Beginner from Northeast Pennsylvania

[Molly Goldsmith]

Hello! My name is Molly and I live in Northeast PA. The only background I have in real estate is when I bought my house last year. I currently work full time for the National Guard doing human resources. I have 20 years of Guard service and 10 years of active duty so I have come to the point in my career where I look down the road of monotony, boredom, increased hours with more promotion, "safe" retirement, good benefits and think "do I really want to do 10 more years of working for someone else"?  I don't . I want a challenge, I want to work hard for myself, help humanity and grow my own wealth. 

I've been binge listening to podcasts and reading real estate blogs, books and websites. I've joined groups on linkedin and Facebook. I've been looking through craigslist for REI groups where I can work and learn. I'm going to call some of them today to see if they are legitimate. Is there anything other then someone asking for a lot of money upfront that I should be aware of when dealing with scammers?

I've gone through the question forum here and I couldn't find the answer I was looking for. I have a Thrift Saving Program. I can retire this year from the National Guard (part-time years) so I will get penalized if I withdraw my TSP early (I'm 37). Is there any way I can roll this money into an account that I can use to start investing in real estate? Any help is appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read my introduction!