When his son, Mike, served as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy, Mike O’Sullivan Sr., a former Navy P-3 pilot and 1973 United States Naval Academy graduate, used to talk about how important it was that the equipment on ships work well. Now, both naval veterans work at Raytheon, helping to make the tools and systems members of the military depend on today. Their sense of mission is personal, and deeply rooted in their service experience.
“My dad and I both wanted to do our part to make a good company even better,” O’Sullivan Jr. said. “There is a lot of pride for a father to know his son is continuing the personal mission of service.”
The O’Sullivans are in good company. Raytheon employs more than 10,000 veterans, including other multi-generational families who developed their sense of mission in the military and now carry it over to their work for Raytheon.
The younger O’Sullivan currently works as a program manager for the Patriot missile program. He is also the new vice president of communications for the employee group Raytheon Employee Veterans Network, or RAYVETS. O’Sullivan Sr. retired from his position of senior manager, Supply Chain Capture, in 2014.
Following in Their Mother’s Footsteps
Brenda Boorda retired from the Navy as a commander and has now worked at Raytheon for 17 years. A vice president for Mission Assurance, she also serves as the RAYVETS global president.
Her three sons—Aaron, Andrew, and Phillip—have followed in their mother’s footsteps, coming to Raytheon after serving in the military. Aaron and Andrew served in the U.S. Army; Phillip served in the Marine Corps.
“Being in a family steeped with military tradition, service is like a calling,” said Phillip Boorda, who works in Mission Systems & Sensors. “I carry over the mindset of service into the work I do for Raytheon, where I continue to be part of something bigger than myself.”
His mother encouraged her sons to consider Raytheon first when they left the military for civilian careers. She has helped them transition into their new jobs, translating their skills into their work at Raytheon, a service she has performed for many veterans.
Her sense of duty is deeply ingrained. Boorda came from a military family and married into another military family. After college, she joined the Navy, just as her father, who served aboard diesel submarines, had.
“His uniform has always hung proudly in his closet—even until this day,” Boorda said. “His immense pride for his work resonated with me.”
Now she supports other veterans, often face-to-face, sometimes through virtual mentoring, via Raytheon’s partnership with American Corporate Partners and the Society of Women Engineers.
Carrying Service into Community
Along with its work for the veterans at Raytheon, RAYVETS supports veterans’ organizations in local communities. It’s part of the deep commitment Raytheon has made to help members of the military, veterans and their families.
Raytheon received the Platinum Medallion Award from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans medallion program, or HIRE Vets, for its efforts to recruit, employ and retain veterans. It is the only veteran hiring award at the federal level.
Being in a company that employs veterans helps in the transition process to civilian careers, according to Boorda. “Affiliating with others who have shared experiences and goals is a great development experience,” she said.
