Veterans Day invites us to look beyond branch and rank to the people and stories behind the uniform. This year, we sat down with two teammates, Leonard Long, Sr. Mgr, IT Operations, and James Yang, Sr. Director, Corp Strategy, to talk about their journeys from the Army to careers that still put service at the center. Their paths are different, yet the themes are shared, mission mindset, clear priorities, and teamwork that gets hard things done.
Leonard joined the Army one month after high school, following a family tradition of service. He trained as a 12B combat engineer, a role focused on mobility and counter-mobility, building bridges, removing obstacles, laying or clearing minefields, and demolitions. After stateside training in Missouri and Kentucky, he spent the rest of his active duty in West Germany during the late Cold War, served on active duty until 1989, then continued in the reserves until 1998.
When he transitioned to civilian life, Leonard used the GI Bill to study architecture, then pivoted during the Y2K era into IT. He describes himself as a “computer mechanic,” a generalist who knows enough about many systems to troubleshoot quickly. The habits he credits to the Army show up daily, plan the task, set conditions, define standards, document clearly, and practice until execution feels routine. That “fight like you train” mindset now guides how he supports teammates at HealthVerity.
James decided in high school that he wanted to serve, earned an Army ROTC scholarship, and was commissioned as an armor officer. After a year of training at Fort Benning, he joined the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii. He first led a platoon of about 25 soldiers across 4 to 6 armored Humvees, then served as an executive officer for a roughly 100-person unit. The job meant keeping people and equipment ready, from weapons maintenance and inventory to field resupply when the plan met reality.
Asked what carries over to his work today, James points to the same core playbook, align people to a clear goal, communicate priorities, and work across functions to remove blockers. After earning an MBA at UCLA and time in consulting, he gravitated to healthcare and life sciences because the mission felt tangible. That is what drew him to HealthVerity, where outcomes, evidence, and value for patients are part of the daily conversation.
Veterans build careers across many sectors, but federal, state, and local government roles remain a popular destination. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 23% of employed veterans work in government. Other common industries include professional and business services (~12%), manufacturing (~12%), education and health services (~9%), and transportation and utilities (~8%). These patterns reflect how military experience aligns with operations, logistics, public service, and team leadership in civilian settings. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/vet.t05.htm
Leonard’s photo from 1986 and James’s stories from combatives on the quad are snapshots of a shared value set, humility, discipline, and service to something larger than yourself. We are grateful for their continued service at HealthVerity and for all who have served.