An Air Force reservist is using the experience and leadership skills he has gained in uniform to steer policy and guide his decisions as a county judge in civilian life.
Air Force Maj. S. Brint Carlton was elected in 2014 as the judge for Orange County in southeastern Texas, on the border with Louisiana and 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
With more than 10 years of Air Force service, including time on active duty and in the traditional and individual reserve programs, Carlton has had ample time and opportunity to gain the leadership skills he uses every day in Orange County.
"I credit my leadership skills, understanding of budgets and my focus on the big picture to what I learned in the Air Force," he said.
The Orange County native began his Air Force career in 2005 after finishing a master's degree in health administration at the University of Florida. He spent just shy of four years on active duty as a Medical Service Corps officer. Following a deployment to the Middle East, he transferred into the traditional reserve at the 433rd Airlift Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, to pursue more education. Because his master's degree would pair well with a law degree and he had seen his father's success practicing family law, he used the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits he earned on active duty to earn a juris doctor degree and a master's degree in business administration at St. Mary's University in San Antonio. It took him 2 1/2 years.
Law Practice, New Military Assignment
After graduating in December 2011, he returned to Orange County to practice family law with his father. He also left the 433rd for a joint assignment at the 953rd Reserve Support Squadron at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, in 2013. He soon realized, however, that practicing family law was not for him, he said, and took a juvenile prosecutor position in the district attorney's office. It wasn't long before some fellow county employees suggested he might do more for Orange County, asking him if he had ever thought of running for county judge.
Carlton said a county judge in Texas is more akin to a governor or the CEO of a company, albeit one with a judicial aspect. A county judge is the budget officer, leads emergency management, and is the presiding official of the commissioner's court. County judges also preside over local judicial matters, such as misdemeanor, probate and civil cases.
He began his bid for county judge in 2014, earning 26 percent of the vote in a four-way election that produced no victor. In a runoff election, Carlton earned 53 percent of the vote and entered office Jan. 1, 2015.
New Leadership Style
At 32, he was one of the youngest county judges in Texas, and he was the county's first new judge in 20 years. County commissioner Barry Burton, another Orange County native who was elected at the same, said the Air Force reservist brought a new style of leadership to the county, looking into the future and finding ways to make county programs sustainable.
"In the past, the budget cycle was a year-to-year kind of thing," Burton said. "We don't do it that way any more."
As Carlton adjusted to public life, he also had to rebalance his relationship with the Air Force. His assignment at the 953rd, a three-year commitment which he had taken even before starting at the district attorney's office, was more demanding than expected, he said. In addition to numerous training stints, he found himself participating in exercises and missions that had him globetrotting, including several high-profile readiness exercises and seven weeks spent in Italy assisting with U.S. efforts to combat the Ebola virus disease in West Africa. He had to exercise his authority as head of Orange County emergency management by calling in a flood evacuation order while on an exercise in South Korea
"It was a lot more than I expected and took away from my time in Orange County," he said. "I was not getting much sleep, as I did military work during the day and civilian work during the evenings."
Other Opportunities
As his commitment at the 953rd was nearing its end, the major began looking for other opportunities in the Air Force Reserve. He took an individual mobilization augmentee position with the Air Force Medical Operations Center at the Pentagon that offered fewer training requirements, increased flexibility in his annual commitment and also allowed him to check off another of the four pillars of his officer career: a national capital region assignment.
Carlton said his decision to continue serving also benefits the county, because he will continue receiving "valuable and relevant experience and training in leadership and planning that this county sorely needs."
When he took office, the county's reserve fund had only enough money to sustain the county for three days. Since Carlton became responsible for the budget, the fund has grown from $392,000 to $4.6 million -- without a raise the county property tax rate. He also has improved the county's infrastructure; purchased more than $1 million in new vehicles, machinery and equipment; and increased government transparency.
Jimmy Sims, the mayor of Orange, Texas, the county's principal city, said Carlton put county affairs back in line by increasing accountability for county employees and fixing the big financial mess he inherited when elected. The two have worked closely together since the election.
"He's doing a superb job," Sims said of Carlton. "He's young, energetic and he holds people accountable."
Carlton's focus on efficiency led to an energy efficiency program to lower expenses at all county buildings. This included switching to LED lights and ensuring the buildings were properly sealed to make the most of cooling systems.
Burton, the county commissioner, said this plan will pay for itself. The old way of maintaining these buildings, he said, was to run the equipment until it broke and then scramble to fix it. Now, he said, everything is on a maintenance schedule, which allows the costs to be built into the budget.
"It's not necessarily doing more with less, but doing more with what we have -- being as efficient as we can be before we ask for a tax increase," Carlton said.
Economic Development
Carlton also shook things up on the economic development corporation. Before he took office, the corporation was made up of only county, city, and port officials. The judge opened it up to local business leaders and school district officials as well. He also shifted away from focusing only on large projects such as attracting big petrochemical companies, working instead to bring in more research and development, retail, manufacturing and housing opportunities. While economic development is ultimately a long-term project for the county, Carlton said, the changes established the groundwork for greater economic impact and a quality-of-life increase for the county in the years to come.
The most important leadership skill he brings to the table comes from the combination of smaller skill sets he learned in the Air Force, Carlton said. Emergency management, preparing budgets and serving as a health administrator have prepared him to frame things in terms of what is best for the common good, rather than that of special interest groups, he added, and have helped him have a better chance to encourage those who don't see eye to eye to work together.
His decisions don't always win him praise, he said, but in the end his goal is to get everyone working together for the betterment of the entire county, not just individual groups.
Putting aside the various tasks associated with county judge, Carlton classified the job as primarily one of leadership -- leadership in the budget process, leadership in economic development, disaster management and serving as the face of the county. The county judge has to make tough choices and take responsibility for the outcomes, he said.
"What that means to me is giving full credit and taking full blame," he said. "That's what I've learned in the military. When you're in a position of leadership and authority and something goes wrong, it's your fault and you don't make excuses, no matter what happens."