Work Your Plan: Jesse Durrant, Senior Site Reliability Developer, Army National Guard Officer

Speaker A: You're listening to the Oracle Maven Podcast

Speaker B: where we bring people together from the

Speaker A: veteran affiliated community to highlight employees, partners, organizations and those who are continuing the mission to serve. Welcome to the Maven Podcast. I'm your host Chris Spencer and in this episode I'm joined by Jesse Durant, Oracle Senior Site Reliability Developer and Army National Guard officer. We we caught up with Jesse in between his Army National Guard duties to dive into a powerful conversation about ambition, resilience and the power of community. Jesse shares how his drive, vision and strong network helped him navigate the unique challenges of balancing military service with civilian life, challenges many of us rarely consider in our everyday career paths. We explore the behind the scenes planning, reflection and foresight it takes to align personal goals with professional responsibilities. Both in and out of uniform, Jesse brings to light how he created opportunities through preparation, perseverance and a few tough life lessons. His upbeat can do mindset shines throughout, revealing why he continues to earn a

Speaker B: seat at the table wherever he goes.

Speaker A: This episode is a must listen for anyone looking to harness their skills, rise to the occasion and grow with gratitude for the people who help make it all possible. It's an inspiring and energizing conversation you won't want to miss. We have all we need to become the person we want to be, so let's remember how to connect with others with sincerity and genuine intent as we continue the mission to serve. Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy this episode and please remember to check in on your buddies and family. Jesse's contact details in the podcast description and you can always find me on LinkedIn.

Speaker B: Hey Jesse, what's going on?

Speaker C: Not too bad Chris. Just here. Uh, another day in the office, you know, excited to be here. Thank you for having me on the podcast. Uh, pretty impromptu but I'm excited to be here.

Speaker B: Sometimes it is last minute but you know how it is when somebody has a good idea or what they believe to be a good idea, we act on that. The worst that could happen is somebody

Speaker A: says no and you did not.

Speaker B: So thanks for accommodating being flexible. Typically where we start just a little bit about you and let's go with that.

Speaker C: All right, so let's start out with where I'm at now. Currently I've been with Oracle for 3 years. Just hit my 3 year anniversary this month. So excited. I've been part of the team for three years now. I'm a senior site reliability engineer in onsurops. Um, my manager is Scott Paper, as you know him pretty well. Ah, fantastic manager currently as well as Working for Oracle. I serve in the Army National Guard and I'm a lieutenant there for the engineers. So vertical engineers, my main job there. Um, anything that needs to be built from ground up, I'm the guy. Roads, uh, demolition, I'm the guy. And then I'm an avid runner. Uh, I like to run. I'm part of several run clubs there in the Seattle area. So if you want to get out and network and meet other tech people, uh, come running.

Speaker B: Got it. That's. That's pretty good. So, so you're, you're from. Are you originally from Seattle?

Speaker C: So I'm originally from eastern Washington. I, uh, grew up in Tri Cities, Washington. Mostly known for the Hanford nuclear site back during the Manhattan Project. So Pasco is a specific city. It's, uh, I'd say a small town population wise. It's growing, it's becoming bigger and bigger. The main industry there is agricultural and the nuclear site. Washingtonian. My entire life, though.

Speaker B: Got it. As you were growing up, what were some of the things that you were doing out in eastern Washington? What was, uh, what was a kid doing in a town like that?

Speaker C: So there's a lot of, uh, the Columbia river runs right through the cities. It splits it up. So there's a lot of swimming in the river. Uh, even though it's down downstream from the nuclear site, you know, it was deemed safe. So we swam there a lot. Worked a lot as a kid growing up, helping my dad with his lawn care business, uh, as well as just hanging out with friends. Played, uh, sports my entire life growing up, whether it's from team sports like baseball, basketball. Later on in life, I got into cross country and track. More individualized, but still team aspect. So a lot of running on my off times. Try to enjoy the summer heat that we have down there compared to the west coast, you know, 310 days of sunshine. So significantly different than the West Coast.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I bet, I bet. Yeah. It's a little bit of trust going in that river, I guess. I mean, that's, that's good.

Speaker C: Yeah, definitely.

