GALVESTON, Texas (August 2, 2017) – At a young age, Bobby Jones learned the meaning of hard work. Born and raised along the Mississippi River Delta in Western Kentucky, he worked with row crops such as tobacco, corn, wheat, and grain sorghum. He even spent some of his summers working on hog, horse, and cattle farms all before the age of 15.
During the summer after high school, upon ending a day of hauling about 2000 square bails, Jones came home to a college acceptance letter from the University of Tennessee-Martin. He then set forth to attend college and earned his Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Management with a concentration in Wildlife Biology from the University of Tennessee in Martin, Tennessee in 2003. After college, Jones felt a duty to serve his country and enlisted in the U.S. Army as a Cavalry Scout.
“I was stationed in Fort Irwin, California and worked at the National Training Center, running opposing force missions for units deploying overseas” said Jones. “I really enjoyed being stationed in California and I had a blast doing what the Army assigned me to do.”
Jones served in the U.S. Army for three years until he was honorably discharged in 2009. After his enlistment, while he was working as a deckhand for a major inland barge company, he met a U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s lock master who told him about applying for the Corps.
Jones got his start with the Corps as a park ranger at Degray Lake in 2010. 7 years later, Jones is now a Regulatory Project Manager for the Corpus Christi regulatory field office. His primary duties consist of conducting wetland delineations and verifications, reviewing DA permit application, such as general and standard permits, conducting compliance inspections on authorized projects and mitigation sites, and conducting unauthorized activity investigations.
“Some of my secondary roles are to mentor and train our new hires of the role we play in the development of the Texas Coast, and to conduct outreach and educational programs within our community to create awareness and avoid any unnecessary violations,” said Jones. “I have learned so much from the experience I have gained working with members of the Corpus Christi field office and within our community, and that knowledge has been invaluable to my growth.”
Aside from being actively involved in his community, Jones thoroughly enjoys what he does and where he lives. In his free time, Jones enjoys watching football or NASCAR, hunting, fishing, or camping with his dog.