Navigating Life's Transitions: From Military to Offshore Drilling
Topics: Careers in Oil and GasEngineering and Technology
Two months of phone calls, then a roustabout job at $52,000
Nick Rose describes the move out of the Army and into offshore drilling as a jump from one kind of chaos to another. “It’s a controlled chaos, I guess. And you come into essentially an uncontrolled chaos, just of a different source,” he told David Abshire. Eight years in Army infantry made the transition hard. What turned it around was the oil field itself — the people working offshore understood controlled chaos too, and that gave the transition a direction.
Getting hired took persistence. Rose sent a resume to Transocean, then called the company every single day for two months until they told him to stop calling, they were going to hire him. He tells that story constantly, especially to younger people, and says the only reason he got the opportunity was that persistence. He notes there are thousands of applicants for a roustabout position and that most hires come down to who you know. His case wasn’t that.
He came out of the Army as an E6, a staff sergeant, making $52,000 a year. He started as a roustabout at roughly the same salary — mopping, chasing a crane ball, hooking up loads. He doesn’t discount the danger or the hours. His frame was different. It took him eight years to reach $52,000 in the Army, and he was starting at $52,000, so he decided he owed the new job the same level of effort he’d given the old one. Other people complained about the work. He was grateful for it. Carrying that through every promotion, he says, meant pushing a little harder and complaining a little less, and people noticed both the effort and the willingness to learn.
Teaching the why, and the 110% rule
A subsea engineer named Shannon changed Rose’s career by taking the time to teach rather than assign. Rose contrasts that with the norm in the oil field, where the question is who can help the leader get work done fastest, most efficiently and safest. Shannon taught him why he was doing a task, not just that he should do it. Rose adopted the approach. When people understand the reason, he says, they take more ownership, then more pride, and the work becomes theirs.
He extends that into a leadership philosophy. When people work for you out of fear — doing it because it’s the job and they’ll be fired otherwise — he says you might get 60% from them at best, maybe 70% from a driven person. “If people work for you out of fear of not wanting to let you down, you get 110%,” he said.
Building real-time subsea monitoring
Rose helped develop one of the first real-time subsea monitoring systems, technology that has since become standard offshore. He credits Mike Fry with the vision. Rose says he saw the possibility and the significance it could grow into, but that Fry saw it far beyond him. Other subsea engineers had thought automation or earlier warning would help; nobody went after it. Fry did, wholeheartedly. Rose says Fry’s willingness to bring in help — to troubleshoot, to talk it out, to build the thing — is why it became what it is today. Rose is careful to say it wasn’t just the two of them. Several other people were involved.
Education heavy, experience light
Rose pushes back on how the industry is perceived. Most of the world doesn’t work in the oil field and isn’t around anyone who does, so what they know comes from television and social media reels. The perception is a Wild West, he says, and it isn’t one. He argues that even people whose parents and grandparents worked in the oil field don’t grasp how sophisticated and technically advanced it has become.
That gap shows up inside companies too. Rose calls it an education heavy, experience light world, and draws the parallel to the military, where lieutenants out of college outrank the first sergeants and staff sergeants who are the backbone. The same holds in oil and construction. His answer is a deliberate mix: pair education with experience, find the percentages that work, and assign authority accordingly. He says executive leadership should set parameters recognizing that a company man or a new graduate may be in charge while still sitting below the person on site who has been doing the work for decades. Power shifts, he warns, bring people who think being in charge means making all the decisions. It doesn’t necessarily.
Safety lessons that become just stories
Rose came into the oil field during the transition out of the old culture and into today’s safety and technology, which he considers a blessing — he can still see the change. His concern is what happens as it recedes. In ten years, many of the people who saw the major injuries and deaths won’t be out there. Those events become a story rather than a lived experience, and a story doesn’t land the same way. He says the knowledgeable younger generation and the experienced older generation will have to find a balance to keep it alive.
