As a supply and logistics manager with the U.S. Marine Corps, I helped manage a $90-million account that followed me from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to Al Taqaddum, Iraq. My responsibilities ranged from supervising nearly a dozen other Marines to creating and reviewing equipment, merchandise, supply, and expenditure data.

After four active years in the Marines, I went from being a logistics coordinator at a mid-sized IT solutions company to Dewberry, where I’ve been able to work towards earning my management in construction engineering degree while tapping into the company's valuable (and deep) veteran community: a community that prides itself on balancing the identities of being a veteran and a professional.

The Value of Dewberry's Veteran Community

There's a robust veteran community here at Dewberry, one that starts at the very top. Mr. Sidney O. Dewberry himself served in World War II, Donald E. Stone, Jr., spent five years in the U.S. Army, vice president Neal Wright was an officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and even the senior inspector I'm currently shadowing, Louis Jarrett, is a former Marine.

The thing I'm constantly impressed by is how these leaders can balance their identity as veterans while constantly striving to become better professionals.

Take Neal Wright for example. Aside from being a Dewberry vice president, market segment leader, and office principal, Neal is also Co-Chair of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Warrior Transition Task Force and recipient of SAME's President's Medal. His work as a veteran is not to be outdone by his professional accomplishments, having recently been elected as the National Society of Professional Engineers Director of Membership at Large.

Such leadership exists throughout the company, setting an excellent example for younger veterans like myself.

Applying My Education

When I first came to Dewberry as a construction engineering intern, I wasn't aware of how deep this community ran. It was only after a while that conversations began to shift towards shared experiences.

Being able to share in these experiences, regardless of generation, has allowed me to draw closer connections to my mentors. Louis and I have traveled together from one side of Virginia to the other, talking about what we learned in the service and how it can be applied on the next job site. Skills that I learned while managing inventory in the Marines can be applied to QA/QC on construction sites; the fast-paced work I performed in Iraq has allowed me to catch onto the design-build process quickly; and my inner passion for helping people is realized every time I see the built environment come together.

I'm now just months away from receiving my bachelor's degree from George Mason University. It's been a long road, but being able to tap into the community of armed force members here at Dewberry has been invaluable.

I am a veteran, but I am also a professional – one of many here at Dewberry.