A Lifetime of Engineering Excellence: Q&A with Federal Portfolio Director and Retired U.S. Navy Captain Jake Washington

Whether he is working hard managing large engineering programs or playing hard at “the happiest place on earth,” Jake Washington brings excellence to everything he does. He held progressive program and project management assignments throughout his career in the U.S. Navy, culminating as Commanding Officer for Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Midwest, where he led a 1,000-member military and civilian workforce serving Department of Defense agencies throughout a 16-state region. We sat down with Jake to talk about his home base of California, his history working with the Navy (and other military branches) and how his military career has impacted his perspective at #OurJacobs.

After 28 years, you retired from the U.S. Navy. What do you bring from that experience to your role at Jacobs?

After 28 years in military engineering, from the installation level to the Pentagon, I bring a deep, holistic knowledge of military facility requirements, from concept through the entire lifecycle. I understand the plethora of unique and changing conditions and how to engineer resilient, energy-smart facilities. I used this knowledge to support the uniformed services during my active-duty career and all federal agencies for the past ten years as a federal client leader for Jacobs.

You helped China Lake recover after two major earthquakes. How did that affect you?

I was privileged to lead the Jacobs team’s response to the July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes. Over the past three years, we have employed almost 1,000 technical staff to support the continuing recovery effort. We worked side-by-side with Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) to help plan, program and fashion a design-build delivery strategy in record time. We worked to complete 18 military construction projects and established a new field office near the base to provide on-site construction support through completion in 2026. I saw this as a “call to duty,” reminiscent of similar emergency response missions I supported on active duty. I experienced a tremendous sense of pride watching the Jacobs team perform and seeing new leaders emerge and shine in a dynamic and fast-paced environment. I enjoy the exhilarating feeling of knowing our team is playing a direct and substantial role in the unprecedented rapid recovery of such a vital national security asset.

It sounds like you bring a military perspective to everything you do. In what ways can Jacobs help the DoD conserve resources and overcome logistical challenges?

Our military's real estate and energy footprints are huge — likely the largest of any single entity in our country. Training and operations, as well as planning, designing and constructing defense facilities and infrastructure, are connected to the health and resilience of the natural environment. At Jacobs, we lead the way in these areas. We are developing nature-based planning and design criteria, identifying ecological project solutions and exploring strategies for the electrification of base infrastructure and vehicle fleets. We draw out the requirements of each unique project and shape an optimized, unique solution that meets or exceeds the end customer’s needs. This promotes first-time project success, optimized production and logistical speed across all supported federal agencies.

How can Jacobs help prepare installations for mission readiness?

Jacobs’ focus on fully capturing programming and preliminary design requirements, and establishing comprehensive cost and schedule risk analysis programs, can reduce unexpected cost growth while increasing approval of key projects to achieve mission capability. Additionally, working closely with cost experts to monitor local market conditions, prudently applying cost escalation factors and partnering effectively with designers and builders minimizes the risk for all stakeholders, promoting end-to-end project cost and schedule efficiency.

Can you tell us about a memorable military project experience?

Probably the most memorable project experience for me was the culminating activity of my command tour at NAVFAC Midwest (MV), when I had the honor of commissioning the Navy’s lone enlisted recruitment campus in 2012, the revitalized Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois.  I had previously served at NAVFAC MW from 1997 – 2000, during which I helped build the budget and initiate the planning and design strategy to revitalize the WW II era “Boot Camp.” Over the ensuing decade, we rebuilt the campus from the ground up. During my command tour, I was honored to commission the final projects and host an inaugural celebration for the entire campus. Great Lakes is known as the Quarterdeck of the Navy, because every enlisted Sailor must pass through on their journey to service.