“You’ve got transitioning vets and spouses that are in Stuttgart, Germany, or Okinawa, Japan, or any other place where the government puts them for their military time, and they’ll transition from overseas and come back home to what?” said Tom Downs, director of diversity talent acquisition and talent pipeline programs at Booz Allen Hamilton.

“So, post pandemic, we still have a robust virtual program, so we can talk to every veteran, every spouse across the U.S. or the globe for that matter. … We can’t hire every one of them, but we can make sure to at least have a conversation with them.”

That focus on attracting military talent is no small matter for the technology firm: About one-third of its annual hires are veterans, reservists or military dependents. Downs said the company has five recruiters dedicated solely to military recruitment, a reflection of the importance the population carries for the company.

The aggressive hiring strategy — and a host of other military-centric employee programs — earned Booz Allen Hamilton the top spot on the 2024 Military Times Best for Vets Employers rankings.

The company has been a regular among the top names in the annual Best for Vets list in past years, in large part because of its commitment to including veterans as core workers.

The survey weighs how organizations recruit, mentor and retain veterans and their family members. Hilary Niles, survey coordinator for the Best for Vets list, said the rankings don’t just echo companies’ raw staffing numbers, but also include factors such as “support programs, accommodations for military connected employees with disabilities, and opportunities for spouses and caregivers.”

This year’s list includes 238 employers spread across 44 states, with 62 firms making their debut in the rankings.

It includes 33 defense contracting firms — traditionally seen as military-friendly and military-heavy companies — but also companies in fields less associated with hiring veterans, like health care, hospitality, energy and banking.

The top 10 includes representatives from nine different industries, with only pharmaceutical employers appearing twice (Johnson & Johnson at #2, and Bristol Myers Squibb at #6).

Employee feedback

Comcast NBCUniversal, the #3 company on the Best For Vets list, earned its spot not just because of its veterans hiring patterns but also because of consistent communication with those employees throughout their careers.

Several years ago, when veterans working there pitched the idea of a discount for military families on their cable services, officials at the company fast-tracked the proposal and sent notices to military bases.

When another veteran at the media firm replaced a tattered American flag visible in his neighborhood with his own money, officials set aside thousands more to replace any aging flags that employees see in the community.

“We want to serve military customers, but we can’t do that authentically if we don’t have military-connected employees in our own workforce who can advise and guide us,” said Mona Dexter, vice president of military and veteran affairs at the company. “And seeing that response encourages our employees.”

The flag program — dubbed Operation Old Glory — is less about directly helping veterans at the company and more about finding ways to link their patriotism and service to their post-military lives.

“It’s that continued sense of service and connection to the symbol that represents the country,” she said. “And it’s a bit of education — not just for our employees, but for community members, too.”

Most companies near the top of the rankings boast relationships with local veterans groups and military advocacy organizations to emphasize that community connection.

One of Booz Allen Hamilton’s most successful partnerships is with the Defense Department, through their Skillbridge Program for transitioning troops.

The initiative allows service members — and now, some military spouses — an opportunity for professional internships and apprenticeships at private-sector firms during their final six months in service. The goal is to give transitioning service members a chance to better understand the private sector and showcase their skills, with an eye towards a post-military career.

Downs said Booz Allen Hamilton’s involvement in the program has grown from around 20 participants five years ago to more than 150 this year. More than 90% of individuals enrolled in Skillbridge partnerships have gone on to land jobs at the company after completion.

“That’s really the crown jewel right now,” he said. “If other companies aren’t engaging with that, I don’t know why not.”

Community connections

Downs noted that veterans also contribute to the overall diversity of Booz Allen Hamilton’s workforce by bringing their own unique experiences to the company. The firm boasts 11 different “employee communities” to highlight the backgrounds of various groups, including one for military-connected individuals.

“They each have their own networking events, their own development programs,” he said. “And you can be a member in as many of the groups as you want. They do happy hours, they do fun runs. That’s the kind of stuff that keeps people here, feeling connected to the community.”

It’s also another tool for recruiting. Downs said when military-related recruits start with the company, they’ve typically already communicated with other veterans at the firm, learning about available support networks and mentoring opportunities.

