To celebrate Veterans Day, EM highlights former service members who have joined EM on their journey in civilian work-life.
Name, and what do you do at EM?
My name is Brian Stetter. I am a program manager, Level II federal project director, for the Infrastructure & Services Division at the Hanford Site. Responsibilities include project management for sitewide electrical, sewer/water, IT/Telecom and facilities. Projects have included a new water treatment facility, electrical upgrades to the distribution lines, water storage, and building a new fire station. In addition, I support the maintenance projects, risk programs and minor construction projects. I started out at DOE doing oversight for waste management for the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, the Integrated Disposal Facility and Trench 31/34.
Tell us about your military journey — branch, years served and duty stations
Served active duty as an infantry officer in the Army at Fort Benning, Georgia, Fort Carson, Colorado, and Hohenfels, Germany. I started out at basic training after college and went through the Officer Candidate Program. I ended up not doing Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) due to competing in NCAA Division II cross-country and track. Served for four years until a vehicle accident in between Ranger School led to the decision to leave the service.
Most memorable event/moment during your service?
While at Fort Carson I had the opportunity to help stand up an infantry battalion. We arrived at the unit with one other officer, and we spent time writing the unit procedures and developing the groundwork prior to the commander arriving. The unit eventually grew to several hundred soldiers and led to being a liaison between multiple units. Later I went over to Germany to serve with NATO and facilitate deployment readiness, earning the Army Commendation Medal. Upon returning from Germany, I was able to take a detour and commission my brother through the Michigan Tech ROTC program and later see my other brother commission at Western Michigan.
When did you begin working for EM and what got you interested in the cleanup mission?
The technical aspect of the cleanup and the opportunities available through multidiscipline engineering. There is always an opportunity to see what all goes into supporting the mission from planning, infrastructure and the people side.
How has your military experience helped prepare you for the work you do in EM?
Always valued the sense of mission and the ability to work towards a challenging yet rewarding goal. The military had a feeling of family, a feeling of pushing each other and getting up after a hard day to keep going. Being in the service provided another leadership aspect that helps maintain the want to keep serving for the protection of others. A lot of the work through waste management and project planning has been aligned to protecting the public and striving to complete the mission.