Speaker B: So there's a lot of. A lot of trail running or street distance? What type of running?

Speaker C: A mix of both. So, um, mostly street was in high school, and then later on I got into trail running, especially now that I moved to the west side of the state. Uh, I've been in the west side, Seattle, Bremerton area for the last. Since 2016. So that's where I fell in love with trail running. And, uh, I've really enjoyed that. It's A lot easier on the body and, um, definitely more scenic.

Speaker B: Yeah, I bet the scenery over there, I mean, I imagine both sides of the state is beautiful, but, uh, yeah, very different on, on the, um, Seattle side.

Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. The east side, uh, I like to say there's more tumbleweeds than there is trees.

Speaker B: Oh, got it.

Speaker C: Yeah. All right. At least, at least the southeast part where I grew up.

Speaker B: All right, so growing up in a town like that, at some point, did you, did you get an itch and to feel like you were gonna want to try to find something, something new to do?

Speaker C: Definitely. Um, it being a bigger city, population wise, it still didn't have the attractions and the job market that, uh, you would deem for such a city, population wise. So I knew if I wanted to grow, expand, um, my horizons, I would have to venture outside of the Tri Cities. Early on in life, I wanted to join the military. I was like, at some point, it wasn't a question if I was going to join, but when and what branch. So senior year, started talking to this recruiter, Navy recruiter. He started talking me up about the, uh, Navy SEALS training program they have. And, uh, I was really excited about that. So senior year, like a month in or. So I'm still 17. Graduated a little early for, um, uh, my age. So I graduated 17. So speak to my parents. Hey, can you sign this waiver? It's a training program for like three months, um, basically my entire senior year. And from there they allow me to go into maybe, maybe basic training and then into buds with an opportunity to, you know, try out for the seals. And they said, no way. We're not going to put our son in danger. Right. So kind of put that on the back burner in high school as part of deca, which is a business organization that's nationwide, uh, through high school and the collegiate level. And it learned a lot about business. So I was like, well, I can go to college, right? I mean, that's a goal of mine as well, besides serving in the military. So I was awarded a one year scholarship from a construction class that I was in high school my entire three years, where we did, uh, we built a house every year from the ground up. So fell back on my plan B for the moment, which was go to college. After that first year of college, I realized how expensive college was, right. So I was like, oh, how am I going to pay for this? I didn't come from, uh, a very wealthy family, so I had to find a way to support myself through college. And I started Thinking again about joining the military. How can I get in? How can I still join and serve my country? Uh, as patriotism was one of the main reasons for joining. And then later on, uh, I saw the benefits that came with it as well. So I decided to reach out to recruiters again and ask. I had a buddy, one of my best friends in elementary school, all the way through high school. His dad was a recruiter for the Oregon National Guard. He told me, you know, some tricks on how to get in to the military. Back in 2010, I did get approved by the. My civilian doctor saying, hey, you should be fine, because, uh, I had a longboarding accident my senior year right there in the, uh, middle of the year. Had to overcome quite a bit. Was out of school for a little bit over a month. Uh, after that, my face was paralyzed for almost three months, half of it. So, uh, that's kind of what made me put the military on the back burner again after that first time of my parents denying me, uh, the approval to join. So that solidified my plan to backtrack, solidify my plan to go to college for that year. Um, but after I found that, you know, I needed some more funds. Um, so from there, fast forward and go to basic training, job advanced, ah, individual training, which is your mos. Right. So I was, um, a maintenance guy for a couple years. And then as soon as I got back, I was like, back to school. Right. The guards, uh, that's the benefit of the guard is being able to do serve your community and your nation as well as going to school.

Speaker B: Nice. What part of maintenance were you so

Speaker C: the quartermaster chemical repair water pumps. I was part of a CBRN unit. Our main mission within Washington state was decontamination of any nuclear, uh, any CBRN events or situations that happen within the state, like a train derailment or, uh, uh, any sort of chemical spill. So I was the. Basically anything that was related to water pumps, water heaters. Uh, I was the guy, but got roped into maintenance since I was the only one within my unit. So hung out a lot with the, uh, mechanics.

Speaker B: Got it. Yeah. I was a mechanic also and so very familiar with that team of where I was stationed.

