In honor of 248 years since the U.S. Marine Corps was officially established, Bell Textron Inc. (“Bell”) hosted a Marine Corps birthday celebration to recognize the dedicated service and sacrifices of the many Marines that are working to advance Bell’s missions across the enterprise.

Hundreds of Bell employees were present at the celebration to commemorate their military service all while enjoying the annual traditions from the Marine Corps birthday that honors the legacy and mission of the Corps.

“As Bell celebrates not only the establishment of one of our most valuable customers, we also honor the legacy of Marine veterans throughout Bell that continue to greatly contribute to the work of the Armed Forces and commercial customers through their dedicated work ethic every day,” said Eldon Metzger, program manager, V-22 Osprey.

At Bell, nearly 1 in 5 employees are military veterans. With a wide-population of those who served in the Armed Forces, Bell has a military-dedicated employee resource group (ERG), VORTEX, that provides exclusive career development and networking opportunities that assist with the transition from military service to the civilian sector.

In honor of the Marine Corps 248th birthday, hear from two veterans who have leveraged their military experience to excel in their careers at Bell.

Meet Nate Green, Bell’s H-1 Program Manager

In April 2023, Nate Green retired from the Marine Corps Reserves after serving eleven years on active duty and nine years as a reservist. During his military career, Nate flew the Bell AH-1W and Bell AH-1Z, serving two deployments flying the AH-1W in Iraq and one tour as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) in Afghanistan.  

Nate is now a member of the Bell team working as the H-1 program manager tasked with overseeing all engineering, operations and logistics for the Bell AH-1Z and Bell UH-1Y aircraft line.

When asked what his favorite part about working at Bell, Nate shares, “I’m closely connected to the community that I love. Additionally, we are making improvements that are going directly to the fleet. I often remind the team that there are Marines floating around the world on ships, armed with AH-1Zs and UH-1Ys, ready to fight our nation’s enemies – tonight. That’s not lost on the Bell H-1 Program; they care deeply for the important work they do each day.”

Nate adds, “Since joining Bell I’ve been in a position where I can help my beloved H-1 community, and Marine Aviation as a whole, get better by being the conduit into the industry side of our aviation enterprise. I’d have to say my favorite part about working at Bell is that I get to talk about H-1’s all day – and work among great folks driving to improve our products for the Marines fixing and flying them. I also love that I work in a place that I can use my co-worker’s callsigns!”

Meet Carl Forsling, Senior Manager, Military Sales and Strategy 

In 2004, Carl Forsling was among the first class of fleet pilots to transition to the MV-22B, the Marine Corps’ Bell Boeing V-22 configuration. Over the course of his 20-year Marine Corps career, Carl worked as a flight instructor in Navy helicopter advanced training, the MV-22B Fleet Replacement Squadron, and in fleet squadrons for the V-22. He notably completed nearly 1,400 flight hours in his ten-years flying MV-22Bs.

He notes, “Honestly, my favorite military experience wasn’t necessarily flying the aircraft, but leading the transition of a squadron maintenance department to the V-22. It was amazing to see the positive difference that a technically advanced aircraft could make.”

Fast forward to today, Carl is a part of the sales and strategy team at Bell that is working to campaign for Bell’s Future Vertical Lift program and how it will advance the nature of maritime operations for generations to come.

When asked about his favorite part about working at Bell, Carl shares, “The best part about working at Bell is getting to participate in decisions and helping build products that will positively affect the military for a long time to come. Many companies that do our work are so big that most employees would be lucky to just see the CEO or senior leadership once in their career. At Bell, that’s just part of a regular day sometimes.”