Some people work hard. Others work with purpose. Chris Butler does both.
Some people work hard. Others work with purpose. Chris Butler does both, carrying the discipline of a U.S. Navy veteran into every part of his life and career.
Butler enlisted in 1995 just weeks after graduating high school.
“I always wanted to be in the military,” he says. “As a kid, that was the dream, running around playing G.I. Joe, so when I graduated, I just went for it.”
By July he was aboard the USS John F. Kennedy, beginning a journey that would shape him for life.
His first year in the Navy brought moments many only dream of. During a 1996 deployment his ship became the first American warship to dock in Ireland since World War II.
“People were treating us like rock stars,” he remembers. “I was signing autographs. I mean, who would’ve thought?”
That same week he ended up in the front row at The Eagles’ “Hell Freezes Over” tour. “For free,” he says. “That was epic.”
Though he served one tour, the influence stayed with him.
“I never regretted serving, it made me who I am. The discipline and the problem-solving are things I still use every day.”
Butler joined CAW in 2007 and carried that work ethic straight into the field. After taking a one-year break in Montana to work in extreme winter conditions, he returned with even more resolve.
“Try fixing a water main at 18 below zero,” he says. “Your car tires freeze to the ground. That’ll teach you a thing or two.”
Now a district supervisor with the valve crew, Butler is known for solving problems others can’t.
“People come to me with a huge issue and say, ‘I don’t know what’s going on,’” he says. “And I’m like alright, let’s go figure it out.”
One case involved a pressure complaint that didn’t make sense. Instead of settling for an easy answer, Butler followed a hunch deep into the woods.
“Two blocks in I find basically a river,” he says. “That break was hidden where no one would ever look. That’s the kind of challenge I like.”
Outside work, his spirit of adventure continues. He enjoys traveling out west and once went to Guatemala to help small villages gain water access.
“I even saw a volcano erupt, Fuego,” he says. “That was something I’ll never forget.”
Through every chapter Butler has lived one truth: show up and get the job done. And he continues to do exactly that.
We appreciate you, Chris Butler, for your service to our country and all you do for Central Alabama Water.
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