It’s the middle of the night out at sea aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, where electronics technician Thomas Scoggins and his fellow sailors are monitoring both shipboard nuclear power plants during the first underway test of the ship’s propulsion systems.

Suddenly, a malfunction occurs, and the team works quickly to shut it down.

“We ended up with both propulsion plants shut down, and for multiple hours throughout the night, we had no power to the ship and no propulsion,” recalled Scoggins of the 2009 incident. “So we just kind of floated there in the dark — everything goes dark and quiet, and you don’t realize just how dark and quiet it gets.”

Scoggins later clarified that the ship still had limited power from its backup diesel generators for vital systems and defense capability, so risk of harm to the ship’s crew was minimal.

Fast forward to 2025 at Diablo Valley College, and the now 23-year-retired Navy Chief to Ensign, Scoggins — who now goes by the name TJ — is helping guide the way for fellow veteran students who might also feel like they’re floating alone in the dark while navigating the rigors of college studies.

Working today at the school’s Student Veteran Resource Center, Scoggins proudly sports his green SVRC shirt and flashes a warm smile as he fondly remembers his duty station in Charleston, S.C., where he taught sailors straight out of boot camp the operation of instrumentation and control equipment on shipboard nuclear reactors.

Now, Scoggins channels that passion for teaching into mentoring his fellow student veterans at the center.

“I loved to take sailors fresh out of school and just watch them operate and grow as technicians and maintenance personnel, and watch them develop,” he said.

“Those ‘aha’ moments that people get when things finally click, and that light bulb goes off — that’s just the ultimate thrill for me.”

Scoggins started out at DVC as a volunteer math tutor, but today serves the SVRC as a work-study student while pursuing his degree in mechanical and electrical engineering. He said that besides being a “full-time father” and single parent to his 14-year-old son, his decision to begin working at the center ultimately came down to his finding a sense of community there.

“It was the manager, actually, Marina [Varela]. She’s just got this energy that’s infectious, and [so is] the camaraderie between the work-study students,” said Scoggins. “I really wanted to be a part of that.”

Following his years in the U.S. Navy, Scoggins no longer has to worry about malfunctioning reactors aboard hulking aircraft carriers. Instead, he’s found what he thinks is the perfect fit for channeling his wealth of naval knowledge.

“I started out as a tutor here, so I was tutoring math, and then it just kind of bled over,” he said.

“My experience being in the military… allows me to take everything I’ve learned [in the Navy] and help my fellow veterans. It’s awesome.”