While Entergy Waterford 3 has experienced a transition in leadership over the past several weeks, two of the men taking on new roles have quite a bit of experience working together as a unit.
The Killona nuclear plant’s new Vice President David Oertling and new General Manager of Plant Operations Frank Shewmake have worked together at other Entergy nuclear sites and also served in the U.S. Navy together – a unique shared history, and a great deal of trust and camaraderie that’s grown between them as a result.
Oertling arrived at Waterford a little over three years ago; Shewmake has been aboard for the past two. They previously worked together at Entergy’s Arkansas Nuclear One plant. Entergy announced in April that each would take on their respective new roles, with John Lewis taking on the site’s Operations Director position.
Oertling – brother of St. Charles Parish Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ken Oertling – remembers having curiosity and interest in nuclear power at a young age. Among his hobbies was playing Scram, a nuclear power plant simulation game published by Atari. The game’s name was adopted from the term for an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor.
He was 12 years old and he recalls seeing commercials for Waterford 3 in the mid-1980s when the plant was first established.
“I still remember (the commercial) was set from a helicopter view,” said Oertling. “I always had that interest in nuclear power … a month out of high school, I went to serve in the Navy for eight years. Frank and I served together on the USS Enterprise. We were both in the Navy’s nuclear power program. We’ve gotten to know each other really well – we really kind of grew up together in a lot of ways.”
Oertling hails from a military family. His grandfather, uncle and brother served in the Navy, his father in the Army.
“The Navy really gave us the technical training for where we are now,” said Oertling.
An alumnus of Hahnville High School, Shewmake’s interest in his eventual career path grew after a high placement in the school’s science fair. Waterford 3 presented awards to the winners.
Waterford brought Shewmake full circle.
“At that point I really didn’t know what nuclear power was, and that was my introduction,” said Shewmake. “Then I worked with nuclear power in the Navy, and here we are 36 years later, in my hometown and at the same plant that sparked my interest in the first place.”
Shewmake served in the Navy for 10 years. Like Oertling, he had family ties to the military, his great-grandfather serving before him.
“I come from a very patriotic family … also, Top Gun kind of drove everybody to want to go fly jets for the Navy,” said Shewmake.
Oertling and Shewmake’s time with the Navy overlapped for four years. They shared time on the USS Enterprise, the world’s first-ever nuclear powered aircraft carrier – the history-making vessel was powered by eight nuclear reactors. There are several former Enterprise sailors working together along with Oertling and Shewmake at Waterford.
“We got to see at least half the world, and we met lots of great people,” Oertling said.
They have worked closely together for approximately 20 years, and the two have forged both a personal and professional bond.
In tandem, they agree each makes the other better.
“Frank has some strengths that I don’t have and vice versa,” Oertling said.
Said Shewmake, “It’s been very interesting from a teamwork standpoint. Trust is a major foundation for any relationship, be it work or personal. And the fact that we know each other’s tendencies as well as we do … we have two different leadership styles that complement each other really well. And Dave can give me critical feedback, and I can give Dave feedback. We have that trust built and we’re both committed to making our entire team here better.”
Together, they help lead a workforce at Waterford 3 that produces nearly 1,200 megawatts of electricity and powers electricity to nearly 500,000 homes.
“We have an amazing group of folks here who are energized about what they do … it’s pretty powerful what this team has done and what they’re doing. We take pride in it and we’re committed to the customers,” Oertling said.
