On Veterans Day and throughout November, the nation honors its military veterans, many of whom have transitioned to private sector jobs. ERP International sat down with six veterans it employs to explore their stories, find out what their service means to them, and understand why they joined the ERP community as civilians.

Four veterans–Catania (Maria) Gregory, Alex Kean, Tony Flanagan, and Robert Russell–support ERP’s Health Solutions practice.  Richard (Mac) McKinney and Aaron Davis support ERP’s Digital Solutions practice that centers around information technology modernization contracts with the Department of Defense.

Each followed a different path to ERP, but they share a common bond.

Catania (Maria) Gregory, is a Healthcare Recruiter at ERP originally from Memphis, Tenn. She served in the U.S. Army for 20 years after joining in 1986. Beginning her career as a hospital administrator and policy analyst, she then moved into healthcare recruiting for the remainder of her service. Her thoughts on being a veteran mirror what the others told us. “Soldiers have unique shared experiences that will bond us together for life.  Having been given the chance to serve my country is an honor that I will always cherish. My father retired from the Air Force, and I admired him for his service. I wanted to follow in his footsteps and by doing so I became the first female officer in my family.”

Maria entered the Army on a Health Professions Scholarship. As a hospital administrator at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, she worked in both the Department of Medicine and the Department of Allergy & Immunology. Her career included duty assignments at the Pentagon, the Office of the Surgeon General and the Center for the Intrepid at Fort Sam Houston, where they develop the most sophisticated amputee rehabilitation technology via advanced prosthetics, computerized and video monitoring for biomechanical studies, virtual reality, robotics and simulators. She retired from Fort Meade as a Lieutenant Colonel serving as a Recruiting Commanding Officer at the Army’s largest healthcare professional recruiting company.  She directed the recruiting activities for 155 colleges and 438 hospitals and led multiple teams across broad technical, financial and business disciplines.

Maria understands the healthcare needs of active-duty military, veterans and their families. At ERP, she says, “Regardless of the healthcare facility or specialty I’m recruiting for, I want to ensure our soldiers get the quality of care they deserve. By finding and matching the right healthcare professional with the perfect position at a military hospital or clinic, I can ensure a better overall patient experience. This is what I love to do, and ERP allowed me to follow my passion.”

Robert Russell, a Healthcare Recruiter originally from San Antonio, Texas, trained at Fort Dix, New Jersey and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, where he gained valuable skills as a mechanic. Deployments to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait placed him in the midst of military action in the 1990s, where he repaired howitzers, tow trucks, Jeeps and HumVees, and earned the spot of shop foreman.

“Those supervisory responsibilities translated into wanting to be the first person someone met when they joined the military,” he said. Finding his calling to be a recruiter, he hired medical personnel, military intelligence officers, and other staff. During the next 15 years, he enlisted more than 700 people.

“Being a Veteran gives me great pride,” Robert said. “From the time I was eight years old, I wanted to join the Army. Having served translates to my work at ERP because I know how to speak to veterans. We have our own language and share many of the same experiences. This creates an instant rapport.”

Robert believes that recruiting is not going away. “The need will always be there. All companies will need dedicated recruiters because not everyone knows how to read a resume or ask the right questions. Nowadays, everything is technology based – texting, emails, more so than calling people out of the blue using a phone book on your desk. We live in a tech-based society, but interpersonal skills will always be important.”

On how the Army prepared him for civilian life, Robert said he was always mission-focused and dedicated to the people who served under him. “I came to understand the breadth of military positions, including healthcare. That has made it an easier transition to ERP because it is a people business.”

Alex Kean is a Registered Nurse and Health Care Integrator at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The Boise, Idaho, native joined ERP in April 2022 following six years of service in the U.S. Air Force, separating as a Captain. He worked as an inpatient medical-surgical nurse at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and as a Nurse Manager for the Flight Medicine Clinic at Nellis.

“My military service is my greatest accomplishment, next to being a husband and a father,” Alex says. “I am blessed to be employed, in good health, in stable housing. I trained for but was never exposed to combat overseas. Many others were less fortunate, with some sustaining permanent injuries or disabilities. This drives me to continue serving my country as a civilian to help bridge those gaps.

“The pinnacle of my active-duty career was serving as the Executive Officer to the 959th Medical Group Commander.  In conjunction with the U.S. Army’s local Commanding Brigadier General, we led BAMC’s day-to-day operations.” The hospital and its six outlying clinics deliver healthcare to nearly one-quarter of a million Tricare beneficiaries in the San Antonio market.

“As nurses, we have a wonderful opportunity to make a positive impact while tending to our patients. In working for an organization which cares for fellow veterans, retirees, active-duty personnel, and military family members, there is an immeasurable desire to be the best possible clinician to meet their needs,” Alex said.

