Transitions in Leadership: The Story of the MBV

Transitions in Leadership is the story of a veterans' transition program conducted at the university level for men and women of the armed forces as they transition from a military career and mindset to a civilian career and mindset. This unique master of business for veterans (MBV), offered to an academic cohort made up of military veterans at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, has turned out almost 500 graduates to date.

The program's focus is on basic business knowledge, skills, and tools, along with entrepreneurship and leadership, to a veteran group searching for their next career step. They are beneficiaries of a program that focuses on them as important contributors to our collective experience of common citizenship.

In addition to documenting the start-up years of this one-of-a-kind program, which is conducted in an executive cohort format and is only a year long, Transitions in Leadership profiles forty-four MBV alums. Their stories of military experience and the personal growth they enjoyed in the USC MBV have much to offer veterans who may be in the same transitioning process.

Approximately 230,000 veterans process out of the American military every year. Switching from a military to a civilian mindset is challenging for veterans, especially if their military experience included time in responsible roles for significant periods. Transitions in Leadership documents and celebrates an academic option-one dedicated to promoting positive values of leadership and community-that they may not have considered.

It is an optimistic story loaded with reassurance and inspiration....