Money is not always the biggest factor in why veterans stay at a job, according to Margarita Howard, whose company HX5 works on some of the more unusual corners of defense and space contracting. “The work we do is very exciting. Some of it is not being done anywhere else in the world,” she says, pointing to a sense of purpose she believes matters as much as a paycheck.
HX5‘s contract work includes supporting advanced weapons research, conducting production readiness reviews for sensor systems, and performing modeling and simulation for defense and space programs. Those assignments often connect directly to work service members performed while still in uniform, giving veterans an unusually short bridge between military duty and civilian employment.
Purpose As A Retention Tool
An Air Force veteran herself, Howard has watched how mission alignment plays out among employees who come from military backgrounds. Veterans accustomed to purpose-driven service, she has found, often look for similar meaning once they enter civilian careers, and companies that cannot offer it tend to lose talent to firms that can.
For a fellow transitioning from an engineering role in the Air Force, joining a project supporting similar systems from the contractor side offers continuity rather than a jarring career change. That kind of overlap lets veterans use specialized training they already have while learning how contractors interact with government customers day to day.
Building On Existing Skill
HX5 has hosted eight fellows since 2021 through the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program, keeping a pace of two annually. The company’s work on defense and space missions gives those fellows exposure to projects that feel familiar even as they navigate a new employer and a different set of administrative expectations.
Howard’s emphasis on meaningful work, paired with steady fellowship participation, forms a hiring approach built less on volume and more on fit between what veterans already know and what HX5 actually does. Visit this page for related information.
Learn more about Margarita Howard on https://www.f6s.com/member/margarita-howard