Veterans Day: Honoring Colleagues, Learning From Their Service

Freese and Nichols’ staff includes military veterans from across most of the service branches, and some continue to serve in the reserves, even taking time from their company jobs to deploy abroad. We value their service, the sacrifices they and their families have made, and the unique perspectives they bring from their military experience.

Here are some of their stories:

Laura McArthur, Senior CRM/Sales Content Specialist, San Antonio

U.S. Navy, 1986-1992: USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO 187), mostly deployed in the Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean; USS Samuel Gompers (AD-37), deployed in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Persian Gulf.

Why did you enlist? I wanted to travel outside of the United States and learn more about people and their cultures.

What enduring lessons did you learn from military service? The military teaches you a lot, such as teamwork, adaptability, responsibility and ingenuity. However, loyalty and accountability are the most significant takeaways that define my character.

How did your military experience influence your career path? As a hands-on communications and radar technician with a fine arts degree, I was able to use my knowledge of electronic theory, troubleshooting and repair and transition into technical writing supporting various industries, from high-voltage industrial equipment to high-speed digital test and measurement devices, then ultimately the AEC industry. It didn’t take long in my career journey that I fell into a marketing position and started working with proposals. I’m blessed in my role at Freese and Nichols that I can continue writing content to support the marketing team.

Did Freese and Nichols’ support for veterans factor into your decision to join the company? Absolutely! It’s important to belong to an organization that values an individual’s commitment to serving in the military. The ability to work with and for other veterans is a bonus.

What lessons or skills did you gain during your service that translate to your current role? I learned how to build relationships, work on multidisciplined teams and how to navigate through challenging situations because there is a solution for everything. For what it’s worth, I enlisted as negotiations were going on to end the Cold War, the Berlin Wall was still up, and the roles and treatment of women were nothing like it is today. Women in technical positions was not common at that time, so building relationships and establishing credibility was extremely important.

What do you wish civilians knew about military service? The bond that military members have with each other. The connections with military brothers and sisters are stronger than family ties, regardless of whether you served together. It is an intense support system that is difficult to explain; if you have been in the military, you understand.

Why did you enlist? I enlisted for the army’s educational benefits. I believed it was a great opportunity to have my education paid for, gain life skills and see the world before going back to school.

What enduring lessons did you learn from military service? You have to trust your team members. As long as you have a positive communication with the members of your team, you will always have a solution at hand to any situation you are in. Chances are that someone has already been through what you’re going through, and if not now, you have someone to go through it with.

How did your military experience influence your career path? My military experience helped me become more adaptable to any challenges or difficulty that may come my way. There’s always room to learn, grow and take initiative, even if the task at hand isn’t pertinent to your role.

Did Freese and Nichols’ support for veterans’ factor into your decision to join the company? When I first joined Freese and Nichols, I wasn’t aware of the large community of veterans and the support toward veterans we have at the company, but after seeing it firsthand with the Next Mission (Veteran ERG) and individual actions taken across the company, I am very proud I did take the step to join Freese and Nichols!

What lessons or skills did you gain during your service that translate to your current role? The same values we love here at Freese and Nichols were the core of my time in the Army: always learning continuously to improve our skills, always engaging together as a single unit, acting with integrity and being responsible with our actions, working tirelessly to become a skilled operating team of quality, and supporting the communities we are serving with the best interests possible.

What do you wish civilians knew about military service? Great things happen when a group of people from different backgrounds come together for a single task! We had individuals from all over the country working jointly with other militaries across the globe, and it’s so easy to build camaraderie when you look past your differences and move toward a solution.

Why did you enlist? I responded to recruiting information from the Naval Civil Engineering Corps while at Texas A&M. The further I went into the process, the more interesting it sounded, so when they accepted me, I decided to give it a try.

What enduring lessons did you learn from military service? The level of investment and coordination it takes to do something really important as a team and with excellence is substantial but absolutely necessary and worth it.

How did your military experience influence your career path? Going into the Navy CEC out of college immediately took me out of a highly technical engineering path and sent me on a career path focused on construction and infrastructure asset management. I think that was a better fit for my personality and skills, so I’m thankful for that and have really enjoyed the more strategic direction that focus sent me on.

What lessons or skills did you gain during your service that translate to your current role? My military experience did largely shape my understanding of good leadership. As with a lot of things, many of the most important leadership lessons I learned were from messing stuff up. But leadership, communications and strategic planning were all very important emphases throughout my military career and have helped me a lot since moving into civilian vocations, including my current role.

What do you wish civilians knew about military service? Before going into the Navy, I had a lot of stereotypes about how “hardcore” day-to-day life was in the military. And while there certainly is a strong component of that sort of stuff, most of life in the military boils down to normal folks applying their skills and experience in a team setting to get stuff done. They just happen to all be dressed the same (and it was nice not having to decide what to wear every day). The military culture is unique and special, but day-to-day life for most military isn’t all that different from everyone else.

Brennan Wallace, Program Manager, Austin

U.S. Army, 23 years: (Commissioned as an Armor Officer then branch transferred to Engineers): Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood), Korea, Hawaii, Fort Knox, Kentucky, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, and Iraq.

Why did you enlist? I was commissioned through the U.S. Military Academy (West Point). West Point was a great opportunity that provided a pathway to serving my country.

What enduring lessons did you learn from military service? The power of an organization lies in its people and leadership. We are stronger together and capable of far more than we think we are.

How did your military experience influence your career path? It was very important to join a company with strong values and culture that invests heavily in its people and emphasizes leadership. Freese and Nichols was a great fit and provided large program management opportunities in engineering and construction like what I did in the Army.

Did Freese and Nichols’ support for veterans factor into your decision to join the company? Yes. Freese and Nichols has a large contingent of veterans. I felt that the company valued my experiences and skill set.

What lessons or skills did you gain during your service that translate to your current role? Leadership, organizational and operational planning. The ability to bring people together, focus on a larger goal, and manage multiple things in time and space.

What do you wish civilians knew about military service? The military isn’t just about yelling, running around, and doing pushups. Many of the day-to-day skills (planning, task delegation, managing information and operations, presenting information, personnel development/training) are highly applicable to life outside the military.

Why did you enlist? College wasn’t an option at the time, and I wanted to serve my country.

What enduring lessons did you learn from military service? True respect is earned, not given.

What lessons or skills did you gain during your service that translate to your current role? Punctuality, preparedness and situational awareness.

What do you wish civilians knew about military service? That we gave the military a blank check to do with us as they saw fit.