See AEDC is a family affair for Garrards
12
By Bradley Hicks AEDC Public Affairs Among the thousands of employees who have forged ca- reers across Arnold Engineer- ing Development Complex are scores of engineers, craft per- sonnel, managers, supervisors, administrative assistants and others who possess decades of experience in their respective fields. A number of these long- time employees have worked at AEDC for more than half of its 70-year existence. Sev- eral team members fitting this description were asked to re- flect upon what drew them to seek an AEDC career, discuss some of the changes they’ve observed at the Complex over the years, and share some of the memories collected and insight gathered during their time at AEDC. Dr. Bill Baker Dr. Bill Baker’s first intro- duction to AEDC was in 1959. At that time, Baker was a stu- dent at Mississippi State Uni- versity and a member of the Institute of Aeronautical Sci- ences, which later became the American Institute of Aeronau- tics and Astronautics. Baker and other members of the IAS took a field trip to view the fa- cilities at AEDC, then known as Arnold Engineering Devel- opment Center and solely lo- cated at Arnold Air Force Base. After earning his Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineer- ing in the summer of 1963, Baker was offered a job by Ar- nold Research Organization, or ARO, which managed AEDC at the time. However, he had already accepted an offer from North American Aviation, Inc., located in Los Angeles, Califor- nia. Within a year after Baker’s move to the West Coast, there was a mass layoff at North American Aviation. Baker was affected, so he contacted ARO to see if they were still hiring. “They were, and on Aug. 13, 1964, I drove in the front gate of AEDC as an employee of ARO, Inc.,” Baker said. “In August of this year, that was 57 years ago.” Growing up, Baker was un- aware that AEDC even existed, much less that it was so close to where he lived. After that fate- ful college field trip, he knew he wanted to eventually work at AEDC. Arnold AFB, Tenn. June 7, 2021 Vol. 68, No. 11 PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID TULLAHOMA TN PERMIT NO. 29 Look for more coverage of the 70th Anniversary of AEDC in the June 21 issue of High Mach By Jill Pickett AEDC Public Affairs Nearly 60 years ago, Jim Garrard made a decision to work at then-Arnold Engineer- ing Development Center, now Arnold Engineering Develop- ment Complex, that has had a ripple effect for both his family and AEDC. He is the first of three gen- erations that have worked for AEDC. His son, Doug; daugh- ter-in-law, Angelia; grandson, Justin; and granddaughter, Ra- chel, all still work for AEDC at Arnold Air Force Base. In late 1961, Jim was faced with a decision when the com- pany he was working for in Chattanooga decided to move its operation to Connecticut – move the family or find a new job. “My wife and I, with two small children, didn’t want to move away from family,” Jim said. “Fortunately, ARO [Ar- nold Research Organization] brought a bus down and picked up around 15 of us and took us up to AEDC for interviews. I be- lieve all of us got jobs.” ARO was the contractor that operated AEDC. At the time, it was only located at Arnold AFB but now is a wing-equivalent or- ganization of the Air Force with multiple geographically sepa- rated units. Jim worked at Arnold for a little more than 32 years before retiring, helping AEDC make significant contributions to well- known aerospace programs. He was working in Reliability and Maintainability when he retired. “While I was working in VKF [von Kármán Gas Dynam- ics Facility] in Tunnel B and C, I was involved in several re-entry test programs for the manned space flight programs, includ- ing Apollo,” Jim said. “I also supported a lot of testing for the Space Shuttle. Those programs were in the news on a daily ba- sis, so I felt like I was actually contributing to something that was important to the nation and the world.” He went on to help get the Aeropropulsion Systems Test Facility up and running before finishing his career in energy management. Doug, a senior staff engineer and subject matter expert for Test Facilities with the Test Opera- tions and Sustainment contractor, was the next member of the fam- ily to join Team AEDC and has surpassed his father in number of years worked at Arnold with more than 37 years to his credit. Remembering the road to AEDC 70 years later By Deidre Moon AEDC Public Affairs During a June 25, 1951, ceremony at Arnold Air Force Base, President Harry S. Truman unveiled a plaque dedicating the Air Engineering Development Cen- ter as the Arnold Engineering Devel- opment Center in honor of General of the Air Force, Henry H. “Hap” Arnold. Arnold had passed away be- fore the ceremony, but his vision was instrumental in bringing the center