Lee Kirby, Salute Co-Founder, and retired Army colonel interviewed Tom Noble, US Navy Veteran.
What is the Salute Military Community?
The Salute Military Community is a unique cohort of veterans and the military community who serve as examples of the value their experiences bring to our industry. The Military Community supports Salute’s mission and strives to achieve our shared vision of providing veterans and military spouses career opportunities in the data center industry. We are proud of the military community for giving back to other members seeking to start careers in this industry.
Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?
I grew up on the border in South Texas, where my parents first met. I threw myself into every sport I could, even though football sometimes left me with a broken bone or two! My dad served 16 years in the Army, and my mom worked as a farmhand in Mexico. I have five siblings — an older sister, two younger brothers, and a younger sister. My childhood gave me a great foundation to appreciate the simple things and understand the significance of family and hard work.
And what are you doing today?
I currently work for Iconicx services, a division of Salute, as the Commissioning (CX) Manager at a Microsoft site in Cheyenne, WY. I also lead the Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC) group.
Can you tell us a bit about your military background?
I served in the Navy for ten and a half years as a ‘Nuke’ Mechanic, completing two deployments for Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). My final deployment was a world cruise for change of homeport to Norfolk. In addition to all that, I also spent four and a half years as an instructor at the Charleston Prototype.
Can you share the most interesting story that you experienced during your military career? What
“take away” did you learn from that story?
During my first deployment, after picking up the air wing, we pulled out of San Diego. I finally had the chance to step outside and see the ocean, it was then I realized just how small our 95,000-ton ship seemed against the vastness of the sea. Looking back at that moment and how big we feel as people sometimes, we really are just tiny specs on this large Earth.
Do you think your experience in the military helped prepare you for business or leadership? Can you explain?
In the military, we came from diverse backgrounds but all had the same mission: to make it home at the end of the day. This purpose brought us together through adversity which builds character. As Veterans, we bring that experience into the civilian workplace, and with our diverse backgrounds we bring new ways of thinking, and new ways of innovating to solve problems.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there someone you are particularly grateful to for helping you reach where you are today?
As a young E-4, I’d been passed over for promotion several times and with many junior peers advancing, this had taken its toll on me. Noticing my struggle, a non-nuke Senior Chief pulled me aside to get my head back on straight. He told me that I couldn’t control who got promoted and encouraged me to focus on supporting the team and working hard, assuring me that the rest would follow. The biggest takeaway I had from this was my train of thought, and how to see the outside world. Him sitting down with me still stands strong with me, and contributes to who I am.
You are a part of Salute Veterans Community that shares a common passion of helping veterans get into this industry. This community is “Veterans helping veterans”. Why is this important to you?
Veterans go through shared experiences that allow us to bond with eachother, because we understand eachother. That shared experience allows us to work together, get things done and work hard. Whether we like it or not, this makes us stand out! We know there are going to be good times and bad, but as veterans we have an unspoken commitment to stand by eachother, knowing we can count on one another when it matters most.
If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Do the right thing because it’s the right thing, there’s no need to ask for credit. That simple concept, if embraced by everyone would send productivity off the charts.