SAN ANTONIO – An Air Force veteran has created her own tech company and creates immersive augmented reality technologies to help the future of military training.
Krissa Watry, a veteran, enlisted in the United States Air Force back in 1998. She was accepted to the Air Force Academy and graduated top of her mechanical engineering class and got a full ride to MIT.
“And then I went off to Space Command, where I was the chief engineer for our ultra-secure communications satellites that we have in Geo,” Watry said.
After some time in Space Command, Watry said the Air Force was downsizing.
“So I got out and then started my journey on the civilian side, innovating and building cool stuff,” Watry said.
That cool stuff would keep her in service to the country. Watry used her knowledge and skills and created not only a veteran-founded business but a woman-owned company that has gone on to be the secure digital infrastructure powering an immersive training environment for her former employer, the United States Air Force.
“And that has just been a dream, because we are now an Air Force requirement to deliver their future training,” Watry said.
Despite Watry’s success, she said like for so many others the transition from the military to civilian life was a difficult one; leaving structure and stability to maintaining her own veteran run and woman-owned business.
“So, follow your passion. That’s number one. You always got to do what you really are passionate about,” Watry said.
Watry said oftentimes the challenge for veterans is selling their invaluable skills to civilian employers and said companies can’t go wrong with hiring a veteran.
“They can just make things happen for your company that very few other people can do, so, even if a military member doesn’t seem like a perfect fit for a position, give them a chance, because they’ll always prove that they have the skills to figure it out,” Watry said.