A Veteran's Journey to Project Management

Prelude.

A question I get a lot is "why did you co-found Vets2PM?” The short answer is "so my Brother and Sister Veterans wouldn't have to spend 12 years transitioning from Service Member to Project Manager like I did". But, you're not here for the short answer are you.

The first step.

The first step was Navy Basic Cadet Training (BCT), boot camp for short, at Recruit Training Center (RTC) Orlando Florida. I 'graduated' from there in December 1989, under snow flurries! Right! Snow flurries in Orlando Florida!

Anyway, from there, I went to the Hull Technician "A" school to learn how to be a welder and ship-board firefighter in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, and then out to the 'fleet'. I was assigned to the repair department aboard the USS (United States Ship) McKee, AS-41 (Auxiliary Ship), a submarine tender. I was in the R-5 division (Repair) supervising nuclear welders working on submarine nuclear propulsion systems.

On the project management path now.

This meant I was 'leading and directing project activities', such as controlling the flow of work packages and shift schedules, implementing the quality control plan and overseeing quality assurance, leading and directing the project work packages, controlling communications and key stakeholders through status briefings, and developing the project team by training them on controls, requirements, and techniques.

However, we didn't call it that. We couldn't. We didn't yet have a common project management language. The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, or PMBOK Guide, as we know it today didn't exist yet, and wouldn't until 1996. It was still only 1991 or so.

Add to this I didn't have the 50,000 foot view either. I didn't know I was a project manager. I only knew that A. I was a Hull Technician, and B. there weren't any nuclear ships in the civilian fleet. So when I transitioned out of the service under a Medical Board, I went to college to be an Orthopedic Technician. Why?

An 'Ortho Tech' (OT) that took care of me in the Navy had made a big impression. That's what I wanted to do as well. So a couple of years and an Associate's degree later, I was an OT in the medical field, putting casts on and taking them off, crafting splints and braces, shooting X-Rays, and assisting the Orthopedic surgeon in the O.R. (operating room).

I did that for a couple of years and really enjoyed it. Probably because it was hands-on project management! I helped organize the back office for efficiency and effectiveness (project), refine the billing process (project), and planned, performed, and documented my participation in each patient's care. Ta-dah!

Again though, I didn't know I was doing project work! It's only 1998 or so, and I didn't have the Project Management Institute's (PMI) definition of a project because I wasn't yet aware it, the PMBOK, existed now.

In that position, during my annual performance review, I asked for a healthy raise. I was told I was already at the top of the local market pay scale, and I was, so that'd be a 'No'. When I countered that I brought in a lot of additional capabilities, which resulted in a lot of additional revenue, I was also told that I should go back to school and get my MBA and run practices from the business perspective instead of contributing as ancillary health staff. Then my salary cap would rise. Done.

I left the practice and went into the durable medical goods business. It employed my specialized knowledge and skills, we did projects, actually events and workshops attended by surgeons from across the US, and it paid very well. Additionally and unbeknownst to me at the time, it also was extremely instrumental in helping me develop corporate awareness, business acumen, analytical capability, and a process engineering mind-set. It also allowed me to finish my Bachelor's degree.

Over the next several years, several life situations resulted in my leaving the West Coast for the Midwest, where I finally obtained my MBA. I didn't return to healthcare though, I instead returned to Defense as a financial manager. I was assigned too many financial systems and human capital projects, and we used the PMBOK!

Finally, my journey from Service to Project Management was nearing completion. I could discuss my experiences now, and I loved it! I obtained both my Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) and my Project Management Professional (PMP) credentials from PMI. I started and finished my Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in Financial Management. This landed me in teaching full time. Teaching what? Project and Financial Management!

Closure (or, finally, the long answer).

Over the recent years, as I worked mentoring project management students, many of whom were Veterans, and junior project managers, the realization hit me! Military Service members are project managers! They work on temporary endeavors that produce unique products, results, services, or capabilities, and these endeavors are team-based, and they often occur in diverse, austere resource-scarce environments.

I bounced this realization off a trusted LinkedIn associate and retired United States Marine (Tim Dalhouse, MBA, PMP), developed it more fully, and together we founded Vets2PM.com this past January. Our mission is simple, we help Military Veterans become Project Managers.

I do this with passion, zeal, and dedication, for one reason. I don't want my fellow Brother and Sister Veterans' post-Service transition to project management to take 12 years. Like mine did. When the path to do it is clear, the journey can be much, much shorter.