Thank You for Your Service

Gibson pointed out, “What they do in the military is life and death—you want to make it home to see your family, you have to follow the rules and pull your weight.” This is an absolute fact. Even in peacetime or non-combat areas, military life can be dangerous. Training accidents happen, and there is an inherent risk in everything you do when you train for conflict. These environments require constant focus, attention to detail, and the mental discipline to maintain both non-stop over sometimes extremely long periods of time.

In the military, the process of skill mastery is very linear; not doing so is not an option, so a skill is mastered and then you move on to the next one. The patience, persistence, and ability to get results without giving up because something is too difficult is something veterans excel at.

#3: Inclusivity

The United States is often referred to as a “melting pot”, and the U.S. military is a true representation as it is composed of all types of individuals from all of its states and territories. These individuals are taken, trained, and ultimately stationed together with no regard for place of birth, upbringing, religious beliefs, race, etc.

Guillon says, “You are exposed to lots of diversity—old school, new school and everything in between.” And from Lance Corporal Todd Tucker, “All anyone cares about is—are you pulling your weight? Nothing else matters.” As Gibson pointed out, this exposure to extreme diversity offers a lot of learning potential.

The true core of what builds the unbreakable and lifelong bonds between service members are the sacrifices made for one another whether it be in time, sweat, or otherwise. Veterans will be core members of teams and organizations that successfully include all team members to navigate adversity and will be dependable, steadfast, and determined.

#4: Applying Skills to the Civilian World

After leaving active service, many veterans find that their skill sets don’t easily apply to civilian roles. They often have trouble translating their military experience in a way that is relatable and correctly conveys the right message to a civilian employer. Many roles in the military require learning a skill set that ultimately leads to some level of destructive capability clearly not needed outside of that environment. What civilian employer would find a need for an individual who could retrofit a civilian 747 with high caliber machine guns and high explosives? Or maybe an individual who can navigate their way through a live minefield?

The answer: all of them. They just don’t always know it. Any civilian employer should want someone with these skill sets. These skill sets can apply problem solving and critical thinking with a little bit of MacGuyver-ing to make a project successful, even when the road to success is littered with roadblocks.

While the specifics of a skill may be difficult to parallel to the civilian world, what does apply are the base traits that allow service members to learn and master new roles and equipment, or how to “adapt and overcome” when not provided the correct tools for a job. Ring talked about the organizational skills he gained, “Learning how to organize like the military does can give you a competitive advantage.” Organization can be applied to physical inventory and equipment, but also to processes and people. Good organization of people can often equate to well-developed leadership skills, which in turn create highly efficient and motivated teams.

Most of our interviewees spoke highly of developing leadership skills that they carried into every aspect of their professional and personal lives after leaving their respective service. Berlanga talked about being exposed to good leadership by “being in difficult situations and seeing people treated the right way.” This made a lasting impact on him, causing him to treat people with care and provide motivation as a hallmark of his leadership style. The exposure to extreme leadership styles, both positive and negative, frequently leads veterans to reflect on and refine the methods, making themselves better and more effective as they grow.

Often, veterans encounter difficulties finding ways to express what their skills can translate into in the civilian world. It is hard to accept that military certifications do not directly equate to a civilian equivalent. Frequently a veteran, fresh out of the military, will not understand how to attribute traits and abilities to skills in the civilian workplace. Working with live explosives? Try “detail oriented.” Proficient at launching aircraft rapidly from an aircraft carrier? How about “excellent communication skills.”

#5: Stereotypes

When most people imagine veterans, images of Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore from Apocalypse Now or Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from Full Metal Jacket often come to mind. While you may find those characters among real veterans, the truth often could not be further from the stereotype. Most service members do not operate in direct combat roles and instead perform a wide variety of tasks from repairing airplane engines to programming complex encryptions used for communication equipment. Frequently the first question asked of veterans by civilians is the dreaded, “Have you ever killed anybody?” Berlanga has commonly come across the assumption “that they’ve all been through battle and may have PTSD which is not always the case.” The actual truth is that only about 10% of service members will ever see combat, and the ratio is about 10 people needed to support every one infantryman on the front lines. Tucker stated, “People sometimes think you are a racist, redneck, gun toting extremist from rural America. But really everyone served together no matter what their background.” This highlights how far from the truth the first statement is. Ring even pointed out that he eventually stopped highlighting his military career of more than 20 years due to being stereotyped into security roles instead of IT where he wanted to work.

Our interview candidates all expressed a level of frustration with the idea that veterans are all killers, aggressive, crazy, or misguided. They simply want to be judged based on their own character and achievements.

Working With Veterans

Working with and managing veterans within your teams can be a challenge without understanding what makes them different. Ring described young veterans as being more receptive and dependable than their peers and requiring a lot less “babysitting.” He attributes that to their having already learned structure, accountability, and timeliness among other factors for success. Tucker also stated that veterans tend to be faster, more efficient, and better able to work in teams, and that these skills come pre-loaded with that veteran into the workplace.

All our interviewees agreed that they were much more easily able to connect and communicate with veteran employees due to the shared experiences and mindsets towards completing the end goal. Gibson did note, “Sometimes it is civilian non-verbal communications that cause veterans to shut down. I understand and relate to them. It can be tough, especially for people who have seen combat. Civilians can’t relate to these experiences.”

But as you can see, having veterans as part of your organization can give you an advantage; all you need to do is understand a little about them. And from all our interviewees: You should definitely hire more vets! ◆