Umbrella is thankful for our Veterans!
Today is Veterans Day and Umbrella is taking time to honor our veterans for their commitment to our great nation.
A Brief Veterans Day history
Veterans Day is a federal holiday celebrated every year on the 11th of November. According to History.com “Friday, November 11. In 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in World War I, then known as “the Great War.”
The National WWI Museum and Memorial here in Kansas City encourage Americans to commit themselves to the cause of peace and to honor the Nation’s veterans for their courage, honor, patriotism, and sacrifice. Umbrella echoes this sentiment as we honor our veterans and United States veterans worldwide.
From military service to IT.
Making the transition from Military to civilian life can pose challenges for many veterans. In fact, most veterans go from driving tanks, carrying rifles, and being deployed before making the transition to civilian life. Many of our veterans here at Umbrella worked in IT or handled IT while serving. Moving from military service to a Managed Services Provider in Kansas City just made sense.
After completing their service they used their military award to complete their education at Centrq and launch their career in IT. After joining the Umbrella team they felt a sense of belonging and quickly learned that they were part of a team that included other vets who followed similar paths. This allowed them to continue to share common values as they work together to proactively provide IT services. The individuals share the common military values of honor, commitment, and integrity and take pride in what they do. They have even taken these values and shared them with their non-veteran colleagues to make an even better workplace.
Meet the IT Heros at Umbrella
Working in IT is challenging work. Daily, our engineers adapt and overcome various technological problems. To help you learn more about these veterans we asked the following questions of each of them.
- Why did you choose to go into IT after serving?
- What attracted you to Umbrella?
James Butcher, Reactive Operations Engineer
US Air Force, serving from August 1992 to August 1996 as Senior Airman
- I was attracted to IT, and still am, because there is always a new puzzle to solve. I was introduced to the need for resilient infrastructure through the Air Force and have followed my passion for engineering ever since.
- Umbrella was stuck with me when they acquired the company I was working for. I humbly offer that it was a great decision on Umbrella’s end.
Kyle Nelson, Proactive Operations Engineer
US Air Force Active Duty and Air Guard, serving from April 2010 to Present as SSgt
- I had some experience in the AF with IT. Worked in a network operation center for a while and was thrown into an IT helpdesk position for 6 months which I did enjoy and thought I would pursue IT as a career.
- The Air force is very structured, with Umbrella it was great to provide input and offer solutions to problems whether it be an Umbrella process or a client process. Also, everyone was super nice, and seemed like a fun place to work.
Nick Stebbins, Client Services Coordinator
US Army, serving from August 2008 – August 2012 as CPL (Corporal) | MOS: (Job)19K M1 Abrams tank operator
- Counter Insurgency (COIN) Team
- TOC Day battle NCO, Raven Pilot
- Squad Designated Linguist
- I grew up tinkering with computers (shout out Windows 98 OS) and heard a radio ad for Centriq training while driving pipe and wire to a construction site for an electric supply company one day. I decided that sounded a heck of a lot better than dragging pipe and wire.
- Centriq had a job fair and Curtis was there with his tattoos showing and I have a half sleeve myself, so I went and had a chat with him and put in my application.
Zach Lakin, Proactive Operations Engineer
US Army, serving from December 2000 – November 2016 as Staff Sergeant | MOS (Job): 31 E – Military Police Corrections
- IT has always been an interest for me growing up. Info security and IT support is not the same now as it was when I joined the Army. When I enlisted in 2000, IT fell mostly under communications as a minor part of that. I was not interested in communication like setting up and relaying radio signals. Later, IT had its own specialty but by that time, I had 15 years as a prison guard and changing jobs was not in the cards.
- When I got out of the military in 2016, I decided to use my GI Bill (military benefit for schooling) to change careers. I attended a place called Centriq like many of my UMS peers. From there I met with UMS at a job fair, and they stood out differently than others. They were more personable instead of treating me as “another resume”. I slid right into the help desk soon after and have stayed since. Currently 5 years strong.