Jeff Cathey joined Bank of America as the Senior Military Executive in 2008. Prior to joining the company, he served with distinction at the Pentagon and in the U.S. Navy for 29 years and led commands worldwide, including 100 combat missions. He is a decorated veteran of Operations in Grenada, Afghanistan and Iraq. Captain Cathey also served in Washington as Director for Senate Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Since leaving the company in 2022, Jeff has served on several boards and was inducted into the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame. In honor of Veterans Day, the Alumni Network team had a chance to thank Jeff for his service and speak with him about his career at Bank of America and recent transition to retirement.
Before joining Bank of America, you had a long, successful career in the military. What led you to join the bank?
I majored in finance, which didn’t factor much in my Navy career, but understanding numbers did. It helped a lot with (understanding) angles, vectors, acceleration and speed and was advantageous in the aircraft carrier environment. I stayed interested in finance. And when I was on Capitol Hill, supporting the Secretary of Defense, I noticed the budget hearings every year drew the biggest crowds. Those sessions piqued my interest because it was there that you could lay down the path of a country and see economic influence across the globe. I was fascinated by the power of money and the economy. Right before I retired from the Navy, I interviewed with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Grant Thornton in Washington, D.C.
Bank of America, at the time, had nine regional executives in Retail Banking and one of them was for Military. They were looking to build a footprint in Washington, D.C. and wanted someone who knew government relations to lead the work. I was already in the nation’s capital, so I gladly went to Charlotte for the interview and accepted their offer.
Tell us about your career at Bank of America.
I joined the company in 2008 as the Senior Military Executive. At that time, the veteran unemployment rate was sky high — double digits — so there was a lot of work to be done. We established a Military Advisory Group, which included a few management team members, to determine how we could best support military servicemen and women and their families.
I later led a newly created Military and Veterans Affairs team — in two very distinct ways. One was with contract management where we ran the overseas banks for the Department of Defense (DoD) in 10 countries in Europe and the Pacific. We had 700 people globally and 125 were based in San Antonio, Texas. We executed against the contract for the pay arm of the Pentagon to make sure banking services and foreign currencies were available for servicemen and women deployed in Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan and in other remote locations. We also supported the DoD’s military mission of moving cash to the battlefields and places the armed services needed it.
We also managed relationships by exploring partnerships with nonprofits that worked in the areas of education, housing, wellness and employment; there were 47,000 veteran service non-profit organizations at that time. So, we attended conferences, worked closely with the Marketing team and our Foundation to identify opportunities, make charitable contributions and actively participate in solutions.
What’s the most interesting thing about your experience at the bank — favorite memories or impactful moments of note?
I loved working with Bank of America teammates based overseas. We had German, Italian, British and South Korean nationals. To see teammates in the financial centers, in the communities and the district offices (near Frankfurt, Germany and Seoul, South Korea) working a mission with us was inspiring. That, and the day-to-day work with the team in San Antonio to run the overseas banking division, is something I will always remember fondly.
Working with great professionals like Larry Di Rita and Lindsey Streeter was always a pleasure. Working for Thong Nguyen was the best!
I also had a few impactful moments or favorite memories that I recall:
- Traveling with Andrea Smith to the White House at the invitation of President Obama and the First Lady to sign on with the Joining Forces initiative. Accompanying President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at the 2016 Invictus Games in Orlando was extraordinary; he was my Commander-in-Chief for eight years, and he was still fully engaged in getting young servicemen and women back on their feet.
- And, standing on the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid up in NYC with Brian Moynihan and his leadership team was an extraordinary honor.
What have you been up to since you retired from the bank?
This year I earned a Graduate Certificate in public management from the University of South Florida on the GI Bill. It helps me better understand Hillsborough County and Tampa and how I can contribute to the areas of land use management, transportation, the environment, public budgeting and biking safety.
A few months ago, I joined the national non-profit board of Our Community Salutes, which honors and celebrates young men and women right out of high school who take the oath to join the military service. During my time at Bank of America we had mostly supported transitioning servicemen and women and their families to help with Better Money Habits®, employment, hiring veterans, mentoring and all of that. But this was the only support organization I’d ever seen at the front end of military service.
I also got a Governor’s appointment for Veterans Florida, where I’m the vice chair now. Florida is the third largest state for veterans in America, and while all states want to be veteran friendly, Florida also wants to be veteran ready. So, through skill bridge, agriculture and entrepreneurship we help ensure Florida is a good place for veterans to land, integrate and contribute to the civilian workforce and to the community.
And I umpire Little League baseball for fun.
