????每年的退伍軍人節(jié)（Veteran's Day）是聆聽職場人士講述不同尋常的軍事生涯的最佳時(shí)節(jié)。谷歌公司（Google）軟件工程師丹?克勞斯曾請假赴阿富汗服兵役。一年前，這位美國海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)中尉返回國內(nèi)，帶回了他在商業(yè)企業(yè)中不可能領(lǐng)悟到的經(jīng)驗(yàn)教訓(xùn)?？藙谒箯奈聪胂筮^自己會成為一名軍人，直至一場家庭悲劇促使他改變了自己的職業(yè)道路，他也由此成為一個(gè)更好的人。34歲的克勞斯現(xiàn)在是谷歌退伍軍人協(xié)會（Google Veterans Network）的活躍分子之一，這一組織由谷歌約400名退伍軍人和其他支持這些非凡人士的谷歌人共同組建。本文即為克勞斯在其軍旅生涯中的感悟。

????當(dāng)我還是哥倫比亞大學(xué)（Columbia University）的一名學(xué)生時(shí)，我就收到了好幾份工作邀請。就在這個(gè)時(shí)候，世界發(fā)生了改變。9月11日的早晨，我碰巧在市中心，親眼目睹了世貿(mào)雙塔倒塌那一幕。

????雖然我不像許多人那樣，在那一天失去了親人，但我個(gè)人還是受到了這場悲劇的影響。一個(gè)特殊原因是，我的哥哥大衛(wèi)當(dāng)時(shí)是海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的一名直升機(jī)飛行員。我這位唯一的手足加入海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的時(shí)候，我還是一個(gè)留著長發(fā)，整日玩滑板的14歲少年。多年來，哥哥經(jīng)常向我描述他在軍隊(duì)的生活。雖然我很愛聽他的故事，但當(dāng)一名海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)員似乎不像是我未來的發(fā)展道路。

????2003年1月22日，大衛(wèi)在德克薩斯州南部的美國與墨西哥邊境執(zhí)行一次禁毒飛行任務(wù)時(shí)，他駕駛的眼鏡蛇攻擊直升機(jī)在半空中與另一架直升機(jī)發(fā)生碰撞墜毀。兩架直升機(jī)上的4名海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)員全部罹難。

????哥哥遭遇劫難之前，我從未有過當(dāng)兵的打算。但海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)為他舉行葬禮的方式卻深深地打動(dòng)了我。大衛(wèi)所在中隊(duì)的所有戰(zhàn)友從各地趕來，不可能忽視他們之間的那份戰(zhàn)友情。我想更深入地了解，到底是什么東西把這些陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)員聯(lián)系在一起，是什么驅(qū)使他們風(fēng)塵仆仆地從全美各地趕來紀(jì)念自己的戰(zhàn)友。我也回想起911事件。我想找個(gè)辦法做出點(diǎn)貢獻(xiàn)，保護(hù)我的親人。于是，我參加了軍事預(yù)備隊(duì)。那年，我26歲。

????我的新兵生活極其刻板。新兵訓(xùn)練營那13周是我人生當(dāng)中最痛苦的一段日子。但我最終熬出頭，順利畢業(yè)，并贏得了“海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)員”這一稱號。接著，我去北卡羅來納州參加海上作戰(zhàn)訓(xùn)練，然后又去海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)設(shè)在加利福尼亞州莫哈韋沙漠的通訊電子學(xué)院（the Marine Corps Communications Electronics School）學(xué)習(xí)了一段時(shí)間。走下開往帕里斯島的公車15個(gè)月之后，我返回紐約，重新開始了哥大的學(xué)生生活。每月的某個(gè)周末和暑期的兩個(gè)禮拜，我都會參加海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的訓(xùn)練活動(dòng)。

????我下決心成為一名軍官，就在我即將從哥倫比亞大學(xué)畢業(yè)，收拾東西準(zhǔn)備上軍官訓(xùn)練學(xué)校（Officer Candidate School）的時(shí)候，我的平民生活不經(jīng)意間發(fā)生了變化。谷歌公司（Google）毫無預(yù)兆地給我打了一個(gè)電話。一位招募官之前瀏覽了我在私人網(wǎng)站上的簡歷，邀請我參加面試。他們?yōu)槲姨峁┝艘环菰诠雀杓~約公司當(dāng)網(wǎng)站可靠性工程師的工作。對于一位軟件工程師來說，來自谷歌公司的履職邀請簡直就是一張游覽迪斯尼樂園的門票?！澳銈兡芴峁└`活的工作時(shí)間嗎？”考慮到我的軍旅生涯，我問了這位招募官這樣一個(gè)問題?！爱?dāng)然可以，”她對我說。

????Veteran's Day is an ideal time to hear from one of those rare folks who combine corporate and military careers. Dan Cross, a software engineer at Google (GOOG) and a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, took a leave to serve active duty in Afghanistan, came home a year ago, and brought back lessons that he couldn't have learned in business. While he had never seen himself as the military type until a personal tragedy made him reroute his career, he's a better man for it. Cross, 34, is now an active member of the Google Veterans Network (VetNet), a community of some 400 veterans and other Googlers who support these remarkable people. Here's Cross on what he learned in the war:

????I was a student at Columbia University, with a couple of jobs under my belt, when the world changed. I happened to be downtown on the morning of September 11th and saw the Towers fall.

????While I didn't lose any loved ones that day, like many others, I felt personally affected by the tragedy--especially because my brother David was a Marine helicopter pilot at the time. I was a long-haired, skateboarding 14-year-old when David, my only sibling, joined the Marines. Over the years, my brother described life in the service, and while I loved his stories, being a Marine didn't seem like the path for me.

????On January 22, 2003, David was flying an anti-drug mission along the U.S./Mexican border in South Texas when his Cobra attack helicopter went down in a mid-air collision. Everybody--four Marines in two helicopters--died.

????I never considered a military career until my brother's death. But I was really moved by the way the Marine Corps conducted his funeral. Members of David's squadron came from all over, and it was impossible to ignore the bond they had. I wanted to know more about what linked these Marines--what compelled them to come from all corners of the country to commemorate one of their own. I also thought back to September 11. I wanted to find a way to make a difference and protect the ones I love. So I enlisted in the Reserves. I was 26.

????My life as a recruit was regimented. Boot camp was the most painful 13 weeks of my life, but I suffered it out, graduated and earned the title "Marine." I went on to Marine Combat Training in North Carolina and then to the Marine Corps Communications Electronics School in California's Mojave desert. Fifteen months after stepping off the bus on Parris Island, I returned to New York, to Columbia and to student life. I served with the Marines one weekend a month and during two-week sprints in the summer.

????I decided to become an officer, and just as I was wrapping up at Columbia and preparing for Officer Candidate School, my civilian life changed. Google called me, out of the blue. A recruiter had spotted my resume on my personal website and brought me in for an interview. They offered me a job as a Site Reliability Engineer at Google New York. For a software engineer, a job offer from Google was equivalent to an invitation to Disneyland. "Can you be flexible?" I asked the Google recruiter, thinking of my military commitments. "Yeah, sure," she told me.