to frui- tion. Thousands of people braved the heat that June day, not only to hear and see the presi- dent but witness the start of something im- portant in the field of aviation and aero- nautics. During his speech, Truman said, “The scientists who work here will explore what lies on the other side of the speed of sound. This is part of our effort to make our air power the best in the world – and to keep it the best in the world. This applies to the planes of the Air Force, the Navy and our Marines. It applies to our guided missiles and all the future development that science may bring.” Prior to this momentous dedication, however, Truman took the first steps in officially establishing a ground test cen- ter at Arnold AFB on Oct. 27 and 28, 1949, by signing the Unitary Wind Tun- nel Plan Act and the Air Engineering Development Center Act of 1949. The first bill authorized a unitary plan for the construction of transonic and supersonic wind tunnel facilities in an effort to bolster national de- fense. The second bill, signed the following day, autho- rized the $100 million ap- propriated by Congress for the con- struction of the Air Engineering Development Center, the site that would soon be- come known as the Arnold Engi- neering Development Center and eventually the Arnold Engineering Development Complex. Gen. Arnold proposes idea of test center But even before the passage of these laws, Gen. Arnold had insisted that a research and development testing site was necessary for the future of the U.S. Air Force. It was when Arnold, who was com- manding general of what was the Army Air Forces during World War II, visited England in spring of 1941 that he ob- served a British plane flying without a propeller. He wanted to bring this type of capability to the U.S. military. Knowing that developing new equipment would require the establish- ment of research and development or- ganizations and better testing facilities, Arnold met with renowned mathemati- cian, engineer and physicist Dr. Theo- dore von Kármán in New York in 1944 to discuss the future defense needs of the nation. Arnold asked von Kármán to form an advisory group tasked with provid- See 70 YEARS, page 3 Long-tenured AEDC employees share memories, observations AEDC is a family affair for Garrards See MEMORIES, page 5 During a June 25, 1951, ceremony at Arnold Air Force Base, President Harry Truman draws aside the curtain to reveal a dedicatory plaque mounted to a granite rock. The ceremony was held to dedicate the Air Engineering Develop- ment Center in honor of Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, who had passed away before the ceremony and whose vision was instrumental in bringing the center to fruition. Pictured with Truman is Arnold’s widow, Bee. (U.S. Air Force photo) Three generations of the Garrard family have worked at Arnold Air Force Base, beginning with Jim Garrard, center, pictured here in March 2021, with his son, Doug, second from right; daugh- ter-in-law, Angelia, second from left; granddaughter, Rachel; and grandson, Justin. Doug, An- gelia, Justin and Rachel all currently work at Arnold Air Force Base. (Courtesy photo) See GARRARDS, page 10
Transcript of See AEDC is a family affair for Garrards
By Bradley HicksAEDC Public Affairs
Among the thousands of employees who have forged ca-reers across Arnold Engineer-ing Development Complex are scores of engineers, craft per-sonnel, managers, supervisors, administrative assistants and others who possess decades of experience in their respective fields.
A number of these long-time employees have worked
at AEDC for more than half of its 70-year existence. Sev-eral team members fitting this description were asked to re-flect upon what drew them to seek an AEDC career, discuss some of the changes they’ve observed at the Complex over the years, and share some of the memories collected and insight gathered during their time at AEDC.
Dr. Bill BakerDr. Bill Baker’s first intro-
duction to AEDC was in 1959. At that time, Baker was a stu-dent at Mississippi State Uni-versity and a member of the Institute of Aeronautical Sci-ences, which later became the American Institute of Aeronau-tics and Astronautics. Baker and other members of the IAS took a field trip to view the fa-cilities at AEDC, then known as Arnold Engineering Devel-opment Center and solely lo-cated at Arnold Air Force Base.
After earning his Master’s
degree in Aerospace Engineer-ing in the summer of 1963, Baker was offered a job by Ar-nold Research Organization, or ARO, which managed AEDC at the time. However, he had already accepted an offer from North American Aviation, Inc., located in Los Angeles, Califor-nia. Within a year after Baker’s move to the West Coast, there was a mass layoff at North American Aviation. Baker was affected, so he contacted ARO to see if they were still hiring.
