Honoring our employees on U.S. Veterans Day

Throughout the United States, Veterans Day serves as a reminder to honor all veterans for their bravery and enduring service to our nation. Textron Aviation is proud to employ more than 1,350 veterans and seeks to honor them and their legacy by investing in supporting, hiring and training military heroes. Thank you to all who have and continue to serve.

Meet Michael Rambo

Michael Rambo, director of Textron Aviation Defense Operations & Training, served in the US ROTC for a year before attending the Air Force Academy from 1993-1997. He then served 11 years on active duty and 10 years in the Air Force Reserve before retiring in 2018.

While on active duty, Michael was a KC-135 pilot and served on the Air Education and Training Command’s T-6A Texan II East Coast Demonstration Team. His logbook features nearly 500 combat hours and more than 3,000 flight hours across a broad spectrum of aircraft, including the Cessna T-37B Tweet, Raytheon T-1A Jayhawk, Beechcraft AT-6E Wolverine and more than 1,000 hours across the full range of Beechcraft T-6A/B/C/D Texan II aircraft.

Today, Michael reflects on what the holiday means for him.  

“Veterans Day is sacred ground, a day of celebration focused on our Veteran community,” said Michael. “It is a tribute to those who have made sacrifices for our nation — and each other — to uphold those values and principles for which our nation stands. It is a celebration of all those who have, will, or are currently serving, and those who support them.”

Michael is proud to continue to support military members via his work leading the development of T-6 and AT-6 training programs for our global customers.

Offering a sense of unity and mutual understanding

In honor of the U.S. holiday, Textron Aviation introduced a new Employee Resource Group (ERG) specifically to support Veterans and Veteran allies. The Veteran Engagement Through Community Outreach and Mentoring (VETCOM) community seeks to honor, support and elevate our nation’s Veterans throughout the full spectrum of their service—whether active duty, in the reserves, transitioning to the civilian sector, former active duty or retired.

Members of VETCOM work together to enhance Veteran visibility, inclusion and opportunities within Textron Aviation and cultivate greater understanding and respect of our Veteran customer base. The group seeks to offer a sense of unity, pride and mutual understanding of what military service means to us as a team, company and nation.

“Often, that may mean visible recognition of service, a voice with our leadership, and opportunities to network with Veterans of every nature and branch of service,” says Michael Rambo, VETCOM President. “The absolute least we can provide Veterans is a place to call home, a place where people share their stories, where ‘Veteran’ is a badge of honor—VETCOM aims to aid in that mission.”

Supporting military families

In addition to the launch of VETCOM for employees, Textron Aviation is again honoring Veterans by donating two $10,000 scholarships to Folds of Honor, an organization that supports the children and spouses of America’s fallen and disabled service members. Learn more about the Folds of Honor mission at www.foldsofhonor.org.

We sincerely respect, honor and appreciate everyone who has and continues to serve.