GoogleVetday2012Got Your 6, an organization that unites the entertainment industry with top veteran-focused nonprofit organizations held an event at Google’s New York Headquarters on Friday. At that event, several technology leaders, including Google, made the case for hiring vets in the tech sector.

“130,000 soldiers will leave the army every year,” said Brig. Gen. David MacEwen, the Army’s chief administrative officer. “They deserve to be brought back into society.” Business Insider reported.

Google is no stranger to hiring vets in the tech sector. Google has hired veterans across all disciplines of their business. Business Insider pointed out that a Navy veteran heads up Google’s green energy operations. A Marine oversees Google’s project putting balloons over rural areas to distribute wifi and a former F14 pilot is Google’s head of user operations.

“At Google, we hire veterans because of the values that they hold,” said Carrie Laureno, an audience evangelist at Google, and founder of the Google Veterans Network.

Google also has a program that provides ChromeBooks for injured veterans who are hospitalized for long periods of time.

it’s not just Google, companies all over the place are turning to veterans for their workforce. Just the other day we reported that AT&T is hiring 10,000 veterans in a five year period. Veterans are also founding startups like TroopID. Techstars even holds an annual program in July to teach veterans about startups in an abbreviated crash course version of their accelerator program.

Veterans, while on active duty, often receive technical training that they can quickly apply to jobs in the technology sector or turn into businesses of their own.
Jake Wood, a former Marine Corps sniper, is the cofounder and CEO of Team Rubicon  a non profit that provides relief to victims of natural disasters. Veterans are also behind startups like lettrs an app that allows users to write letters without going to the post office, and ridescout a smartphone app that shows different commuting options based on location.
“When I look at a soldier, I don’t have to get their resume,” said MacEwen. “I know they are the type of person I want to hire.”