“They were, and on Aug. 13, 1964, I drove in the front gate of AEDC as an employee of ARO, Inc.,” Baker said. “In August of this year, that was 57 years ago.”
Growing up, Baker was un-aware that AEDC even existed, much less that it was so close to where he lived. After that fate-ful college field trip, he knew he wanted to eventually work at AEDC.
Arnold AFB, Tenn. June 7, 2021Vol. 68, No. 11
PRSRT STDUS POSTAGE PAIDTULLAHOMA TNPERMIT NO. 29
Look for more coverage of the 70th Anniversary of AEDC in the June 21 issue of High Mach
By Jill PickettAEDC Public Affairs
Nearly 60 years ago, Jim Garrard made a decision to work at then-Arnold Engineer-ing Development Center, now Arnold Engineering Develop-ment Complex, that has had a ripple effect for both his family and AEDC.
He is the first of three gen-erations that have worked for AEDC. His son, Doug; daugh-ter-in-law, Angelia; grandson, Justin; and granddaughter, Ra-chel, all still work for AEDC at Arnold Air Force Base.
In late 1961, Jim was faced with a decision when the com-pany he was working for in Chattanooga decided to move its operation to Connecticut – move the family or find a new job.
“My wife and I, with two small children, didn’t want to move away from family,” Jim said. “Fortunately, ARO [Ar-nold Research Organization]
brought a bus down and picked up around 15 of us and took us up to AEDC for interviews. I be-lieve all of us got jobs.”
ARO was the contractor that operated AEDC. At the time, it
was only located at Arnold AFB but now is a wing-equivalent or-ganization of the Air Force with multiple geographically sepa-rated units.
Jim worked at Arnold for a
little more than 32 years before retiring, helping AEDC make significant contributions to well-known aerospace programs. He was working in Reliability and Maintainability when he retired.
“While I was working in VKF [von Kármán Gas Dynam-ics Facility] in Tunnel B and C, I was involved in several re-entry test programs for the manned space flight programs, includ-ing Apollo,” Jim said. “I also supported a lot of testing for the Space Shuttle. Those programs were in the news on a daily ba-sis, so I felt like I was actually contributing to something that was important to the nation and the world.”
He went on to help get the Aeropropulsion Systems Test Facility up and running before finishing his career in energy management.
Doug, a senior staff engineer and subject matter expert for Test Facilities with the Test Opera-tions and Sustainment contractor, was the next member of the fam-ily to join Team AEDC and has surpassed his father in number of years worked at Arnold with more than 37 years to his credit.
Remembering the road to AEDC 70 years laterBy Deidre MoonAEDC Public Affairs
During a June 25, 1951, ceremony at Arnold Air Force Base, President Harry S. Truman unveiled a plaque dedicatingthe Air Engineering Development Cen-ter as the Arnold Engineering Devel-opment Center in honor of General ofthe Air Force, Henry H. “Hap” Arnold.Arnold had passed away be-fore the ceremony, but hisvision was instrumentalin bringing thecenter to frui-tion.
Thousands of people braved the heat that June day, not only to hear and see the presi-dent but witness the start of something im-portant in the field of aviation and aero-nautics.
During his speech, Truman said, “The scientists who work here will explore what lies on the other side of the speed of sound. This is part of our effort to make our air power the best in the world – and to keep it the best in the world. This applies to the planes of the Air Force, the Navy and our Marines. It applies to our guided missiles and all the future development that science may bring.”
Prior to this momentous dedication, however, Truman took the first steps in officially establishing a ground test cen-ter at Arnold AFB on Oct. 27 and 28, 1949, by signing the Unitary Wind Tun-nel Plan Act and the Air Engineering Development Center Act of 1949.
The first bill authorized a unitary plan for the construction of transonic and supersonic wind tunnel facilities in
an effort to bolster national de-fense. The second bill, signed
the following day, autho-rized the $100 million ap-propriated by Congress
for the con-s t r u c t i o n of the Air
Engineering Development
Center, the site that would soon be-
come known as the Arnold Engi-neering Development Center and
eventually the Arnold Engineering Development Complex.
