Project Manager at M.A. Mortenson Company
Air Force veteran excels in the construction industry.
by Warren Duffie

As second in command of a $9-million construction project at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Jeffrey Karls’ job is a race against the clock, budget constraints, and inefficiency.

The daily contest begins at 6:30 a.m., when the 25-year Air Force veteran arrives at his job site to unlock the gates. Next, playing drill instructor, Karls assembles more than 100 laborers, machine operators, and architects to lead them through vigorous stretching, bending, and warm-up exercises.

“I’m like an aerobic instructor,” jokes Karls, a former civil engineer. “However, research has shown that most onsite injuries occur in the morning hours, so we want to make sure our people are loose and limber and healthy.”

After calisthenics, Karls hits full stride. His day is a whirlwind of planning and safety committees, informal meetings to ensure that no utility lines are ruptured during digging, sessions with representatives from the Navy and the local subcontracting firms hired by his company, and endless memos and reports. Five o’clock often arrives in what seems to be the blink of an eye.

“I’ve never had a job where my day goes as fast as it does here,” says the former chief master sergeant. “If I’m lucky, I’ll get 15 minutes to eat lunch, but most of the time, I eat on the run. But I love my job — each day is a new adventure and challenge. It’s very satisfying.”

Karls, 44, works for M.A. Mortenson Company, a Minneapolis, Minn.-based commercial construction firm. Started in 1954, the billion-dollar company has 1,800 employees in 47 states and erects everything from corporate offices and hospitals to sports arenas and convention centers — from budgets of $1 million to $300 million. Mortenson also builds industrial facilities for pulp and paper processing, waste and wastewater treatment, and hydroelectric and wind energy production.

Karls’ project involves the construction of a 26,000-square-foot building for the shipyard’s police force. His primary responsibility is ensuring that Mortenson’s subcontractors complete their assignments on time and on budget. Easier said than done. Poor weather and equipment breakdowns can drastically slow the process. A subcontractor’s price can go up. One subcontractor must be fired and another brought in. And Karls has only been on the job a month.

“The skills I developed in the military come into play every day,” he says. “Particularly the management of large budgets, groups of people, and resources. There’s more pressure in civilian construction. In the military, if a project goes over budget, the taxpayer foots the bill. In the private sector, one bad decision could wipe out your profits. Although construction budgets are usually large, there’s a small profit margin when you factor in employees and equipment. You must be cognizant of your costs and budget at all times.”

From Stringing Cable to Building Military Bases
Karls’ military and engineering journey began in 1981 — in one of those strange twists of fate that often determines a career path. The previous November, he was working as a lineman for a cable television company in Indiana, helping string miles of underground cable. Five days before Thanksgiving, however, he was laid off.

Discouraged, the Milwaukee, Wis., native returned home for the holidays. But by early December, Karls was bored and tired of collecting unemployment. At a friend’s recommendation, he decided to check out the military.

“I visited the Army recruiting office, but no one was there,” he says, “so I stopped by the Air Force office. The next thing I knew, I was sitting down with a detailer to discuss what jobs I was eligible for. When I saw I could be an engineering assistant, I decided to take it.”

After completing basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, followed by engineering school at Sheppard Air Force Base, Karls embarked on a long career at a variety of installations. However, three in particular served as valuable training grounds for his current civilian career.

From July 2000 until July 2003, Karls served as the operations and maintenance superintendent at Spangdahlem Air Force Base in Germany. He oversaw all maintenance and repair activities for the base — which comprised more than 1,600 facilities, 2,300 housing units, and more than 300 military and civilian employees.

“A military base is like a small city,” Karls says. “You have offices, stores, homes, etc. All of these require routine maintenance and repairs from windows to toilets. I ran the civil engineering squad that scheduled repair calls and assigned technicians to them.”

In 2003, while still at Spangdahlem, Karls spent seven months in Kuwait during the first salvos of Operation Iraqi Freedom. As the operations flight chief at Ali Al Salem Air Base, he and his crew worked non-stop in the blazing desert heat to expand that base from an airfield of 2,000 to a massive combat support center of 13,000 coalition troops. He did his job so well that he was named the “Best Civil Engineer in Europe,” and his squadron earned the Outstanding Unit Award with Valor.

“We were the closest ‘jump-off’ point to the Iraqi border,” he says. “By the time we were done, the base was a huge tent city that housed, fed, and cared for coalition forces.”

When he left Kuwait, Karls’ final duty station was at the Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, where he served as the combat readiness manager. He was in charge of monitoring the training and distribution of equipment to civil engineers going to and returning from combat zones.

“It was a great assignment,” Karls says, “but it would only last three years before I would have to move again. My daughter was in high school, and my wife had found a job she really liked. I didn’t want to uproot them — so at the beginning of 2005, I started planning my retirement.”

Engineering a Successful Transition
The first thing he did was sign up for transition assistance classes (TAP), which he describes “as crucial to an effective transition.” Next, he typed up his résumé and let friends and colleagues review it. Finally, he contacted former military engineers now in the private sector and told them he was looking for a job. The offers began pouring in. A month after retiring in November, Karls was hired by Mortenson.

“Although I’ve only been with Mortenson a month, the company has been great,” he says. “I’m making more money; the benefits are good, though I’ve kept my military health care provider; and the company offers profit-sharing, bonuses, and a 401 (k) plan.”

Although he left the military only three months ago, Karls has compiled some tips for those thinking about civilian employment:

Take TAPS classes
“If you think you can make an effective transition without it, you’re kidding yourself. The classes teach you about interviewing, dressing properly, and writing a résumé. It’s one of the best services around.”

Network, network, network
“Build a solid circle of friends and colleagues you respect while still in the military. I did, and when I put out the word I was retiring, I had interviews right away. If I hadn’t built those relationships, my job search would have taken much longer.”

Don’t retire on the spur of the moment
“Give yourself a year to take TAP classes, polish your résumé, and search for jobs. Also, decide on a location where you plan to put down roots for at least three years.”

Translate your résumé to “Civilian-Speak”
“This is really hard for veterans since we use jargon and acronyms so often. But if you give a civilian recruiter a résumé full of military-speak, you might as well have written it in French. Spend the extra time making it understandable to someone who hasn’t been around the military.”