At HBS, Veterans Day Means Thanking Classmates

Before coming to Harvard Business School, Christina D. Hruska flew Air Force reconnaissance missions over Iraq. Matthew A. Isenhower served as a force protection officer on a Navy destroyer. David C. Crabbe led Marine transportation units over explosive-lined roads in Anbar province. And Melissa A. Hammerle gathered tactical intelligence for the Army in Baghdad.

While many students enter Harvard Business School after jobs in large corporations, consulting, or finance, about 60 students—three percent of the school—come from careers in the military.

“We’re a tight knit group,” said Hruska, who is the chief financial officer of the Armed Forces Alumni Association, the main military organization on the HBS campus. “In this day and age where wars are part of the military experience, that ties us even closer together.”

LEARNING TO LEAD

After deployments to Iraq in 2005 and from 2006 to 2007, Crabbe began to consider what he wanted to do after leaving the Marine Corps. He had effectively been in the military since enrolling at the United States Naval Academy in 1999 and was looking for a change, he said.

After looking at several companies, his focus shifted to business school, Crabbe said. One executive and former military officer that he met recommended HBS. Crabbe said he realized the school was a good fit because, above all, it has a stated goal of educating leaders.

“People from the military have been shaped by different things,” said Deirdre C. Leopold, HBS managing director of MBA admissions and financial aid, in an April interview. “We like to consider ourselves a transformational experience. Some military people have already had one.”

While there is no preferential treatment of military applications, Leopold said, veterans tend to provide robust answers to questions about leadership.

In his first deployment to Iraq, Crabbe led a unit of 45 marines as a motor transportation platoon commander. At dark every other night, Crabbe’s unit would leave friendly lines in dozens of trucks laden with supplies, sometimes driving all night to reach their destination. The threat of roadside bombs, mortars, and sniper fire was constant, Crabbe said.

“You’re 23 years old and kind of thrown into the fire,” Crabbe said. “You have high stakes decisions, high stress, and not nearly as much information as you’d like. It’s something you have to do.”

A ‘STARK CONTRAST’

After flying missions across the world during seven years in the Air Force, Hruska decided to change careers. She spent a year doing engineering research before deciding to apply to business school. She said she was drawn to the supportive group of veterans at HBS.

In addition to herself, Hruska’s 90-person section has two other military veterans: a former Army Ranger and a former aide to General David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command, according to Hruska. The other nine sections also have about three veterans each.

In class discussions, Hruska said, the military voices bring a unique perspective that students with different backgrounds appreciate.

“Everybody stops. You could hear a pin drop,” Hruska said of when her fellow veterans speak. “Their experiences are in stark contrast to what everyone else has done.”

Other students said that they especially appreciate the veterans’ contributions in leadership classes.

“Most of them have been leading groups since graduating from college,” said Erik J. Lampe, a first-year business student. “They lend the class a good point of view.”

SUPPORTING ROLE

Scott A. Snook, an associate professor of organizational behavior at the Business School and a West Point graduate, serves as an informal mentor to students who are making the transition from military to civilian life.

Several years ago, Snook began what he called “Scott’s Thursdays,” a weekly gathering when ex-military students could come to talk.

“It was a way to connect more closely with students,” Snook said, adding that sessions would often overflow his office and last for hours.

The administration also strongly supports the school’s military community, according to Matthew K. Ahlers, a former submarine officer and co-president of the Armed Forces Alumni Association.

Ahlers said that the school’s leaders pushed for Harvard to participate in the federal government’s Yellow Ribbon program, which provides funds to allow veterans to continue their education.

Veterans can also receive financial aid through dedicated Business School fellowships, such as the Timothy T. Day Marine Corps Entrepreneur Fellowship that helps pay for Crabbe’s time at HBS.

“I couldn’t think of a more veteran-friendly business school,” said Isenhower, the Navy officer who also served in the military’s worldwide command center beneath the Pentagon. “It’s a great opportunity and a great time to be here.”

CELEBRATING VETERANS

To honor veterans both within and outside HBS, hundreds of business students gathered last night on the HBS campus at the annual Veterans Ball. Former officers mingled in the crowd in their formal uniforms, and students viewed a display of body armor, helmets, and medals that their classmates had worn on deployments overseas.

Several students said they attended to support their friends and section-mates who were veterans.

“I’m happy with the outpouring of support HBS shows its veterans,” Crabbe said. “They really respect what we’ve done.”

—Staff writer William N. White can be reached at wwhite@fas.harvard.edu.