Gen. Arnold proposes idea of test center
But even before the passage of these laws, Gen. Arnold had insisted that a research and development testing site was necessary for the future of the U.S. Air Force.
It was when Arnold, who was com-manding general of what was the Army
Air Forces during World War II, visited England in spring of 1941 that he ob-served a British plane flying without a propeller. He wanted to bring this type of capability to the U.S. military.
Knowing that developing new equipment would require the establish-ment of research and development or-ganizations and better testing facilities,
Arnold met with renowned mathemati-cian, engineer and physicist Dr. Theo-dore von Kármán in New York in 1944 to discuss the future defense needs of the nation.
Arnold asked von Kármán to form an advisory group tasked with provid-
See 70 YEARS, page 3
Long-tenured AEDC employees share memories, observations
AEDC is a family affair for Garrards
See MEMORIES, page 5
During a June 25, 1951, ceremony at Arnold Air Force Base, President Harry Truman draws aside the curtain to reveal a dedicatory plaque mounted to a granite rock. The ceremony was held to dedicate the Air Engineering Develop-ment Center in honor of Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, who had passed away before the ceremony and whose vision was instrumental in bringing the center to fruition. Pictured with Truman is Arnold’s widow, Bee. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Three generations of the Garrard family have worked at Arnold Air Force Base, beginning with Jim Garrard, center, pictured here in March 2021, with his son, Doug, second from right; daugh-ter-in-law, Angelia, second from left; granddaughter, Rachel; and grandson, Justin. Doug, An-gelia, Justin and Rachel all currently work at Arnold Air Force Base. (Courtesy photo)
See GARRARDS, page 10
2 • June 7, 2021
Values
Vision
• Ethics. We are uncompromising in our integrity, honesty, and fairness.
• Safety & Health. We are relentless in keeping people safe from harm, andwe provide a safe and healthy work
environment.• Security. We are disciplined and vigilant in protecting sensitive AEDC information and ensuring system integrity to support
national security and our customers.• Excellence. We thrive on challenge, accomplishment, and mission success.• Quality. We are passionate about doing
our work right the first time.• People. We have a mission-focused,inclusive workforce who have a diverse skill set, are committed to success, demonstrate innovation and have a can
do attitude.• Culture. Our team is proud of our diver-sity, inclusiveness, and collaborative work environment. We are proud of what we do
and how we do it.• Relationships. We build positive, long-term business relationships through trust,
respect, and collaboration.• Innovation. We overcome challenges through creativity, perseverance, technol-ogy, and flexibility. We actively seek to
continually improve.• Sustainability. We plan and act for thelong term benefit of our communities and
our environment.
High Mach Staff:Kathy Jacobsen,
NAS Executive Editor
Jill Pickett NAS Editor
Arnold Air Force
Base
Richard TigheGeneral Manager,
National Aerospace Solutions
High Mach is published by Lakeway Publishers, Inc. a pri-vate firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force, Arnold Air Force Base, Arnold Engi-neering Development Complex (AEDC) or National Aerospace Solutions (NAS), under exclu-sive written contract with NAS at Arnold AFB, Tenn., 37389.
Everything advertised in this publication will be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital sta-tus, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other non-merit factor of the purchaser, user or patron.
The High Mach office is located at 100 Kindel Drive, Suite A236, Arnold AFB, Tenn. 37389-1236. Editorial content is edited and prepared by NAS. Deadline for copy is Wednes-day at close of business one week before publication.
This commercial enterprise newspaper is an allowable NAS contractor publication for personnel at Arnold AFB.
The content of High Mach does not necessarily reflect the views of the Air Force, Arnold AFB, AEDC or NAS. The ap-pearance of advertising in this publication does not constitute endorsement of the products or services advertised by the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force, Arnold AFB, AEDC, NAS or Lakeway Publishers, Inc.For general information about High Mach, call (931) 454-5655 or visit www.arnold.af.mil.
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“NAS delivers the best aerospace testing
capabilities today and in the future.”
