Abstract:The purpose of this phenomenological research is to explore how posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) influences the career trajectories of combat veterans who transitioned out of military service following the post-9/11 era. Over the last two decades, U.S. service members have been engaged in a prolonged and complex military campaign spanning multiple theaters and operational domains across the Middle East. This extended engagement, characterized by evolving missions, counterinsurgency operations, and asymmetric warfare, includes key military operations such as Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND) (Tanielian & Jaycox, 2008). Collectively, these campaigns fall under the umbrella of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), which officially lasted until the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021 (Gaouette, et al., 2021).