Drill Sergeant
Natural gas boom creates thousands of jobs for returning veterans.
By Dan Fazio

Like many of America’s veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, Scott Campbell wasn’t sure where he’d land when he separated from the Army in 2009. Armed with six years of military experience, Campbell landed in the middle of a modern-day Gold Rush: the Marcellus Shale natural gas boom in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York.

“There were a lot of different job opportunities out there, but I wanted to be in an industry that had a tangible commodity – something that people actually used,” said Campbell, a former signal corps officer who had his pick of three job offers when he separated. “I’m a firm believer of natural gas as a cleaner burning fuel than what we’ve been using. I’d love to see America as a whole reduce its dependence on foreign oil.”

Marcellus Who?
Campbell, 30, is a production engineer for Chesapeake Energy Corporation. The Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran works out of the company’s Oklahoma City headquarters and oversees 2,000 natural gas wells in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The wells draw from the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation, a giant layer of rock 50 to 200 feet thick lying more than a mile under the Appalachian region of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. Smaller portions of the formation stretch into Ohio, Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky.

The Opportunity
Studies estimate the entire Marcellus formation holds more than 489 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, which would place the Marcellus second only to the South Pars field in Qatar and Iran. The economic boost provided by such an immense field could be astronomical. In Pennsylvania alone, Marcellus Shale producers spent $4.5 billion in 2009 to develop natural gas resources, according to a study authored at Penn State University. The study, which was funded by the Marcellus Shale Coalition – an alliance of gas producers – estimated this spending translated to $3.9 billion for the state and created more than 44,000 jobs.

“There’s been a huge influx in revenue and jobs in this area,” said Bill McGowen, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral who now directs the Redevelopment Authority of the County of Washington (RACW) in southwestern Pennsylvania. “These are good-paying jobs. You have to work hard at it, but they’re good-paying jobs.”

212,000 Jobs
By 2020, the state’s natural gas wells could produce more than 13 billion cubic feet per day, making Pennsylvania the second largest producer of natural gas behind Texas. That would create an estimated 212,000 jobs in the state, the study noted, and would generate more than $1 billion in annual state and local taxes.

“I think this is huge for the area, especially in a time when our economy is really tough,” Campbell said during a tour of a natural gas rig he supervises near Avella, a picturesque town tucked in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania. “It brings jobs and opportunities.”

Naturals for Natural Gas
Few are better suited to take advantage of the jobs in the Marcellus boom than military veterans. “It’s very similar to the military because you’re used to a field environment,” Campbell said. “There can be pressure situations, and you’re working with large equipment.”

The hierarchy is one veterans will recognize, Campbell said. “In the field there is an informal rank structure set up like the military specifically on the drilling rigs, so the transition is a lot smoother,” he said. “Also the boom in the Marcellus Shale has a lot of potential for advancement and I know that our young men and women in the Armed Forces will always strive for excellence.”

McGowen said the emphasis on safety that permeates the military translates well in the gas fields. “If you’re in the military, safety is a big issue,” he said. “It is paramount — and it is something present in the drilling field.” The camaraderie and teamwork veterans learn in the military also transfer well to the drilling industry, McGowen said.

“Absolutely!” Campbell agreed. “My training and experience have taught me how to think under pressure, multi-task and prioritize goals. The discipline you gain in the military transfers over very well to the oil and gas industry.”

Chesapeake Energy Champions Vets
Chesapeake Energy has hundreds of job openings, said Tim Dehan, supervisor of field recruitment, and the company is looking for veterans to fill them. “The work ethic, team environment and hard work that are taught in all areas of the Armed Forces translate very well to the Chesapeake culture,” Dehan said. “We are an organization of producers who go out and work until the job is completed. Working in the outdoor elements can be tough for most anyone. Transitioning military candidates are ideal for this type of work as they have traditionally experienced harsher work environments.”

To recruit service members, the company has a Junior Military Officers Program and partners with Troops 2 Roughnecks, a program that trains transitioning veterans to work on oil and gas rigs. Chesapeake has hired more than 100 veterans through Troops 2 Roughnecks, Dehan said, primarily for the Marcellus Shale production in the Northeast.

