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?
Casey Gadbury, Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) National TRU Program Certification Division director. My responsibility is to provide federal management, direction and oversight of the characterization and certification of transuranic waste, at the DOE generator sites, ensuring they meet the requirements for safe transportation and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
Tell us about your military journey — branch, years served and duty stations:
U.S. Navy, 1983 – 1989: Basic and machinist’s mate training at Great Lakes, Illinois; Submarine tender ship USS Simon Lake in Kings Bay, Georgia; Nuclear Power School in Orlando, Florida; Nuclear Prototype Aircraft Carrier 1st Generation Westinghouse in Idaho Falls, Idaho; Newly constructed and commissioned nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine USS Honolulu stationed in Newport News and Norfolk, Virginia, and ultimate home port in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Most memorable event/moment during your service?
Riding topside of the USS Honolulu submarine as we transited through Panama Canal with the marine escort boats to ultimately get to our home port at Pearl Harbor. Visiting the many foreign ports in the West Pacific gave me a great appreciation for the wide diversity of people and culture that this world offers us.
How has your military service helped prepare you for the job you do in EM?
It provided me with critical thinking skills, education and experience in radiation protection, and conduct of operations experience to operate nuclear facilities.
When did you begin working for EM and what got you interested in the cleanup mission?
I started working for the WIPP management and operating contractor Westinghouse Electric Company Waste Isolation Division as a radiological control technician in January 1990.
I earned my bachelor’s degree remotely in radiation protection technology from Thomas Edison State College, now a university, in Trenton, New Jersey, while working full time at WIPP.
I was promoted to the radiological control team (RCT) leader in 1993, leading the RCT team during the operational readiness review and the opening of WIPP in 1999.
