One Infantryman’s path from Iraq to Broadway (2024)

“I could not back plan this,” Michael Lamon says of his career trajectory. The Minnesota native and Army National Guard Veteran sat down with Stripes Europe to talk about his unique path from music school to infantry squad leader, and then from underemployment to Broadway investor and Tony Award winner.

Minnesota National Guard

Lamon’s choice to join the Army National Guard was something that grew over time. His grandfather and uncles had been in the military, so service was not unfamiliar. During college, the financial benefits became more appealing. At the time, Lamon had just finished his first year as a music student at Concordia College. He had to work three jobs over the summer to make ends meet, one position in the local theater, another job at Target, and a final job delivering pizza. It was during a pizza delivery to the local National Guard armory that someone finally posed the question: “Ever think about joining? Come by after work!” So, he did. “The seed had been planted there for a while, through all these different family routes, the financial incentive, and it was really about right place and right time.”With a week left of summer break, Lamon signed up.

Lamon speaks passionately about his 2005 deployment to Iraq. He was a member of the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion’s 136th Infantry Regiment, assigned to A Company from his hometown of Bemidji, MN. He spent nearly two years deployed with 16 months in the Al Anbar province of Iraq in a variety of local area operations and security duties. “[We were] going out, knock and talk, collecting information from people. Going out and building…providing generators, building schools. Whatever these communities needed around the Camp Taqaddum area.”

On one large mission south of Fallujah he recalls searching houses, pulling out Iraqi POW’s and uncovering a bomb factory. However, returning to camp proved extremely difficult as the unit uncovered 20 IEDs while driving in the dark. On a different mission, his Bradley Fighting Vehicle hit an IED and caught fire. Fortunately, his team evacuated and suffered only minor injuries. He would eventually be presented with a Purple Heart.

Into the Economic Sector

Following his college graduation in 2009, Lamon had trouble finding work. His interests had changed, and his wife encouraged him to “do something more.” However, he believes there was a stigma against hiring Veterans at that time. It was a challenge to get a job of any kind. “I put out hundreds of applications at a time…the three jobs I got were from referrals from people. One of them I got as a host at a restaurant paying [only] five dollars an hour, and I got that because…my company commander knew the general manager. I couldn’t even get a job as an armored truck driver.”

Finally, via a fellow soldier he deployed with, Lamon connected with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) who knew that the Social Security Administration was looking to hire Veterans. This resource landed him a government job as a claims representative, and he returned to school for a master’s degree in leadership and management.

Lamon continued to serve in the Minnesota Army National Guard while attending school. He recalls getting called up with a day’s notice for a deployment to the capital region during President Obama’s inauguration. “We had quick riot training, fortunately nothing happened [it was one of those] strange deployments that people don’t think about.”

Eventually, Lamon transferred to the Social Security Administration office in New York City when his wife was accepted at the Manhattan School of Music. When out of the military, Lamon used his G.I. Bill to earn a master’s degree in international economic policy and management at Columbia University. He was selected for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellows Program and used his experiences to pivot into the financial sector, eventually working at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Ernst & Young and Wells Fargo.

His job involves ensuring that banks and financial institutions are following regulations. Lamon praises their willingness to hire Veterans saying, “They found [that] we follow AR 600-1 really well and we know hip pocket procedures.” He also comments on how his prior experiences really prepared him for the job. “I took all of the policies, how to follow different laws, rules, [and] regulations; assess them, provide the facts, conclusions, do analysis, from a non-finance perspective to the financial world.”

Broadway investing

Living in NYC, and being involved with massive banks, Lamon became interested in investing. At first, he thought about investing in small startups, but his passion for music and theater led him to begin financing new Broadway plays and musicals as a producer. Both his musical training and finance background help when choosing performances to invest in. “These shows have to have a good business plan and a good message.” His current show, “Merrily We Roll Along” just won a Tony award.

Beginning in the fall theater season, he is producing “Here There are Blueberries.” This factual docudrama traces the story of an album of historical photographs donated to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. An Army intelligence officer found the album shortly after World War II while he was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany.

As the play progresses, archivists research the photos and unveil the disturbing lives of the Nazi leaders, doctors and regular workers who ran the Auschwitz concentration camp and a nearby Nazi leisure lodge. The show has already played in Washington D.C. and California and will now move to New York City. There are also plans to produce the play in Germany and London.

In the future, Lamon plans to continue investing in theater productions. His next project, “Figaro: An Original Musical,” will be performed at a special showing in London early next year. From there, the goal is to find the show a permanent spot in the London theater district.

Lamon loops his Veteran experience into his career when possible. In fact, he says, “I’ve always wanted to do an Irving Berlin… ‘This is the Army’ full reproduction, and I need an entire company of soldiers to do it. So if there’s somebody out there that wants to loan me an entire company, I’d be happy to produce that. If they can do Army cadence, they could do this.” It would be a real testament to his Army National Guard origins to produce a show with an all-Army cast. Perhaps one day he can make that happen.