shawnwright.blog

After losing my last contract and officing out of the corporate location since then, I started a new position with my company today, on another contract, that took me back to Tinker AFB as an on-base employee for the first time in four months. I can't really get into what I'm doing, but it is all very new to me, and likely to keep me very busy. And it was great to be back. I think I'm going to like it.

Labels: Tinker AFB, work

Tomorrow is my last day working, as a contractor, for the B-1B SPO at Tinker AFB. We had our team farewell on Friday, where I was allowed to say a few words. What follows is what I had prepared, which may have come out a little differently in execution, but I think the gist was there...

For 12 years, 3 months, and 19 days, I have worked for the same company,for the same customer, at the same location, with only minor variations in details. I've sat in something like 11 different desks. There have been something like eight different contracts I've been on over that 12+ years, but it's all been essentially for that same customer and in roughly the same place. For my 12-year old daughter, this is the only place I have ever worked. The biggest change was in 2001 when I went from being a one-man shop to being a supervisor of a team. That team fluctuated in size over the years from as few as 3 to as many as 11.

In the eight years and six months I've had a team working for me, there have been 19 different people that have worked for me and this customer. Considering the present team size is nine, that's not a lot of turnover for eight and a half years. Also, three of the nine have worked for me seven or more years, which makes for a pretty solid core. This team has grown the size of our customer's maintenance applications from 4 to more than a dozen, with several more left in the pipeline. We've grown our customer's user base from roughly 400 to more than 1500, and that number reaches more than 4400 if you include users of systems derived from our work with this customer. But most importantly, I truly feel that we've provided a service that has saved our customer and our country time and money, allowing them to focus on the more important aspects of supporting our warfighters in the field.

So, what will I miss the most?

Well, first and foremost, I will miss my team, and being part of the Air Force family. Even though I'm a contractor, I've been part of this organization for longer than many of its own personnel. I will miss working on an Air Force Base, because, as a former Air Force Brat, it's always been a bit more like home than about any place else I can think of working. With a father that served 21 years in the Air Force, I've had access to a base for all but one year of my life just after college. I will miss working near an active runway, seeing all the many types and sizes of aircraft that have come through, from the typical fighter, bomber, and tanker inventory to the strange and unusual, like the space shuttle, air force one, and the super guppy. Most of all I will miss being part of the BONE family. I built and played with a model B-1 as an 11-year old boy. Twelve years later I found myself working with the people that support that very aircraft. And another twelve years later I find myself parting ways with something that had become such an integral part of my life. Though I may go off and find myself working someplace else for the next thirty years of my life, I suspect that my years here will always feel the most like home.

For the record, I will NOT miss the cafeteria food. Having to park near building 3705 at times and walk ten minutes to building 3001. Cramming in the hallway as a tornado shelter. Enduring 90-degree weather INSIDE 3001 when the chillers go out. Standing outside for hours on end during post-9/11 building evacuations due to suspicious boxes of dirty pants. Or random vehicle inspections. Also among the glad to be rid-ofs are leaky roofs and the associated seemingly endless repairs, ear-shattering fire alarms, getting a new CAC every 2-12 months, and... did I mention the cafeteria food?

I know I've gone on a bit, but if I may, I'd like to make one last introduction of my team for those that may not know them (and to let you know where they're going from here), though before I do, let me say one last thanks to my team themselves for many years of loyal service, to my customer for more than a decade of unwavering support, and particularly to all of you that took us in over the years, and made us feel like we belonged, despite our unfortunate status as contractor scum. It has been in all regards an honor and a privilege to serve with you.

Some good friends of ours in the maintenance organization took us out to the flight line earlier this week so that we could get a nice group picture, and say our last farewells to the BONE in person.

Labels: B-1B, Tinker AFB, work

Got a pic of the presidential motorcade on I-40 as he left the local air force base this morning.

Labels: POTUS, president, Tinker AFB

The tenth spot on my software team was filled today after a month-long search. It's good to finally be fully staffed, as we have a lot of work to do.

Labels: Tinker AFB, work

While work was hell today due to new-contract-extension-madness that's not worth getting into, it was a great Thursday in all other regards. Good fun at lunchtime bowling Thursday (119, 157) was followed by a cool concert Thursday night.

Doors were supposed to open at the venue at 6pm, so we were surprised to find a line at the door when we got there around seven, when the first opening band was due to be on stage. Turns out Al Gore was at the same venue (University of Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center) at 4pm, and it took a long time for that crowd to clear out. Fortunately, that seemed to only have delayed things by about thirty minutes.



The first opening band, Armor for Sleep was FANTASTIC. I have their first album, which I have come to enjoy, but they were surprisingly good live. I'd say better live than in studio. MUCH more energetic. The fact that they played a short set was the only real disappointment. We'll never know if the set length was impacted by the delay of the venue's availability or not (thanks A LOT Mr. Gore).

The second opening band, UnderOATH, was decent, and put on a VERY high-energy and entertaining show, but as I had not heard them before, I have nothing with which to compare. I will say that the crowd was definitely much more into UnderOATH than Armor. The entire place came to life when they hit the stage, and everyone seemed to know who they were, in contrast to Armor (during AfS's performance, I heard several people say things like "who are these guys").

The main event, Taking Back Sunday, got off to a rough start. Not sure how long they've been on tour, but the lead singer clearly had some voice issues, which took a few numbers to get smoothed out. I'm a HUGE TBS fan, so I loved the show, but I was a little worried at the onset. Things did improve, and if the below photo is any indication, the crowd was very into it. In fact, we witnessed several folks get past security and make it on stage only to be dragged away. Overall, they put on an entertaining show, but I will say that in contrast to AfS, their live show was not quite as good as their studio performance. Of course, I'd go see them again in heartbeat, so don't let that statement take anything away from the entire concert being a good show to see.



In closing, I'd like to send out a special thanks to my friends angry Vicki and astonished Vicki for joining me on short notice. It was a good time. And while it was a pretty young crowd, I was pleased to see folks much older than myself at the show, so I didn't feel entirely like a old fuddy-duddy.

Labels: concert, music, opinion, review, Tinker AFB, work

Turns out that, in addition to working next to a runway, it's also not so bad to have your father live just a mile outside the base. The Thunderbirds performed while I was at my dad's for a little this afternoon, so I got a few more pics.



After the visit to my dad's, I took the girls to their mother's, and got in a ten-mile bike ride around Lake Hefner.

On the way back, I got lucky and was near the base when the baddest bomber on two wings was doing its part in the air show. So I pulled over and got a few pics of the B-1 as it made a few passes over the base. Meanwhile, the dinner I had just picked up got cold on my passenger seat.




There are higher resolution versions of these available, too.

Labels: B-1B, Thunderbirds, Tinker AFB

I work at Tinker AFB (unfortunately, it hasn't yet made me a millionaire), in a building right next to the main runway. The perks about such a location are usually limited to seeing various aircraft come to the base for maintenance/repair/overhaul ("MRO"), aircraft performing operational flight tests before returning to home station, or during the hurricane season, when squadrons of F-15s scramble up to Tinker from bases in Florida. On this day, however, the treat was extra special, as the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds have come to town to do a 4th of July weekend air show, their first in Oklahoma since 1987.

Yesterday, I missed them practicing in the afternoon, but saw them flying around later, just after dinner time. In neither of those cases was I able to get any pics, but today I stepped outside with my camera and actually got of a few decent shots (use this link for full resolution versions).





This one is my favorite.

Labels: Thunderbirds, Tinker AFB