20 Years of Successful Military Veteran Career Placement
Orion International opened its doors on January 7, 1991, and we are happy to be celebrating our twentieth anniversary this year! Orion was founded by five former JMOs seeking to provide career opportunities for fellow former service members that had not been available to them upon their separation from the military.
With locations in Raleigh, NC; and San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA, Orion found careers for 95 transitioning Officers within 25 companies during its first year in business. In 1994, Orion became the first military recruiting firm to find careers for Enlisted Technicians and Noncommissioned Officers, as well. Today, Orion operates from offices in Raleigh, NC; Virginia Beach, VA; Austin, TX; Cincinnati, OH; and San Diego, CA, and has found careers for over 23,000 veterans since 1991.
Orion is delighted to celebrate our 20th anniversary in an environment where an increasing number of companies hire veterans based on their intangible skills set, as opposed to the civilian who may have more applicable experience. As part of our celebration, we caught up with some of our earliest placements to find out what they are doing 20 years later. The continued success of these alumni in their respective industries is a testament to the value veterans bring to their civilian endeavors. Orion is proud to have placed these alumni and wishes them continued success! Read on to find out more about these veterans.
Fulton attended the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He then served for five years in the Navy where he worked as the Damage Control Assistant on board the USS Alabama, a strategic missile submarine based in Bangor, Washington. Fulton credits the equipment he worked with in the Navy, as well as the long hours, heavy workloads, and multiple demands put on him while in the Navy, with making civilian industry work seem easy in comparison…
Lisa Steptoe, one of Orion’s first placements and a United States Military Academy graduate, class of 1987, served five years in the Army as a Quartermaster, both in Fort Knox, KY, and West Point, NY. Having spent the last 20 years in the civilian workforce, Steptoe shared her transition and civilian career experience with us.
Steptoe and her husband, Ron, were both looking to get out of the military in 1991 and were searching for help with the transition. It was a friendship with one of Orion’s founders which led the…
Placed with Schneider National Carriers in 1991 by Orion, Joel Keels is a United States Naval Academy graduate who served five years in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps. During his time in the Civil Engineer Corps, he served as the Resident Officer in Charge of Construction (ROICC) at Naval Weapons Station, Yorktown, VA, where he managed over 50 construction contracts with work-in-place totaling over $6.3 million, and as the Engineering Officer for the U.S. Navy Cargo Handling and Port Group (NAVCHAPGRU) in Williamsburg, VA, where he led 45 Construction Battalion (SEABEE) personnel…
Michael Worrell, an Orion alumnus placed with Target Distribution in 1992, served as a Captain in the Air Force as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer for eight years. During that time, he was stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, Howard Air Force Base in Panama, and MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. By the time he transitioned out of the military, Worrell had earned a Master’s degree in Aviation Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University…
Orion recently sat down with Jerry Biller, a former Army Infantryman, whom we placed with Target Corporation in 1992. Biller graduated from the University of Central Florida in 1989 with a degree in Secondary Education and was awarded Airborne, Air Assault, Ranger Tabs, and the Path Finder torch during his time in the Army. He was also selected to become the Scout Platoon Leader of the 3rd 187th Division while serving in Desert Storm (Iraq) and was awarded the Bronze Star for leadership in 1991…
In continued celebration of Orion’s 20th anniversary, we’re profiling Herb Congdon, a former Navy Nuclear Submarine Program Officer placed with Siecor in 1991. Congdon was commissioned in the Navy following his graduation from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering degree. During his six years on Active Duty, he spent time on a fast attack submarine out of Charleston, SC, and Portsmouth, NH, and as a Squadron Operations Officer (shore tour) in Charleston, SC…
After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1988 and completing Nuclear Power School, Nuclear Prototype Training and Submarine School, David Gentile spent the next three-and-a-half years as a Nuclear/Submarine Qualified Division Officer aboard USS Baltimore (SSN-704), a Los Angeles class fast attack submarine based in Norfolk, VA. When it came time for Gentile to transition out of the Navy, he followed his fellow JMOs advice and began to work with Orion International. He was subsequently placed with International Paper as a Plant/Manufacturing Engineer by Orion in 1993…
