The military route to success

By Peter Walker for CNN

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(CNN) -- When Senator John Kerry told to a group of college students that they should study hard or "end up in Iraq" as soldiers, he stirred up not only anger but also a determination among some to show that his ill-judged joke was misleading.

In fact, with leadership skills increasingly important for the modern executive, more and more companies are turning to former military officers when recruiting.

In parallel to this, a good number of former service personnel are honing their military skills by signing up for MBAs, and are being actively courted by many business schools.

While Kerry was swift to stress that his comments had been intended to criticize President George W. Bush rather than the military, one group decided it wanted to present an alternative view.

Military MBA, a US Web site which aims to provide officers and non-commissioned officers with information on MBAs and civilian careers, also working with employers who want to recruit former officers with business degrees, said it was "setting the record straight about military officers and NCOs and their education and job performance."

While some military personnel "may have a limited education... a large percentage of officers in uniform have undergraduate and advanced degrees," it said in a statement.

In a 2004 survey, it added, more than 85% of military officers held either an undergraduate or advanced degree, against little more than a third of the US population.

The high caliber of officers, plus the skills they pick up on duty, make them an attractive prospect both for business schools and employers, Military MBA added.

According the organization, former military personnel with MBAs earned almost a third more in 2003 on average than their civilian MBA counterparts.

"CEOs with prior military experience outperformed CEOs in the S&P 500 index, delivering 30% higher returns in three-and five-year investment periods," Military MBA added, citing one survey from earlier this year.

Early leadership

This same poll of ex-military chief executives, carried out in association with the Economist Intelligence Unit, said that their generally strong performance appeared to be due to skills such as working as part of a team, defining goals and motivating others.

The CEOs interviewed for the survey "emphasize that the military offers an early opportunity to acquire hands-on leadership experience that cannot be found in the corporate world or at a similarly early stage in people's careers," it noted.

Taking its work a step further, Military MBA announced last month a new recruitment service for employers seeking suitably qualified former officers.

For a fee of 10% of a manager's first-year salary, the group will find ex-military MBA students to fill vacancies.

"As a former captain in the Army, I'm able to provide lots of quality referrals," said Angelo Adams, a Military MBA referral network member, studying for an MBA from the University of Michigan.

"I know at least 20 other military officers with MBAs. Most have graduated from a 'Tier One' MBA program and they've become leaders through the military."

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