Operation:Archangel

My story...

As many know, I have always been a "pro-veteran" person helping out veterans here and there throughout my career. About a month ago I decided to take a more direct approach to helping those that have served our country. The closest way I can describe what happened was like when you try to put your toe in the pool to see how cold the water is then suddenly someone comes from behind pushes you into the deep end. It came to the point where outside of my day job I was putting in 40-50 hours a week on the phone and responding to messages to help in the best way possible. It felt great helping others but as with anything there is a point where the capabilities of one person will hit a solid wall of physical limitations. This is when the ideas started to rush into my head on how to help others on a much larger scale.

The main problem in the real world...

When I started talking to transitioning veterans what I heard was regardless of branch or command the results varied from person to person. Some received technical transition classes where others didn't receive a single thing. Even in the best scenario they were still not prepared for what was about to happen when they left the gates for the last time. After at the point of separation many veterans were not even aware of the great supply of resources at their disposal.

How to help fix this.....

When speaking to veterans I ask "If there as a platform available as a one stop shop for resources and guidance into a technology job world would have made things easier". The responses were overwhelmingly positive and knew that I was on target to make something happen. I started sharing ideas with a couple close veterans in the technology industry which they jumped in for support and was going to make this a lot easier to manage.

What I didn't want to do.....

While there is a sea of non-profit groups out there that are excellent at what they do, I didn't want to provide the same thing and get lost in the crowd. My plan was not to compete with these organizations but compliment what they have in place by providing a directory service of whats available similar to a career road map. Basically, "This is where to start and along your technology career journey here are the other groups and internal members that can help". I also wanted to create something community based where the greatest minds in the industry come together to help guide those starting off in their new career.

The master plan....

While we are still in the process of compiling the information for the website. The main plan is to simulate an incubator style environment to assist people from the point of pre-transition through the following phases of their technical career cycle. Since starting off a technology career with minimal to no information can feel as if you'r trying to catch a car by the bumper going 100 Mph. We want to attract service members as soon as possible to help prepare for their new technology career by finding the right resources to help with training through obtaining employment.

Why the name?

There was a great deal of thought into this and it basically fell into my lap one day. We selected something with true meaning and as a symbol of the our mission of support within the veteran community. The general definition of the word Archangel is:

“Archangels are great warriors with a specific mission as defenders of good and protector of those in times of need.”

Simple founding principles...

Like any good organization you need something that projects it's beliefs and supports the main mission. Based on what we want to accomplish the answer was quite clear and we came up with the three founding principles:

• Serving Those Who Have Served– Philosophy of reciprocating the high level of loyalty and commitment towards active duty members, veterans and spouses as they have done for our nation.
• Strength of Many– Create an environment where everyone contributes towards supporting others in need.
• Circle of Generosity– Extending help to those anticipating the gesture is reciprocated to others in need. Hopefully this is something that can stand the test of time by those helped get into their career field can reach back and help the next generation.

Why am I doing this?

To be clear from the start, there is no type of financial reward for me in this. In fact, I am donating a few thousand out of my pocket to invest in better futures of the many. In the future any funding campaigns will be small and 100% of the proceeds will be wrapped back into supporting the mission and its members. Even in the times we live in I am a firm believer that a small group can stand up and help change the lives of many for the better.

In closing...

Being this is a community based effort I greatly appreciate any help or web resources that can help the veteran members and spouses of the group. If there is anything we can do to make the system better we are open to new ideas. I am open to connecting with other active service members, veterans and spouses to help where needed.

Where to access?

Access to group information at this time is shown below. As we make forward progression additional resources will be communicated to the masses:

• Website: (Construction is in progress) https://operationarchangel.org/
• LinkedIn Group Page: https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/13872340/