Alumni Spotlights
Civil Engineers in Service: At Home & Abroad
Lieutenant Bradford “Brad” Garrigues is a registered PE in the state of North Carolina and a Seabee (construction battalion) Combat Warfare Officer. And he’s also a graduate of the department.
The Salisbury, NC native, received his BSCE in 2013. Upon graduation, Brad was commissioned an ensign via Officer Candidate School. Nine years before all this, Brad was in the Middle East, fighting as a Marine Corps reservist. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps Reserves in 2001 as a Combat Engineer and was deployed to Iraq in 2004 in direct support of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines in the Battle of Fallujah.
The Seabees’ official motto is Construimus, Batuimus. Which means: “We build, We fight.” This describes Brad’s journey as a civil engineer and career soldier. Some of his tours or duty have included being a Construction Manager at Camp Lejeune, an Assistant Public Works Officer in Washington, DC, and the Detachment Officer In Charge in Yap Federated States of Micronesia (photo).
He’s enjoyed the geographic diversity of his various tours and the different skill set each location requires him to utilize. From doing tactical maneuvers with the Seabees to participating in disaster relief around the world to designing public works systems for an entire base, Brad has done a wide range of jobs. He feels his education has well prepared him for all of it.
Salisbury native, LTJG Darin Basso graduated cum laude, with a BS in Civil Engineering in 2018. During his time at UNC Charlotte, he interned with local construction companies and was active in the ASCE student chapter, serving as the Carolinas Conference Chair and the Student Chapter Vice-President.
Darin went through the Navy Collegiate program while enrolled as a full-time student. After graduating college, he went through Navy Officer Candidate School, choosing to become part of the Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) community. “I wanted the opportunity to build [infrastructure] around the world,” he says. His extracurricular involvement helped him develop leadership, communication, and public speaking skills at different roles while in school.
“My UNC Charlotte education prepared me to think critically,” he shares, “and most importantly to play my part in the teams I’m assigned to today.”
While enrolled in Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, he chose to be assigned a Construction Manager billet at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (MCAS Yuma). When his training was complete, he worked as a Construction Manager on a new $35M Desert Warfare Training Facility for the Navy at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. The project delivered additional training space and ordnance storage to the warfighter.
Since commissioning three years ago, he’s passed the PE and has worked on various construction projects in California and Mississippi in addition to Arizona. He’s currently a DET OIC (detachment officer in charge) for San Clemente Island with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion THREE, working on more exciting projects for the Navy and Marine Corps. Great job, Darin.