I'm an active-duty Marine officer planning a traditional search fund after I separate in November 2027, looking for input from the veteran community on their experiences. Brief background: 11 years active duty, helicopter pilot and instructor, ran a 50+ Marine flightline maintenance division for two deployments. Now a team leader in a unit that trains and integrates into foreign militaries. Before the Marines: economics at Wake Forest, futures options on a small prop desk, then fixed income for the insurance department at Mesirow Financial in Chicago. I did two years of mechanical engineering grad work in a small-satellite lab and am finishing a Master's in Applied Data Science at the University of Michigan. No MBA. Thesis: $1.5–4M EBITDA supplier in the aerospace and defense supply chain: precision machining, wire harness and interconnect, MRO and repair stations, or test and ground support equipment. The target has AS9100 or Part 145 certification, clean ITAR compliance with no violation history, and long relationships with primes or depots. The growth plan has two parts. First, expand the traditional business in the prime contractor space. Second, selectively add the new defense tech companies now moving from prototype into production, leveraging my network. I've been the end customer for these parts and have a solid understanding of the defense acquisition cycle and how DoW is evolving its acquisition processes. What I'd value hearing about: - Veteran searchers: how you timed your raise around separation, and what you'd do differently. How you prepared yourself to run a company, and how you built/leveraged your network. - Investors: whether A&D suppliers are a thesis you back, what worries you about the sector (customer concentration, ITAR, the defense budget cycle), and how you view non-MBA searchers with operating backgrounds. - Anyone who has bought in a similar industry: what was critical in diligence? I'm based in San Diego. My availability is limited during SpringredactedThanks in advance for any help.