Abshire made the same point from the other side: a safety video doesn’t carry the emotion of a man working beside you telling you that you can’t do something because it will hurt or kill you. Rose’s answer to the whole question is what he carried out of the industry — organization and professionalism, and the team mentality. On a rig it can look like people fussing at each other rather than working as a team, but leaving it makes the professionalism visible. The planning is so well done, so efficient and so budgeted, that you don’t find its equal in the real world. He took those lessons into construction and real estate and calls them 90% of the reason it’s been successful. Everybody talks about having a plan, he says, but until you’ve experienced it and implemented it, you don’t understand the benefit.
Terms explained in this episode
Full transcript · 4,653 words
Machine-generated transcript of “Navigating Life's Transitions: From Military to Offshore Drilling”. Paragraph breaks mark a change of speaker. Click a timestamp to play from that point.
0:00 Good morning. This is David Apshire with the Under Pressure Podcast. This morning we have our guest, Nick Rose. Nick, thanks for joining us this morning, buddy. Well, thank you for having me. Absolutely. So, Nick, you've you spent eight years in Army infantry before finding your way into offshore drilling, and you've been pretty open about how difficult that transition was. Looking back, what was that period of your life like?
0:21 You know, it was it's a a tough transition just coming out of such a structured and and you know sometimes very hectic environment. It's it's a controlled chaos, I guess. And you come into essentially an uncontrolled chaos, just of a different of a different source. You know, so that the transition was was pretty tough. You know, thankfully, the actually the oil field was was a kind of the turning point for my transition. Just the, you know, it's also people that work in that in that environment offshore understand it's also a pretty controlled chaos. So I I think that the the oil field really like turned my transition into a the direction needed to go.
1:00 Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, first of all, I want to say thank you for your service in the Army. My dad actually was in the Army as well. So thank you so much for serving in the military. I know it's definitely something that is life-changing and definitely treaches you a lot of discipline and structure early on at a young age.
1:18 Yeah, well, it was uh it was definitely an honor.
1:20 So one of my Yep, absolutely. So one of my favorite stories from the conversation is that after submitting your resume to Transocean, you called them every single day for two months until they finally said, Nick, stop calling. We're going to hire you. Did that persistence end up defining your career? No, it a hundred percent did.
1:37 You know, I actually I tell that story to everybody that listens to me, you know, especially the younger generation about work and life and you know, marriage and any anything that that I really can work that into the conversation, uh I talk about it because it did. I mean, when I realized, like, hey, the only reason I'm getting this opportunity right now to work on this with this company is because of my persistence of calling every single day. You know, you've got thousands upon thousands of applicants for a Ralph's belt position. And, you know, sometimes it's most of the times it's, you know, we all know it's, hey, I've got a friend in Oilfield or it's who you know. Mine, my case wasn't that. My case was I'd literally called them at minimum once a day, every day, until they answered. And it changed my life. It it literally changed the trajectory of my life.
2:24 Absolutely. I love that. That's that's just such a great story. So you started out as a roused about making about the same salary you had in the army, but while other people complained about the work, you said you were just grateful for the opportunity. How did that mindset shape the opportunities that followed?
2:39 You know, it realizing that that so I I came out as an E6, you know, as a staff sergeant in the Army, and I was making $52,000 a year at that point in time, doing much more, you know, dangerous, much harder work than than uh what a rouse bet was doing at that time, you know, don't not taking away the danger of the job, right? But I was essentially mopping and chasing a crane ball and hooking up loads. And, you know, yes, it's a hard, hard work, it's hard work environments, it's long hours. But for me, you know, the perspective of it took me eight years to get to that 52,000 and I'm starting off at 52,000. You know, that mindset that I had was I I should be doing the same level of effort, or giving the same level of effort at this job as I was the job I had been doing for eight years. And, you know, carrying that through to every promotion, every new job, every new opportunity, I think just afforded me a stronger mindset to push a little harder and complain a little less. And I I think that did shape into, or did trans, you know, transform into people seeing the the work effort and the willingness to learn and the, you know, the happiness to be there. You know, and I think that says a lot about people in general when you when you start looking for people to promote, put into positions.
