learned during military service to their current jobs at Boeing. What they’ve done while wearing a uniform influences what they do while wearing a Boeing badge. Florent Groberg, Boeing’s director of veteran outreach, said the most important lesson he learned was to put aside rank, ego and pride and seek help from those with more experience, regardless of the chain. “I learned this in 2010 when I got to Afghanistan as a platoon leader,” he said. “These gentlemen had been in combat for four months, and here I came, brand-new in the Army and expected to lead all 24 in combat.” Groberg sought support from his second-in-command, who told him to learn about the team’s combat history and observe their communication methods and relationships with nearby village elders. For a week he immersed himself in learning from the team. He used the same method after the attack that earned him the Medal of Honor, the highest commendation for valor in combat. On Aug. 8, 2012, Groberg tackled a suicide bomber about to ambush his platoon, sustaining substantial damage to his left leg. He said the injury left him feeling like he had lost his identity, so he went out and talked to other wounded soldiers, regardless of rank, about how they had overcome emotional trauma to find new passions. “After I found an opportunity to talk to a quadruple amputee who literally changed my life in 15 minutes, I made sure I utilized all the skills and traits I had learned in the military to be successful as a civilian,” Groberg said. After working with LinkedIn to help veterans transition to civilian jobs, he started in September at Boeing’s Government Operations site in Arlington, Va., where he is responsible for developing Boeing’s support of military veterans and their families. His first order of business: Learning from those around him. “You learn something from someone every day,” Groberg said. On the following pages are the stories of six other Boeing employees who share lessons from their military service to mark the U.S. Veterans Day holiday in November, known as Remembrance Day and Armistice Day in other countries. Just as they learned from their service, their fellow employees can learn from them. • KATE.E.EVERSON@BOEING.COM PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: CASS WEAVER | BOEING; UNIFORM: BOB FERGUSON | BOEING; MEDAL OF HONOR: SHUTTERSTOCK NOVEMBER 2016 | 29
Frontiers November 2016 Issue
To see the actual publication please follow the link above