Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office
Office of Environmental Management
November 7, 2024
minute read time
To celebrate Veterans Day, EM highlights former service members who have joined EM on their journey in civilian work-life.
Name and what you do at EM?
Steven McNelly and I am a budget analyst at the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office.
What branch did you serve in; when; where stationed? How many years of service?
Air Force, 2012-2017, Cannon Air Force Base(Clovis, NM), where I served 4.5 years.
Most memorable event/moment during your service?
To me, the most memorable event was sports day. I helped put this together my final year, so it was fun to learn how to put this sort of event together. It was an experience because leadership really wanted this event to happen, and our base had never done this before. It was interesting working with a team to figure out the procedures and protocols together for an event that was new to our base.
How has your military service helped prepare you for the job you do in EM?
I worked as engineering technician, procurement manager, and a program manager so I learned a lot about what goes into project management in relation to planning the budget, tracking expenses and ensuring that the project stays within the approved financial limits. It is nice to see how this plays alongside the EM budget process.
When did you begin working for EM and what got you interested in the cleanup mission?
I started in July of 2023. I was a federal contractor in Oak Ridge and was hearing all about EM in our all hands meetings. I liked what I was hearing and thought I could make a difference working in EM.