3:51 Absolutely. I I agree a hundred percent. That positive mindset and just being grateful and thankful for the opportunity definitely gives you a a leg up on the next guy. And I always tell the younger kids that I visit with, I always encourage them. You know, the right mindset will determine your your success and where you're going in your career nine times out of ten.
4:14 100%. Yeah. Sorry, go ahead. Go ahead. So one of my biggest. Well, I was just gonna say lots of times. Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah, I tell people like, you know, if you want a positive outcome, you have to have a positive outlook. And that's some of the truest advice you can give anybody. You know, if you look for the you'll you'll you'll get what you're looking for. If you're looking for the negative, you're gonna get it. If you're looking for the positive, you're gonna get it.
4:37 Yeah, that's exact that's absolutely right. I agree a hundred percent. So you've credited one of your subsea engineers with changing your career by taking the time to teach you instead of simply assigning work. What made a a mentorship like that so impactful?
4:54 In every industry, but especially the oil field, you know, it's it's you know, work by your back, work by your sweat, get get the job done. Who can who can help me as the leader to get my work accomplished the fastest, the most efficient, and the safest? But when, you know, Shannon was the name one, he took it and said, hey, I'm actually going to take this person. And I think he understood, I'm gonna take this person and I'm gonna teach them why they're doing this and not just tell them to do this. And what I have found out is is I adopted that and moved forward with it. And when people understand why they're doing something versus just blindly doing it because you told them, they take a little more ownership into it, and then they take a little more pride into it, and then it becomes their own. And now they want to do a better job because they know exactly the reason they're doing this for. So I think him taking that time to just actually mentor me and and and it was his extra time. And I also seen the personal effort he gave, you know, the after hours, the, the, the before work, that he didn't have to be out there teaching me these things, you know, that meant a lot. And and that also shaped another kind of philosophy I moved forward with in leadership is is when people work for you or under you, and they do it out of essentially fear, out of the fact that I have to do this because it's my job, and if I don't do it, I'm gonna get fired. You might get 60% from them at best, you know, and if and and a driven person, maybe, maybe 70%. But if people work for you out of fear of not wanting to let you down, you get 110%. You know, you get above and beyond. So him him doing that shaped me not just professionally as in my, you know, path moving forward, but also mentally as as how I approach things and leadership after that.
6:30 I I agree. You know, that's one thing that I've seen time and time over and over again, especially in the oil field, which is great, where there's tons of opportunity for us older guys to mentor the younger guys coming in to teach them, to pour into and to, you know, let them know that, you know, of course, too, that it's okay that everybody coming into the industry is not gonna know their job 100% and be able to, you know, have someone to go to really, really helps set us apart from good leaders and bad leaders, right? And I see it, I see it all the time in different industries where, you know, it just don't happen that way like it should. And the oil field does do a good job on that, you know, part for the most of the time, not all the time, but most of the time we do a good job of teaching the younger generation, especially when they're coming in and being able to set them up for success and you know, get them headed in the right direction. So one of the one of the biggest projects you worked on was helping develop one of the first real-time subseed monitoring systems technology that's now become standard across offshore industry. What problem were you trying to solve? And did you realize at the time how significant it would become?
7:39 You know, I I did realize the possibility of the significance it could could build into. The man that created it, obviously Mike Fry, he understood it and and knew it or and seen the vision 100%, you know, far beyond, far beyond me. I just saw that, hey, this is definitely something that is needed and it's not as far-fetched and and hard to accomplish as as we think. You know, and I think there's plenty of other subsea engineers out there that saw or thought, like, hey, if we could automate this, if we could, you know, tweak this to to tell us these things sooner, it would be a benefit. But nobody went after it, and he did, you know, he went after it wholeheartedly. But he was very intimately involved for a reasoning, you know. So he had a drive that the majority of people don't to get that done. I just think that, you know, pairing with him and you know, him bringing me in with that to to help him is is the reason it's shaped into what it is today and and and the benefits it has today. You know, it wasn't just me, I I, you know, it wasn't just him and it, there were several other people involved. I think his vision of seeing that it needed to be done and hit also his willingness to understand that he needs help to troubleshoot this, to talk this out, to build this thing, you know, led into where it's at right now.
