Michel Ellert-Beck is an IT strategy consultant for some of IBM's largest public- and private-sector clients. But consulting has nothing to do with why he now spends his days in a office cubicle located somewhere inside the Pentagon's sprawling basement.
It is here, beneath the concrete and steel that galvanize the healing Pentagon's structure, that the 39-year-old goes by the esteemed handle of Major Ellert-Beck. As a U.S. Air Force Reserve intelligence officer, Ellert-Beck is today one of nearly 80,000 National Guard and military reservists who got the call to support the U.S.'s war on terrorism.
"To me, this is the system working," says Ellert-Beck, who received orders last October to leave IBM for a year to assist the military in monitoring the volatile events in the Middle East. "This is what the Reserves are all about. We certainly can't predict when the Reserves are going to be called upon or when our country will be challenged. You just have to be ready at all times."
It is not known how many management consultants are doing double duty as reservists. Not many firms track or even care to reveal that information, and the branches of the armed forces, which are working to better track the kinds of skills their troops have, don't have a specific classification for the management consultants within their ranks.
These citizen soldiers somehow juggle — not always successfully — their demanding civilian jobs, personal obligations, and military commitments. Behind them are devoted spouses or partners, who help out by taking on extra family chores, and accommodating employers.
The consultants interviewed for this story have a few things in common. Many of them have had past careers in the armed forces. And after having grown accustomed to military life, they now view it as being part of their identity — an imprint not easily hidden.
Many reservists say that corporate and military career tracks have both supplied skills and knowledge that have helped them advance in both careers. They are often humble, and obviously proud, but tend not to advertise the added complexity of their daily lives.
Take Mark J. Failor, 38, a vice president at Gartner Consulting in McLean, VA. He is second-in-command of the 200-person Navy Cargo Handling Battalion Eight, stationed at Fort Dix, NJ.
"I've got 200 men and women running around the world. I've got a wife and three kids, and I've got two different practices here. How do you handle that? With anything more than four hours of sleep would be great," he says.
Another pro, Joseph P. Perovich, 44, a project manager at Celerant Consulting, currently travels Monday through Friday to help a major utility in Toronto improve its operational performance. The weekends are set aside for his wife and two young children — that is, the three weekends a month he is not preparing soldiers for a ground war.
Then there's Wendy Elliott, 38, who is always coming when her husband is going. Her titles include senior consultant at KPMG Consulting, major in the Air Force Reserve, and mother of a three-year-old. Her husband Larry, a senior master sergeant in the Air Force, travels the first half of the week, and she travels on KPMG business the second.
As the American military gets smaller, reservists, along with National Guard members, are playing a larger role in the nation's defense. In peacetime, they are "weekend warriors" and are required to serve one weekend each month and two weeks of each year. However, as they rise in rank and increase their responsibilities, the demands spill onto the rest of the month. In times of crisis, they can be involuntarily called to extended active duty.
After the terrorists' attacks on September 11, Ellert-Beck knew people were going to be called up to support Operation Enduring Freedom. Still, when he was notified that he would be receiving orders in two weeks, "it was a bolt from the blue," he says. "My wife and I were certainly concerned, because we didn't know what it meant."
A slew of questions raced through his mind. What is IBM's policy? Would he have to take a leave of absence and come back? What would happen to his health benefits,401(k), and stock plan?
Even in this economic downturn, job security is assured. Companies legally must re-employ reservists after they return from duty in a position and at a pay level they would be occupying had they not gone away. But a company doesn't have to pay employees while they are on military leave. IBM, however, is making up the difference between their employees' regular and military pay. And, to Ellert-Beck's surprise, he will still be allowed to contribute to his 401(k) as well as have continuity in his health benefit and stock plan. "It's a tremendous relief, and allows me to focus on the military duties and not worry about the financial implications," he says.
The change in compensation level is one of the more frightening aspects of being activated, the consultants say. "We stay in this, but when the call comes we wonder, 'How do we actually continue to pay our mortgage?' The pay can be significantly different," says Failor.
Back on the Home Front
The Pentagon is familiar territory for Ellert-Beck, who was commissioned as an officer in the Air Force right after college. The 13 years he spent on active duty took him to Ohio; Washington, DC; and Paris, where at the American Embassy he served as a military attach
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