Midwestern United States: Energy Jobs Aplenty for America’s Veterans
The oil and natural gas industry is booming in the Rockies, and that means there are
tremendous opportunities for returning veterans looking for a new and promising career.
In fact, there are so many opportunities in the Rockies that employers, state and local
workforce boards, and educators have organized the Rocky Mountain Energy Workforce
Coalition to share information about job opportunities throughout the region. Returning
veterans interested in finding out about opportunities are encouraged to check out the
local and state workforce boards (see end of the article).
Oil and gas operations extend throughout the region, including Colorado, Montana, New
Mexico, North Dakota, Utah and especially Wyoming. Typically in the Rocky Mountains,
producers are looking for natural gas rather than oil. Natural gas is used to heat 60
million of the 100 million homes here in the United States, and it is increasingly used in
power generation. About 84 percent of all the natural gas consumed in the United States
is found in the United States, with additional supplies coming by pipeline from Canada.
While producers own the leases to develop the resources, when it comes to drilling, they
rely on the experts – the drilling companies. Most of the job opportunities are with these
drillings companies, which supply both the drilling rig and the crew.
“The companies we work with are very interested in hiring returning veterans because
they are disciplined, they know how to communicate, they have leadership and diversity
skills and many of them are accustomed to working in remote locations,” says Chris
Corlis, who manages an industry-sponsored oilfield training program in Casper,
Wyoming.
Corlis’ program, whose official title is the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Training Program, is
coordinated through the Wyoming Contractors Association, which had a big enough
training site in Casper to accommodate the oil and natural gas industry. T