Two of our employees share their unique experiences in both the military and corporate worlds—Andrew as a veteran and Karen as a military parent.

One common theme: They feel their experience is recognized and respected at Principal.

Andrew, IT service desk tech

Veteran

Military journey

I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2016, right after high school, as a network administrator. From there I started training at a military school in Southern California. I saw a big scope of the world as a young man—I was just 20 years old.

Once I completed my training in 2017, I moved to North Carolina, where I served the rest of my time at Camp Lejeune. It was a wonderful experience. A little snippet of my experience was a four-month deployment in Norway to work alongside the Norwegian military. I got to see how the U.S. works with other countries and how that relationship gets facilitated. The U.S. has facilities within caves in Norway and provides telecommunications for other sites. I got to experience that firsthand as a very young person. It was very fulfilling and eye-opening.

From military to Principal^®

Coming back to civilian life was a big change. In the military, I was doing things differently for four years, then was put right back in society. In August of 2020, I attended DMACC (Des Moines Area Community College) for two years to get my cybersecurity degree. Afterwards, I applied to Principal and became a contractor within the enterprise service desk and have worked my way up the ranks. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here.

Feeling the love

Ever since I started at Principal, it’s been super heartwarming and inclusive. I want to get more involved with the employee resource group. It’s so nice knowing there are people who care and that there’s a community for veterans. The inclusion is the biggest part for me.

I want to thank Principal for taking the chance on me to make a smooth transition to civilian life and the corporate world, and getting an opportunity to show how valuable I can be.

Karen, risk management specialist - Director

Military mom

A new experience

My son Cody joined the Iowa National Guard Reserve about six years ago. He did that before his college years at Iowa State University, where he then became part of the ROTC program. The goal is to train them to be an officer after which they commit to an additional six years. So he’s still in the service as a reserve.

The long wait

Cody’s first deployment was to Iraq last year. He was excited for new experiences. Of course, as a mom, you have to manage that. Before they leave, there is a pretty large information session for families and soldiers. This was very helpful, as we were learning to navigate this as parents.

The National Guard has monthly emails to families and is available for chats and questions. The offer for resources was really, really great. There are a lot of nonprofits and other organizations who step up to support families of deployed soldiers.

Returning home

We were nervous with the current climate but got a text message that Cody was in Germany on his way home a couple months sooner than planned. He went through the normal end-of-deployment activities and then arrived home last month. I was so excited to have him back.

Flexibility and support

I have to thank Principal for the flexibility they allowed for Cody’s return home and their understanding for the situation. I know there were lots of resources available to me through Principal and the Veterans Employee Resource Group if I needed them.

The commitment by Principal to the military is important. You might not be a soldier or you might not have direct family members involved, but there are a lot of families in our communities that could be impacted. Their resources, like groups to talk with, shows their appreciation of people willing to serve the country.