Former and current military personnel are increasingly recognized as ideal candidates for key construction roles such as superintendents and safety managers, according to a recent webinar hosted by Skanska and the Society of American Military Engineers.

Panelists highlighted the leadership and adaptability skills veterans bring, which help them succeed in various construction positions despite often having limited prior industry experience. Retired Capt. Patrick Jones, managing director at Proteus Recruiting, emphasized that veterans’ operational expertise allows them to quickly advance in construction careers.

“This is especially important given the persistent labor shortage in the sector,” Jones noted.

The discussion built on the construction industry’s ongoing efforts to address the skilled labor gap by tapping into veteran talent through formalized mentorship programs, tailored onboarding, and internal support networks.

Veterans often thrive in construction environments because they are similar to military settings—mission-focused with constantly shifting demands.

“You just replace the map with a set of plans and it’s the same type of challenge,” said retired Col. Aaron Reisinger, president of construction and government services at Sevan Multi-Site Solutions. “How do you integrate a whole bunch of people from different skill sets, different backgrounds, to achieve whatever it is right in front of you?”

Unlike typical entry-level hires, veterans arrive with invaluable soft skills like problem solving, small-unit leadership, and logistical coordination—traits that are much harder to teach than technical construction knowledge, Jones explained.

“That’s why rather than relying solely on college recruiting, firms should consider veterans as a parallel pipeline for field leadership roles,” he said.

Jones added, “The majority of candidates that we place in the construction industry don’t come from construction backgrounds. They’re oftentimes just strong field leaders with strong integrity, work ethic, drive that want to build their next career.”

However, challenges remain, particularly around helping veterans transition from the highly structured military environment to the civilian workforce. 1st Lt. Neil Moloney, Skanska’s environment, health and safety manager, stressed the importance of a clear career progression plan.

“For me, one of the reasons why I came back to Skanska following deployment was because of everything that Skanska provided me during the deployment,” Moloney said. “In conjunction with the office and the veterans working group, they sent me 16 boxes of treats from home, which came in at a great time, because we had just returned from a mission that we were gone for two weeks.”

Capt. Sharon Douglas, owner and president of Fort Worth-based Potere Construction, recalled the barriers she faced breaking into the industry as a woman and emphasized the mental resilience veterans bring to construction projects.

“The invitation to be in this type of field was not there,” Douglas said. “As far as being flexible, the military talks a lot about that, we became stronger mentally to endure changes. And if you guys have ever been on a design-build project, there’s always things that are changing. It may say one thing on their drawing, but it may not fit the field.”

Panelists also noted that while leadership and flexibility often transfer well, veterans may initially struggle with industry-specific terminology, workflows, and business concepts like profit and loss. These gaps can be bridged with job-based training and mentorship from those familiar with both military and construction worlds.

“Those are all things you have to reground yourself in. It’s going back to digging foxholes,” Reisinger said. “But as long as you bring those hard, strong, well developed work ethic, trust and commitment to that technical skill development, that stuff happens real fast.”

Moloney added, “They want to know what the next step is, where do I see my progression in a year to three years?”

To retain veteran talent, the panelists agreed firms must implement structured support systems, including regular check-ins and clear advancement pathways.

“Doing 30-, 60-, 90-day check-ins with new veteran hires is really helpful, you don’t want a veteran that comes in without background to feel like they’re on an island to themselves,” Jones said. “It’s easier to teach construction than it is to teach someone to be a leader.”

Originally reported by Sebastian Obando in Construction Dive.