Ismael Jose Escobar and his wife Damariz are the first married couple hired into the Operation IMPACT program. Both work for the Information Systems sector in Northern Virginia. Ismael is in the Security department at Reston and Fair Lakes; wife Dee is in Facilities in Reston.

"Home" is Los Angeles, California. When Ismael first joined the Army, Dee traveled with him as he transferred to Dongducheon, Korea; Fort Lewis, Washington; and Vilseck, Germany. She remained stateside during Ismael’s two tours in Iraq.

"Ish," as he’s known to friends and family, learned about Operation IMPACT from Northrop Grumman employee Tracy Daly while at the Warrior Transition Unit in San Diego's Naval Medical Center. Tracy briefed the soldiers at the center on Operation IMPACT and encouraged them to explore careers with Northrop Grumman when they were discharged. The rest is history.

When asked how Operation IMPACT has affected him, Ish says, “It has affected not only me, but my family. We were very worried about what opportunities I had after almost eight years of service. I was very surprised to see how much Tracy Daly and Debbie Ortega cared about helping me and my family find the 'job security' we had in the Army.

We consider ourselves very blessed to have an opportunity to work for such a great company!”