Correction appended

Vince Tedesco, director of air and missile defense at Lockheed Martin in Washington, said he makes his money finding better ways to kill people.

"I'm getting, I hate to tell you, how many hundreds of millions of dollars to better kill people," he said. "But next year, we do it all over again."

Tedesco, traveled from Washington, D.C., to give a presentation on defense careers and his experiences, sponsored by the Security and Risk Analysis (SRA) Club.

Tedesco described his job as based around sucking up to people and gave personal anecdotes about on-the-job experiences.

He told a story about a trip to the Pentagon the day after getting a nuclear stress test from his doctor. The Pentagon's alarms went off and he was briefly barred from entering.

Richard Watson, director of corporate relations for the SRA Club, said he met Tedesco while interning with Lockheed Martin and knew the defense contractor had a wealth of knowledge to share.

"It was good to get a different perspective on defense careers," Watson (senior-security and risk analysis) said. "A lot of our employers come from defense."

Tedesco graduated from Penn State in 1964. After graduating, he entered the Army and served for 27 years.

He told the audience that each of them should consider joining the military.

"It is, in fact, where you will grow up," he said.

After introducing his military career, Tedesco gave the audience a rundown of his career with Lockheed Martin and what he learned from it.

In 1991, he left the armed forces and got a job as a consultant.

"After 25 years of love, it was time to make money," he said.

He said consulting wasn't for him and joined Lockheed Martin in 1992. He moved to Washington, D.C., to become a director in 1995.

He told the crowd he's learned there are two rules to working in the nation's capital: First, Washington is a "city of advocates," and second, no decision is final.

Tedesco said the company is looking for young people to join the staff.

"All you smart young folks are what they like," he said.

Daniel Vivio, the advertising director for the SRA Club, said it's important for members of the club to learn about careers in the defense industry.

"Hearing about the government is important," said Vivio (junior-information sciences and technology and security and risk analysis). "As some of us will be doing that soon."

Correction: This article incorrectly states Richard Watson's year. He is a sophomore.