8:55 Yep, absolutely. And, you know, any any big project that we know we all work on, uh it takes a team of people to make it work, and it's just not one person. And I think that's one of the things looking back over my career as well, I agree. Anytime you're able to work with a team like that to problem solve and troubleshoot and work together all for the same outcome, it, it, it's definitely something that's memorable and something you're gonna look back on for the rest of your life and be able to, you know, tell the younger generations about as well. So you've said something that really challenged the stereotypes people have about oil and gas that's actually one of the most structured, professional, and technically demanding industries out there. Why do you think so many people misunderstand what it's really like in the oil field?
9:40 Well, because most people, the majority of the world don't work in oil field. They don't see the oil field. They're not even around anybody that is in the oil field. You know, when you speak outside of of the main states that make up the oil field, people just see TV shows and, you know, reels on t on on social media about what it is. And if you just base it off of that, then, you know, it looks Wild West, but it's actually not. You know, I I think even the people getting into it at from the very beginning, the who are around it, who have parents that are been in oil field and grandparents, don't actually understand the how sophisticated and technical technologically advanced the oil field actually is. You know, so I think it's just a perception, just like everything else in the world. You know, you you see the one side of the story that you get to see, and until you have that intimate knowledge of it, you just don't understand and you won't.
10:34 Yep, absolutely. So you drew an interesting comparison between the military and the oil field, saying both are built around discipline, teamwork, and mission first thinking. How much did your military background prepare you for your success offshore? Drastically.
10:49 You know, it it it correlates very well uh with each other. You know, there's a hierarchy, there's a chain of command, there's a structured day-to-day, you know, task that's going to get done. You know, there's a mission. Everybody is on board with that same mission, you know, everybody is working toward that mission. Well, between the two is uncanny. And I think that when people make that transition, there's actually several military people making transitions between, you know, when they make them, it makes them easier to adapt to that environment. You've you've already got the structure built into you, you've already got the mission first built into you. You know, so when you come onto the oil rig and you see, like, okay, I see my chain of command, that's easy to follow. I don't have to jump the ranks, I see where my mission's at. I see what my role in the mission is. I'm just going to execute it. And I think it makes it a very easy transition.
11:38 Yeah. Absolutely. And I've I've got several folks that I work with daily that are, you know, ex-military, that's retired out of the military. And I love him working with them because, of course, they're so used to being able to work together as a team, you know, to complete projects. And that's one thing over my career. I've worked with tons of folks that was in the military and active and, you know, uh in and out at different times throughout their career, and it taught them lots of discipline as well, which I definitely, definitely enjoy working with. So you built teams both in the military and the energy industry. You made the point that young engineers and company representatives need to spend time listening to the people who've been working on rigs for decades. Why is that lesson so important?
12:23 It's experience. You know, we've got a we've got a an education heavy experience, you know, light world right now, not just a not just an open energy world. You know, I've I've drawn these parallels in in construction, military, and and oil field. But you know, if history, just look at history. You don't the people that have the greatest benefit are the people with the experience. You can have all the education you want, right, which is a major benefit. But if you don't pair that with experience with somebody, then you are short in either direction. If I only have experience, I'm short in my knowledge, most of the part. Because the the older veterans of any industry don't have the knowledge that the new, you know. In the military, you've got lieutenants coming out of, you know, college that are in charge of or in charge, you know, or over top of outrank, you know, the first sergeants and the staff sergeants and the people that the backbones of the military. Same with the oil field, same with the construction industry. And I think when people start, and they're starting to, when they start to wise up and say, okay, I'm gonna build my team around a mixture of both of these. Let me find my percentages that work best for me and assign the authority accordingly, things will become even more efficient than they already are.
