What Being a Veteran Means to Me

The foundational principles I bring to my profession all stem from a decision I made at 17 years old. As the oldest of five, I am a typical oldest child with a high sense of responsibility. I was admitted to an honors program at the University of Maryland, and was faced with the question - how do I pay for this?

My campus had an Air Force ROTC detachment. I joined my freshman year and from there it was a quick ascent into the world's greatest air force. As a junior, I was selected to go to Guam, only the top 1% of cadets in the country had this opportunity. While I was active duty in the Air Force, I won several awards at Hill Air Force Base and Misawa Air Force Base. Then while I was at The Ohio State University pursuing my MBA, my husband spent 365 days in Afghanistan.

Those years flew by and at the time I did not realize how much I was learning and how the principles were etched into my DNA. As a consultant, I bring a deep sense of duty to my clients. With every engagement I strive for excellence in all that I do. However, the trait which drew me to Avaap is integrity, doing what is right even when no one is looking.

At Avaap, we are continuously adapting and providing expertise with our talented team of consultants. The constant change and ability to adapt are comforting to me. It's exciting to be on the front lines of AI and protect our clients’ data through deep knowledge in security and governance.

Over my tenure at Avaap, I have worked on projects for the public sector, with private sector clients, and law enforcement organizations. The public sector projects and work with law enforcement are second nature to me -- I have been able build an immediate connection with our clients. Within law enforcement agencies, their organizational structure is paramilitary, so I was able to quickly spin up the rest of my project team on ranks, chain of command, and how organizations comprised of sworn officers and civilians function with different duties being assigned to those types of roles.

As a Veteran, I am proud to be a part of Avaap. The leadership skills developed as an Air Force Officer have been honed at Avaap through the commitment to our people. We enable our clients to innovate, grow, and protect their data. And in the process, we build deep relationships with our clients to provide them with the best solutions possible.

Carly Dendinger is a senior consultant in Avaap's Data & Analytics practice and a United States Air Force Veteran who served from 2002-2006.