Alex represents a new generation of clinicians who leverage information technology to provide better care. He determines who is due for preventive screenings by utilizing data from clinical registries and electronic health records. “We know who to contact and when based on these archives. This specific approach to aid in early cancer diagnosis is but one of many applications of health informatics aimed to improve patient outcomes.” 

Tony Flanagan, a Medical Liaison Officer at Fort Detrick, Maryland, joined ERP in October 2022. A Knoxville, Tenn., native, he retired from the U.S. Army after 30 years of service, his final tour of duty being a Command Sergeant Major for the 14th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq. He was responsible for ensuring that U.S. military treatment facilities, equipment and supplies throughout Iraq were available to some 3,000 soldiers. He gained extensive experience in medical logistics and warehouse management during previous postings in Afghanistan, Honduras, and Bosnia.

When asked what attracted him to ERP, Tony said that he still wanted to help soldiers. Supporting the warfighter through ERP would help his transition to civilian life, rather than holding a retail job in the private sector.  “At Fort Detrick, I can relate to fellow co-workers; we understand each other with the same language. Only the clothing is different,” he said.

What does being a veteran mean to Tony? He gave his all to his country and walked away proudly knowing that every day he was doing something greater than himself. “I never took off a day, and wore the uniform honorably for every citizen in our great nation.”

On the future of military healthcare, Tony says, “I expect it to be even more modular in the future. This will make it easier to deploy as opposed to shipping heavy equipment. Everything is packaged for a 15-person field hospital team for quick deployment.”

Two other veterans now serve on ERP’s Digital solutions practice. Their team is modernizing the Joint Operational Planning and Execution system, known as JOPES, which will be renamed the Joint Planning Execution Services system (JPES). The project is connecting a number of databases to track personnel transport, equipment and supplies for all U.S. military around the world under the Global Force Management (GFM) system. After other personnel write new computer code, these two ERP employees test the systems to make sure everything is functioning properly.

Richard (Mac) McKinney, II, is a Senior Functional Analyst for JOPES. Richard knows many of the people working on the military end of the JOPES modernization effort from the 15 years he spent as a Marine on the project planning team. “Working with the Defense agencies, the Joint Chiefs staff, combat commands and the services has renewed my passion to help the program succeed.” He joined ERP in June 2021 after retiring from the U.S. Marine Corps as a Gunnery Sergeant with 20 years of service in Okinawa, Somalia and Iraq. The Cleveland native also lived in Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia.

Reflecting on how his military service and experience prepared him for civilian life and work at ERP, Richard says, “It taught me how to deal with different cultures and how to relate to different people from different upbringings.  The leadership training taught me that each person is different and you have to talk to and handle situations differently instead of only using one process or one attitude to help others.  Secondly, knowing that there is a deadline to meet each task, my USMC experience has helped me set goals and ensure that the team is able to meet the deadlines set.

“I have pride in what I accomplished. The experience helps me show others that I do not demand their respect, but I will earn it. You have to not make others feel that you are better than they are; everyone is created equal, and everyone has something to offer to the team.”

Aaron Davis joins Richard as an ERP Subject Matter Expert, Senior Functional Analyst for JOPES. A native of Arkansas, he retired from the Marines with 23 years of service, and began at ERP in September 2022. In his final assignment as a Master Sergeant in the Marine Corps Training and Education Command, he was the course manager and senior instructor for about 150 entry- and intermediate level personnel learning how to use the GFM and force deployment systems. Aaron developed unique insights into what other personnel needed to understand to use the systems. Today he applies that knowledge when working with the system developers for the new JPES.

Aaron served as a Watch Officer, Plans Chief and Force Deployment Chief, requiring him to receive, analyze, and disseminate massive amounts of information to those who needed it. This included deployments to hot spots such as Iraq, Naval shipping in the Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf for the Marine Expeditionary Unit, the Horn of Africa, and serving with the Interagency Task Force for Syria.

Besides his technical knowledge, Aaron says “the timeliness, flexibility and resiliency that we learn throughout our military careers brings some qualities and traits that aren’t always present in a lot of civilian work environments.”

On ERP’s recognition of its veteran and other employees, Aaron says, “The leadership’s focus seems to be on making the teams better, so the team accomplishes the tasks within the mission. I see IT as a mainstay to all business lines. In today’s workforce, it is nearly impossible to conduct any type of business without information technology.”

For his thoughts on being a veteran and translating that to working at ERP, Aaron says, “It’s about service: to my country, to my fellow Americans and to our communities. I am here at ERP to provide subject matter expertise to a team, but more importantly a service to the team that is required for the team and ultimately for ERP to be successful. If I fail, then the team fails and the company could fail at their mission. Taking it one step further,” Aaron says, “my work helps protect our troops and fellow Americans. That’s who we work for.” 

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