My Career

Once upon a time I graduated from college with a degree in electrical engineering.  The year was 1984 and the school was San Francisco State.  With grandiose ideas in my head I set out to find a job.  Resumes flew out the door like pollen in the wind.  I applied to just about every large manufacturing and service company I could find.  Square D, General Electric, PG&E, Bechtel…you name it!  Unfortunately I had a lot of competition and things didn’t go quite my way.  On a whim I applied for a job at Mare Island Naval Shipyard.  Lo and behold I got the position!

Luckily for me they had just removed a freeze on hiring and I was one of the first guys through the door after a 3-year hold.  I started out working for one of the design shops but quickly transferred over to the Ocean Engineering Branch.  There I started working on a variety of surface ships and small submersibles in the deep dive program.  Unfortunately the writing was on the wall with regard to the health of the shipyard so I decided to look around for some new digs.  In time I managed to get hired by the Military Sealift Command, Pacific.

MSC was a whole new ballgame.  I had more responsibility and independence and I got to travel.  Over my 9-year tenure there I was able to see Hawaii, Guam, Yokoska, Yokohama, Sasebo, Manila, Subic Bay, Singapore, Phuket, Dubai as well as a few domestic ports.  I once had a trip that involved a flight from SF to Heathrow and then to Dubai and then a transit from there to Singapore by ship and then back to airplanes for a flight to Hong Kong, Honolulu and then home.  Around the world in 18 days!  While at MSCPAC I made the transition from worker bee to supervisor.  I took charge of the Electronics Branch and inherited five technicians, an electrical engineer and a secretary.  It was quite a change of pace.

Unfortunately the Navy was not quite done with reorganization and decided to close the Naval Supply Center Oakland.  Since MSC was a tenant there they had to move.  My choice was San Diego or San Diego.  I didn’t like either option so I chose to jump ship and head for the sky.  I soon found myself working as an Air Transportation Systems Specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration.  Basically a technician responsible for maintaining a 3-megawatt power plant with it’s associated support equipment.  Fun!

Over the past few years I have managed to work my way up to a Systems Program Specialist position and then the Supervisory position for this unit.  I know manage 9 technicians, 2 maintenance mechanics and 1 Systems Specialist.  We basically work as a team to provide 24/7 watch coverage for the plant and accomplish all associated maintenance.  I’m proud to say my team has never missed a beat with regard to covering the watches or allowing the plant to fail.  In this day and age that’s a difficult task to accomplish.

At this point I have over twenty years of government service to my credit.  Never thought I'd see that!  At my age I still have a ways to go before retirement comes along so I'll continue to do my job and take what comes next.  Who knows, I've yet to work for the Department of Energy or the Department of Homeland Security!  ;)

 Craig