First off, let me thank you for your services and 2nd, I'll take a stab at a couple of your questions.
Are there several different types of Welding Certifications?
Yes, there are many different types of certifications. To be quick and to the point, there are codes and specifications you work to in the civilian world and there are qualification/"certifications" tests to those codes and specifications. Different companies in the civilian world work to different codes and specifications. Some companies work to multiple and others, only one if any.Is it possible to transfer over to a Civilian Welding Certification easily?
Yes, for the most part. The welding tests you had to take in the military will be very similar if not exactly what you will have to take in the civilian world. Most of the military codes and specifications were derived around the commercial/"civilian" code specifications and the qualification tests/"certification tests" are pretty much the same. Again, I am uneducated on this process and curious if anyone has any information to help me out, such as the actually step process on what I should plan to do for my future?
In a nutshell, get your resume put together and any of your military welding qualification/"Certification" documentation together and start applying for work. Welders are in demand out there. Maybe not exactly in your area, but out there. Your previous qualifications/"Certifications" will help you get your foot in the door at a company to take a welding test. What those previous certs will show the employer is that they will not be wasting there time bringing you in to take a test to there procedures that were developed IAW the code/specifications they work to. I'll give you a break down. You have the code/specification a company works to, you have welding procedures (Recipes I call them) developed IAW those code specifications, and then you have the welders/brazers qualified/"certified" to those procedures. Same as in the military. These are all company specific for the most part. In saying that, your qualification test records should not transfer over to another company depending on the company and code you are working to. The reason you didn't get a lot of takers on this thread is because they probably wanted you to search on your own for the anaswer. You will have to search more on this topic to get further detail and there is a lot of detail on these forums believe me on that. Anywho, best of luck to ya man.