Veterans Are Continuing Their Missions at Booz Allen

Of Booz Allen’s approximately 31,100 employees, roughly 30% are veterans or military-affiliated. That means the firm has thousands of highly skilled professionals putting their military knowledge and experience to work in support of its defense clients.

Four of them share their stories here for Military Appreciation Month:

Principal Elizabeth Robinson and Associate Lynwood Rabon are guiding the development of next-gen virtual training solutions. Associate Alexandria Zalenski’s teams are bringing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to life and into the hands of leaders. Meanwhile, Senior Associate Kenny Smith is working side by side with fellow fighter pilots on data solutions for the digital battlespace.

Read on for more about their paths to Booz Allen, how they’re making a difference on the job, and what this work means to them.

During her military career, Elizabeth Robinson was an officer in the Army’s Military Police Corps, served in several roles in Korea, and taught at West Point. Yet in the civilian world, “I kept getting job offers that had no sense of purpose,” she recalls. “Then a friend told me I should check out Booz Allen.”

“After my interview, I knew Booz Allen was where I wanted to be,” she says.

Today, Elizabeth is Booz Allen’s emerging threat, training, and readiness capacity (ET2RC) innovation lead and Army immersive lead supporting the Army’s mission to accelerate readiness. Her teams are moving military training into the future with simulations, gaming technology, rapid prototyping and modeling applications, and data analytics solutions like Booz Allen’s Extended Reality Analytics Engine (XRAE).™

“Realistic training takes a lot of resources and inherently has a lot of risk,” Elizabeth explains. “Mixed reality allows soldiers to get more reps and sets in prior to live training. It not only saves time, it saves lives.”

“Working across ET2RC with our teams that train soldiers every day is a great reminder of the sense of mission,” she says. “Talking to our staff about their stories and projects helps remind me of why we do what we do.”  

For former Air Force medic Alexandria Zalenski, the decision to join Booz Allen was both professional and personal. “I found a sense of belonging here reminiscent of military camaraderie,” she says.

While at the firm, Alexandria has forged a wide range of connections. She co-chairs the Armed Services Network within Booz Allen’s Military & Veteran’s Business Resource Group and works with colleagues across disciplines and contracts as a transformation strategist. 

“Although I’m 100% remote, I have the flexibility to support multiple clients and teams as we collectively change the world,” she says.

Most recently, Alexandria has been driving organizational development for AI teams in Booz Allen’s defense business. “AI and machine learning technologies deliver military leaders efficient, effective solutions for a variety of functions, like analyzing large datasets, improving the employee experience, and increasing the return on investment,” she notes.

“Our capabilities help protect the national security of the country and its allies,” she says. “Every person, whether they know it or not, is impacted by Booz Allen.”

Kenny Smith was an F-16 fighter pilot for over 20 years in the U.S. Air Force. Today he leads projects for Booz Allen’s Air Force clients.

“I had worked with Booz Allen during my military career and wanted to join a great team,” he says.

In his current role, Kenny works alongside Air Force pilots and aviation teams on data solutions for the digital battlespace. “We are able to help shape their missions and decisions that have direct impacts on the warfighter,” he says.

“Information is becoming more and more critical to driving decisions and winning in contested environments,” he says. “Booz Allen’s acumen in data solutions can help with this endeavor. Like other veterans at Booz Allen, because of our experience and expertise, we remain a part of the mission. It’s a perfect fit!”

Like Elizabeth Robinson, Lynwood Rabon is helping to develop the next generation of military training solutions. He’s a defense mission expert supporting the XVIII Airborne Corp at Fort Bragg. Lynwood is involved in projects like a virtual reality hospital and a synthetic weapons attachment (SWA) for soldiers sharpening their skills with mounted machine guns.

“I served in the U.S. Army for 22 years, with most of my time in the 75th Ranger Regiment and 173rd Airborne. I deployed 13 times between Iraq and Afghanistan. I am motivated by the opportunity to provide my military and combat experiences to the soldiers of this next generation,” he says. 

Lynwood says he’s already seeing the positive impact of his work. SWA technology, for example, has improved soldiers’ competence and confidence. 

“My greatest hope is that our team’s consultation or training impacts a client’s decision making in combat and prevents the loss of life,” he says. “The soldiers won’t remember our names or faces in 10 years, but the training we are delivering now will stay with them through their career and will be passed down.”

Supporting the employment of veterans and military spouses helps drive Booz Allen’s mission to promote a more sustainable military. Building on the military’s leadership development, we provide our military talent with clear paths to professional growth.