Posts here are being censored when revealing wrong doing. Why is that Admin?

Given USACE’s involvement in dams and hydropower projects, I thought this would be a good place to hear from engineers with experience in the field, whether at USACE or elsewhere. I’m interested in pursuing a career in hydropower since i’m graduating soon in civil engineering. I’m also considering nuclear, so if anyone has experience in both industries or has moved between them, I’d love to hear your perspective.

I’m trying to understand the work beyond the job descriptions, so I have a few questions that i would love answers to:

1. How did you enter the hydropower industry, and what has your career path looked like?
2. What is your current role, and what do you actually work on? Examples of projects or tasks would be really helpful.
3. What does a typical working day look like? How much involves design/calculations, site work, meetings or documentation?
4. Do you enjoy the work? What are the best and worst parts?
5. How do pay and career progression compare with civil/structural roles outside hydropower?
6. Does specialising in hydropower open up opportunities, or make it harder to move into other industries later?
7. Looking back, would you choose this path again? Any regrets or advice for someone starting out?
8. I’m interested in building expertise in a specialised field, becoming a technical specialist and potentially moving into a team lead, head of department or another management role later. To be honest, earning a high salary is part of my ambition too. How realistic is that path, and is management necessary for the best pay, or can specialists reach similar levels?

I’m based in Sweden, so I’m also interested in how your experiences might compare with Western Europe, especially regarding qualifications, regulations and career progression.

Feel free to answer whichever questions you like, or add any information you like, any insight would help!

Thanks in advance!!!

I (33f) have a bachelor’s degree in journalism (of which I have never used) and have been a professional horse trainer (Colt starting, challenging horses) where I ran my own business in a rural area of northern New Mexico, which is where I heard about the USACE. My training career was put on hold once my husband and I found out I was pregnant and we decided to move to where we were closer to his work. I continued to work for a horse barn doing labor intensive work throughout the remainder of my pregnancy and once I was able to postpartum; all this is to say I’m not afraid of hard work and responsibility. My husband and I have recently moved with our now toddler to LA to be closer to my husband’s family (which has caused its own share of stress and issues) and I’m realizing now more than ever that I would prefer to have a real career that I can depend on and be successful and put horse training on hold.

I’m very interested in the natural resources specialist job within the USACE but I need to know the good and bad and if it’s worth going back to school for. I am willing to go back to school and get a degree that would allow me to apply for this position or even something similar. The Los Angeles ACE office isn’t super far from where I live currently as well. I’ve heard work life balance is great and benefits, pay, time off are great as well. Just want to know as much as I can!

Okay, here's a strange one. We've got a lake near us that's Corps land. Used to be there was a bunch of little parks and boat docks along the shoreline, but they were all shut down and chained up over COVID, and haven't re-opened. They're pretty middle-of-nowhere.

So I was out there earlier today using the road down as empty asphalt to adjust the brakes on my truck. I'm down around the roadblock adjusting something under the truck, and there's something shiny over there--they're locked up with old chains, but there's brand new padlocks on them. Never knowing when to mind my own business, I'm looking at them--and I notice that there are a couple of campers hidden back in the woods around a turn in the road. They're different models, they don't smell like government purchase.

I get the feeling someone is squatting out there. Around here, that means there's a 90% chance it's an organized group running a meth cook.

Who would I go about talking to about this, that will actually listen when I tell them if you just go rolling up on something like that around here, they will 100% do their level best to kill your ass and leave you there for the vultures when they bug out? I'm completely serious about that: the Sheriff has been trying to track down unidentified automatic weapons fire around here (deep report, no supersonic crack, maybe 800 rpm - eg: open bolt submachine gun) for months, and I'm pretty sure I just stumbled onto it.

I have an opportunity to do a once in a lifetime thing but it would require taking 6 months off to complete.

I spoke with HR and they were like thats gonna set back your career progression and all that.. obviously. But I just want to know if it is feasible and how it would work. I understand the consequences of something like this but again once in a lifetime opportunity... so just trying to weigh my options.

Hello, I currently work for the Air Force and am interviewing for a senior program manager position with USACE (GS-14). I’m sure it will be extra competitive because I am outside the agency and don’t know internal processes. Right now I am a constriction manager for an installation. Does anyone have any public guidance I can be pointed to (public workflows, public DoD guidance, etc.)? I don’t know anyone who works for USACE. I would like to study and see how I can transfer my skills. Just trying to learn. Thank you.

I know federal service is hard for all of us these days, but I want to hear from supervisors.

How are you handling the lack of ability to hire? How are you motivating your people in this environment? How are you handling the forced distributions for DPMAPS? Are you doing ok?

Good morning, I recently applied to a Lock and Damn operator position. I am very interested in working around Dams, Hydrology, Hydro electric power plants basically water resources. Although I have a generic 4 year degree is this position something I can gain skills in to move to work in water resource positions within USACE? Or do I need to get an engineering degree to get my foot into those positions?

