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Stacey Taylor.
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Stacey Taylor, left, and Juan Vargas at a SHRM Hawaii Chapter annual volunteer appreciation event.
When Stacey Taylor retired from the United States Marine Corps in December 2023, he had already built a career defined by leadership, service, and people-oriented operations. Born and raised in Sandersville, Georgia, Taylor began his military journey through a Navy ROTC scholarship before commissioning into the Marine Corps in 1993. Over the next three decades, he served in human resources and administrative leadership roles that supported large, complex organizations across the globe.
The Taylor family near their residence on Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi Kaneohe Bay in November, 2020.
His final military assignment brought him to Hawaiʻi. After retiring, Taylor and his family chose to stay, allowing his sons to finish high school at Kalaheo High School in Kailua. He briefly worked as a substitute teacher before returning to the Department of Defense community as a Workforce Manager. Today, he continues his commitment to service and leadership as an IT Incident Manager, applying the skills developed during his military career while pursuing a degree in human resource development through Hawaiʻi Pacific University’s Military Campus Programs.
Building on a Career of Service
For Taylor, returning to school wasn’t about starting over. It was about building on the work he had already done and preparing for the next phase of his career.
“Most of my military time was spent as an administrative officer, equivalent to a human resources professional on the civilian side,” he explained. “Right before I retired, I received the Society for Human Resource Management certification and decided that I wanted to continue in that field and explore more. I made the decision to get back to school with HPU to pursue a HR development degree.”
Taylor is not a traditional undergraduate student. He already holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Morris Brown College, an MBA from Florida State University, and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Air Force War College. His professional background includes senior human resources leadership roles in the Marine Corps, where he supported geographically dispersed teams, advised executive leaders, and managed workforce operations tied to large-scale, mission-critical work.
Finding Flexibility Through HPU Military Campus Programs
At HPU, he found a program that fit both his goals and his life as a full-time working professional.
“HPU not only had the program I was looking for available, HR development, but it also had the convenience,” Taylor said. “Because I have a full-time job, I am able to participate in the evenings. The program is very flexible.”
In an HPU Military Campus Programs classroom at Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi Kaneohe Bay are Stacey Taylor, foreground, and classmates.
That flexibility has been central to his experience as an HPU Military Campus student. Taylor has been able to take classes in person and online, stay connected while traveling, and remain engaged without stepping away from his professional responsibilities
“My experience has been great,” he shared. “If I’ve had to travel, I could still log on and complete my courses.”
The classroom experience has also given Taylor the opportunity to learn alongside students who bring a wide range of perspectives. Some are younger and just beginning their careers. Others are retired from the military or transitioning into new professional roles. That mix has created a setting where his own experience adds value, while also challenging him to think differently.
“Being able to get that full perspective from people who come from all of the services here in Hawaiʻi has really made an impact on my learning experience,” he said.
Still Learning, Still Leading
Taylor’s decision to return for an undergraduate degree after earning two graduate degrees has raised some questions from others, including peers and family members who wondered why he would go back to school at this point in his career. For him, the answer has been clear: his military experience gave him a strong professional foundation, but HPU is helping him connect that experience to current theory, language, and practice in the civilian workforce.
“The surprising thing is that I’m still learning a lot,” he said. “I better understand what I was doing over the last 30 years.”
The responsibilities he held in uniform—developing teams, advising leaders, supporting personnel systems, and helping organizations solve complex problems—now connect directly to academic concepts in human resource development, organizational performance, and workforce strategy. It also reinforced his belief that professional growth doesn’t stop after retirement, promotions, or prior academic success.
“I thought I was going to go in there and know everything,” he laughed. “But everything I’m learning is relevant and new. I think it’s going to propel me once I’m done with the degree program.”
Taylor sees value in stepping outside of a military-only lens and examining how other organizations approach leadership, workforce development, and problem solving. His coursework has introduced him to examples from corporate environments, volunteer organizations, and broader community systems, giving him new ways to evaluate challenges and translate his experiences.
“With the shift in technology and mindset, things have changed,” he said. "My ability to think critically is rooted in my past experiences and strengthened by continuous learning and reflection.”
A New Chapter After the Marine Corps
As he looks ahead, Taylor is considering opportunities in corporate human resources operations, while remaining open to the possibility that his skills may apply beyond a traditional HR role. His HPU experience is helping him better define what he offers employers and how his military background can support organizations facing modern work challenges.
“What I’m hoping this degree will help me with is to connect what I did in the military for 30 years with the challenges and problems that corporations are facing today,” Taylor explained. “I want to bring my experiences, knowledge, and abilities to help them solve problems or think about them from a different perspective.”
That ability to translate military leadership into the civilian world is one of the most important outcomes of his education. Through HPU, he is strengthening the academic and professional language needed to carry those skills into new settings.
The lessons have extended beyond human resources. Taylor pointed to a comparative health course as one example of how HPU has pushed him to consider complex problems from multiple angles, think beyond what is immediately visible, and better understand the role different stakeholders play in solving them.
“What I’m starting to understand is that the problem can be so complex, it must be thought about in different ways. When you look at a problem, it’s not just what you see. There are many things that you don’t see, and you need to be able to talk with different stakeholders to get a better understanding of the scope,” he said.
For Taylor, that lesson connects directly to his future professional goals and the kind of leadership he wants to continue practicing beyond the military.
"I am excited to leverage my critical-thinking skills and leadership experience with the knowledge gained through the Human Resources Development program to drive positive organizational change,” he said.
As an HPU Military Campus student, Taylor represents lifelong learning in action. His path shows that returning to school is not limited to those seeking a first career or a first degree. For experienced professionals and military-affiliated students, it can be a way to sharpen existing skills, gain new perspectives, and prepare for meaningful work beyond military service.
After a long Marine Corps career, Taylor is still learning, serving, and preparing for what comes next. At HPU, he has found a program that respects where he has been while helping him move forward with purpose.