Speaker C: Okay, very nice.

Speaker B: Any correlation between where you grew up and the fact that it was in that particular field?

Speaker C: It was, uh, within a City about 30 minutes from the Hanford site. Uh, at the time, I never thought about it if that unit was strategically placed there in case of an incident. But, uh, in hindsight, it looks like, uh, it may have been for sure.

Speaker B: Got it. It's plan. It's always.

Speaker C: Yeah, there's always a bigger plan.

Speaker B: So that was what, 2010? 2011.

Speaker C: 2011. Yep.

Speaker B: Yep. Okay, so then that would you started out enlisted or was it because of college? Did you get in to be an officer?

Speaker C: No, it. I started out enlisted, spent 10 years enlisted. Okay. My military career has been, uh, been a, uh, unique one for sure. After basic training in ait, I came back, continued college, and I was like, well, maybe I'll look into being an officer. Right. So I joined ROTC for a semester at the Washington State University in Pullman. And while I was there, I realized I've been in at this point, two years. And the program is basically self led among students. Um, students are our own leadership. So we police each other with the advice and guidance from the, uh, active duty personnel. And at that time, this is 2012 now, uh, the GWAT phase was big. If you're in the army, you didn't have a patch. We used to call them slick sleeves. If you didn't have a patch, you were frowned upon, especially if you were an officer. So I decided, can't be one of those officers. Right. I've been in two years. Why not? Got a deployment underneath my belt before I contract in rotc. Put college on pause for the second time and decided to find a unit to deploy with. And of course, my buddy's dad, who gave me the golden answer on how to join the military, had friends in the Oregon National Guard who were about to deploy immobilize to the Middle East. So he gave me some contact information, reached out to them. Fast forward five months. I had gone through mos reclass school. So now I'm plumber, pipe fitter in a vertical construction team, and I'm in the Middle East.

Speaker B: So you were intentional. I like it. Taking initiative, doing all those things that we're known for. So how did that go? I mean, was it, was it as you expected?

Speaker C: Definitely. I, uh, learned a lot. It was an experience for sure. The first month that I finally. It's interstate transfer is, uh, when you move from state to state in the Guard. So IST is the abbreviation. IST to Oregon. That first drill already had to face adversity. Um, the company commander's like, hey, deployment's canceled. I was like, hold up. I spent three months trying to get here. Now that I'm here. And I put school on pause. I've been out of school also for three months. You're telling me it's canceled? So the long. It was an Eight hour drive because I was drilling on the Oregon coast, seaside area, Camp Ryleea. And I was going to school in Pullman, Washington. So that whole eight hours back home, me and my buddy at Z4 is making no money because of the commute. We were in just disbelief. It was the quietest ride I've ever had, experienced. So I was like, uh, what do I do now? Like, my plan is gone, right? Uh, so one of my E4 buddies at the time from the Oregon National Guard, organically, his dad was lieutenant colonel within the engineer battalion. He shot me a message a week later and he's like, hey. My dad said, relax, something's coming down the pipeline. I was like, what are we talking about? Because the original mission was to go into Afghanistan and help downgrade and uh, close up some bases. So within a month we have a new mission. We're going to Kuwait to help the process, uh, of, uh, reconstructing and building more transient billeting. So I was like, well, not the deployment I wanted, not the true combat experience. But I took it for what it was. Again, I tell people all the time, deployment isn't all about combat. It's about how you can adapt to the adversity and the problems you face while on deployment. So I was like, this is a good second, um, option. And fast forward. I'm in Kuwait. Three months later, November, I'm in Iraq. I'm one of the first hundred soldiers back into Iraq to help combat ISIS 2014. So that was, uh, that experience. Definitely learned a lot being the first hundred in. Compared to the deployments nowadays where there's sirens and warn towers allowing you to, you know, find seat cover, there's nothing of that when I was there the first time, right? It was just, oh, I think that was, uh, that was incoming, uh, learned a lot. I was just lower enlisted E4 at the time. The detachment I got pushed into Iraq. We were supporting the active duty, training the local, uh, Iraqis to help fight isis. So we built everything from billeting, um, places for soldiers to live, active duty soldiers, as well as ourselves. Offices, shoot houses, silhouettes for the Iraqis to train on as well as anything that they can think of. We were working as much as we could as long as we had daylight. We had a warehouse, were able to build things, prefab things, which was the easiest way to do, um, a lot of the operations.

