Veterans in Advanced Energy Profile: Carlton Brinda

Carlton Brinda, a 2021-2022 Veterans advanced energy fellow

Carlton Brinda, a 2021-2022 Veterans Advanced Energy Fellow, had a highly technical military career as a nuclear electrician on US Navy submarines operating under pressure in a demanding underwater environment. After retirement, he used that experience to work in the lithium manufacturing industry producing materials for advanced energy applications like batteries in electric vehicles. Today, he helps to maintain the reliable and sustainable supply of electricity that fuels the US economy as a Control Center Supervisor for AES Clean Energy. As told to Jordan Bekenstein.

Why did you join the military and what was your role?

It was a good alternative to get some work experience and get money for going to college. When I talked to the recruiter after taking the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) exam, they offered up the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program—it sounded like an interesting idea and a good experience, so I went for it. I was not the first person in my family to go into the military, just the first to retire from the military.

I went through the Navy’s nuclear power pipeline to become a nuclear electrician. Following that, I reported to my first submarine. On submarines, nuclear electricians operate the reactor and engine room electrical distribution and steam systems, but also, in your spare time, they are technicians doing all the onboard preventative and corrective maintenance. I did twenty-four years in the Navy—14 years across 4 different submarines. I slowly made my way up the ranks to Chief Electrician. It was my responsibility to train, certify, and monitor my team of electricians, mechanics, electronics technicians and laboratory technicians. We had to safely monitor and operate in a complex environment around the globe. 

When not at sea, submariners are assigned to “shore duty” supporting the submarine crews. For my first shore duty, I worked at a shipyard for three years doing repairs as a Radiological Controls Technician. I dealt with the contamination and radiation associated with any work that happened on submarines and carriers. My second shore duty was a three-year assignment with a group called the Performance Monitoring Team. We were trained on how to perform inspections on motors, generators, and circuit breakers. We also performed thermal imaging of our electrical gear. My last shore duty before retirement was as lead instructor for electricians at the submarine school in Groton, Connecticut teaching fourteen different courses for electricians across the fleet.

How did the military influence your career trajectory into energy?

When it came time for me to transition out of the military, I wanted to make a positive change in the world. Based on my experience, I felt that the energy sector was my best bet. I started working with US Magnesium—they brought me on to help commission a one-of-a-kind lithium carbonate processing plant using salts from the Great Salt Lake. Then I came to AES Clean Energy where I have been a Control Center Supervisor for our Salt Lake City Control Center since May 2021. We are responsible for monitoring, reporting, and dispatching over 2.5 GW of photovoltaic solar and wind generation.

What are you most excited about in advanced energy developments, and what are you most concerned about?

I’m most excited about the future of energy storage. I know battery storage is growing, but I’m also hearing about other types of energy storage that are being tried out, such as tower storage, flow storage and clean hydrogen just to name a few. As for concerns, it’s a tossup between nuclear power and cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a huge energy drain, and so far the only benefit has been as an asset class. If cryptocurrency is going to be the future, then we need to find cleaner, less energy intensive ways to create it and make it more accessible to everyone. My other concern is that we’re not going to make it to zero carbon footprint unless we invest more into nuclear power. I see nuclear power as necessary for the future, but with all the regulatory requirements, high costs, and anti-nuclear sentiment, it makes it very hard to get a nuclear power plant built. Small Modular Reactors are showing new promise.

Why is energy important to US national security?

Everything we do requires energy. If our electrical grid went down, everything we do as Americans would come to a halt, primarily because of the internet and computing—it’s in everybody’s everyday life. Most of what we do for work requires interconnectivity. In my job now, we operate our solar and wind sites from Salt Lake City, and the closest site is an hour and a half away. Most of our sites are in California or Virginia. If we lose communication to those sites then we don’t know what is going on. We could possibly lose that power to the grid resulting in rolling blackouts or brownouts depending on how bad the situation is. It is very important to make sure we keep our electric grid going. 

Do you have advice you would like to share with other veterans?

Don’t be afraid to reach out for assistance when job-seeking. Don’t be afraid to apply for a job that may not sound like it is in your area of expertise because in the military you’re taught to adapt and overcome no matter what your job was. Don’t be afraid to apply for positions just because it may not necessarily be what you did in the military or are currently doing. There are plenty of other jobs out there that you can learn to do well. Always strive to be the best you that you can be. Don’t let anyone hold you back.

What are you most looking forward to about the Veterans Advanced Energy Fellowship?

I’m looking forward to the camaraderie with other veterans and getting to know about their journey and experiences. Finding out what else is out there in the energy industry for veterans, not just for me but for other veterans, so that I can help others make the transition to a civilian career. Getting a chance to talk to experts in clean energy fields and learn how and where to focus my ideas in helping us have a cleaner, brighter future.