Training, Pay and Benefits
New hires travel to the company’s National Training Center in Arkansas for three weeks of comprehensive safety training. Employees are then sent to additional “hands-on” rig training at a site in Texas.

Once in the field, rig hands work 12-hour shifts for either seven or 14 days at a time, followed by an equal number of days off. The pay varies depending on the position, location and experience, but Dehan and Campbell both said the pay at Chesapeake is competitive. “I get two performance evaluations a year, and performance evaluations include bonuses as well as base pay increases,” Campbell said. The company also offers full medical, dental and vision, including coverage for orthodontics, adoption assistance and short/long term disability.

In 2008, the average wage was $63,553 for employees in all six industries associated with gas drilling in Pennsylvania, according to the state’s Department of Labor and Industry.

The Rig
It’s an unseasonably hot day as Campbell leads a G.I. Jobs team on a tour of Rig #241, a natural gas rig that towers 70 feet above its hilltop perch near Avella, a village nestled in the rolling farmland of southwestern Pennsylvania. Dust billows from beneath the 4-wheel drive vehicles as they climb the gravel lane leading to the rig site which was carved from the forest. The four or five acres are surrounded by a 3-foot-high dirt berm to protect against spills. Trailers for the crew, air compressors the size of SUVs, storage tanks, flatbed trailers, bins, generators, hoses, pipes and other equipment dot the dirt site.

Five to eight workers typically work on a rig, but more can often be found on site during the day. “On any given day you could have probably have 25 to 30 people on location” as vendors and contractors come and go, Campbell said.

The Process
Natural gas extraction begins with the excavation of the site. Once the rig is set up, crews drill a vertical shaft to reach the shale formation 5,000 to 9,000 feet below the surface. The shaft is enclosed by several layers of steel and cement casing to protect the water supplies near to the surface. As the drill pipe nears the shale, it is gradually angled to drill horizontally. It typically takes between 22 and 30 days for the drilling crew to complete a single well. Crews can drill multiple wells at a single site by moving the rig with giant hydraulic jacks.

Once the well is drilled, explosives are used to perforate the horizontal portion of the casing and hydraulic fracturing, the controversial process known as fracking, begins. When a well is fracked, a mixture of water, sand and chemicals is injected into the shaft at high pressure – creating hairline fractures in the shale. As the water is pumped back out of the well, tiny particles of sand remain behind to keep the fractures open, allowing the natural gas to flow to the surface.

After the well is fracked, the rig is removed and a well-head – called a “Christmas tree” – is installed. Eventually, the site will be reclaimed and the once-industrial patch of dirt and equipment will revert to farmland.

CONSOL Energy Also Seeks Veterans
Chesapeake isn’t the only energy giant tapping the Marcellus Shale. CNX Gas, a subsidiary of CONSOL Energy – better known for its coal mining operations – also is drilling for shale gas at more than 2,500 wells throughout the Appalachian region.

“CONSOL’s recent acquisition of Dominion’s Appalachian exploration and production business gives CONSOL a leading position in the strategic Marcellus Shale fairway by tripling its development assets to approximately 750,000 acres,” according to Michele Pusateri, supervisor of workforce planning and development. “This acquisition makes CONSOL one of the top three largest Marcellus Shale acreage holders in the basin.”

Like Chesapeake, CONSOL Energy recognizes that military veterans are ideal candidates for jobs in the energy field.

“There’s definitely a match in discipline, leadership and ability to follow at the same time,” Pusateri said. “They already have structure built into their lives and they already are experienced in the field.”

The company actively recruits veterans, and since experts estimate the gas could flow from the Marcellus Shale for decades, it’s a long-term commitment. “CONSOL Energy is now the leading diversified energy producer in the eastern United States,” Pusateri said. “This makes our company extremely attractive to job potential candidates – the career possibilities are limitless.”

