Executive viewpoint

As a senior research scientist for the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), I typically work with teams of interns and students of various experience levels. NETL is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) national laboratory system, and it supports the DOE mission to advance the energy security of the United States.  The research at NETL is focused toward energy and environmental R&D programs that will return benefits for generations to come. 

Interns and students are naturally excited to be working on the real-world energy challenges that guide our mission at NETL. Whether it is working to increase the efficiency of producing natural gas in unconventional reservoirs; developing technologies that can help minimize risk in offshore Gulf of Mexico oil production; or focusing on understanding how methane hydrates form and behave, as well as their potential as an energy resource, these young scientists gain research skills and valuable hands-on laboratory training (http://www.netl.doe.gov/research). 

Ingredients of success. As your advisor and mentor, there are certain skills that I can teach you, and there are certain skills that you must bring to the laboratory. I can teach you to run an instrument. I can teach you how to do a literature search. I can provide you with the laboratory and hands-on experience that you need to become a researcher.  However, I cannot teach you discipline, self-motivation, and the leadership skills you also need to be a successful researcher. 

Fig. 1. Rick Spaulding in the geomechanics laboratory at NETL.

So, if I am reading a resume or job application, how do I know you possess these vital attributes, regardless of your experience level? There is one way for me to know that you have a “can do” attitude, and that is if I see you are a veteran. The culture of the military is one of personal development, loyalty, responsibility, hard work, leadership, teamwork and mission accomplishment. Who wouldn’t want to work with someone with these attributes? I don’t think it is a coincidence that one of the best supervisors I have ever had is a veteran, nor that one of the best interns I have ever had is a veteran.

Several years ago, I was starting up what would shortly become a huge wellbore integrity cement research project and I was looking for interns to work in the laboratory. I remember looking through a pile of resumes in our internship database and one resume stood out: Richard Spaulding. Why? He was a veteran with leadership skills.  He conducted three tours in the Middle East as an infantryman with the 82nd Airborne, and when he came home, he put himself through undergraduate school in environmental science on the GI Bill.

Successful transition. He had never been in a laboratory, but I knew that wasn’t what was important. I immediately knew he had motivation, discipline, and leadership skills to be successful at anything that he put his mind to.  Since hiring him as an intern, he has successfully completed his master’s degree in geology at the University of Pittsburgh, and has become a vital member of the research team at NETL, Fig. 1. He has since become the lead of my cement geomechanics group. He also gave a well-received presentation at the May 2015 Offshore Technology Conference.

Richard has a “mission-oriented” and positive attitude that comes from years of serving in the military.  He will find a way to successfully accomplish any task at hand, with little to no guidance. We often joke that after his years of service, there is nothing I can ask him to do that he considers difficult or daunting.  At various times of his service overseas, he has been shot at, slept in the desert in body armor (did I mention 140°F days), and gone without showering for weeks at a time.  He certainly doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty mixing cement or working over the weekend to meet a deadline. Going above and beyond is a way of life for him.

Today, there are certainly efforts in place to hire military veterans. In particular, the oil and gas industry recognizes their value. Veterans often have the experience, motivation and work ethic that oil and gas companies value. The military culture of mission accomplishment transfers successfully to the laboratory, whether government or service company. Military leadership skills transfer readily to management roles. I know there are more Richard Spaulding’s out there–and I am selfish–I want them to work on my team, in my laboratory, and on my projects, because they make me look good.