{"id":297489,"date":"2024-10-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=297489"},"modified":"2024-10-10T19:38:16","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T19:38:16","slug":"army-civilians-look-forward-to-new-careers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=297489","title":{"rendered":"Army civilians look forward to new careers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Jose Lopez, a Directorate of Public Works engineering technician, and Melissa Burgess, DPW lead facilities management specialist, discuss the heating and ventilation units during a barracks walkthrough Sept. 11, 2024, at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas \u2014<\/strong> New beginnings are happening all around Fort Cavazos as Army civilians finish their new-hire orientation and shuffle into their respective roles.<\/p>\n

Fort Cavazos civilians serve in a variety of roles across the installation, from food service to nuclear medicine. The installation offers more than 100 open positions at any given time and is a major employer for the Central Texas area, directly employing around 14,000 civilians, having an economic impact of more than $39 billion, according to the most recent Fort Cavazos fact sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a contractor when I retired, back in 2020,\u201d said Jose Lopez, a recently hired technical engineering technician for the Directorate of Public Works. \u201cI did that for two years, then I moved to building the new homes at Chaffee Village, and I always came in contact with the guys over in DPW.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before he started contracting, Lopez was a construction engineering technician, or 120A, in the Army, a career spanning over 25 years.<\/p>\n

Lopez initially didn\u2019t plan to continue working for the Army as a civilian but chose to keep
himself busy, as his wife still serves in uniform.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cI love that I\u2019m still working with the military community, but that wasn\u2019t my intent when I retired. It\u2019s either me working right now or doing nothing, so I prefer to make myself useful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lopez\u2019s favorite perk of his new job, compared to his time in service, has been the more flexible hours, allowing him to have a healthier work-life balance.<\/p>\n

Janica Hatcher, a general engineer for DPW, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m currently working toward my Principles and Practice of Engineering exam; I\u2019m a civil engineer,\u201d Hatcher said. \u201cBefore working for the federal government, I worked at the state level, and before that, I worked in the private sector. So, I can confidently say that private doesn\u2019t have too much work-life balance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like, on the government side, they push you to learn and develop professionally,\u201d she continued. \u201cLike, \u2018Hey, take classes. Do this training. Do that.\u2019 I really like that part. Private employment is more, \u2018These are your billable hours, and there\u2019s not a lot of time for development except for when you\u2019re home and not getting paid.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Jose Lopez and Tasha Torres, engineering technicians with the Directorate of Public Works, compare notes during a barracks room inspection Sept. 11, 2024, at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
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Hatcher recently moved to the Fort Cavazos area with her husband, who was previously stationed here. Before that, she worked at West Point under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She also serves in the Army Reserve as a 12A, or engineering officer, and is a first lieutenant.<\/p>\n

Hatcher said navigating the nuances of federal employment as a reservist required more individual effort, but she gave some grace to the onboarding team, as federal regulations and benefits adjust frequently to better meet the needs of service members and employees. She also considers the opportunity a blessing because her job has given her the space she needs to study for the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam, which she likens to the bar exam for lawyers.<\/p>\n

“You have autonomy of what to do,\u201d Hatcher said. \u201cI remember asking, and they\u2019re like, \u2018Yeah of course, this is part of your career development.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Army Garrison\u2013Fort Cavazos has more than a dozen departments and directorates overseeing the management of the installation, including DPW. It seeks employees in various fields, including administration, finance and emergency services, and provides numerous benefits that come with being a federal employee.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t sell yourself short, don\u2019t water yourself down,\u201d said Melissa Burgess, lead facilities management and maintenance specialist for DPW. \u201cCome in with your skill set, be proud of what you do and give your best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Col. Lakicia Stokes, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos commander, said the civilian workforce works hard to support the Soldiers in their mission in protecting
the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur civilian workforce is diverse and dedicated,\u201d Stokes said. \u201cThey work tirelessly to support our Soldiers, families, retirees and veterans. Their commitment and dedication allow our warfighters to focus on training and preparing to fight and win anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of the work our Army civilians do,\u201d Stokes continued. \u201cWe work closely together to ensure we\u2019re constantly improving, finding new and innovative ways to enhance the quality of life at The Great Place. Recently, we won the 2024 Commander in Chief\u2019s Award for Installation Excellence and the IMCOM (U.S. Army Installation Management Command) Best Garrison Award for fiscal year 2023, which reflects our effort to push our benchmark further each day.\u201d<\/p>\n

To see available positions at Fort Cavazos, visit www.usajobs.gov\/Search\/Results?l=Fort%20Cavazos%2C%20Texas<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jose Lopez, a Directorate of Public Works engineering technician, and Melissa Burgess, DPW lead facilities management specialist, discuss the heating and ventilation units during a barracks walkthrough Sept. 11, 2024, at Fort Cavazos, Texas. (Photo Credit: Photo by Janecze Wright, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs) VIEW ORIGINAL FORT CAVAZOS, Texas \u2014 New beginnings are happening all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297491,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-297489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=297489"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":297494,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297489\/revisions\/297494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/297491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=297489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=297489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=297489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}