As Veterans Day approaches, Two Six Labs would like to share the stories of some of our own veterans.
Two Six Labs thanks all those who continue to serve at home and abroad.
John Bushman
What attracted you to Two Six Labs?
As I prepared to retire from the U.S. Army, I honestly wanted to find a position offering opportunity. Two Six had a strong reputation and good sense of identity that I found very appealing. In the end, Two Six Labs not only extended the opportunity to continue working in support of the Department of Defense but also furnished an environment to grow professionally and that was important to me.
How did your military skills transfer to your work at Two Six?
Really no day goes by where I don’t leverage skills developed in the military. Being on time and prepared goes a long way, which was always an expectation when I served in the Army. Shaping strategy and planning for customer engagements remain requirements today for Two Six Labs, and those skills were regularly required in the military. In addition, clear oral and written communication, discipline, and leadership are in demand regardless of industry and these traits continue to serve me well at Two Six.
What does teamwork look like at Two Six?
This is an aspect of Two Six that reminds me a lot of my time in the military. The small team feel of Two Six enables the leadership to empower and trust young people to make decisions, permitting an agility that makes us special. I also feel we have a good understanding of our common purpose that we are working towards, which helps in forging our unique identity as an organization. That too is very special. The coordination and collaboration that occurs at the team level on our various projects showcases a high degree of technical acumen, and a strong shared sense to accomplish the mission among our teammates. At the end of the day, our reputation is predicated on being good teammates and by our commitment to excellence in all endeavors.
James Kehaya
What attracted you to Two Six Labs?
Two Six appeared to be a place where my work would continue to impact National Security objectives, while also providing me within a unique growth experience in the Technology and R&D space. This has certainly proved true, but the experiences and opportunities here have exceeded my expectations in every way.
How did working at Two Six ease your transition from military life?
The company is lean, moves fast, managers say what they mean, and they deliver on promises and intent. To encounter such a responsive, proactive, and easy to work with team from top to bottom made the hiring, on-boarding, and training process a pleasure instead of the uncertain burden you can experience with other companies. The company is also overwhelmingly supportive and accommodating with respect to my ongoing National Guard work requirements, which is extremely important to me.
How did your military skills transfer to your work at Two Six?
It’s hard to understand how this will pan out for many folks transitioning from Active Duty. My experience has been that the general processes, people and teaming skills, and technology experiences military members have directly transfer to work on the outside, and here at Two Six. There is still plenty to learn at a place like Two Six, and the end-goal for old tools and techniques used in military life may be different, but I’ve found that almost everything I’ve done and learned in the military has added some value to my work at Two Six.
What does teamwork look like at Two Six?
Coming from a strong teaming environment, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised and grown in the way I understand teaming and teamwork concepts at Two Six. The military could learn a lot from the Agile processes implemented here. Combining these, traditional business concepts, and military planning and decision making processes in an intelligent way has proven to be a powerful, evolving method for empowering teams, coordination, and integration across related efforts. The company also fosters an incredibly positive and flexible work environment, which makes all feel empowered and motivated to be creative and make headway proactively. Teamwork, innovation, and progress abound here, which makes this a motivating place to work!
Billy Poggi
What attracted you to Two Six Labs?
Cool tech, ready to push the limits. Not held back because of bureaucracy or ‘time in grade’ before making a difference.
How did working at Two Six ease your transition from military life?
I had transitioned out of the Marine Corps in 2013, and didn’t fully understand what that meant until several years later. I tried to capture most of my experiences in this post!
How did your military skills transfer to your work at Two Six?
Bringing the focus on the mission and the team over the individual helped me in enabling the larger, world impacting projects at Two Six.
What does teamwork look like at Two Six?
There is a strong base of support for you to do your greatest work here. Everyone can contribute their greatest strengths and aren’t discounted because of their smallest faults.
Andrew Hendricks
What attracted you to Two Six Labs?
There were three main things about Two Six that were attractive to me when I was looking for a new position. The first was becoming part of an organization focused on serving others, especially serving those who are protecting the nation. The second was the culture. Two Six is a place where teamwork is highly valued and the right answer is what matters. Everyone at Two Six works together to get the problem solved with the correct answers. The third was the people. Two Six has done a tremendous job of hiring people who work hard, who work well together, who care for each other, who help each other, and who are very competent in their roles at the company.
How did working at Two Six ease your transition from military life?
