Transitions: Aerospace and Defense Industry Careers
A look at the opportunities available when
separating from the armed services.
By Michael Burnett
Warfighters planning to make new careers outside of the U.S. military often draw upon experiences or interest they gained in their active duty service to launch them into defense or aerospace industry jobs later in life. Such servicemembers also can augment their career choices with education and training opportunities with specialized organizations that can help them transition into new jobs.
For example, servicemembers driven by a desire to serve their nation may find a career in homeland security or homeland defense attractive, as they continue to provide security for U.S. national interests in their civilian lives.
The Homeland Security and Defense Education Consortium (HSDEC), based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, can assist those pursuing jobs in homeland security through its network of institutions with homeland security offerings. These colleges, universities, academies and other centers of higher learning promote education, cooperation, and research and development to boost homeland security and defense, Dr. Houston Polson, HSDEC chair, told Military Advanced Education.
“We are primarily concerned with pursuit of homeland security education in support of U.S. Northern Command and NORAD [North American Aerospace Defense Command],” Polson explained. “We want military servicemembers to pursue these educational opportunities and use them in support of the military. However, many careers are available to those in homeland security, whether in the civilian government or in the private sector.”
HSDEC has developed curriculum and course material in support of homeland security education programs. Its Website at www.hsdec.org lists various homeland security programs of study, ranging from community college to undergraduate education to graduate education.
Depending on a warfighter’s career experience in the military and education, various civilian career opportunities in homeland security may be available, Polson remarked. Education programs enable students to concentrate on emergency management, maritime security, public health or critical infrastructure protection, among others.
“Many large corporations plan their own security measures to protect critical infrastructure and other resources under in their possession, sometimes creating a homeland security apparatus that rivals that of many state and local emergency operations centers,” Polson noted. “Homeland security careers can be found anywhere from the federal Department of Homeland Security to many cities across the nation.”
HSDEC offers forums for students in its member schools to exchange ideas or search across programs for research and information. HSDEC also sponsors summits and conferences where students can give presentations, network with others, learn more about specific education programs and opportunities, and explore specific facets of homeland security operations.
Engineering a New Career
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting engineering education, offers resources to those seeking a degree or training in engineering fields. ASEE itself is made up of engineering education leaders seeking ways to enhance their own professional development. In so doing, they promote activities that encourage students to seek out engineering education opportunities.
Military servicemembers turning to a civilian career in engineering would benefit from visiting the ASEE Web site at www.asee.org, William Kelly, ASEE public affairs department head, told MAE.
“I’m a civil engineer by training, so I may have a bias, but perhaps with the exception of chemical engineering, all of the engineering disciplines would match up to some military experience. This could include experience in the Corps of Engineers or the engineering branches. All of the services—Air Force, Navy and Army—have engineering components,” Kelly commented.
“Someone doing electronics in the military might look at electrical engineering or electrical technology. Someone working in transportation might look at mechanical instruction,” he continued. “A lot of our material is oriented toward people looking for their first degree. That could be an enlisted person getting out and looking at a possible college for engineering. Our Website would good be a good place to look.”
Military officers and others seeking advanced degrees also can benefit from the ASEE resources, as they would have the capability and background to sort through the information to seek out specific opportunities to augment their training or find new challenges. Whatever their goal, Kelly encourages students to have a real interest in the engineering program they pursue.
“You have to have an interest and match your interest aptitude with the field,” Kelly declared. “Anyone who is really good is not going to have any trouble finding a position. My advice to students is in order to be good, you have to be inspired or interested. Motivation is usually not an issue for folks in the military, so they have an advantage. That’s important in pursuing a career like engineering. It’s fairly rigorous at the academic level, so motivation is a big part of it.”
ASEE provides a forum for information exchange among its member organization. About 400 engineering colleges and programs, more than 50 corporations, and many government agencies participate in ASEE events, enabling attendees to network across their fields and perhaps discover new areas of interest.
Kelly added that many military servicemembers have another advantage in the possibility of obtaining education credit based on their military experiences.
“I just retired from Catholic University and came here to ASEE. We had a program in engineering management and we had a lot of active duty Navy folks who went through that program. So there are engineering management programs or construction management programs that match up very nicely with what some folks have been doing in the military,” he said.
Go With IT
In addition to engineering jobs, the defense and aerospace industries rely heavily upon information technology workers to accomplish their goals. Many U.S. servicemembers develop IT skills while on active duty that translate very well into civilian careers.
Across the United States, servicemembers seeking IT education opportunities or even IT jobs could benefit from the Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP) by seeking out a local chapter and attending for a networking or recruiting session.
Interested servicemembers about to transition out of the military could look up their local chapter of AITP on the organization’s Web site at www.aitp.org, Kevin Jetton, president of GeniSys Consulting Services and the AITP San Antonio Chapter president, told MAE. There, anyone could meet a range of IT workers, including programmers, developers, network administrators, managers, CIO executives and others.
“If you are soon to be separated from the military, you can share your unique skill set, which doesn’t always translate to the private sector easily, depending on what you did. However, designing and maintaining networks and developing and testing software is always more or less the same, it’s just different applications,” Jetton described. “
Network administrators with military experience can generally find jobs doing exactly the same sort of thing if desired, Jetton added, but those developing military applications or systems may have to broaden their skill set.
“If you are coming out of the military, you are not writing banking applications or insurance applications. You may be writing logistics applications that may lend itself to companies like FedEx or UPS. You have to look at what your application experience is and find an employer in a similar arena and that’s not always easy to do,” Jetton remarked. “But the aptitude and the ability to design and to develop code and systems and procedures and processes is the same no matter where you are. You have to adapt your skill set so as not to be application specific. Then you have to showcase that in an interview.”
Recruiting opportunities sometimes occur at AITP meetings as contract employers like Robert Half International and Kelly Services regularly attend some of the chapter meetings.
“Our organization can act as a clearinghouse for meet and greet opportunities. Those networking settings eliminate the need to start cold calling,” Jetton said. “You can also explore educational opportunities. Some employers still require a bachelor’s degree but with the shortage of IT workers, that has been relaxed on a case-by-case basis.” ♦