Rebranding to Veterans to Naval Careers

We’re excited to announce that Veterans to Energy Careers (VTEC) has rebranded to Veterans to Naval Careers (VNC). This change reflects our evolving focus and expanding mission. With this new grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) has received the second largest federal grant in the history of CSUSM. This support from ONR allows VNC and CSUSM to continue empowering and supporting veterans nation-wide.

Vnc 2025 annual review

Our 2025 VNC Annual Review video is here! It highlights some incredible stories from the past year, including Forest Shaner, a VNC alum who’s now a research associate at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), and Malia Creech, a former VNC intern who’s now an engineer at Lockheed Martin.

We also hear from Dr. Preetha Thulasiraman, a project supervisor at NPS who’s helped guide several of our interns, and Kyle Fitzpatrick, one of our current VNC interns working on some really exciting engineering projects.

The video also walks through our latest stats and outcomes, and gives a big-picture look at how VNC is continuing to connect veterans with hands-on STEM opportunities and meaningful career pathways.

Approaching Transition Differently

At Veterans to Naval Careers, we've found that competitively paid internships coupled with one-on-one mentorship and professional development is the key to guiding veterans to sustainable careers.