I separated from the Navy in 2012 and worked at another company until 2016, so I had already been out of the military for 4 years when I joined Two Six. With that being said, the transition from Navy life to civilian life was difficult and I missed being a part of an organization that was focused on serving. That was the main reason why I sought to be a part of Two Six, so that I could continue to serve out of the Navy.
How did your military skills transfer to your work at Two Six?
Important skills that were emphasized in the Navy are teamwork, initiative, competence, and humility. These are traits that I try to exercise at work. I also gained some practical knowledge about Rad/Nuc operations while in the Navy which has helped as I currently work on the Sigma program at Two Six.
What does teamwork look like at Two Six?
Teamwork at Two Six comes in many different forms. Sometimes it is as simple as someone from another team seeing me moving a large load of equipment for a deployment and they immediately offer to help. Teamwork at Two Six can also be very involved. We have people from a multitude of disciplines with many different skill sets and we all work together to make sure we are getting the best solutions and helping Two Six succeed.
John Phillips
What attracted you to Two Six Labs?
A key reason I joined the Army stemmed from a desire to gain experience in demanding environments, gain a sense of adventure, and support meaningful activities that further our national security and defense objectives. These same goals have been a primary motivator for my career within the military and now outside. Two Six provides a challenging and demanding work environment that provides an opportunity to still be mission-oriented and support national security programs. The recruitment at Two Six is selective and part of our success is predicated upon the ability to deliver when others cannot. That spirit of unwavering commitment to mission success is what made me successful in the military and is why I wanted to work at Two Six.
How did working at Two Six ease your transition from military life?
Transitioning from military life into the civilian sector has provided me with more opportunity to have a greater impact across a more diverse set of customers across the Intelligence Community, Defense, and Commercial spaces. The ability to have a greater impact within the domains we operate within has made the transition at Two Six impactful and meaningful.
How did your military skills transfer to your work at Two Six?
My military skills were in direct alignment with my current activities at Two Six and working here has allowed me to better refine and mature these skill sets.
What does teamwork look like at Two Six?
I worked within specialized small team structures while in the Military and working at Two Six has allowed me to continue to work within that same organization hierarchy. One of the things that attracted me to Two Six was their adoption of the Team of Teams organizational methodology made popular under Gen. McChrystal. Operationalizing this concept in the civilian world allows us to maintain a flat organization model, that limits bureaucracy and allows us to be more impactful and agile to support our customers.
Daniel West
What attracted you to Two Six Labs?
The impact of their projects. Two Six Labs works on solving the most challenging national security problems, including those that challenge my team as a Soldier. At Two Six I have the resources to efficiently research and develop solutions to those challenges for my battle buddies who are still in the fight.
How did working at Two Six ease your transition from military life?
Peace of mind. I knew before transitioning that I was going to be working with brilliant, like-minded professionals, including other veterans if I chose to work at Two Six. I had the privilege of meeting my future leadership and viewing the workspace before I accepted the offer. Two Six Lab’s small company culture and environment were more personable to me than many of the large defense contractor’s cultures and environments that I have observed elsewhere (disconnected teams scattered among an impersonal sea of cubicles). Most importantly, I knew months before I left the Army that I had locked in a paycheck and excellent benefits for my family, which made my Army benefits at the time pale in comparison.
How did your military skills transfer to your work at Two Six?
I came from the operational side of cyber within the Army and Two Six paired me with a R&D project that utilizes almost all of the skills that I acquired as Soldier, leader, and scholar on a daily basis to solve an important and challenging cyber problem. Two Six has also provided me with the opportunity to grow my technical, managerial, innovative, and entrepreneurial skills by constantly challenging me.
What does teamwork look like at Two Six?
We regularly collaborate and achieve results as a team of teams. A project, product, or service team may have goals pertaining to their particular work, but that doesn’t stop collaboration from occurring across those teams and across business units. It isn’t possible to know everything needed to solve a problem, and at Two Six we regularly leverage our team of teams to solve them together. Maybe you’re like me: you’re an innovator, a strategist, a technician, or a tactician, but not the best developer. That’s ok, because you can rely on Will, one of our high-speed software engineers, to translate that idea into tangible results.
Bridging the gap between the impossible and the practical with innovative technology solutions in cyber, data science, mobile, microelectronics and information operations and a full spectrum of products and capabilities to advance national security missions.