Tartans on the Rise: Kyle Eberly, Founder, Sitreps2Steercos.com; Engineering Program Manager, Google Wide Trust Governance

For many, translating skills from military service to civilian careers can be difficult.

Kyle Eberly (TPR 2018) knows the challenges firsthand of navigating the unfamiliar territory of graduate school and corporate America, and he’s made it his mission to help other veterans succeed after their military service ends, too.

After serving as an aviation officer in the U.S. Army flying Blackhawk helicopters, Kyle now supports Google executives in managing strategic trust issues.

“After I got my first consulting job, people often asked, ‘How'd you do this?’” Kyle says. “Friends sent other friends my way, and I was answering the same questions again and again. So I began to think about a way to address these questions at scale.”

Kyle created sitreps2steercos.com, which is short for “situation reports to steering committees,” an acknowledgement of how work changes when transitioning out of a military career.

It’s a network of social media accounts, including Instagram and LinkedIn, along with a website where he has collected candid and sometimes unflinching advice about pursuing graduate degrees and professional work for a military audience. Humorous memes, ask-me-anythings, articles on resumes, LinkedIn profiles, an ongoing Discord chat and information on how to pay for an MBA or pursue high-paying career options read like an email from a friend.

“The site is used almost like a bible for folks who are considering their next steps after the military,” he says.

On campus, Kyle and two other alumni also have created the Tepper BELL Veterans Fellowship, which assists veterans pursuing MBAs at Carnegie Mellon.

“Even with support from the GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon Program, there’s a gap to cover tuition for an MBA as well as extra things like travel,” he says. “It was important to us to create a fellowship just for veterans to offset those costs.”