I’m writing this at 11 PM on a Saturday, sitting in an overly expensive rental house that never really felt like home, with a separation notice in my inbox that confirms what I’ve been dreading for weeks: Peace Corps Layoff.
On March 20th, 2026, I received a letter from the Peace Corps. “Notice of Involuntary Separation in accordance with 22 U.S.C. § 4011.” No conversation. No warning. Just the cold bureaucratic language telling me my job ends May 22nd.
I’m writing this because I don’t want anyone else to end up where I am right now. And because there’s something hopeful buried in this wreckage — something I’m building from the ashes.
The Promotion That Was Supposed to Be My Victory
In 2023, I took the Peace Corps job. It was a promotion, a validation, a step up from my DoD career. FP-2 (GS-14). Supervisory IT Program & Engineering Solutions Manager (IT Service Delivery Director) Washington, D.C. This was supposed to be the payoff for 19 years of showing up, doing the work, serving my country.
My family made the sacrifice. We left a lower cost-of-living area. We uprooted my kids from their schools, their friends, their support system. We told ourselves it would be worth it — that this move would secure our future.
The financial stress of that relocation was immediate and brutal. But we pushed through. We believed in the promise.
The plan was to stay in this location for 5 years so the kids could graduate from High School. Then we would get a job in Europe as empty nesters.
Man Makes Plans, and God Laughs.
Then Everything Collapsed
A 22-year marriage ended partly due to the strain of that move. My children were traumatized — watching their parents’ marriage dissolve while dealing with a new school, a new city, everything unfamiliar. I went into debt trying to keep normalcy for them through the separation. I was drowning, and nobody knew it.
Then I met Sandy. She was a light when everything felt dark. We got married in 2025, hopeful about starting something new together. We should have been building a life. Instead, we were just trying to survive.
And then: the layoff notice.
The Letter That Changed Everything: Peace Corps Layoff
Date of notice: March 20, 2026
Separation date: May 22, 2026 (60 days)
Reason: “Notice of Involuntary Separation in accordance with 22 U.S.C. § 4011”
Scope: 11 managers across the Peace Corps
What it really means: No RIF protections. No retention register. No competitive service safeguards. Just: we’re reorganizing, you’re out, pack your desk.
My 19 years of federal service? Doesn’t count for RIF purposes at the Peace Corps. My veteran status? Irrelevant under the excepted service authority. The safety net I thought I’d woven? Evaporated.
The Crisis That Followed
Our lease is up on April 30th. Exactly 38 days after my separation notice. We cannot find a place to rent in Northern Virginia for under $3,000/month. Do we stay in D.C.? Move to Florida? Texas? How do you make life decisions when the ground just shifted beneath your feet?
Sandy keeps saying it’s her and me against the world. She’s a fighter. But I see the worry in her eyes. I see my kids trying to understand why their world is unstable again. I feel the weight of having made a choice — taking this job, moving this family — that has cost us in ways I never anticipated.
This is the cost of excepted service that nobody puts in the job posting.
What You Need to Know Before You Sign
Peace Corps service time does NOT count toward RIF protections or severance
Read that again. Your prior federal service? Irrelevant. Your years of building expertise in that agency? Don’t count. You’re starting from zero.
They can use “involuntary separation” instead of formal RIF procedures
This means your veteran’s preference is worthless. Your competitive service protections? Gone. You don’t even get the dignity of a process that acknowledges what you’ve given.
Ask these questions before you move your family
- Does my prior federal service count for RIF or severance purposes?
- Does this agency conduct formal RIFs or use involuntary separations?
- What happens to my veteran’s preference under excepted service?
- Am I trading 20+ years of competitive service protections for a title and a pay bump?
- Can I even afford to live in the city where this job is located?
- What’s my exit plan if things go wrong?
I didn’t ask those questions. I assumed the rules were the same everywhere in the federal government.
They are not!
But Here’s Where the Story Shifts
I can’t spend weeks in a fog after that letter. Angry. Scared. Wondering how I’d failed to protect my family. Wondering what comes next.
I have to take action and realize: I don’t have to stay in the system that just discarded me. I don’t have to wait for another agency to value my work. I don’t have to keep trading my family’s stability for a federal paycheck.
I started Apex Node Solutions.
It’s consulting work. AI strategy, IT operations, Marketing, and the skills I’ve built over 19 years. But this time? It’s mine. The hours are flexible. The work is meaningful. And the trajectory isn’t controlled by a reorganization that doesn’t even have the decency to explain itself.
Sandy is all in. My kids, well, they are teenagers. We can figure out the housing situation. We can make decisions based on what’s best for us, not what the government decides.
This wasn’t the future I planned. But it might be a better one.
What I Want You to Take Away
If you’re looking at a federal job — especially excepted service — please do your homework. Don’t assume your years matter. Don’t assume the system will protect you. Don’t assume the rules are the same everywhere.
But also: if it happens to you, it’s not the end. It might be the beginning of something you build for yourself, on your own terms.
I spent 19 years showing up for institutions that ultimately showed me the door. I don’t regret that service. But I’m not waiting for another institution to define my worth anymore.
If you’re facing something similar — whether it’s a layoff, a betrayal by an employer, or the sudden realization that the system you believed in isn’t what you thought — there’s life after it. There’s something new. There’s hope.
Sandy and I are figuring out our next chapter on a compressed timeline. Do we stay in DC? Move south? We don’t know yet. But for the first time since that separation notice arrived, we’re not afraid of the decision. We’re excited about it.
That’s the part I want you to hear: the sadness and frustration are real. The injustice is real. But so is the hope that comes from taking your power back.
Don’t make the mistakes I made. But if you do end up where I was, know that there’s a way forward. You’re more than your federal service. You’re more than the system’s decision. You’re capable of building something that’s actually yours.
That’s what I’m doing. And it feels like freedom.
External Information
- Office of Personnel Management (OPM) – Severance Pay Fact Sheet → https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/severance-pay/
- USAJobs.gov → https://www.usajobs.gov/
- Federal Employee News Digest – Foreign Service Act Information → https://www.fedsmith.com/
- Facebook Group for TSP → https://www.facebook.com/groups/thriftsavingsplan
- Facebook Group for Information → https://www.facebook.com/groups/fedfam
- YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@armandcuret1
- YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@southworth_pc → AttorneysForFederalEmployees.com
