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Marine Rediscovers Connection and Confidence through Master of Business for Veterans Program

Marine Rediscovers Connection and Confidence through Master of Business for Veterans Program

In the Trojan Network of veterans, Thomas Vriens MBV ’21, a director at GHP Management, found a lasting community that helped him thrive after service.

by: Alexander Bernard
11.10.25
Thomas Vriens

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  • James E. Bogle

    James E. Bogle
    • Program Director, Masters of Business for Veterans
    • Advisor on Military and Veteran Initiatives to the Vice Provost for Academic Operations
    • Adjunct Professor of Management and Organization

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“[MBV] reinvigorated my pride in being a veteran,” Thomas Vriens MBV ’21 said.

Today, Vriens has no shortage of community with his fellow veterans and Master of Business for Veterans (MBV) alumni. They travel together, golf together, and attend USC football games. As Vriens explains, veterans have a unique bond.

Yet, it wasn’t always that way for the Marine Corp veteran, who had complicated feelings about his Marine service before he joined MBV.

Stirred by the events of September 11, 2001, a college-age Vriens enlisted in the Marines. Soon after, he was deployed to combat in Iraq. Vriens described his tours of duty as “traumatic.” In Fallujah, he and his platoon suffered significant losses as a part of Operation Phantom Fury. Later, after his service ended, many of Vriens’ fellow Marines faced hardships and mental health crises, with some losing their lives.

Grief took a heavy toll on Vriens.

“Getting out of the Marine Corps, I distanced myself quite a bit, and I lost a little bit of my sense of identity as a Marine because I correlated a lot of that with bad stuff,” Vriens reflected.

Searching for solid footing, Vriens spent several years toggling between jobs in law enforcement and security. Eventually, he entered the world of corporate real estate at GHP Management, the company that owns the Lorenzo Apartments just a half-mile from the USC campus. As Vriens worked his way up from resident safety director to compliance manager, he interacted with countless USC students and quickly observed the unique bonds of the Trojan Network.

“I was exposed to the Trojan lifestyle and the camaraderie of Trojans before I had the opportunity to become one,” Vriens said.

Retaining some of his GI Bill benefits, Vriens took to the Internet where a single Google Search for “USC + Veterans” changed his life. Although USC’s MBV program seemed perfect, he had concerns about balancing a rigorous master’s program with a full-time job and a family. James Bogle, the MBV program director, assured Vriens on a Zoom call that the program would help him do it all.

“He presented it as something that was extremely challenging, yet it wasn’t impossible for someone who has a family and works full time to do it,” Vriens said. “The program was catered for someone who can work it into their schedule.”

Vriens was ready to immerse him, once again, in the veteran community. Unfortunately, in Vriens’ first semester, the fall of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down campus and pushed classes onto Zoom. Through laptop screens and message threads, Vriens and his classmates struggled to form deep bonds, so they took action.

I was exposed to the Trojan lifestyle and the camaraderie of Trojans before I had the opportunity to become one.

— Thomas Vriens MBV ’21

Director of Property Management, GHP Management

Through connections to the American Legion in Orange County, Vriens and fellow veterans rented out an office to serve as a homebase for in-person meet-ups and community building. In no time, they made the little space their campus away from campus.

“We were able to set up internet routers, big screen TVs, desks, tables, chairs,” Vriens said. “There was food on site, drinks on site. It was people that you talk to on Zoom for three months and then meet them in person … And that’s where some of the magic really happened.”

Vriens saw a side of veterans he hadn’t seen before: supportive, genuine, and connected. High ranking officers or long-time business people, Cohort VIII were now his peers. Conversations elevated to encompass business and life. Surrounded by people he admired and inspired by their examples, he pushed himself further, working hard to balance a demanding workload with his job and family.

In addition to the new community, the MBV curriculum aided Vriens in his post-grad career. Vriens earned his broker’s license and started new business endeavors — purchasing real estate, representing buyers, and performing his own investment property transactions.

“I don’t think I would’ve been able to do any of that without the fundamental core business classes that I had taken,” Vriens said. “Going through a program like that, you relearn how to learn.”

While Vriens’ business career has continued to flourish, his greatest takeaway from the program became his new network of veteran friends and mentors. Where once he shied away from his service and veteran status, Vriens says he has rediscovered the special bonds only shared by those who served.

“Veteran friends are a different caliber of friend, to be honest,” Vriens said. “The camaraderie that we had in the service transfers over more into the civilian side. I think we understand each other more.”

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