Project Vanguard

05/22/2026

Veterans make up about 5% of the general population.
In the energy workforce, that number is closer to 10%.

That gap isn’t about branding or programs. It’s about who stays once they get in. They move laterally, then up, into operations and leadership roles.

Not because of a uniform.
Because they’re comfortable operating inside complex systems with real consequences.

Mission clarity and team ex*****on aren’t soft skills here. They’re job requirements.

Veterans aren’t flooding the industry.
They’re compounding inside it.

05/21/2026

Energy policy does not get fixed in DC. It gets fixed one statehouse at a time.

Jim Purekal works Virginia for a trade group that sits in about 18 states. His take is refreshingly honest. Every state is its own animal, and some do not care one bit what their neighbor is doing.

But the smart ones look around first. If something is already working a state over, you do not start from scratch. You borrow it.

That is the part of energy nobody brags about. The win is usually an old idea that just crossed a state line.

Veterans are good at that kind of work.

05/19/2026

Veterans make up 10% of the clean energy workforce — nearly double the industry average. Texas is where a lot of that work is happening.

That's why we're partnering with CleanTX for the Austin Chapter Happy Hour on Wednesday, June 17, 4:00–6:00 PM at Scholz Garten.

If you served and you're working in the energy industry or you're transitioning out and want to know what this industry actually looks like — come grab a beer with us.

Register here: https://cleantx.org/upcoming-calendar/2026/June/austin-chapter-happy-hour-797dk-6gbs6-yssca

Check out more upcoming events here: https://projectvanguard.com/events

05/15/2026

Energy security is really about control.

Jon Powers put it in a way I think makes a lot of sense. It is not just about having solar or natural gas or one answer you like better than the others.

It is about having options.

It is also about whether we can actually build what we need, manufacture the parts, expand the grid, and finance it in a way that supports the kind of economy we want here in the United States.

That is where this gets real.

A lot of people talk about energy security like it is just a supply question. It is also a build question, a financing question, and an ex*****on question.

05/14/2026

We asked Lourdes Spurlock why veterans should join Project Vanguard.
She said you need a home first.

Before you try to fly in an industry you've never been part of, you need a smaller pond. Somewhere to build your confidence, learn the language, and feel like you belong again.

Lourdes is a Navy nuclear veteran who spent nine years building carriers at Newport News before moving into wind energy at Apex Clean Energy. She's now our Virginia Community Leader, holding the door open for the next veteran behind her.

If you're looking for that home after the service, we built one.

05/12/2026

Everyone wants AI. Nobody wants to fix the process underneath it.

That's the pattern Laura Gardner, CTO of NovaSource Power Services, sees every day. Companies jump straight to "I want this really nice AI solution to automate everything I do." They skip the people part. They skip the process part. They skip the technology part. Then they wonder why it doesn't work.

If your process is bad, AI makes it bad faster. Fix the process. Fix the data that feeds it. Then build AI on top.

The analogy I keep coming back to is the pilot getting on the intercom to say the instruments are out, we don't know where we're going, but we're making amazing time.

Efficient is not the same as effective.

05/07/2026

05/06/2026

We hit the popcorn button and expect the lights to come on.
Somebody has to make that true.

New episode of the Project Vanguard Podcast is live with Marcus Barnes, Marine Corps veteran and Energy Program Manager at NextOp Vets. Marcus spent years as a recruiter at CenterPoint Energy and CPS Energy before that, and he's lived the side of energy security most people never see: the all-hands-on-deck call when the storm hits.

That's why veterans fit this work. The mindset is already there.

05/04/2026

One mouth, two ears, keep them in the right ratio.

Ken Webre with some gold for your Monday. Listen long enough and people will tell you what creates value, what does not, and where the real work is.

Follow Project Vanguard for veteran-led, operator-first takes on energy.

05/04/2026

One mouth, two ears, keep them in the right ratio.

Ken Webre with gold for your Monday. Listen long enough and people will tell you what creates value, what does not, and where the real work is.

Follow Project Vanguard for veteran-led, operator-first takes on energy.