Speaker B: And how long did you end up staying?

Speaker C: Total deployment was nine months. Spent about four months of it in Iraq. We were able to reopen the airstrip and bring in the Apaches and drones to help out with the surveillance. So it was a great, great mission. Worked with a lot of great people, Duty and Guard. Um, met one of my future mentors on that deployment. He's actually my Pl. Uh, now we're both officers and um, we're essentially equals and I speak to him, his name is Mark Mullo. A lot for advice and how to progress my military career and just guidance in general.

Speaker B: So then after that you come back. That had to have been an ordeal, I would imagine. Then if you're, if you're going from Washington to Oregon, try to find, fulfill your goal that you're trying to achieve. It's nice to have the acquaintances. So how important was the networking? I mean it was clear to me when you were talking about it. But did that give you an idea of how important networking really is?

Speaker C: Yes, um, in both military civilian career, just in your civilian life in general, um, networking is vital to being successful. Just those opportunities that I've had, all the opportunities I've had throughout my military career has been due to networking. I tell people all the time, especially in the National Guard, since we are, I'd say part time. Right. For the most part it's about driving your own um, career. No one's going to help you meet the goals that you want as much as you are. Right. If you want to transfer to a new unit, you want a different mos, seek out those opportunities. Sometimes if your lowest level is not helping you out networking with the right people, find a way to find those people. Right? Use that network that's built in the military and try to seek those opportunities and then present a uh, plan to your team leader, to your leadership saying hey, this is my goal, this is where I want to go. And here's the contact information. I've already done some of those first steps versus leaving it all in the hands of your leadership.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's super sound advice and I like how you weaved in. It's applicable anywhere. Know not just in service but in life in general. The more that you can do on your own with diligence and, and uh, the research and the effort you put into it to help people not have to do it all that's important because it, it, it can be. You know, we, we often look at ourselves trying to help everybody but we don't have enough time to be able to do that. So it's, it's, it's critical uh, that we can think about how we can nudge it along and do some of that pre work ahead of time. So I like, I like how you're setting that up. Did you stay with that unit as you came back or did you now switch?

Speaker C: I did. So I'd stay with the unit for probably another six months. That's where I finally picked up my E5. I became, uh, a sergeant in the army after. Shortly after that, the unit disbanded. They did a big reorg. So the reorg happened. We went from 150 plus soldiers down to 52 soldiers. We became a detachment, a utility detachment. So they gave me the option, hey, did you want to, you know, go ahead and stay here drilling on, uh, on the Oregon coast? The commute was really long and I was like, I'll hang out for a little bit. But then the, the opportunity arose for me to go to infantry school. So I was like, infantry? Oh man, this, this is it. All right. Ah, I'm taking the opportunity so that following August. So about a year after I came back from that deployment, I went to the infantry school and then found a unit again. My readiness NCO at that time was like, hey, here's a list of every infantry unit in Oregon. Find a unit that has an opening and I'll facilitate the rest. So again, kind of did the legwork myself to find a unit that I felt comfortable with besides being thrown into a random unit. And then after I reclassed, I became an infantryman.

Speaker B: How long that take that took the

Speaker C: switching units within the state, it's relatively quick. It was about a month. Sometimes if the paperwork hasn't completed yet, you can simply just start drilling with them on their one week in a month. And um, you're still on the books of your organic unit, but they allow you to split train is what they call it, to train with a different unit.

Speaker B: I'm assuming. Did you go, you didn't go back to boot camp, you went to AIT for infantry school?

Speaker C: Yep. So slightly different in the guard we have for reclass, we have our own, um, schoolhouses with some within the state. Some, um, we have to go to other states. So Oregon actually has its own infantry reclass school. Uh, it's an accelerated program for like most Moses. Um, it's usually about two weeks long. So I went to eastern Oregon, real close to home in Umatilla or, uh, Umatilla, Oregon, which is the Ulta chemical depot. Uh, down in that area. Uh, spent two weeks there in the middle of August, 100 plus degrees, walking the lanes, uh, surviving the heat, sweating constantly, had people heat catting regularly just because of the heat that weren't used to it because we. Not only do they train National Guard, but those National Guard schoolhouses also have the ability to train active duty personnel as well. So we had a slight mix of in state, out of state, and active duty personnel going through that schoolhouse.

