I am a Linux and containerization enthusiast with a strong focus on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Kubernetes, and OpenShift. My passion lies in automating complex infrastructure and enabling scalable, reliable application delivery through modern DevOps practices. Over the years, I’ve developed deep expertise in system administration, container orchestration, and CI/CD automation, and I enjoy building solutions that reduce manual effort while improving security and performance.

My career began in the U.S. Navy, where I gained over two decades of experience in high-pressure, mission-critical environments. From operating patrol boats in Iraq to teaching survival skills at SERE school, and later supporting advanced geolocation platforms for Naval Special Warfare, I learned the importance of precision, resilience, and continuous improvement—qualities I now apply to every technical challenge.

Today I live in Chesapeake, VA with my wife and three children. When I’m not exploring the latest in Linux, Kubernetes, or cloud automation, you’ll often find me on the water with my family, experimenting with horticulture, or turning a wrench as a self-taught auto mechanic.

Garage Log

The Garage Log is an application to track maintenance on a fleet of vehicles. The user is able to add vehicles through a built in VIN search. Once a vehicle is added it can be modified or deleted. Each user may have multiple vehicles and each vehicle may have multiple maintenance logs associated with it.
- Svelte
- PocketBase
- Tailwind
User profile app

This is an application for registering and allowing users to sign in. Once signed in the user can update all of their information to include name, avatar, email, and password. This app has email verification. The frontend was built with Svelte and deployed on Netlify. For the backend I used PocketBase and deployed on Fly.io. This is by far my favorite tech-stack. Check it out, you can register with a fake email to test the features.
- Svelte
- PocketBase
Small buisness blog

This is a site built for a small business that might want to reach customers with articles or blogs. The menu is a little different from the standard hamburger menu. It has an animated landing page with some graphics that I created using GIMP. The contact form is functional and I will receive messages there (probably not as fast as I would with an email). Check out the subtle color animation in the text.
- Astro
Python web scraper

My wife grew tired of manually gathering data from a website and assembling it into a spreadsheet for her job. The task consumed hours of her time, prompting her to seek my assistance. In response, I developed a web scraper tailored to her needs. Tkinter facilitated the creation of a user-friendly interface, simplifying the process of entering login credentials. Selenium efficiently navigated the website and extracted the necessary data. Lastly, Pandas proved invaluable for data cleaning and formatting, ultimately generating an HTML document for easy access and analysis.
- Python
- Tkinter
- Selenium
- Pandas
RGB Guessing Game

This is a guessing game that is great for anyone that uses RGB color. It was built using pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It is linked to my CodePen page because I really like being able to showcase the game as well as the logic. Give it a try and see where you RGB guessing skills are.
- HTML
- JavaScript
- CSS

Nicholas Voelker

Chesapeake, VA | volkoff223@gmail.com | 619-606-5945 | www.nickvoelker.xyz

Results-driven Linux and OpenShift platform engineer with 21 years of military experience. Skilled in RHEL, OpenShift, Kubernetes, and Ansible, with expertise in automating deployments, containerized application delivery, and system hardening. Adept at managing virtualized and cloud-native environments, integrating secure authentication systems, and ensuring compliance in classified, mission-critical operations. Proven track record of optimizing performance, reducing manual workloads, and enhancing system security across large-scale deployments.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

System Administration & Automation: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA), OpenShift Container Platform, Kubernetes, Ansible, Docker, Podman, Bash scripting, system provisioning, patch management, configuration management
Security & Compliance: TS/SCI Clearance, CompTIA Security+, SELinux, firewalld, system hardening, vulnerability remediation, compliance enforcement (CIS benchmarks, STIGs)
Monitoring & Infrastructure: Prometheus, Grafana, system performance tuning, capacity planning, log analysis, troubleshooting, high availability systems
Programming & Development: Python, Go, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, React, SvelteKit, Astro, Bootstrap, full-stack application development
Database Systems: MySQL, MongoDB, Firebase, PocketBase, database design, administration, and optimization
Development Tools & Collaboration: Git, CI/CD pipelines, Agile methodologies, Figma, Photoshop, GIMP, Adobe XD

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

OpenShift Administrator

U.S. Navy / Defense Contractor — Various Naval Vessels (2024-Current)

Configured, deployed, and managed the Agile Core Services (ACS) platform, an OpenShift-based application infrastructure deployed across U.S. Navy vessels.
Administered and optimized OpenShift clusters running on 24 Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) virtual machines, supporting application delivery, authentication, geospatial mapping, and relational databases.
Maintained, troubleshot, and secured Linux servers, ensuring high availability, system hardening, and compliance with security standards.
Automated provisioning, patching, and configuration management tasks using Ansible, reducing manual effort and improving reliability.
Supported containerized applications in OpenShift, ensuring smooth integration with the platform and underlying infrastructure.
Implemented authentication, authorization, and single sign-on (SSO) solutions with ForgeRock (Ping Identity) and Active Directory integration.
Monitored and tuned system performance using Prometheus, Grafana, and other monitoring tools to proactively detect and resolve issues.
Applied patch management, vulnerability remediation, and compliance enforcement in accordance with Navy cybersecurity requirements.
Facilitated delivery of applications via Application Arsenal, a secure shipboard repository and marketplace for mission software.

Software Developer

Early Education Business Consultants (2024)

Architected and developed full-stack application processing large-scale CSV data sets utilizing REST APIs.
Implemented automated payment tracking system that recovered thousands in missed revenue for 4 client companies through automated notification algorithms.
Implemented real-time document monitoring system with automated notifications.
Designed intuitive dashboard interface for data visualization and user alerts.
Technologies used: JavaScript, Python, SvelteKit, Pocketbase, VBA, SQLite, HTML, CSS.

Navigation Division Manager

U.S. Navy (2017-2024)

Administered Salesforce database for 300+ users, including security permissions, custom function development, and automated reporting systems.
Led technical training programs for electronic navigation systems (COGENT) and Garmin radar platforms.
Engineered mobile radar and electronic navigation training system, increasing training capacity by 500%.
Developed custom Excel-based performance tracking system with dashboard integration.
Managed decommissioning of naval vessel, coordinating with NAVSEA and technical contractors.

Technical Project Manager

U.S. Navy (2013-2017)

Managed classified development projects in collaboration with NSA, FBI, and CIA.
Developed and tested geo-location systems utilizing satellite communications.
Identified and resolved critical MySQL database architectural issues.
Conducted extensive field testing of hardware systems in extreme conditions.
Coordinated cross-agency technical teams and stakeholder communications.

Instructor | Quartermaster

U.S. Navy (2003-2013)

Master Training Specialist and Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape instructor.
Riverine Assault Boat operator.
Specialized in maps, charts and oceanography.