I thought he'd made it quite plain that his current working environment is not conducive to studying and that's one reason he wants out. When the military operate in rough conditions they aren't talking about the crew room water boiler being unserviceable. Living in a tent with half a dozen other sweats and dodging mortar bombs on your way to the bogs can play merry hell with your concentration.
Yes, there's work outside in the civil world and it looks like there'll be plenty more to come. Be prepared to start over at the bottom, but it won't take that long to get back to certifying level. Certainly not five years - 18 months is more like it.