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Jared Jackson, U-M Ross MBA student and Navy veteran, pictured on the right with Navy helicopter. 

From a young age, Jared Jackson set his sights on two goals: becoming a pilot and earning an engineering degree at the University of Michigan. In the end, he didn’t have to choose one over the other. Even if he didn’t know it yet.

Jackson grew up in Flushing, Mich. as a lifelong wolverine. Coming out of high school, Jackson weighed his options between the Naval Academy or attending U-M. He ultimately enrolled in Michigan Engineering studying aerospace engineering, but never lost his passion for flying. As a first-year student, he was figuring out life on his own for the first time and became curious about the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) at U-M after seeing students in the program around campus. Instead of navigating college alone, he saw an opportunity to join a community building life skills like self-discipline, responsibility, healthy habits, and structure, plus a gateway to his flight goals. Jackson joined the ROTC for the remaining three years of his undergraduate career at U-M, earning his degree in 2015.

With a foundation in aerospace engineering in hand, Jackson was ready for the next chapter and commissioned into the U.S. Navy. His naval career began with two years of flight school in Pensacola, Fla. From there, he was selected to move to San Diego to fly one of the Navy’s two helicopters, the MH-60 Romeo.

Jackson was officially a pilot. Over the next eight years he would have two major deployments and many smaller ones, building his experience as a helicopter pilot. He would later flip roles, becoming an instructor to trainees like he had once been. He wrapped up his time in the Navy with a year on the USS Tripoli marine carrier.

As a lieutenant commander, Jackson had honed his skills as a leader of teams as large as 50 plus people, but Jackson was ready for a new challenge. He knew that his strong leadership and life skills would have an even greater impact when combined with a business degree.

Jackson’s return to Michigan began with the help of a community of wolverines and veterans at the Ross School of Business. As he was preparing to apply to the MBA program, the Armed Forces Association (AFA) at Ross student group gave Jackson extra support through the process. They reviewed essays and held practice interviews with both veterans and civilians, so Jackson could make his application as competitive as possible — and it paid off.

Jackson is in the Michigan Ross MBA program, with just as much support and community from the veteran community at U-M, and passes on that support to others. On campus, Jackson works as the peer advisor lead for Veteran and Military Services (VMS).  “I had such an incredible time as a military-connected ROTC student while I was here, that it was just something I wanted to give back to,” Jackson says. Based on his personal experience, Jackson encourages students: “Be true to who you are and genuinely try to think about what your honest interests are … not the ones that you think are going to make you cool or popular.”

From the responsiveness of U-M’s veterans certification to his relationships with VMS, Jackson gives credit to the people at U-M who work with veteran and military-connected students for making Michigan the best of the best.

“When you have this fantastic team here, I can’t sing their praises enough,” Jackson says about his experience working with the veterans certification team. Despite pages of paperwork, forms, and sorting through credits, he’s experienced a smooth transition from the military back to U-M.

His advice for veterans taking the next step after service?

“Don’t undervalue or underestimate yourself. You may feel like your experience isn’t unique if 99% of your best friends are helicopter pilots, but that’s a small percentage of people in the world. Your experiences on a college application will open doors.”

Today, Jackson calls Ann Arbor home alongside his wife, a doctor and fellow two-time U-M grad, and their 2-year-old son. Jackson is due to graduate from the Ross MBA program in May 2027 and looks forward to a career at Ford through the Planning and Strategy Leadership Program.

Learn more about veterans on campus at the U-M Veteran and Military Service website.