13:38 Yeah, I I definitely, I definitely understand that perspective and agree because that's one thing that you see lots of times, especially the younger, younger generations coming out of college and they get put in leadership positions and have not had the hands-on experience and not just just have good life experience in different environments because we all know that you know, lots of these young engineers that are coming out of college now, they get shipped to North Dakota or to the Permian Basin or, you know, Alaska, and they have no real life experience. So it definitely, definitely is very humbling, right, when they come out of college and you know, they've got to listen to their senior leadership that are out there boots on the ground, is what I like to say. The guys that can really point them in the right direction and set them up for success. And it really helps everybody work together in a good fashion. And I think too, that's one of the things that's kind of scary that we see sometimes where these younger kids come out of college and they've not been taught real life skills before they're put in leadership positions and given the the opportunities to learn from the people. So it it's it's definitely a balancing act. And and hopefully as the younger generation starts to evolve, you know, they'll be able to learn from some of us older folks that's been in it, that's made the mistakes along the way, and you know, take the advice that's out there and and listen and be open-minded. I think that's the most important thing is like you mentioned earlier, about a positive attitude and a good outlook and just being open-minded, it's definitely gonna set you apart. So a big, a big shortcoming health. Go ahead.
15:11 Yeah, I think a big shortcoming in that is go ahead, the the executive leadership there. You know, it's that's their job to say, I think it should, I think there should be parameters set and and boundaries set that says, hey, yes, you're the company man or you're the educated person coming out, and you are essentially gonna be in charge of this. But but as an authority, as you know, a a knowledge base, you are actually below this person, whatever that person is on site. You know, this person's been doing this for 50 years, and and those two people or those two teams of people have to learn to mutually work together. And I think there has to be the problem is when you any power shift, you know, anybody, any promotion, any power shift comes with, you know, the the younger generation, even some of the older generation, come with like, oh, well, I'm in charge now, I've got to make these decisions. And that's not necessarily the case, you know, and there needs to be that transition period somewhere in between that.
16:03 Yes, absolutely. So you've talked about how today's offshore industry is dramatically safer and more technologically advanced than it was decades ago, but you also worry about the younger professionals that didn't experience the events that shaped today's safety culture. How do we preserve those lessons without having to relearn them in the hard way?
16:22 Yeah, that that's a that's a tough scenario. And I think it also goes back to the the conversation we just had about, you know, the younger generation, older generation, the the knowledge and experience. But I I was blessed to be able to kind of come into the oil field at at a transition from still a lot of old oil field, but moving into the safety culture and technology. So it's easier for me to see that, you know, that transition or that have that knowledge that's still there. You know, my fear is in we're so much safer and so much further removed that some of the in 10 years, a lot of the guys that saw a bunch of the bad issues, you know, a bunch of the major injuries and deaths, they're not gonna be out there. So that's just a that now becomes just a story to the younger generation, you know. And when you had the the experience, you know, and when you haven't had that experience, that that story is not nearly as as effective as the actual life experience of seeing or being a part of that or being around that. And I think that transition is gonna need to be made still between that knowledgeable, you know, younger generation and the experienced older generation. And we're gonna have to find that that balance between the two to keep that alive.
