ltsdd, it is clear here that you have no experience in government.
My kids had SEVERAL elementary-school teachers who didn’t retire until their 36th-38th year. One teacher didn’t retire until he had taught 40 consecutive 4th grade classes in two district schools. He had their class pics posted on one his classroom walls in chronological order. Yes, showing him standing next to his class sporting every variation of sideburns, full beard, horn-rimmed glasses and Angel Flight pants :=0
A LOT of my kids’ classmates parents were in those photos!
He and his colleagues stayed on for their love of teaching and the kids. CA public school teachers can retire with 30 yrs svc with full pay but many don’t.
They LOVE getting up in the morning and going to school.
The same applies to longtime DOD workers who worked most of their “careers” in one agency. They have a boss they work directly for whom they like and respect and they will wait for their boss to retire before they do. When a new boss comes in who is ranked O-5 and up, this new boss will frequently bring their own assistants with them that they like and trust if they are local, or help them transfer-in if they wish to do so. The displaced assistants of the old boss will either retire or transfer to another dept/division.
