DTE honors nearly 1,000 employees for their service on Veterans Day
This Veterans Day, DTE Energy is recognizing the men and women who continue serving their communities long after leaving the military.
Nearly 1,000 veterans work for the utility company, making up about 10% of its workforce. Among them is Brad Craig, DTE's director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, who served aboard the USS Rhode Island as a U.S. Navy ballistic missile submarine officer before joining the company in 2015.
Craig said while military service and utility work may seem very different, both share a common goal of serving others.
"There's not a lot of direct translation between serving on a ballistic missile submarine and civilian life," Craig said. "But what I found here at DTE was being able to continue to contribute to the big picture and serve the local communities by providing safe, reliable electric service to customers."
Craig is not alone. He said several of his former shipmates have also found careers at DTE.
"I have two other folks from the submarine I served on that work in the same control room that I started in here when I came to DTE in 2015," he said.
According to Craig, many skills developed in the military directly translate to maintaining and restoring the power grid, especially during emergencies.
"Being part of the military, you're accustomed to discipline; you're accustomed to set processes in order to execute a task," Craig said. "It's no different working on the electric system."
DTE has made veteran hiring a priority, setting a goal of bringing at least 30 former service members into its workforce each year.
Beyond recruitment, Craig said the company offers support to help veterans transition to civilian careers through its employee resource group, Vets Energy.
"Our Vets Energy group as part of DTE provides a lot of support to active military along with personnel here at DTE," Craig said. "They provide care packages to active-duty military personnel on the field. They host events, they do community outreach here, and they perform regular buddy checks on active and transitioning military personnel."
As part of its Veterans Day observances, DTE's Vets Energy group hosts a memorial service and veterans luncheon honoring those who have served.
Craig said those events give veterans an opportunity to reconnect with the camaraderie they experienced in the military while continuing to support one another in their civilian careers.