Speaker B: Got it. What year is that?

Speaker C: That puts me at, uh, 20. Right around 2016.

Speaker B: 2016.

Speaker C: Okay. Yeah.

Speaker B: From. From there. So now you've got basically three OMOs that you've been in.

Speaker C: Correct.

Speaker B: And so how does that work now that you've got those skills developed? And then what. What do you. What do you do with that as an E5?

Speaker C: So I think not in. Just not just in the military, but being well rounded, knowing different aspects of the organization on how they all, uh, intertwine and work together is a huge benefit. Um, if you look at most leaders throughout any corporation, they weren't siloed into one department the entire time. Right. They were those who sought opportunities in different aspects. Right. Whether it be, you know, netsuite with Oracle or OCI with Oracle. Right. They. Or the medical side now, um, they branched out. They've learned a lot. So that benefited me a lot within being a new E5. Because when it comes to planning things, not only do you have the mindset or did I have the mindset of infantrymen, but I also had the mindset of, okay, if something breaks down, right, how do we fix it? How do I get the maintenance people here? I already know kind of, uh, what the maintenance side is thinking about and how to do that. When on the construction side, we need nothing built. I'm your guy. I can help you build whatever you need built. Or I know people because within the state, we all work together. So when it comes to annual training, there'll be times that we have the engineers embedded with us or multiple different maintenance platoons embedded with us. So again, tying back in that networking. Networking is huge, um, in the Guard. I've been in so many units in the Oregon Guard that every time I go to a, uh, big gathering, I was like, oh, my God, I haven't seen this guy in four years. But here we are again. It's. It's been, uh, it's very beneficial. And I say not just military, but civilian side as well, to. To keep that network open and to, if you have the opportunity to try different fields out within. Within your organization, be open to new opportunities.

Speaker B: Yeah, well said. And you're right. And that is the nice thing about it also is the camaraderie that's developed over the years. And so you, you have those connections and relationships from the past and uh, to see somebody that you haven't seen in a while is a good feeling, right?

Speaker C: Definitely. And the main reason why I've been in for so long, some people are jaded, even the National Guard. It's one week in a month, two weeks a year. They say two weeks a year. It's never two weeks a year. It's usually more than that. Uh, with schooling and progression, career progression. But the main reason I say is because of the people. Every, every unit I go, I meet someone that I, that I will probably be in contact with the rest of my life.

Speaker B: That's awesome. At which point now at 2016, you're an E5, you got a couple moss, you got the network down, you're, you're going around to different units. What happens the next several years that get, that gets you to, I don't know, come to Oracle.

