guidance. These findings provide valuable insights for veteran mentorship programs and offer practical strategies to enhance support systems for veterans during their transition to civilian life. Future research should explore how mentor motivation evolves during a mentee's transition from military to civilian life. This could reveal how mentors' roles shift from early support to long-term adjustment. Current findings emphasize the value of experiential mentorship and progressive responsibilities in enhancing mentor effectiveness.