Pros
The pay and benefits are probably above average for the Fox Valley area. Most people at or below entry level management are great people to work with. For hourly non-managerial employees, this is probably the best pay you will ever see without a college degree - you can thank the UAW for great wages! If you are hired as a contract employee/manager, great! - you will be paid by the hour - and hours are endlessly available for you to make some serious improvements to your bank account! 401K match is good, but if you work less than 5 years, the company will take their contributions back. There are some great leaders in the company, but they are rare! Understand this review is about Oshkosh Defense, and not the Corporate unit or other subsidiaries. This is a great start to a career. Key word is "start". Read Con's section....
Cons
Some of the upper management has been there since they were interns, and they do not bring a lot of leading edge or "world class" ideas to the table. Many managers are very misogynistic, which is unfair to women, and disgusting to true professional people. Internal job postings are very political, and if you don't have a boss going up to bat for you, promotion is unlikely. The likelihood a manager will go up to bat for you is rare also. The HR group is comprised of some of the most narrow minded people I have ever met. They are used to dealing with a cut and dry labor agreement, and honestly don't know how to deal with changing environments or know how deal with people as PEOPLE and not THINGS. Not many managers care about your success or development, because your success is a threat to their job. Or they steal your ideas and claim them as their own. This company lays off very often with the ebb and flow of government contracts. The company tends to hire a lot of young college grads who don't understand that working 70+ hours a week and every weekend isn't normal. College grads also don't bring a lot of experience to the table. If you are salaried, you will likely work 12+ hour days, and your boss will tell you not to disclose the 16-18 hour days you will have to work to get your job done. I don't suggest working more than two years here - move on to bigger and better things.