E229: Alumni Roundtable: Early Preparation to Military to Business Transition Success

Lessons from Cameron-Brooks Alumni on Military to Business Transition Success Each Cameron-Brooks Career Conference represents a major career event for our JMOs. In these military to business transition successes, officers together years of military service and months, (maybe even years of preparation in the Development and Preparation Program). Then, they interview with Industry leading companies in business. Our JMOs at the August 2025 Career Conference averaged 10.3 interviews over a two-day period. Additionally, every single JMO was pursued into the follow up process. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with my teammate Geoff Fries and three Cameron-Brooks alumni who attended the August Conference. In this episode, they share their experiences and insights pre-conference in DPP, during the conference, and during the post-conference where they earned offers, evaluated them and made a decision to launch their next career. Together, we unpacked their stories and explored what their preparation, mindset, and execution looked like resulting in their military to business transition successes. Below, I’ll highlight their lessons, strategies, and mindsets - from early preparation to behavioral interviews and ultimately into final decision-making. Meet the Alumni: Three Distinct Paths to Success Before diving into strategies, here’s where these three standout officers landed: Matt Dahlager, an Army Military Intelligence Captain, joined Ubicquia, a smart grid technology company that leverages sensors and AI to improve energy infrastructure. He’ll serve as an Area Sales Manager for the Ohio River Valley region. Spencer Preston, a former Marine Corps officer, accepted a role as a Summit Fellow at USAA in San Antonio, Texas. He’ll rotate through key leadership areas such as CEO staff, property and casualty operations, or CFO development roles. Weslee Warren, a Navy Surface Warfare Officer, joined Corning Optical Communications in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he’ll work as a Technical Program Manager driving fiber-to-the-premises projects and collaborating with engineering and product teams. Building a Foundation: Start Early One of the strongest themes in our conversation was the value of time spent in DPP. On average, candidates spend about 11 months preparing through the Cameron-Brooks program. Spencer prepared for 38 months. Wes spent about one year. Matt invested nearly two years. During that time, Cameron-Brooks was able to meet them multiple times for in person and virtual preparation sessions, which allowed them to: Build Trust with Cameron-Brooks Early engagement allowed each candidate to develop a trusted relationship with the Cameron-Brooks team - vital since our team members advocate for each candidate directly with partner companies. Conduct Self-Assessment and Reflection Before they could tell their story to companies, they had to understand it themselves. This meant revisiting military experiences in order to translate their military experiences into relevant business leadership accomplishment with clear impact and results. Leadership, problem-solving, mission alignment, etc. and how that translates into private-sector value. Learn Business Skills and Apply them They didn’t just study business - they applied it. By integrating recognized industry concepts that they learned in DPP such as Lean Six Sigma into their current military duties, they created concrete examples that later became powerful interview stories.  Invest in themselves Hundreds of hours of practice, reflection, and preparation went into preparation before the Conference. Learning to Speak the Language of Business Each alumnus emphasized how critical it was to learn the language of the Business.  Their Go-To Learning Tools: Books and Business Education: They read extensively - diving into leadership, finance, and operations management books, reviews, articles,