The University of Chicago celebrates our military-affiliated students on Veteran's Day with an annual recognition event and week-long programming to recognize the sacrifice and service of our veterans.
Our Office for Military-Affiliated Communities serves to amplify the range of programs, support services, and partnerships already in place for our veterans. To further spotlight our veterans’ voices, we profile Gage Ricketts, Evening MBA and former member of the Indiana Air National Guard.
Military Service: Weapons Systems Specialist, Indiana Air National Guard, 2008-2014
Current Position: Data Integration Consultant, Strata Decision Technology
While I never saw myself as a ‘military person’, I actually come from a military family. My parents met while they were both in the Navy. They both had last names that started with the letter R and were seated next to each other at an event, which is how they met. What drew me to the military was the opportunity to join the Indiana Air National Guard. When I was 17 I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, but an opportunity came up to go to Purdue University for aeronautical engineering and enlist at the same time. I went to school for one semester, then went through basic training and technical school. It was a really great experience; I did seven months of active duty and training in Texas and then moving forward, served one weekend a month and a few weeks each summer every year. Joining the military is one of, if not the best, decision I’ve ever made. It’s had a significant positive influence on how I live my entire life.
My military experience was a very formative time for me. I was one of the youngest people in my group of trainees and got to learn from others with a lot more world experience than myself. My experience taught me discipline, confidence, and helped me grow in a lot of different areas. It’s hard to say where I would be now if I hadn’t done the military as it was such a huge part of my life for six years, but it was one of the best things I’ve ever done in terms of developing myself personally, meeting great people, and learning so much. I was a weapons system specialist, loading bombs and missiles on to A-10s and F-16s. In the military I was doing hands-on maintenance and mechanical work with the aircraft, while in school I was learning the theory and mathematics behind it.
I realized part-way through my studies that I didn’t want to be an engineer my entire life, but after school I wanted to give the industry a fair shake, to get some work experience under my belt and to learn what it’s like to be in a corporate environment. I worked as an engineer for two years and then spent two years traveling through Europe, Asia, and Australia and working in Melbourne, Australia. Afterwards, I landed at Strata Decision Technology. I also had wanted to go to business school for a while. As an engineer, I didn’t necessarily get to see the big-picture impact engineering had on the world or how businesses function. Those things really interest me and I also thought they’d be important regardless of where I went or where I landed long-term in my career.
"Being able to work, get continuous experience, and grow within my company as I learn about the theories of how companies work has been tremendously helpful. I really did not expect it to be so impactful, but it has made my studies a lot more meaningful to me."
I always had a natural inclination to go to Booth as I consider myself to be pretty analytical. Being able to work, get continuous experience, and grow within my company as I learn about the theory of how companies work has been tremendously helpful. I really did not expect it to be so impactful, but it has made my studies a lot more meaningful to me. I work in healthcare, however, our software product is an accounting system for hospitals. I didn’t know anything about accounting, operations, or strategy, so being able to learn from my professors and then apply my learnings to work has been helpful to me. When I started the program, I probably would have told you I saw myself long-term in healthcare consulting, but as I’ve learned more about business, I’ve really grown partial to product management. Booth has opened my eyes to new areas of business.
The benefit of leading by example. When I was in the military, I was blessed with leaders who had not only been in my shoes years earlier so they knew what I was going through, but were really devoted and were great leaders, leading by example all the time. When you have leaders who are willing to get their hands dirty, stay late with you, and not just bark orders, it makes a world of difference, especially when you’re loading bombs in sub-zero temperatures and performing hard physical work.
I try to do something similar in my role now. I lead a team of five other consultants. Our company has grown pretty quickly—we’re pretty nimble and there’s a lot of work to be done. I try really hard to make sure I’ve got a good pulse on my team’s feelings and see if they need additional support as I’ve personally seen the value of having a leader who’s willing to do that. I always try my best to make sure I’m available to them, whether it’s to answer questions or to get my hands dirty with more technical work. Leading by example was tremendously impactful for me when I was part of a team in the military, and something I try to bring to the work environment now.
Learn about our expansion of resources available to veterans at Chicago Booth and hear from another Booth veteran in the Armed Forces Group. The application fee is waived for all military-affiliated candidates, so start your application today »
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