Total VeteranThe Total Veteran Manual
The field manual for life after service.
Service gave you a mission, a routine and people around you. This book shows you how to rebuild all three on your own terms, and ends with a written plan for the life you want next. Every chapter comes with a video that walks you through its ideas.
Out in November 2026 as an ebook on Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books and Barnes & Noble Nook.
Why this book
Leaving is a crossing. Most people make it without a map.
The forces train you for everything except leaving. The Manual fills that gap with a clear structure, plain language and exercises you actually complete.
It is written by a veteran, built on doctoral research into how people rebuild after military life, and organised around three ideas carved at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: know thyself, nothing in excess, and beware what you pledge.
- Preparing to leaveStart your plan before the gate, while you still have structure around you.
- Recently outPut routine, purpose and people back in place while everything is still new.
- Years out and still feeling the gapFind what went quiet after service and rebuild it deliberately.
What is inside
Five parts, from knowing yourself to a plan you live by.
- Part One
Know Thyself
Take stock of what service built in you and what leaving changes. Eleven chapters set your baseline: who you were in uniform, the masks veterans wear afterwards, and where you stand today.
- Part Two
Nothing in Excess
Rebalance the six areas of life in the WEAPONS framework: Emotional, Awareness, Physical, Outer, Network and Spiritual. You finish with a monthly check that shows when one area starts to slip.
- Part Three
Surety Brings Ruin
On commitments: what you promise, who you promise it to, and how to guard your time before new obligations fill the space service left behind.
- Part Four
Defining Success
Decide what success means now, using one question that sorts every measure: what form of progress lets me respect myself, contribute meaningfully and stay intact over time?
- Part Five
The Build
Build your Personal Mission Architecture in four moves: a Mission Window, three to five values, a floor of standards and a dashboard of the six areas. Then bring it online with simple rituals, a rhythm of recovery and three people who keep you on course: a fellow veteran, a mentor and someone who spots drift early.
The book closes with the Charge Book, an epilogue on writing your next chapter, a resources section with crisis contacts, and notes for further reading.
Built to be used
Written for a tired reader with a lot on.
Every chapter links to a video that presents its ideas and takes them further. Watch the concept explained, then work through the exercises with it fresh in your mind.
Every chapter opens with its point in a few lines, so you can take the core of it in a minute and come back for the detail.
Audits, worksheets and diagrams you fill in as you go, building toward a written plan for life after service.
A closing section to record the commitments you make to yourself and review them as life changes.
Plain guidance on entitlements and where to get free help, with a resources section and crisis contacts at the back.
The author
Dr Carlos M. Callirgos
Carlos served 16 years in the US Navy, retiring as a Chief Petty Officer, with postings including the Blue Angels. His PhD at Leeds Beckett University developed the Total Veteran model of how people rebuild identity and structure after leaving the military. He founded Total Veteran to put that research to work for UK and US veterans.
Pre-order
Get the link the day it goes live.
Leave your email, edition and format. We will send you the store links as soon as pre-orders open, and again on launch day in November.
Ordering for a unit, charity or organisation? Email support@totalveteran.com or message us on WhatsApp.
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We will email you the store links as soon as pre-orders open.
Questions
About the Manual.
When is The Total Veteran Manual out?
The Ex-Forces Edition is out in November 2026 as an ebook on Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books and Barnes & Noble Nook. The USA Edition follows. Register on this page and we will email you the store links the day they go live.
How much is it?
The ebook is £8.99 in the UK and $9.99 in the US, with a launch price of £4.99 / $6.99 in November. The hardcover is £20 / $25. Units, charities and organisations buying several copies can email support@totalveteran.com for a group rate.
Which edition should I read?
The Ex-Forces Edition is written for people leaving the British Armed Forces and uses UK systems, terms and support. The USA Edition is written for American veterans and service members. The framework is the same in both.
Do I need to join Total Veteran to use it?
No. The Manual works on its own. If you want a coach, a peer and a cohort around you while you work through it, Total Veteran cohorts begin in early 2027.
Is the Manual a form of therapy?
No. It is a practical guide to rebuilding structure, identity and purpose after service. It points you to professional and crisis support where that is the right help.
Who wrote it?
Dr Carlos M. Callirgos, founder of Total Veteran, who served 16 years in the US Navy and wrote his PhD at Leeds Beckett University on how people rebuild after leaving the military.