Sheena Hackstaff is a U.S. Air Force veteran who served from 1984-1987 in Japan, she took what she learned in the military and turned it into an extremely successful career in the civilian world.
Now that Sheena is retired she has taken the time to reminisce about her childhood, her time in the U.S. Air Force, and talk about how she thinks young veterans can follow her career path in the defense world.
Sheena grew up on a farm in Denver, Colorado and helped her father tend the sweet corn fields. Once she graduated high school, she attended college for a few years at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Sheena decided she wasn’t interested in finishing her degree at the time so she left, got married, and joined the U.S. Air Force.
Sheena completed her Air Force specialty training in San Angelo, Texas and became a 202XO, an intel analyst for air defense at the time. Her first and only duty station outside of training was in Japan. While there Sheena learned to appreciate Japanese culture and brought some of it back to America with her, like taking her shoes off outside before entering a house.
Thanks to her service in the Air Force, Sheena was recruited by a defense company called Martin Marietta while she was still stationed in Japan. Martin Marietta paid for Sheena to go back to college to become a software engineer. With her military background and college degree, Sheena was able to take positions around the world including in Germany, England, France, and Nigeria.
Sheena said young veterans that are able to obtain a security clearance should seek positions in the defense world once their military contracts are up because they possess the skills that companies like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are looking for. Unlike the 1990s, defense companies do not require young veterans to attain a college degree to gain employment as long as they have the skillset required for the position they applied for.
If you are looking to travel the world, gain valuable life skills, and want to work as a defense contractor one day, a U.S. military recruiter is just a phone call away.
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