Speaker C: Let's backtrack just slightly. I was, uh, after that first deployment, went back to SP college, right. About a year and a half left. Um, due to that ROTC didn't line up graduation wise. Either I graduated early from ROTC or I graduate early from Portland University. I was like, well, I will just put officer. Um, if I still have the urge to become an officer, I'll do OCS. So 2016, I graduate, I get my first civilian career working for the Department of Navy there in Keyport, Washington, just next to Bangor Naval Base. I was a database administrator there. Went, uh, to school for Management Information Systems, started working there. I seem to have tied myself in both my civilian career and military career towards a bigger cause which is supporting the militaries in some sort of facet, uh, or the government even at Oracle, I'm part of OnSurops, which is the government cloud. So, you know, always looking to support the bigger cause. So do that for a couple years, enjoy my time there. But there's a saying that government work can be slow depending on what department you're in, right? And that was true. I was on a project, it was where it's basically their certification site for the Navy and Marines, uh, specifically aviation, but expanded to other facets of the Navy and Marines. I was there and we're just sustainment. We weren't developing anything new. So I was database administrator, just maintaining that even that going. And I graduated college wanting to change the world. I was like, well, this isn't what I expected, but it's a good career for now. They had perks as well. Being government, they assisted my, uh, progression into getting my Master's. So I got my MBA while working for them. And then after, right in between the MBA period, when I got accepted into the program, I thought about becoming an officer in the Oregon National Guard again, so that that urge to serve at a greater aspect was reinvited into my life and decided to look at my options. And OCS was the quickest way to commission. So commissioned. And then a year later, I'm at. I'm still at the Department of the Navy, working there for a company called navsea, that's underneath the Department of Navy, and decided I, um, have my master's now, looking into managerial positions both in my civilian career and my military career. How do I align those so that I'm in management in both aspects? And I looked at my career trajectory within the DoD, the Department of Navy, and realized that it's a slow process, especially on the West Coast. Um, we don't have the benefit of, you know, an enormous amount of manager positions as they do on the East Coast. So I was like, well, let me see what the public sector has. And I'm at this point about five years in to working for the Department Navy. And, you know, you got the pension lined up, you have everything lined up, all your ducks in a row looking at potential retirement and the benefits of it. And I was like, well, civilian life seems okay. Let me. Let me look at. Let me reach out to some recruiters. And in that process, one of the managers from Oracle reached out to me. Hey, your Resume and your LinkedIn profile seems to suit what we're looking for. Um, would you be interested in interviewing at this point? I'd been through a lot of interviews, turned down a few offers just because it wasn't what I was looking for. And, uh, talking more to the Oracle recruiter and the manager and learning about the part of Oracle that I was going to be working for, which was onSurops, um, and supporting the military and the government in some FaceTime. I'm sorry. Okay. This is kind of closely aligned to what I do now. I think I get behind this mission. So I understood the mission a little bit and how, uh, I impacted that and allowed troops and government personnel and entities to still do their job full time. I think I can do this. Then. I interviewed with some of the employees that are still at Oracle, and a lot of them came from a military background, which was another perk for me. Right. Having that similar, um, mindset and similar experience creates those bonds. And I figured the transfer Would not be as drastic going from the DoD department, Navy and Military experience to the core world if a lot of my co workers had a similar experience. So Answer Ops was a really good fit for me and a good home. And that's when I joined in April of 2022 is when I finally made it to Oracle as a site reliability engineer.

Speaker B: That's a good story. You did a lot in between 2016 and 2022.

Speaker C: Yeah, uh, again I try to take advantage of everything. I've always been pretty strategic with my progression. Uh, while at Department of the Navy, I also was in a one year long leadership program called Next, uh, Generation Leadership. Just trying to advance myself and gain those skills, put those skills in my toolbox for that day that I do become a manager that I am ready to, to lead and serve those that are a part of my team well.

Speaker B: And that tracks because early on that's what you were, you were trying to do is, is commit to something that's going to give you the opportunity for growth and career development and things, those types of things. And so uh, I think at this point, if I'm doing my math right, so over the course of a good 10 years, give or take a year, is probably more close to 11, you were sniffing out the opportunities early on. Not only what was in front of you, but you were trying to identify a pathway that allows you to see a couple moves ahead that you can grow into. Is that pretty accurate?

Speaker C: Definitely, yep. Every, every time I made it to that next, that next step where I met my next goal, I was looking forward to the next thing. Some people say 2020, the COVID year was a really bad year for a lot of people. I like to say it was probably one of my favorite years because I was tackling, working full time, 40 hours plus a week, doing that uh, extensive leadership program through work and graduated from OCS all at the same time. So to me, December of 2020 was one of the best moments of my life. I had my freedom back. I was able to relax, I was able to do things on the weekends. The limited things that we were able to do because of the COVID Yeah, it was a good year for me and then it opened up a lot of doors after that.

Speaker B: Yeah, it sounds like it. And congratulations on that, man. I, I appreciate the tenacity that you have and the drive and, and then putting it into action. I mean that's um, obviously it's one of the qualities that is common amongst uh, our community. But it, you still appreciate it when you see It.

Speaker C: Thank you.

Speaker B: Oh, you bet. Up to that point and you know, maybe a couple weeks or a couple months inside of Oracle, you're, you know, I'm making an assumption. But did anything appear to be uniquely different than any place that you've been before and as you, as you started to learn more about the team you were on here?