17:30 Yes, it's it's one thing that I think that anybody's worked in the oil field for any amount of time, that's one thing that always gets discussed is safety. And I'm afraid I agree with you where, you know, the younger generation, they've got to have the emotion part that, you know, us older guys have seen where people's been hurt, unfortunately, and different aspects and just knowing what the risk is associated with it. And, you know, of course, too, working around, you know, natural gas and oil, obviously, you know, there's tons of different things that can happen. And, you know, just trying to explain that to the younger generation to put it in perspective, because at the end of the day, if they come in and somebody just tells them on a safety video, they're not gonna take it very seriously unless, you know, I think if they have a guy that's working beside them and say, look, you know, you can't do this because if you do this, it's gonna hurt you or it's gonna kill you. And you have to understand why and make sure that they feel that emotion part of it as well attached along with it. And lots of times when that emotion's not attached and they're just in a safety video type session, they, you know, they lose the emotion part that goes along with it. So I I completely agree. You lose a reality. You've gone from army infantry to offshore sub-sea engineering to yeah, absolutely. So you've gone from army infantry to offshore sub-sea engineering to entrepreneurship and construction and real estate. Looking back, what lessons have the oil field have stayed with you the most, even outside the energy industry?
18:58 It's the organization and professionalism, without a doubt, you know, and then just the team mentality. You know, it's it's hard to see that sometimes when you're on the rigs or when you're working. It look, it seems like people are, you know, not working as a team and they're fussing at each other and it's this and this and that. But when you make that transition out of there, you really, really into into, I don't want to say the civilian world, but back into the civilian world. Let's just use construction industry or or any other industry outside of Goldfield, you realize the professionalism that actually carries on on an on an oil rig or a platform or the oil and gas industry in general. You know, and I think, you know, if if I could carry the the organizational lessons, the planning, the, you know, you you plan so well. And again, it doesn't seem that way when you're out there doing this on the rigs or working, but it is. It is planned so well and so efficient and so budgeted that you you don't get that in in the real world. And I try to take all those things and and implement them into this construction and real estate. And I think that's 90% of the reason it's been so successful. You know, we all understand, everybody talks about it like, oh, you've got a you've got a plan. You've got a plan. Planning is your backbone. But once again, until you hit that experience and you see it and you actually implement that, you you don't understand the level of benefit that it is.
20:22 Yeah, absolutely. I I think it's so important for all the life lessons you learn in different environments, whether it's the military, it's in oil and gas, or it's in real estate or business or construction. I mean, all of those things fall into suit where you can use those applicable to where you can be successful and have that drive to work through it and have the determination to set yourself up for success. And, you know, all the good experiences that the oil fields taught you, of course, you're able to use them now and different day-to-day things. And I I think even as the older I've gotten, even with my own kids and being able to try to pass that information on and knowledge to let them not make the same mistakes that I've made, whether it be, you know, business decisions or, you know, life decisions or any kind of decision in life where you have to make tough decisions and, you know, being able to keep moving forward and stay focused on the plan and the mission, right? And so that's a big thing. It it's it's definitely uh something that they don't teach you in college, unfortunately. Yeah. You know, there's lots of kids that come out and they just, you know, they're not taught those things and you know, they don't have those good life lessons. And so, and unfortunately, too, in today's society, uh, you know, we see it more and more where it's it's more common. So, but Nick, I want to thank you this morning for jumping on with us and and sharing some of your experience and your knowledge and your time and your and your wisdom as well. And definitely want to, like I mentioned earlier, thank you for your service and definitely thank you for your contribution to the oil and gas industry. One of the things, Nick, we like to do for all our guests that come on the Under Pressure podcast. Uh, just when you get a chance sometime today, if you can shoot me your email with your home address, one of the things we like to do is we send out a care package. I have the ladies in the office send out a care package to all of our guests that come on, just saying thank you for taking the time out of your day. And, you know, of course, being on the show and sharing your knowledge with us. So, Nick, appreciate your time today, buddy. Thank you so much for jumping on and uh look forward to hearing from you again soon. And you have a great rest of your week, buddy.
22:27 Hey, thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks for the care package and and and thanks for your time. I think it's uh it's an awesome podcast you're doing, and uh looking forward to seeing some more interviews with people.
22:36 Absolutely. Thanks, buddy. Have a great rest of your week. All right, you too.