At Cardinal Health, we are deeply committed to supporting those who have served in the U.S. military. From assisting veterans in transitioning to the civilian workplace, to actively recruiting and providing training and development to veterans as they build their careers here, we are honored to work alongside those who have served our country.
“Typically, veterans have had broad leadership responsibilities from early in their military careers that required teamwork, leading through influence and innovative problem solving,” said Cliff Rich, who served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a Lt. Colonel after a 22-year career, and is now an IT director in Cardinal Health’s Global Business & Financial Services. “Veterans are mission-driven, and have the passion, commitment and leadership skills that make them invaluable in the workplace.”
Because it can be challenging for veterans to transition to civilian work, Cardinal Health’s Veterans and Military Advocates employee resource group (VMA ERG), which provides programming and training to advance its members’ careers, developed its Veterans Professional Advancement Course (VPAC).
The course is offered at no cost to separated and soon-to-be separated service members and their spouses. VPAC is a professional development and mentoring program designed to help participants translate their experiences and skills into language most appropriate to the civilian workplace. It provides resume reviews and mock interviews with training and feedback, networking opportunities, discussions about the culture and expectations of civilian workplaces, and post-course career mentoring. Rich came to Cardinal Health via VPAC and regularly contributes to the program by mentoring participants and reviewing resumes.
“Few organizations provide a course like VPAC,” he said. “The course is made better by the involvement of other corporate partners in Central Ohio who join us in conducting mock interviews, reviewing resumes and sharing their insights as guest speakers.”
On this Veterans Day, we shine a light on VPAC through several employees who’ve been engaged with the program.
Creating VPAC
“I transitioned from the military to my first corporate role in 2011, joining Cardinal Health as an IT project analyst,” said Justin Norris. “I found corporate culture very different from that of the military, and in my first several months here I was focused on understanding my new workplace.”
Norris had served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment and graduated from Army Ranger School, the Army’s premier leadership development course. He led his team in more than 200 special operations missions and earned several honors including medals for exceptional service and team leadership.
After separating from the military, he earned a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems, but still didn’t know what he wanted to do. “My military service was so meaningful to me; I didn’t know if I could find another career that would be as fulfilling.”
Through other Central Ohio veterans, he met several Cardinal Health employees who helped him get interviews, ultimately leading to a position at the company. Within a couple of years, Norris had teamed up with two other colleagues in the VMA to develop training to help others transition more smoothly. “We wanted to help other veterans learn more quickly what we had to figure out through trial and error,” he said.
VPAC helps veterans learn to navigate civilian work culture, he explained. “Veterans are no strangers to making tough decisions. However, in the military, the strict chain of command and established doctrine doesn’t always allow for input from lower ranks. In business, there’s more flexibility. Employees at all levels are expected to speak up and share their perspectives. Revealing such simple differences can be the key to unlocking a veteran’s potential.”
VPAC began as a two-day class that Norris and other VMA volunteers taught on Saturdays and Sundays at our Dublin, Ohio, headquarters. “It evolved as we got feedback from participants, from our talent acquisition team and from leaders across the company,” Norris said. Ultimately, VPAC became a one-day virtual class held multiple times throughout the year.
In 2016, Norris made another significant career move and joined Cardinal Health’s Global Security Team. “This is a great fit for me,” he said. “This work is truly as meaningful to me as my military experience,” he said.
Supporting a veteran partner
Kristin Dannemiller, an IT business analyst consultant at Cardinal Health, said, “I met my husband, Andrew, shortly before he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012. When he deployed, I volunteered to lead his unit’s Family Readiness Group, which is designed to strengthen the families’ resilience. I provided information about military resources, maintained the family contact phone tree and email list, and helped plan events like homecoming ceremonies.”
The Dannemillers married in 2016 at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. A few years later while Andrew was deployed to Iraq during the pandemic, they navigated the birth of their daughter while living thousands of miles apart. In 2022, a year after returning from his fourth overseas deployment, Andrew retired from the Army National Guard as a Sergeant First Class.
“As a civilian, Andrew was an automotive technician. In the military, he served as a combat engineer, leading teams that built roads and bridges,” Kristin said. “We recognized that his military experience might enable a career change, but we weren’t sure how to leverage it. We decided to enroll in VPAC together, because I wanted to support Andrew, and I also wanted to learn how I could translate the IT skills I’d developed at a small company to other professional environments.”
With the help of VPAC, Andrew polished his resume and ultimately landed a job as a construction inspector for a third-party contractor of the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Meanwhile, Kristin used the connections she’d made through VPAC to get interviews and secure an IT job at Cardinal Health. She then joined the VMA and continues to support VPAC as a guest speaker and resume reviewer.
“For both my husband and me, VPAC went beyond simply equipping us with tools and resources. It provided long-term mentorship and guidance that helped us navigate our career transitions with confidence. We both landed careers at companies that are a true reflection of our own values and strengths.”
Using VPAC to define a new career
Greg Geisler joined Cardinal Health last year, after serving in the National Guard and Reserves for 23 years. “For the last five of those years, I served as a nurse in vaccine clinics; during the pandemic, I became a commissioned officer and supported the healthcare of prisoners across Ohio. I also spent time in hospitals, interfacing with hospital executives and nursing leaders as they were navigating the pandemic. It was a very physically demanding, high pressure job. Though I wanted to stay in the Guard, I wanted to begin to transition to the business world.”
He wanted a civilian career that allowed him to continue to have a positive impact on healthcare, he said, so he enrolled in VPAC, where he found help in focusing his job goals and sharpening his skills.
“I’d planned to seek a position in operations, but a mock interview with a Cardinal Health leader changed my mind; she suggested that I consider a role in sales. I learned that here, sales people are advocates for our customers. So I realized that a sales position would allow me to continue to support healthcare in a meaningful way.”
Geisler is now a senior consultant and territory manager whose customers are rural hospitals throughout Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Through the work, he said, “I’ve learned just how much goes into getting a single syringe to the patient’s bedside. It’s been very eye opening.
“Cardinal Health has given me a great opportunity; I have a job that is challenging and very fulfilling. Though I no longer provide bedside care, I still feel very much a part of patients’ healthcare.”
Editor’s note: VPAC is open to all separated and soon-to-be separated service members and their spouses; since its inception, hundreds of veterans and spouses have gone through the program. You can learn more about the program here. If you are interested in the course, please contact Cardinal Health at GMB-VPAC@cardinalhealth.com.