From Military Service to Infrastructure as a Service: Meet Our Vets

November 2015 Update - As Green House Data has expanded nationwide, our ranks have been joined by several additional veterans in Washington and New York.

As the home of a strategic missile base (Warren Air Force Base), you might expect Cheyenne to have its fair share of military veterans. Green House Data is happy to have the skills of nine vets on board, with a combined service record of over 70 years—but not all of them in the Air Force, and not all of them from Cheyenne any longer.

They’ve served at home and abroad, as far as Macedonia and Iraq, with duties as varied as military police work and computing firing data. In honor of Veteran’s Day and their service, we asked them a bit about their experience and how they made the transition from the military to Information Technology. For privacy reasons, some names have not been included. 

Tim Cook, Systems Administrator – Sergeant, US Marine Corps – served 4 years

Jim Taylor, Systems Engineer – Master Sergeant, US Air Force, Wyoming Air National Guard – served 22 years

Joe Sylvia, Data Center Operations Specialist – Corporal, US Marine Corps – served 4 years

Andrew Nofzinger, Associate Technician – Technical Sergeant, US Air Force – served 20 years including Iraq and Afghanistan

Jeremy Smario, Systems Admistrator – US Marine Corps

Lewis Bolton, Director of Tier 1 Global Service Center – Corporal, Michigan National Guard, US Army, US Army Reserves - served 8 years

Tim Cook - Sergeant, USMC

I spent much of my time in service as an Operations Chief in the Fire Direction Center of Battery K, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment. We were responsible for computing firing data for the M-777A2 Howitzer, which shoots a 155mm projectile up to about 30KM.

The transition to IT wasn’t an easy thing, to be pretty frank. There are not many careers available as a civilian that easily translate from Combat Arms, however, part of my job entailed configuring computer systems for digital communications in field environments. I graduated with an Associate's of Applied Science from LCCC, and now I'm working at Green House Data. It is a pretty drastic change of professional specialty, but a career in IT demands a very similar attention to detail as safely and accurately firing 100-pound bombs. 
 

Jim Taylor - Master Sergeant, USAF

I was the Chief of the Information Systems branch in Communications Flight. I was also a Senior Logistics Planner after 9/11.

For most of my career in the military, I was doing Information Technology. I then retired and became a government contactor doing Information Technology at one of the three Network Operation Security Centers “NOSC’s” in the U.S. that handle the USAF and Air National Guard Computer Information Systems.

Joe Sylvia - Corporal, USMC

My MOS was a 7051—that’s a search and rescue firefighting specialist. I have always been interested in the IT field. When looking through the MOS job list I sought something different than IT for the military. I have a great support system in my family and that’s what is most important when it comes to transitioning to anything from the Military. Knowing someone is there for you is what helped me.
 

Andrew Nofzinger - Technical Sergeant, USAF

Believe it or not, I was a cop in the Air Force. I served in North Dakota, Germany, New Mexico and finally here in Wyoming. While active duty, I was deployed to Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Macedonia, twice to Iraq, and Afghanistan. I have always has an interest in Computers and Technology. I transitioned right before my retirement because of a friend I worked with at Office Depot. He told me I had a niche for fixing computers and should consider a career in IT…and here I am.

Lewis Bolton - CORPORAL, US Army

I started out in the Michigan Army National Guard on December of 1988 and worked on UH-1H Helicopters. I attended Basic Combat Training at Ft. Polk, LA. Advanced Individual Training was in Ft. Rucker, AL. I liked it so much I went on Active Duty Army and was trained at Ft. Gordon, GA. I joined the Signal Corp as a Wire Systems Installer (Honor Graduate), then entered the Army Reserve as a Intelligence Analyst stationed in Kalamazoo, MI. I ended my time in Service on December of 1996.

I have been stationed in VA, Germany and was deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina when in the reserves. I served in all three branches of the Army.
 

Travis Bischoff - Specialist, Nebraska National Guard

I was going to enter Active Duty, but my buddy approached me with a National Guard recruiter and I ended up enlisting in the Nebraska National Guard in March of 2008. After training, we prepared in Indiana and Germany en route to Kosovo, where I was deployed in 2011 with an Aviation Unit, 1/376th AVN BN S&S BN. We were to attached to the New Mexico Brigade.

Thanks to all of our veteran employees—and vets across the nation—for their service and sacrifice.