Spotlight on USACE Galveston District's Joe Vernier

Developing a love and respect for the open

seas came naturally to U.S. Army Corps

of Engineers Galveston District's Small Craft

Operator Joe Vernier, a Galveston, Texas, native,

who spent much of his youth recreating along

and exploring the Gulf of Mexico. So it's not any

surprise that Vernier chose a career that would

enable him to continue doing what he loves --

spending time on the water.

"As a boat operator with the Galveston District,

I work on the water daily, assisting district staff

involved with dredging work and surveying," said

Vernier. "Surveying of both deep and shallow draft

channels along the Texas coastline allows us to

obtain information about channel conditions."

In addition to his involvement with surveying

of waterways, Vernier is responsible for the safety

of both the crew and vessels, skills he perfected

during his 28-year career in the Coast Guard

working aboard boats from Honolulu to Curtis Bay,

Md.

Following his retirement from the Coast

Guard in 2006, Vernier found himself residing in

Michigan and wanting to return to the Texas coast.

"Just two days before we were leaving,

I decided to search USA Jobs (the federal

government's employment website) and there was

this opening in Galveston for a small craft operator,"

Vernier said. "I found it odd because it was the first

time in years I had searched the website. I knew

right away that this was the job for me."

Looking back on that auspicious day in Michigan

when he decided to check USA Jobs, Vernier says

he is still puzzled about how it turned out.

"I'm not sure why I searched the website that

day in Michigan, but for some reason I did," said

Vernier. "I believe someone was watching over us."

In a unique sequence of events that came full circle

-- a career choice that required Vernier to leave

Galveston to pursue a military career on the water

then, led him back to Galveston nearly 30 years

later, donning a different uniform yet working for a

military agency that requires him to be on the water --

Vernier says he wouldn't do anything differently.

Vernier is the father of four children and four

grandchildren. In his free time, he enjoys spending

time with his wife, tinkering around the house and

transforming his garage into a Texas Longhorns man

cave.