The Security Industry Association (SIA) just launched its Veterans in Security community this year, and at the group’s first gathering in May 2024 in Washington, D.C., the Honorable James Rodriguez, assistant secretary for veterans’ employment and training services at the U.S. Department of Labor, addressed the crowd on why hiring veterans is so good for any business — but especially for security. He should know. Not only is he a U.S. Marine Corps veteran himself, but he leads the Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) initiative that helps transition service members into fulfilling civilian roles across all industries.

Similarly, as SIA grows this new Veterans in Security forum and community, one of the group’s defined missions is to help attract veterans as they are stepping away from their service to the Armed Forces to the incredible opportunities in the field of security, no matter whether that’s a role at a security integration firm, at a supplier/manufacturer or in areas like corporate security, consulting, design, remote monitoring or any other aspect of our industry.

Why Hire a Veteran?

We asked this question to two individuals, veterans themselves.

Jeff Huggins, vice president of government programs and national accounts (and a retired gunnery sergeant from the U.S. Marine Corps) and chair of the new Veterans in Security group, said the attributes veterans display are decidedly attractive for any employer.

“Customers, employers and coworkers will typically find a sense of loyalty and commitment in the veterans that they work for and with on a daily basis,” Huggins said. “Most come with a ‘mission-oriented’ approach to their jobs and recognize that their role is a key component of the overall success of the larger team. In particular, this mission-oriented focus is typically what motivates the veteran community.”

John Maffey, president and founder of M3T Corporation, a Pennsylvania-based security integration firm, said there are specific traits that companies seek that are readily found in veterans. Not only is his firm veteran-owned (he served in the U.S. Army), but approximately 30 percent of the employees are veterans.

The traits he points to are these:

• Leadership skills and experience: “The military has plenty of leadership positions and training to develop service members and their leadership abilities,” Maffey said.
• Ability to operate successfully with ambiguity or minimal guidance: “Due to unique training and constantly changing environmental conditions, these skills are developed in service members,” he added.
• Grit: “The military typically produces gritty and driven individuals who have a great work ethic.”

Maffey shared his own experiences and how his experiences, skills and lessons translated to the civilian world and ultimately the security industry.

“My military experiences were primarily in environments that required the continuous performance of all personnel involved at very high standards both physical and intellectual,” Maffey said. “Those that were not able to continuously perform in this manner were usually not able to remain part of the organization. … Transitioning to the civilian world, I learned this was not how the civilian world functions. Over the years serving in a leadership position, I have learned to take the skills and lessons learned from my time in the military but apply them in an applicable manner as a leader in the civilian sector so that those who have not served in the military can benefit.

“The one constant trait that was engrained by the military, and I have worked to always uphold, is to perform at a very high standard, regardless of the conditions. I believe this has contributed to our success in retaining customers over the years.”

How to Hire & Retain Veterans

Given M3T’s success in hiring so many veterans, we asked Maffey how the company had managed to successfully recruit and retain veterans. 

“Veterans are typically drawn to a veteran-owned business,” Maffey explained. “LinkedIn has been a great resource, but also ensuring our job ads detail ‘who we are’ to attract potential candidates that align with our core values and mission statement.”

Maffey added, “The security industry is also a natural draw for many veterans.” 

While being a veteran-owned business may give firms like M3T Corporation an advantage in hiring, there are many great resources for hiring veterans, including the U.S. Department of Labor VETS document Employer Guide to Hiring Veterans.

One of the ways ASSA ABLOY has been able to recruit and retain veterans is that they have created a veterans community within their company, connecting veterans.

“ASSA ABLOY’s Veterans group has only been established over the last couple of years,” Huggins said. “We intentionally created this group as an outreach to the many veterans that make up our vast workforce, with the focus on ensuring:  Are we OK?, are our fellow veterans OK? Are there others out there in our communities that could use our help? We have started working on the first two areas of the mission, and this year we will have plans to conduct outreach events at local ASSA ABLOY locations, with our veterans group running the events locally. Honestly, we are just getting started but are committed to this long term.”

Huggins encouraged all veterans to join SIA’s new Veterans in Security community.

“SIA is already a community of hundreds of veterans,” he said. “We know that many leaders in our industry have a focus on employing veterans, and creating this group gives us a formal program with which to meet and share best practices on key issues such as how to identify, recruit, train and retain new military veterans transitioning into the civilian workforce, whether after a four-year stint or upon retirement after a 20+-year career.”

Anyone in the security industry is welcome to join the community. Participation is complimentary thanks to support from industry firms, and the group is planning outreach to military service members seeking to transition to the civilian workforce in addition to organizing community activities for veterans already working in the field of security.