Brian Carey vividly remembers what it’s like to receive a package or a letter when he was literally half a world away and the conditions were as foreign and inhospitable as possible: 130 degree temperatures and blinding sandstorms.

“It’s the little things like that that let you know you are not alone,” says Carey, a senior financial analyst with General Mills who returned from Iraq in May following a 13-month tour of duty with the U.S. Army Reserves. “To know that I had a support group really meant a lot to me.”

Earlier this month, General Mills was recognized with a “Patriot Award” for its support of military veterans like Carey, who holds the rank of major in the Army Reserve.

Carey, 38, can’t say enough about the support he received from General Mills, which included the company paying Carey’s full salary and medical benefits while he served.

West Point graduate His latest deployment marked the fourth time Carey, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, has served overseas. He was deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1995 and 1997, and to Kuwait in 1999, when he served on active duty in the U.S. Army, before joining the Reserves in 2000.

Growing up in a military community in southeastern Virginia, Carey says, “Serving the public and contributing to a greater good is something that has always appealed to me.”

In Iraq, he served in two functions while assigned to the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. His brigade's mission was providing convoy security and base security throughout southern and western Iraq.

Carey said his General Mills training – which honed his ability to present “crisp, detailed analysis” – helped him perform his job efficiently. Conversely, his military background brings different perspectives for problem-solving to his company job, which most recently involved auditing plants and business units.

“I can’t thank you enough,” he told a gathering of Global Internal Audit employees at a ceremony earlier this month. “General Mills has a unique culture – everything from the care packages and letters to the helmet liners provided by the knitting club. It meant a lot to me and to the people I served with.”

Inside General Mills