CAPT Kris Neset, National Park Service Denver Service Center, Project Manager, Civil Engineer

What was your role in the military and your dates of service?
My best friend in high school, his dad was the National Guard recruiter in my hometown of Minot, North Dakota, so I got talked into enlisting in February 1995 (junior year of high school). I served as a Combat Engineer in the North Dakota Army National Guard from 1995 to 2007. I was enlisted from 1995 to 2002. I was a Commissioned Officer from 2002 to 2007 after completing Officer Candidate School (OCS). I held various positions as I moved up through the ranks on the enlisted and officer side. I served a 15-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005-2006. I was a platoon leader during our Iraq tour where our wheeled combat engineer company conducted route clearance operations. We stayed busy. Our company found 470 Improvised explosive device (IED)’s/roadside bombs. After returning from Iraq, my last position was a Teach, Assess, Counsel, (TAC) Officer, like a drill sergeant for Officer Candidates, before I transferred from the ND Army National Guard and into the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps in August 2007.

How did you come to work for National Park Service?
National Park Service (NPS) is an agency that I had been interested in for some time, but the stars just hadn’t aligned properly. When I transferred to the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) in 2007, NPS was one of the agencies that employed USPHS engineers but not in North Dakota. My wife and I wanted to stay closer to family in North Dakota as we had our first child while I was deployed to Iraq. Therefore, I worked three different positions that I found extremely rewarding for the Indian Health Service – Sanitation Facilities Construction in Minot, ND from 2007 to 2020; all while under the umbrella of the USPHS. I built up some contacts of NPS engineers through the years who all loved working for NPS so I was still keeping my eyes open. In the meantime, my older daughter was excelling at figure skating, specifically ice dance, and my wife eventually convinced me to let her do online school and train full-time in Colorado Springs, CO. After a tour with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) – National Center for Environmental Health from 2020 to 2022 a remote position opened up with the Denver Service Center and I transferred from the CDC to NPS in March 2022. As they say the rest is history!

1LT Kris Neset trying to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi kids while his platoon takes a break on a Route Clearance patrol in north-central Iraq.

What role do you play in National Park Service today?
My role in NPS is as a Project Manager and Project Specialist for various civil engineering projects in the Denver Service Center portfolio. I remote work from Colorado Springs, CO. I am still working under the umbrella of the U.S. Public Health Service and have about 18 years of combined active duty time. I really appreciate the NPS mission and enjoy working for the NPS for hopefully many years to come.