Patriots In Business Awards 2026: Lessons In Helping Vets From BNSF, USAA, Wise Advise And First Command

When Wise Advise + Assist Team co-founders Laura Early and Diana Jaquith first met, both were grappling with the same problem: building a career around life as a military spouse. Early had cycled through three jobs in four years. Jaquith, then expecting her first child, had been told that her employer was asking remote workers like her to return to the office—a mandate that would require a 90-minute commute from the base where her husband was stationed.

Their solution led to a business partnership built around their mutual need for flexibility, which they signed at a Panera Bread outside Fort Brenning in Georgia. But it quickly became something bigger. The partners soon realized that the same military life that made conventional employment difficult for spouses—frequent moves, sudden deployments and constant unpredictability—also forged qualities employers prize: adaptability, resourcefulness, organizational skills and resilience. So as their company grew, they sought to create a work environment where the skillsets of military spouses could shine.

Ten years later, WISE’s entirely military-spouse-connected workforce is a vivid example of the thinking behind the Patriots in Business Award, presented by Chief Executive and Thayer Leadership at West Point. The recognition honors companies that find ways to support active-duty service members, veterans and military families while tapping the distinctive skills and experience they bring to the workplace. As this year’s winners demonstrate, doing that well often starts with understanding not just the challenges military life creates but also the capabilities it builds.

‘You’ve Got to Build a Support Network’

Chad Sundem, VP of Safety, BNSF Railway, Fort Worth, TX

Industry: Rail Transportation

For the past decade, veterans have represented roughly 20 percent of BNSF’s workforce, despite changes in both the company’s size and its needs. That consistency reflects a culture and support system designed not only to attract veterans but also to give them reasons to stay.

Chad Sundem understands the appeal firsthand. Now BNSF’s vice president of safety, Sundem graduated from West Point and spent 21 years in the Army, including five combat deployments, before joining the railroad 12 years ago. He sees a natural fit between the two worlds.

“Leadership, teamwork, discipline, accountability, adaptability, versatility”—all qualities valued in the military—“are the same ones that mirror and drive our success in the industry,” he says. There’s also a shared sense of mission. “The purpose of service really stands out, and I think people really gravitate toward that.”

BNSF participates in military hiring fairs and other programs, but Sundem says word of mouth from its veteran employees is a powerful driver of recruitment. Prospective hires can talk to people who made the same transition and understand the transition ahead of them.

Once veterans are on board, BNSF’s BRAVE business resource group helps provide the support network essential to turning recruitment into retention. Built around transition support, community involvement and bringing veterans’ experience to bear on business challenges, BRAVE offers employees a place to connect with colleagues who share their experiences, as well as a channel for bringing their perspectives to company leadership.

Sundem urges companies looking to build their own military talent efforts to think beyond getting veterans through the door. “It’s not just a hiring pipeline where you bring them in,” he says, “you’ve got to build a support network around them.”

‘We don’t want another job board’

Laura Early, Co-Founder, WISE Advise + Assist, Venice, FL

Industry: Business Consulting Agency

For WISE Advise + Assist, hiring military spouses is only the beginning. The harder—and more consequential—question is how to enable them to build careers despite a lifestyle that can uproot their family and work situation every few years.

“We talk about moving like it’s a badge of honor,” says Early, who estimates WISE’s employees have collectively navigated more than 500 moves in 10 years. “It’s a big deal to move your entire life, uproot your family, find new doctors, get your kids oriented into schools.” Often, she adds, spouses shoulder much of that work while the service member reports for a new assignment or is deployed.

With a workforce entirely military-spouse-connected, WISE is structured around those realities. The company has been fully remote since its founding and offers unlimited PTO, additional time off around moves and the flexibility employees need to handle school drop-offs and pickups. Rather than devote resources to health insurance most active-duty military spouses already have, WISE supplements traditional benefits with tech stipends and wellness benefits that can be used for needs ranging from professional education to gym memberships and grocery delivery.

For companies looking to support employees from the military community, Early’s advice is straightforward: Ask former military and military spouses already working within your organization what military employees and their families need. Too often, she says, companies build programs without involving the people those programs are intended to help. “We don’t want another résumé workshop, and we don’t want another job board,” she says. “There’s a lot of buzz around hiring military spouses. I don’t think there’s enough buzz about retaining and helping military spouses grow in their career.”

‘You’ve got to give them a cause’

Mark Steffe, CEO, First Command Financial Services, Fort Worth, TX

Industry: Finance and Insurance

At First Command Financial Services, recognized in 2024 and again this year, a 70-year commitment to serving military families continues to shape both the company’s mission and its talent strategy. Founded by retired Air Force Lt. Col. Carroll Payne to help military families achieve financial security, the company has long recruited veterans and military spouses for roles serving a client base they know firsthand. This year, 80 percent of First Command’s recruits were military-affiliated.

To achieve that, First Command leans into military recruitment programs like Hiring Our Heroes and SkillBridge, which enables participants to begin licensing and training while still receiving military pay. The company sponsors and pays for the licensing, easing some of the financial pressure of preparing for a new profession.

Another hurdle can be harder to overcome. Steffe estimates that more than 90 percent of the company’s advisors never envisioned becoming financial advisors while they were serving. His message to both employers and military recruits: Don’t assume civilian jobs need to mirror what servicemen did in uniform.

“When you went into the military, you didn’t know how to fly a helicopter. You didn’t know how to drive a tank,” he tells recruits. “But you learned those skills.” That same message applies to employers, he adds. Those who identify the qualities they need—work ethic, integrity, an ability to learn—and are willing to teach the rest open up a broad pool of skilled talent.

Another key factor when recruiting from the military community is purpose, says Steffe, who says veterans accustomed to serving a larger mission want their next chapter to offer something similar. “You’ve got to give them a cause,” he says. “You’ve got to give them a why—something bigger than themselves. They want to feel like they’re having a positive impact.”

‘Look for the smallest point of leverage’

Juan C. Andrade, President & CEO, USAA, San Antonio, TX

Industry: Insurance

Leading teams through high-stakes situations or developing sophisticated technical expertise can make for an impressive military résumé—and a surprisingly difficult civilian job search. That disconnect is one USAA set out to address with Summit and Signal, two programs launched in 2025 to help veterans connect capabilities developed in the service with roles in the private sector.

“One thing we see far too often is a service member who has led teams through incredibly demanding situations or developed deep technical expertise but struggles to translate that experience into a civilian job description,” says USAA CEO Juan C. Andrade. “Just as importantly, employers don’t always know how to connect those military experiences to business needs.”

The programs are part of a broader overhaul of the company’s military talent acquisition process that helped military-affiliated talent reach approximately 28 percent of all external hires over the past 12 months.

USAA’s focus on military talent is deeply rooted. The company was founded in 1922 by 25 Army officers who banded together at a time when traditional insurers considered members of the military too risky to insure. “Serving those who serve is our mission and the reason our association was created,” Andrade says.

The company also works to address employment issues affecting the broader military family. Many roles are remote-eligible, military spouses receive additional leave for PCS moves and a partnership with the Armed Services YMCA provides free, drop-in childcare for spouses searching for work after relocating. Those efforts reflect a key learning: Effective programs begin by addressing barriers. Andrade advises other CEOs to “look for the smallest point of leverage” where you can create change. “Often, the greatest opportunity is not to create something new,” he says. “It is removing a barrier, strengthening a connection or improving an experience that already exists.”