Nearly two-thirds of the companies on this year’s Best For Vets list said they have an active employee group focused on veterans or related community members, helping to sustain a military-friendly atmosphere at work.

About the same percentage said they have military-specific mentorship programs available to eligible employees.

Dexter said officials at Comcast NBCUniversal have noticed their employee support groups increasingly working together on charity and networking projects, bringing their specific communities together in ways that build more camaraderie.

“Nobody in the veteran employee resource group identifies only as a veteran,” she said. “Everybody can identify with multiple other communities, too. … So, by bringing the various groups together, it just shows how there really is just a place for everyone, and everybody belongs.”

A Marine KC-130 aircraft that took off from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, crashed Monday afternoon in Mississippi, killing 16 service members, a Marine Corps spokesman said on Tuesday.

“The identities of the service members whose lives were lost in this tragic accident are being withheld to allow time for their loved ones to be notified,” said Marine Maj. Clark Carpenter in a statement Tuesday morning. “While the details of the incident are being investigated, our focus remains on providing the necessary resources and support to the family and friends of these service members as they go through this extremely difficult time.”

The cause of Monday’s crash is unknown and the incident is under investigation, Carpenter said. The plane went down in LeFlore County. Federal Aviation Administration officials contacted the Marine Corps when it disappeared from radar.

Although Marine officials have not publicly identified which unit the KC-130 was from, a person familiar with the situation told Marine Corps Times that some of the Marines came from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 452 (VMGR-452) in New York. Several people have posted messages on Facebook indicating the same.

The reserve unit is based at Stewart Air National Guard Base, about 60 miles north of New York City. VMGR-452 flies KC-130s that are modified to provide aerial refueling capabilities.

The crash appears to be one of the deadliest Marine aviation mishaps in recent memory and comes at a time of intense concern about the readiness and condition of the Corp’s aviation fleet. Top Marine officials say the Corps has suffered a severe lack of experienced maintainers in recent years.

The FBI is also investigating the crash, official said.

Leflore County Emergency Management Agency Director Frank Randle told reporters at a late briefing that 16 bodies had been recovered after the KC-130 spiraled into the ground about 85 miles north of Jackson in the Mississippi Delta.

Andy Jones said he was working on his family’s catfish farm just before 4 p.m. when he heard a boom and looked up to see the plane corkscrewing downward with one engine smoking.

“You looked up and you saw the plane twirling around,” he said. “It was spinning down.”

Jones said the plane hit the ground behind some trees in a soybean field, and by the time he and other reached the crash site, fires were burning too intensely to approach the wreckage. The force of the crash nearly flattened the plane, Jones said.

“Beans are about waist-high, and there wasn’t much sticking out above the beans,” he said.

Jones said a man borrowed his cellphone to report to authorities that there were bodies across U.S. Highway 82, more than a mile from the crash site.

Greenwood Fire Chief Marcus Banks told the Greenwood Commonwealth that debris from the plane was scattered in a radius of about 5 miles.

Jones said firefighters tried to put out the fire at the main crash site but withdrew after an explosion forced them back. The fire produced towering plumes of black smoke visible for miles across the flat region and continued to burn after dusk, more than four hours after the crash.

Aerial pictures taken by WLBT-TV showed the skeleton of the plane burning strongly.

“It was one of the worst fires you can imagine,” Jones said. He said the fire was punctuated by the pops of small explosions.

Officials did not release information on what caused the crash or where the flight originated.

Marine Corps Times reporter Mackenzie Wolf and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Also today in history, in the U.S. and elsewhere:

1813: U.S. Army forces under Lt. Col. William Lewis drove the British and their Indian allies from Frenchtown, Michigan Territory, during the War of 1812. Unfortunately for the Americans, they’ll be back. Read the “Battle of the Thames” on HistoryNet.com. 

1915: Japan issued its Twenty-One Demands on the Republic of China in an effort to expand its power in East Asia.

1943: The first Warsaw Ghetto Uprising started. Read a history of the Ghetto Uprising on HistoryNet.com.