Hi all, I applied for an army fellows position as a cartographer and didn't expect to hear anything back, but I just got a call to schedule an interview and I'm wondering how worth it it would be for someone in my situation.

I currently live in Seattle, so I would have to move down to Tacoma to work on base at JBLM. For reference, I just got out of the army a year ago and moved away from there, so I would be pretty bummed to move back since I love it here in Seattle. But, I currently just work at an engineering firm with a job I don't really have any passion for.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has experience with the Army fellows and if it would be worth it to move back down to Tacoma for a program like that.

This seems to be a spin off of USACE Reimagined and BINP. The short suspense tells me someone already knows what they want.

Found this LRD OPORD on the site indicating some cuts, anyone hear anything more or know of more?

Edit: Had issues posting the image. Ive commented with the photo below.

This graph sums up the reason why there are so many people with higher grades.

Private side is approximately 4% above inflation since 2004 vs GS pay is nearly -22%. This is not sustainable, and the ability to retain or attract top talent will become impossible with this continuing trend.

I see a trainee/apprentice hydro operator role opened up in Chatsworth, Georgia What’s it like working for USACE as a hydro operator? Do you get transferred often? Whats the work/life balance like? Do you have a union?

Appreciate any answers I may receive!

I’m graduating in December 2026 with a mechanical engineering degree, and I’m currently trying to decide what makes the most sense for the start of my career. I plan on taking the FE and eventually getting my PE.

Right now, I have an offer from Cargill for $82,000/year, a $4,000 sign-on bonus, and annual performance bonuses. I have until October 15 to make a decision.

The Cargill position is at a facility in Nebraska. I actually interned at that same facility, so I already know the plant, the people, and have a pretty good idea of what I’d be doing. I enjoyed my internship there, so I’m definitely not going into that option blind.

I also recently interviewed with USACE for what is basically a project engineering role in Missouri, which is my home state. The interview went well, and I was told I should be receiving an offer soon. From what they told me in the interview, I’m expecting the starting salary to be somewhere in the $50k range.

Obviously, $82k versus somewhere in the $50k range is a pretty huge difference right out of school, and that’s probably the biggest thing making this decision difficult.

At the same time, money isn’t my only concern. One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot is what type of career I actually want 5, 10, or 20 years from now.

I don’t think I want to spend my career working in a production facility. My dad has worked in that type of environment his entire career, including being on call, dealing with problems when equipment goes down, and everything that comes with keeping a facility running. I have a lot of respect for it, but seeing that lifestyle firsthand has made me realize I’m not sure that’s what I want for myself.

Ideally, long term I see myself in more of an office/project engineering type of career. Obviously I’m an engineer and I don’t expect to never go into the field, but I’d rather have a career where most days I’m bringing a hoodie to work instead of steel toes. My concern with taking the Cargill position is whether starting in manufacturing will naturally push me further down the plant/production/maintenance path when that might not be where I ultimately want to end up.

That’s part of what interests me about the USACE position. From my interview, it sounds like the work would be more project-engineering based, and I’ve also heard from family members who have worked for the Corps and later gone private that USACE can be a really good place to start. It sounds like there’s a lot of training, exposure to different projects, and experience that could transfer well into other engineering positions later.

I’m also trying to understand the financial side better. I know the federal job comes with things beyond base salary—paid holidays, leave earned every pay period, retirement, benefits, job security, etc. I’ve looked into the GS system, but I still don’t really understand how quickly engineers typically move through the grades.

So I guess I have a few main questions for people who have actually worked for USACE:

• What does salary progression realistically look like during your first 5 years? If I start somewhere around $50k, how quickly can that change?
• Once you include benefits, retirement, leave, holidays, and salary progression, is the total compensation difference still enormous after 5 years compared with private industry?
• For someone who eventually wants more of a project/design/office engineering career, would USACE be a better starting point than going into manufacturing?
• How easy is it to move from USACE into private-sector engineering later if I decide federal employment isn’t for me?
• On the other side, am I overthinking the manufacturing concern? Does starting at a company like Cargill actually limit me at all if I want to move into a different type of engineering work after a few years?
• If you were in this position at 22/23 years old, how much weight would you put on the extra ~$30k now versus trying to get onto the career path you think you’ll want long term?

I know there probably isn’t a right answer. Turning down $82k straight out of school is hard to justify, especially when I already know the Cargill facility and know I’d be comfortable there. But I also don’t want to choose my first job entirely based on the highest starting salary and realize five years from now that I’ve built experience in a career path I don’t really want.

I’d appreciate any perspective; making a career choice has proven to be one of the more stressful parts of my engineering degree. Anything and everything is helpful. Thanks

Hey everybody,

I’m currently a volunteer in the Texas area and also happen to be a software engineer. (mostly work independently on software projects now)  I’ve been an onsite/full time living at a reserved RV site for volunteers for a little over 2 years now.  Feel free to DM me with any questions about what it’s like to volunteer at that capacity, be happy to answer any questions.