Speaker C: Definitely coming over to Oracle the first few months, there's a lot of new technologies that I had to learn. I had been with the Department of Navy for quite some time and nothing real cutting edge at that time. So I had a lot. It was a big learning curve technically, uh, especially migrating to the cloud. Uh, when I first graduated college, the cloud was still relatively new. I've heard of aws, but at that point, uh, Oracle cloud was in its infancy, so it was a good learning curve. But I came in, I tried to network with all my colleagues that had been there for a while. I'd come in and uh, the moment I got access to the scif, I was in there trying to learn what they're doing, looking over the shoulder, just trying to grasp as much as I can grasp, become a sponge as they say. I just wanted to know how everything worked and what I can do to get to be better and more prepared. Once my clearance was fully approved and I can get hands on keyboard, was

Speaker B: there any concerns from your side on going into a full time role here and still serving in the Guard?

Speaker C: A little bit. I did some research. Of course that's one of the big things I did when I was looking to go into the civilian world is the military benefits. And surprisingly Oracle has, um, one of the better programs for military personnel that are currently serving in the Guard of Reserve. They allow us to do annual training without any hiccup. I've been, since my time with Oracle, I've actually been away quite a bit for the military. I had to go to basic officer leadership course for the engineers, which was roughly six months, as well as some additional training. And they've been more than accepting and willing to work with me. They understand the difficulties. And again, being part of onsurops where most people, uh, most managers are prior service or I've worked with people who are prior service. They know the process, right. They know that sometimes you're called upon to do something greater than yourself that you have no control over. And you know, they're always there to help facilitate that and help me out with any of the HR issues that I, that arise from being, you know, uh, activated to put on to the bench and then Coming back in and being reintegrated into the corporation more than willing to work with me, uh, around my schedule within the military, uh, again, I just let them know ahead of time what my year looks like and if any of those dates will impact my time in office.

Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, sounds like a strong team that not only is aware through, well, one understanding what the support that's in place that Oracle provides, but also just the firsthand understanding of what it's like to hold the obligation of service and then merging the two together, the knowledge of the processes and the policies, as well as the process of what happens when a unit is needing to call you, um, either for your training or any other deployments that may come up. That's, that's great to hear. So after that, because now it's, it's three years still the same. You still have the same feeling as when you started?

Speaker C: Do you talk a little bit about being activated and, uh, the short notice of things right within the military that everyone who served is familiar with. I wanted to give Scott a shout out the first, you know, I broke the bad news to him, hey, there's some training that's coming up that I have to go away for a little bit. I was just informed, you know, with less than a month notice. And the first thing wasn't, hey, oh, uh, man, it's a bummer. We really need you here. It was, hey, how's the family taking it? Right. He empathized with the situation and as good leaders do. I really appreciated that and I just wanted to thank him for that. And then we kind of talked about how that's going to affect my time at Oracle and then, uh, what the next steps are for me coming back.

Speaker B: That's solid. I mean, that's how it should be. You know, you'd like to believe that everybody's going to be able to have that type of response where puts the concern back on you and the care that needs to happen from that. Get your mind right, taking care of the priorities in your life. And of course the company is a concern and, uh, obviously the customers and what we have to do here. But there's a balance and the prioritization comes through the, the initial response. And so I'm glad to hear that that was the case.

Speaker C: Yeah. And then to touch back to do. I still have the same feeling I do. Oracle's been, uh, very helpful throughout this process, allowing me to serve both sides and progress in both my career, military and civilian, with, uh, Oracle. And yeah, I still get Scott reaching out occasionally. Hey, just want to make sure you, everything's going good with the service as well as here at Oracle, and making sure that I have a plan to progress and three years and still loving it.

Speaker B: And you're listening. I know you can't see it, but he's got a smile, Jesse smiling when he says this. You can kind of just, you can feel it as you're, as you're listening to it. Um, so I believe it, what now you're three years in. You're always looking ahead for something else that allows you to know what trajectory you're going to be on for growth. What aspirations do you have at this point?