Dominion Generates Jobs
The Marcellus Shale gas may be getting the headlines, but job opportunities for military veterans in the energy field aren’t limited to natural gas. Virginia-based Dominion, one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, does transport and store natural gas, but it also generates electricity. Dominion’s portfolio includes more than 27,500 megawatts of generation and 6,000 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion also operates the nation’s largest natural gas storage system with 942 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in 12 states.

Dominion’s appetite for hiring veterans is longstanding. “We find as an energy company, they have excellent leadership and technical skills,” said Karen Gloyer, a military recruiter for Dominion. “Usually you just find one or the other. Work ethic is also incredible.”

Airman to Lineman
Dennis McDade worked on jet aircraft in the Air Force. Now the former senior airman is a journeyman lineman for

Dominion Virginia Power, an electric distribution company in Virginia, where he helps build, operate and maintain the company’s overhead and underground electrical lines. McDade is using the skills he learned in the military to his advantage with Dominion, which has a robust military recruiting program.

“Employers love the military background because of our discipline, integrity, responsibility and work ethic, which made me a better candidate for job placement in my present career,” McDade said.

McDade points out some of the parallels between the military and his civilian career at Dominion: working in harsh weather, being on call, paying attention to detail, working safely and taking pride in his work. “Being on call for Dominion reminds me of always having to be prepared for deployment in the military and being prepared while in war,” he said.

Ready to Roll
Veteran Greg Williams hasn’t forgotten the similarities between the military and Dominion either. “Our company is a very structured organization … which requires focus, attention to detail, and excellent communication from top to bottom,” said Williams, a customer relations representative who served as an administrative officer in the Navy.

Like service members, Dominion workers are trained to respond at a moment’s notice. “Standing storm duty demonstrates our readiness to respond to power outages during major outages, in support of the business function of the company, and keeping the electrical needs of the customer a top priority,” Williams said.

PSEG: Veterans Fit the Work Environment
Hiring managers at Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), an energy company headquartered in New Jersey, prize those qualities that prior military bring to the work force. PSEG’s four subsidiaries offer a variety of positions, such as service and plant managers, nuclear operators, maintenance mechanics, engineers, production supervisors and craft and skilled laborers.

“PSEG has found that transitioning military personnel and experienced veterans have leadership, communication resourcefulness and teamwork training that align well with the business,” said Zaza Chamberlain, diversity/enterprise outreach specialist at PSEG. “Service members are valued because they are accustomed to meeting high standards and objectives. They have also worked in an environment that depends on exceptional levels of teamwork, leadership and professionalism.”

PSEG has more than 500 employees who served in the military. The company has an employee resource group called PSEG VETS that raises awareness, offers support and serves as an information resource for all PSEG veterans and Guard/Reserve employees. The company also plans Veterans Day ceremonies, socials, fundraising events and job skill workshops to support the military employee culture.

Cornucopia of Opportunity
Energy drives modern America, and the nation’s insatiable appetite for energy will provide job opportunities for military veterans for many years to come. The nation’s energy companies are waiting to tap the talent exiting the military each year. Whether working the gas rigs in the Marcellus Shale natural gas boom, guarding or operating a nuclear plant, repairing electrical transmission lines or digging coal, service members who are ready to transition to a new civilian career have a cornucopia of choices in the energy industry.

“There are things in this world that people will always demand and need, and energy is one of them,” said Chesapeake Energy’s Scott Campbell. “If you’re worried about job security when transitioning out, energy is an industry that will always be around. I believe in a cleaner burning fuel for our environment and reducing our country’s dependence on foreign oil. It drives me to do something that I believe in.”

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Marcellus Shale Jobs
Don’t know what a roustabout is? Not sure what a rig hand does? Check out a description of the jobs available in the Marcellus Shale boom, from production operations to environment and drilling operations: www.marcelluscoalition.org/site/jobportal
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Beneath the Surface
New jobs, new business, new revenue. But how safe is the drilling process known as fracking?

The Marcellus Shale gas boom is creating good jobs by the thousands, truckloads of tax revenue for local and state coffers, and much-needed income for an army of local vendors, contractors and other businesses in the communities where gas rigs are sprouting up. So what’s the catch?

