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Larry Harvell is the new military and veteran recruiting program lead at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. Harvell, a 20-year Coast Guard veteran, is working to attract transitioning military personnel and veterans to the nation’s largest university affiliated research center.

APL has been hosting transitioning service members through the Department of Defense’s and programs since 2018, with a higher than 70% conversion rate from participants to full-time employees. Of the more than 9,000 people working at the Lab, over 1,000 are veterans.

Sue Brown, the Lab’s ombudsperson, who also serves as the Government Employee Fellowship Program coordinator, said that many APL staff members, service members and external organizations have reached out to her in hopes that the Lab could find additional avenues for transitioning military members looking to find a place at APL.

“Government fellows spend a defined period focusing on projects of mutual interest to both APL and their government employer before returning to their home agencies,” she said. “SkillBridge programs are different because the participants are leaving the military.”

Brown facilitated more than 30 military fellowships and developed a strong relationship with the local Hiring Our Heroes program manager, laying the groundwork for APL to increase its participation in the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship program.

However, she saw an opportunity to enhance these efforts, and proposed creating a role dedicated to recruiting military and veteran talent. This position would allow APL to create a hiring pipeline of skilled professionals with security clearances, operational insight and a great deal of relevant expertise.

In this new role, Harvell works with Hiring Our Heroes, manages SkillBridge requests, attends career fairs and works to increase awareness of the veteran hiring initiatives at APL. He also works with staff members across the Lab to explore avenues that might offer the best fit for prospective military and veteran job candidates.

“The Lab is such a great place for veterans to work,” Harvell said. “One of the things that strikes me when I speak to other veterans at the Lab is that they have long tenures here, and they talk about how the culture supports a long-term vision of a second career. That speaks highly of our organization, and it’s something that veterans often look for coming out of the military.

“There’s a huge appetite at APL to hire veterans,” Harvell continued. “Everybody that I speak to is excited about bringing on veterans and military members in their transition phase. There’s a lot of enthusiasm, especially with APL’s mission and our close work with the DoD. Seeing that excitement all over the Lab makes me want to work harder. Knowing that APL finds value in the experience of service members is definitely motivating for me.”