Speaker C: So within Oracle, the goal would be eventually to land a managerial position. Uh, that's been kind of my dream for the last couple years on the ceiling side. Got my mba, thinking that assist the progression. Naturally, there may be some opportunities in the near future. I've expressed my, my wants, so I know it's been heard and people are listening. So one day I'll be there and then on the military side, I'm looking at company command here within the next year. So that's, that's another big step in any officers, especially army officers. Time is, uh, leading an entire company, planning the future for that company, what training looks like. Um, if there's any missions coming up, as in the Guard, we have, you know, we serve two missions. We serve our state and our, and our nation. And, uh, we are frequently called upon for both. So making sure that we're ready to assist in both facets, whether it's national level, um, on an overseas deployment or within the state. Because Oregon and Washington love that wildland fires, um, so that comes about every year. You have to maintain that certification and, um, make sure you're ready to answer any sort of natural disaster or any state need.

Speaker B: And so which state is the unit in that you're serving now?

Speaker C: So I'm still in the Oregon National Guard. Again. I touched a base earlier about people, right, um, me being in the Oregon Guard for that deployment. I met a lot of people and after we were dismantled, we, we all went different ways, uh, different units. And I come back to running into them occasionally through all the other units that I've been a part of. And the reason I'm still in the Oregon Guard and commuting up to six hours once a month for drill is the people, you know, I've made those bonds and uh, that's why I'm still driving to get down there and to work with those people and uh, good rapport. So I'm out of Oregon. Got it.

Speaker B: Solid team, right? Team.

Speaker C: Yes, definitely.

Speaker B: All right, Jesse, any final thoughts for anybody listening that you want anybody to hear?

Speaker C: If you're a service member and you're not part of Maven, come join Maven. Maven's doing great things. Just, uh, one big thing that I love Maven does. I love being physical. Physical, uh, activity is one of my hobbies. So the Travis Manion foundation, right. To, uh, the 29th, was the Travis Manion Wad. I was a gym host here recently, so got a bunch of my military buddies over the weekend, and, uh, we had a good turnout and we supported the Manion foundation also. Back in for 9 11. They did the ruck. Also had a group of military people on a weekend do that. So, um, there's a lot of opportunities within Maven at Oracle to progress your career and network again, Networking, right? That's kind of been an underlying theme of this, uh, interview. So continue to network, whether it's, uh, within Maven or just in Oracle itself. If you're a reservist in the National Guard and you're worried about your career progression, both, uh, at Oracle and the military, I'd say don't be too worried about it. Oracle has a good program in place to assist us to move forward in both sides. Just make sure you talk to both leadership, military and civilian, to get a better understanding of how that looks so they can assist you in any way that's needed. And if you're a veteran who is no longer serving here in Oracle and part of Maven, and you're interested in joining the Oregon National Guard, let me know. We have, uh, low recruitment numbers at this time, but we do this cool thing called Guard for a day where you come out and relive your experience as, uh, a service member. And usually we make sure those days are when you do something fun like flying a helicopter.

Speaker B: All right. Not even mad at you. That was. That was not shameless at all. And for. For the Maven plug, I. I didn't ask him to do it. He did it on his own. And again, he's smiling.

Speaker C: You can.

Speaker B: You can feel the smile through your ears as you're listening. All right, Jesse. Well, uh, appreciate you. Thanks for taking a minute. I know it was last minute, and. And you made it happen. Very grateful for you and your service. And I speak on behalf of all of us. We are thankful for everything that you're doing and anybody else that's out there in the Reserve Guard serving and going on your temporary duty, whatever it's a deployment or training or anything like that, you know, always keep moving forward. So appreciate you. We'll look forward to seeing you soon. The next time we're in Seattle, we'll get together and have some coffee and maybe go for a run.

Speaker C: Definitely, yeah. If you have any, if anyone has questions about how the, you know, being activated and working still at Oracle, um, feel free to reach out to me on, um, the Oracle email and then, uh, LinkedIn if they want to talk about how reservists and guard life interacts with Oracle.

Speaker B: Absolutely. So I'll put your contact information for LinkedIn and then any other information you want to share offline, you can send it over and I'll put it in the podcast description so they can reach out if there's any more questions.

Speaker C: Perfect. Thanks, Chris.

Speaker B: All right, everyone, keep moving forward.