Camaraderie with shared values and a common cause.
Military service isn’t a job; it isn’t even a career—it is a calling. From the first time you look in the mirror and see a soldier in the reflection, you are forever changed, and it feels like destiny.
For you see, there is something about military service that is downright transformational; it helps the shy find their voice, followers find inspiration, and leaders find focus.
“I did not have anything going for me,” former Army reservist Shalyssa shared about life before her enrollment and deployment. “I had a young son. I was a single mom, working at a fast-food place. I wasn’t in school. I could barely pay my rent. I had nothing going for me, so I joined the Army.”
Four years later she was leveraging her military experience to get a degree and support her son. She shed her reputation for being slow and disengaged and reinvented herself as a confident go-getter ready to make an impact in her industry, healthcare. The Army had changed her, and it was undoubtedly for the better.
Shalyssa’s future employer will be lucky to have her, the ideals that she adopted in military service will make her a model employee and valuable company asset. She will undoubtedly lead them to doing things faster, better, more effectively — military people can’t help but to improve systems and instill best practices.
It’s more than the shared experiences with your unit or the culture of the warfighter; your values are changed at a molecular level. No matter how you were raised, or where, or by whom, the things that are important to a soldier are simpatico across every branch of the US Military.
Without fail, we:
- Take responsibility for our actions.
- Show up on time with a positive attitude.
- Embrace self-initiative and course correction.
- Ready on Day 1 to execute the job to the best of our abilities.
- Flexible, very flexible. (Adapt and overcome, right, Marines?)
- Embody an unparalleled work ethic and professionalism.
- Behave in ways that manifest strength of character
- Serve in a way that provides a reflection of an idealized society, see above 1-7
Assembling a team of peak performers is as easy as recruiting professional people with military service experience—and we should know. APC has prioritized hiring veterans since our very first days in operation. Our military-experienced employees are hardworking, do right by their families, and have great stories. They can make quick and informed decisions, lead a group, and inspire everyone around them to get in on the American Dream.
“Do or die, good or bad, decisions are yours to make,” says one former Air Force commander here, and that’s just the kind of company culture we hope to foster. We want each and every APC employee to care deeply about keeping the Armed Services mission-ready and our communities safe, deeply satisfied in knowing that our lives can still be dedicated to supporting the warfighter without sacrificing time at home with friends and family. It’s the best of both worlds, really, where we can continue to work in defense of our country and still sleep in our own beds each night.
We owe it all to our military service; for if it wasn’t for all of the experiences—leadership, work, people, world travel—we might never have had the opportunity to build a company like APC.
If you are a Veteran, on behalf of present and future employers everywhere, we salute you this Veteran’s Day and every day.
You have made our organization better from the inside out. Your ability to be pragmatic, make fast decisions, and take action are a living example of how ethics and values deliver team excellence every day. You’re a model for us all, soldiers. Keep up the good work.
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Retiring vets, reach out to us. Recruiting veterans to grow our company is an intentional and deliberate part of our talent strategy. APC is veteran owned and operated and 50% of our staff are veterans. Won’t you join our ranks? Contact Dana at hr@advproj.com for transition guidance and support.
Meet Our Vets:
Iris and David Critten, founders at APC
“The best day in your deployment is when your boots hit home soil.” Iris Critten remembers each one of those days in her nine deployments. She considers herself one very lucky combat aviator; she came home. “I still have all my limbs, you know.”
Iris has spent most of her life in a job where decisions mean life or death and it was time to put the soldier’s mindset to work, but this time, it’s from home.
Her husband David Critten was glad to hear it. He had spent his post-military career following Iris as duty called and supporting their young family solo on Christmas and birthdays. He was ready for his family to stop having to make a choice between giving back to the country they loved and having a quality life as a family. There was to be a better way.
Leaning in on his own military background and years spent as a contractor for DOD, David figured out how he and others like him committed, retired, and able, could continue to contribute to defense efforts without all the major disruptors of deployment. He wanted to build a new kind of company, one that would treat people better than they ever had before in any job, investing in training, personal development, and education.
So when Iris asked the question, after twenty years of service, what did Dave want her to do next, the answer was simple. Come home. Come home and we can support the warfighter together, on base and out of danger.
For Iris and Dave, APC embodies the very best of what’s great about military service. “Working for a common cause to strengthen the country, people always work together. Someone will always show up for you.”
Get to know more about APC and the way we reinforce our reputation by saying what we mean and meaning what we say, visit us online at advproj.com.