Joseph Schultz Story:
An Army Lieuten
ant Colonel (O-5) with over 26 years of service, Joe served as an enlisted Military Police patrolman, a Chemical Officer, a Transportation/Sustainment Officer, and as a Simulation Operations functional area officer. Joe’s various assignments as an officer include Battalion Chemical Officer, Sustainment Brigade SPO Trans Surface Distribution Mode Manager, Company Commander, and Brigade and Division Simulation Operations officer. During Joe’s broadening assignment as a Simulation Operations officer, he served as the Models and Simulations branch chief at a US Army Battle Lab, where he managed a specialized team of software coders, developers, and model and simulation (M&S) operators responsible for modeling cyberspace and electromagnetic spectrum effects in to support experimentation of future concepts. In his final tour in the Army, Joe served as a Division Knowledge Management Officer. Joe has a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Christopher Newport University and a Master of Arts in International Relations from Webster University.
While Joe’s father was a transmission system operator in the northeast, Joe knew that changes in the industry over the years entailed a more robust training path to becoming a system operator. Joe subsequently found the Power4Vets program through a simple internet search. He then contacted our team and we explained everything about the program and what the job currently entails to become a System Operator in the industry. Joe started the Power4Vets program in August 2022 with no experience in power systems nor any formal education in the sciences or engineering fields, but he was not deterred from taking the training to become a NERC Certified System Operator. He completed the Power System Operations training curriculum by December 2022 and dived into the final phase of training and successfully passed the NERC exam in March 2023.
He started his job in the same month of his Army obligated service contract ending and landed his dream job with Dominion Energy South Carolina (DESC) as an Associate System Operator in Cayce, South Carolina. We are grateful for Joe trusting in the Power4Vets program and process to help achieve his quest for landing his dream job in the utility industry.
Words from Joseph Schultz
“The bottom line is this: IncSys was absolutely instrumental for me to both pass the NERC exam, and to network and find my current career with DESC. Walking in to this profession with NERC certification already in hand made the jump to a career in the bulk power industry just that much easier. Even though the Power4Vets program definitely requires dedication and discipline, in the end the whole process made my transition from the military to the civilian world just that much easier. While a career in the bulk power industry does require some personal sacrifice over and above other career fields, the satisfaction of knowing that you are on the front lines of protecting our power system and ensuring the reliable delivery of electricity to customers throughout your system is something few other professions can provide. I strongly encourage those who are getting ready to transition to civilian life, or those who have already transitioned, and who are looking for a career that can provide similar camaraderie and dedication to mission that the military provides to seriously consider this career field, and the Power4Vets program.”