The Grid Still Runs on People
From Project Vanguard Podcast · 45:47
Show by Kevin Doffing
I sat down with Josh Rogers. I first met him when he was on the workforce side at American Clean Power. He consults on his own now. He was a Navy nuclear mechanic about 2 months from getting out when Intel froze hiring and his job offer went with it. So he interviewed at a solar company in Phoenix, and halfway through, the director asked if he could help build their training instead. Josh had never worked on solar.Josh’s argument is that crews do better work when they know why they’re doing it. He’s watched companies roll out new software and point to the dashboard as proof the field loves it. The crews tell him they hate it.Take a JSA program (the job safety analysis a crew fills out before a task). The software logs every one, but almost all of the challenge is the people doing it well, every time. As Josh puts it, “this is really the electrical grid, and it requires people to maintain it.”Josh ran main engines and turbine generators on an aircraft carrier, then read job descriptions and decided he wasn’t qualified for some of them. If you’re doing the same thing, he has a different way to read them.Chapters* 00:00 – Introduction* 01:21 – Going Independent as a Consultant* 05:31 – Corporate vs. the Field: People Over Software* 11:08 – Why Field Teams Stay or Leave* 15:24 – Joining the Navy and Nuke School* 20:46 – Getting Out and Landing in Solar* 25:17 – Why Veterans Fit Field Roles* 28:12 – GI Bill Benefits for Guard and Reserve* 31:08 – Reaching Veterans Already in the Field* 36:07 – Rapid Fire* 42:37 – How Veterans Can Get Into the FieldResourcesPeople & Organizations* Kevin Doffing (LinkedIn)* Project Vanguard (Website - LinkedIn - Facebook)* Josh Rogers (LinkedIn)* Truckroll (Website - LinkedIn - YouTube)Veteran & Transition Resources* Join the Project Vanguard Slack Community* Community Leader Fellowship Application* Post-9/11 GI Bill: What Active Duty Counts for Guard and Reserve Members* Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR)Mentioned in the Episode* Naval Nuclear Power Training Command* Job Hazard Analysis (OSHA 3071)Company & Industry News* ACP Launches First-of-Its-Kind Certification Program for Clean Energy Technicians* kWh Analytics: Solar Risk Assessment 2026More from Project Vanguard* Reality Always Collects the Bill with John Broschak* From Artillery Officer to Business Owner* Why Vets Undersell Their Service Get full access to Project Vanguard at media.projectvanguard.com/subscribe
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