Armed Forces Veterans Making Big Impact by Steering Amazon India’s Operations Network

Armed Forces Veterans Making Big Impact by Steering Amazon India’s Operations Network

After serving the nation for years and navigating through successful missions, Military veterans explore corporate life and bring their unique experience to serving the country in a unique way. At Amazon India Operations, armed with invaluable experiences and unique skills, military veterans make up a diverse talent pool that strengthens the company's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Amazon relates to and respects the principles and work ethics of those who have served the nation and believes that they have the ability to think big, invent and simplify on behalf of its customers.

With a strong structure and dedicated program for Military Veterans, Amazon welcomes them and helps them smoothly transition to a successful career. After serving the Armed Forces for more than 12 years, Major Neha Patel decided to switch her career and pave the way to another successful one at Amazon operations. During her tenure with the Army, Neha held various appointments across the country, including Dras, ground zero in the Kargil district of the union territory of Ladakh in India. As the first Woman Staff Officer and Advisor to a Commander of the Field Forces at Dras, she managed logistics of the area including transport and ordinance stores.

Neha believes that her military training equipped her to perform and execute her role better and in parallel, enabled her to transition into her role at Amazon in a structured manner. She says, "Amazon is the biggest hub of logistics. Its leadership principles and ethos are similar to what we followed in the Army. Dive Deep and Customer Obsession are two principles I carried along, which we implement and live by in our operations every day". Neha joined Amazon as a Capex Procurement Leader in June 2021, supporting the Amazon Customer Fulfilment network.

Similarly, Satish S, a Navy Veteran and an awardee of Operation Vijay Medal and Operation Vijay Star, has been in different roles and missions including the Kargil War. His transition from managing maritime, aviation operations, electronic warfare systems, communication and weapon systems across various levels for the Indian Navy to managing Amazon's delivery operations was seamless. The shift was initially challenging but extensive training and support from his peers at Amazon helped him navigate seamlessly through various mechanisms within the logistics space.

Satish says, "Continuous focus on raising the bar of excellence is what keeps me raring to perform better every day. While working at Amazon, I can relate to the importance of teamwork, similar to serving the nation. In both, unless everybody pulls together, success will be far-fetched. While serving the country, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Para Military Forces – everyone comes together and plays their part as a team to keep the nation safe. Whereas at Amazon, the fulfillment, transportation, and delivery network work in sync like a well-oiled machine to deliver the highest level of customer service."

With a celebrated 11-year stint with the Indian Army, Major Harish Gaudi decided to take the plunge and join the Corporate World in August 2020. During his term with the Army, Harish held various appointments across the country in the Artillery division of the Army. He served in high altitude areas and operations in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh region. "At Amazon, I am focused on a different kind of mission, which is to deliver smiles to customers. Amazon has a very strong Military pool which is growing day by day. It seamlessly inducts Military Veterans to Amazon with the process they can correlate to", says Harish.

A travel enthusiast and a doting father, Harish leads the largest site for Amazon Fresh in Bengaluru.  "I feel humbled to serve customers every day, which makes me proud and keeps my team motivated to know that we are adding value to each and every member of a family and playing a part in ensuring that customers can get what they need at the safety of their homes.", he further adds.

Amazon India Operations partnered with the office of the Director-General of Resettlement (DGR), Indian Naval Placement Agency (INPA), Indian Air Force Placement Agency (IAFPA), and the Army Welfare Placement Organization (AWPO) to ensure continued work opportunities for military veterans in the country. For military veterans such as Satish, Neha, and Harish the single biggest reason that enables them to excel in their second career is the ease of transition. Their focus remains on serving the people and delivering smiles, be it at the border or at Amazon.

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