In honor of Veteran’s Day, three DTE veterans – Charlie Crosby, safety and health expert, Distribution Operations, Cedric Flowers, director, Major Enterprise Project Gas, and Matthew Wagner, supervisor, Plant Operations – have been hard at work bringing veterans together for a meaningful celebration, as well as creating a plan to carry out their vision for DTE’s VETS (Veterans Empowerment Transition and Support) employee resource group.
“We’re excited about making an impact on our veteran community by recruiting new vets to join our workforce and building strong partnerships within our company’s unions to improve inclusion and increase membership,” said Crosby. “Perhaps most important, we’ll be focused on reaching veterans outside of DTE to provide significant support – from ramps for the disabled, clothing drives for the homeless, and mentoring for those in transition.”
As a member of the Navy, Crosby served on the USS Detroit from 1989-1993 and in Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield. He’s been an employee at DTE for 21 years and a member of the VETS Energy Group for the past year. Charlie will serve at the new Chair of the VETS.
Flowers is a U.S. Air Force active duty veteran. As an Aerospace Physiology Instructor, he taught pilots and astronauts how to prepare for the physiological impacts of high stress flight, as well as survive in varying environments upon ejection. Cedric is a native Michigander, who recently relocated from Pennsylvania and has been with DTE for a year. He will serve as vice co-chair of the VETS.
“DTE is a great place to work, especially for veterans, because of our focus on service,” said Flowers. “I’m looking forward to our VETS group bringing our service to life through our outreach to the veteran community and by recruiting veterans to join our company.”
Wagner served in the U.S. Navy as a reactor operator and electronics technician on the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and MTS Daniel Webster (MTS-626) for nine years.
As the new vice co-chair of the VETS, Matt hopes to connect veterans from across our company’s large service territory and multiple business units and expand the VETS membership.
“As veterans, we have a unique perspective of the world through our shared experiences in military service,” said Wagner. “In fact, the core of who we are is rooted in service and I know that the veteran community will always be first in line to step into our communities and serve in any capacity that we can. I am very proud to be a part of a community that freely gives of their time, experience, and emotion with no expectation of anything in return.”
Why is Veteran’s Day important?
For Charlie, Cedric and Matt, Veteran’s Day is an opportunity for all of us to take a step back and recognize those around us that have sacrificed and served this country. In honor of the holiday, the VETS group also chose to give back by donating the money they would have spent on the employee luncheon to support Vets Returning Home, an organization that provides 800 meals a week and is dedicated to helping veterans transition to stable lives.
“Unfortunately, we will not be able to gather in the same way this year,” said Matt. “We hope our celebration will be a way for us to connect, refocus our energy on what we want to accomplish in the coming year, give back to those in need and bridge the gap until we can gather together again.”
DTE has earned the designation as a Gold-Level Veteran-Friendly employer by the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. View our career opporunities for veterans on dteenergy.com and learn more about how DTE is commited build a more diverse and inclusive workplace.