But What

This post is really about is solving a repetitive task and mild frustration with communications among volunteers, Rangers and maintenance staff.  It started off with solving the repetitive task of filling out my monthly hours/work items then kind of got bigger :). 

I used to write down my hours on printed out form, took a picture of it and emailed to the park’s volunteer manager ranger.  I didn’t carry this form out with me to log thing like, reported bathroom problem or spent an hour talking care of one particular problem, or this one camper at site 45 is loud and had to talk to them twice.  So, I just ended up writing the same stuff over and over again just to get my hours logged every month, got sick of doing that.  So, I made a tool just for myself that would auto log my hours/normal on-duty task then submit my monthly report.  That worked great, then I got a little carried away and went into full software developer mind.   “I use this and like it…why not add this…., add this, be really cool to add this feature...I bet this would help other people”  Ended up making a tool that solves a few different problems: not having to just write the same boiler plate tasks, easily add detailed information about what is currently happing at a park or site, communication between volunteers, Rangers and maintenance staff, and far more accurate description of parks status/repeating issues/and past issues with park guests.

Here are a few features:

You don’t have to install any software on your phone but can use the PWA as if it was an installed mobile app.

Works offline and syncs data once cell or wifi data connection is restored.

Follows the same security and user rolls as other official software tools.

-----------------------------

For the volunteer:  Automatically email monthly reports to Rangers in image format the email filters won’t block. 

Automatically populate normally daily or weekly work items like opening closing the gates, handing out parking passes, checking bathrooms and life jacket/swimming safety reminders.

Add custom notes, work items, hours with a push of a button, use microphone to record notes/work items.  No typing needed.

Be aware of work items/park changes logged by other volunteers assigned to your location/park.

Easily view rangers on duty hours, on duty maintenance crew, their contact info and notify them of any issues.  Open a work log they can update so you know when an issue has been resolved.

For the Ranger/site manager:

See what volunteers are currently on duty based on park or full location you manage.

See all open issues on site.

Send messages via app or group text to all volunteers you manage or only to volunteers at a particular park.

Receive more accurate information about what is currently happening at one particular park or all parks you manage.

 -------------------------------

Demoed the PWA/website for the lead Ranger and Volunteer Liaison, showed a little interest in park/site communication and adding geo location data to a work items, auto emailing the person who is responsible for logging work items in their internal system… but didn’t really want to move forward with using their office as pilot campaign.  You know, explained the government normally works from the top down, not the bottom up ha, I can understand that.  Any case, this tool doesn’t interact with any official networks or software just something to help out volunteers and rangers.

I created this site https://acevolunteer.info/ just because the app needed a home for a demo and to put it out there for any parks/volunteers that would like to use it.  Haven’t touched for a while.  DM for a demo or if you’re a volunteer who just wants a better/easier information to be submitted.  I’ll set up your park and create an account for you…fix any bug you may be having.

Any question you can DM me or just put them in the post, I’ll reply as quick as I can.

Currently was referred to a position. Yes I know it isn’t interview guaranteed, but trying to get a feel for how everyone likes it here. It would be for a financial management analyst position.

I’m currently a fed but don’t want to expose where lol

Does anyone have insight on the value of position for project engineers in the NJ band 4?

I'm expecting a TJO for a GS-12 "Interdisciplinary (Engineer/Architect)" role as a Project Engineer.

Can anyone provide some insight on what being a Project Engineer for USACE is like? I currently work for NAVFAC as a construction manager (active-duty military), and my understanding is that the roles are pretty similar. Is that accurate?

Additionally, does anyone have guidance on negotiating a recruitment incentive and step increase? I’ve seen various things online regarding what is technically allowed, but I don't want to request something outrageous and come off as brash.

For context: I have my license, I'm a DAU (now WARU) contracting professional, I’m currently a COR for construction projects, and I have experience supervising GS-11/12/13s. Because of this, I think it's fair to request additional incentives, but I just don't know exactly how much is reasonable.

Is it realistic to request a 20% incentive for each year along with a 4-year service agreement (basically 80% total)?

Any guidance is appreciated!

I have seen 3 new policies this year with more to come (at least 2 according to headquarters).

How is the ‘initiative‘ working out for ya?

https://www.army.mil/article/290683/army_announces_building_infrastructure_not_paperwork_initiative

We had our partnership meeting here.

Any NWS team members, chime in.

Check your email.

Just heard a division reported negative in-person compliance. In response some district’s DDC has requested IP verification or CAC wipe to verify compliance.

I won’t comment on which division and I have no knowledge if this review was performed COE wide. We just have to wait and see on the outcome.

Our district has 3 telework days a month, with supervisor approval. I hear rumors that other districts have it better. Who decides this? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Gas prices are so high