It depends on who you talk to. The Marcellus gas boom has ignited controversy about the effects of hydraulic fracturing on the environment. Often called fracking, the process involves injecting water, sand and chemicals under high pressure into the wells to fracture the dense layer of shale, which releases the gas.

Chemicals make up less than 1 percent of the fracking fluid, but some are concerned about the safety of the chemicals being blasted into the ground.

New York has blocked gas drilling until more research is completed on how fracking affects the environment, particularly water supplies. The Environmental Protection Agency is holding public hearings this fall on the issue. And a bill has been introduced to Congress that would require gas producers to publicize the chemicals used in fracking fluid.

Scott Campbell, an OIF veteran who oversees Marcellus gas wells for Chesapeake Energy Corporation, suggests veterans interested in working in the field do their own research.  “Everybody needs to develop their own opinion – do the research and get the facts straight,” he said. “Hydraulic fracturing has been used in the United States for more than 60 years to complete more than 1 million wells.”

Donald Siegel, professor of geology at Syracuse University, agrees. “I have seen no systemic problem with hydro fracking to produce natural gas out of shale,” he said. “The only thing I’ve seen across the continental United States is an occasional failure of a well casing which results in very, very local effects on ground water supplies. By local I mean half a mile or a mile around the well.”

Regulation of hydraulic fracturing is left to individual states. In Pennsylvania, where the government is preparing to add a severance tax to natural gas production, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulates the gas drilling.

The DEP has a web page www.gijobs/marcellus devoted to Marcellus Shale, including FAQs, statistics, maps and reports. Here are some Frequently Asked Questions from the DEP’s website:

How are drinking water supplies protected from the effects of drilling?
Pennsylvania law requires drillers to case and grout wells through all fresh water aquifers before drilling through deeper zones known to contain oil or gas. This casing protects groundwater from pollutants inside the well, and keeps water from the surface and other geologic strata from mixing with and contaminating groundwater.

Can drilling companies keep the names of chemicals used at drilling sites a secret?
No. Drilling companies must disclose the names of all chemicals to be stored and used at a drilling site in the Pollution Prevention and Contingency Plan that must be submitted to DEP as part of the permit application process. These plans contain copies of material safety data sheets for all chemicals, and DEP recommends to operators that a copy be kept on each well site. This information is on file with DEP and is available to landowners, local governments and emergency responders.
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Program Trains Troops for the Rigs
Troops 2 Roughnecks helps military veterans transition into the largest industry in the world – with the potential to exceed $65,000 your first year!

The accelerated training program is offered exclusively to transitioning members of the U.S. military, including Reservists currently on active duty and members of the National Guard. Once they complete the program, graduates will be certified to work in the oil and gas-drilling industry. The program includes job assistance and placement services. No experience is required, and tuition assistance will cover the cost.

The program is offered at Camp Pendleton and 29 Palms in California, and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Training sites are expected to open at three to five more military bases in the U.S. by 2012. •

For more information, visit www.gijobs/drill
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Transition Tips From fellow veterans

Dennis McDade
Lineman
Dominion Virginia Power
U.S. Air Force (2000-2004)
Thoroughly research the career field that interests you and put your military training to work when you separate. “Reserve the discipline, responsibility and integrity the military taught you and implement it in your new career in the civilian world.”

Scott Campbell
Production engineer
Chesapeake Energy Corporation
U.S. Army (2003-2009)
“This time in your career can be very stressful. There are many resources out there that can and will help you with your transition. Use them. Remember that any job that you take is just a starting point. What you do with that job is what counts.”

And if you want to work the gas rigs in the Marcellus Shale boom? “Come with tough skin, a willingness to learn and you will do great. And don’t be afraid to ask questions. Oh, and wear waterproof steel-toe boots!”

Greg Williams
Customer Relations Representative
Dominion Virginia Power
U.S. Navy (1987-2001)
“Begin searching the outside business market six months to a year before your transition and research more than one company. Prepare professional resumes that cover your experience, skills, education, etc., and try to drop the military jargon, and begin to retrain your speech to be more accommodating to your prospective job. Last but not least, be positive, listen well and be professional.