Col. Jeffrey GeraghtyCommander
Jason AustinChief,
Public Affairs
Smoking Policy1. The following revised Arnold AFB smoking policy is effective immediately and applies to all individuals on
Arnold AFB.2. Traditional Tobacco products (e.g. cigars and cigarettes):
a. Smoking is permitted solely in Designated Tobacco Areas (DTAs) identified by designated signage. If nosignage exists, smoking is not permitted in that area. It is the responsibility of all smokers to keep DTAsclean of cigarette butts.
b. Tobacco use on the Arnold AFB Golf Course is permitted, but discouraged based on the health hazardsof tobacco use and secondhand smoke. No smoking is permitted within 50 feet of golf course buildingsexcept in the approved DTA.
c. Smoking in government-owned/leased vehicles is strictly prohibited. Personnel are allowed to smoke in theirpersonal vehicles at any time; however, at no time will personnel discard cigarette butts outside their vehicle.
d. For government employees, the fact that a person smokes has no bearing on the number of breaks theymay take. Breaks should be taken in accordance with the current supervisory and personnel policies thatafford all employees the same break opportunities consistent with good work practices and accomplish-ment of the mission.
3. Smokeless Tobacco products (e.g. snuff and dip):Smokeless tobacco products are not to be restricted to DTAs. Smokeless tobacco use will be permitted in allworkplace areas (inside and out) subject to reasonable safety and sanitary conditions. Specifically, containersof tobacco waste product, including sealed containers, must not be left unattended or disposed of in trashreceptacles. Users of smokeless tobacco must flush tobacco waste down the toilet.
4. Electronic Cigarettes (also known as “e-cigs”):Pursuant to Air Force Instruction (AFI) 40-102, Tobacco Free Living, e-cigs are considered to be equivalent totobacco products; however, e-cigs are not restricted to DTAs and are allowed to be used outdoors at a minimumdistance of 25 feet from building entry/egress points. (This policy is dated July 27, 2016)
Team AEDC,I believe in free and open communications
with our Team AEDC employees, and that’s why we have the Action Line available. People can use the Action Line to clear up rumors, ask ques-tions, suggest ideas on improvements, enter complaints or get other issues off their chests.
The Action Line has been expanded to in-clude an option for your ideas, comments, or suggestions on the AcqDemo personnel sys-tem. Simply call the normal x6000 commander’s action line. You will then be prompted to select option 1 for the Commander’s Action Line or Op-tion 2 for the AcqDemo line. They can access the Action Line via the AEDC intranet home page and by calling 931-454-6000.
Although the Action Line is always available, the best and fastest way to get things resolved is by using your chain of command or by con-tacting the organization directly involved. I en-courage everyone to go that route first, then if the situation isn’t made right, give us a chance.
Col. Jeffrey GeraghtyAEDC Commander
Action Line
Maj. Gen. Franklin O. Carroll 1950-1952Col. Charles K. Moore 1952-1953Maj. Gen. Sam T. Harris 1953-1956Lt. Gen. Troup Miller 1956-1960Brig. Gen. Homer Boushey 1960-1961Maj. Gen. William L. Rogers 1961-1964Maj. Gen. Lee. V. Gossick 1964-1967Brig. Gen. Gustav Lundquist 1967-1969Maj. Gen. Jessup D. Lowe 1969-1971Col. Ward E. Protsman 1971-1973Col. Webster C. English 1973-1975Col. Oliver H. Tallman 1975-1979
Brig. Gen. Michael H. Alexander 1979-1981Brig. Gen. Kenneth R. Johnson 1981-1983Col. Phillip G. Conran 1983-1986Maj. Gen. Stephen P. ‘Pat’ Condon 1986-1989Col. Richard H. Roeling 1989-1991Col. William D. Rutley 1991-1993Col. Lawrence P. Graviss 1993-1995Maj. Gen. Michael P. Wiedemer 1995-1997Maj. Gen. Robert W. Chedister 1997-1998Col. Michael L. Heil 1998-2001Maj. Gen. David J. Eichhorn 2001-2004Brig. Gen. David L. Stringer2004-2006
Col. Arthur F. Huber II 2006-2009Col. Michael T. Panarisi 2009-2011Maj. Gen. Michael T. Brewer 2011-2012Col. Raymond Toth 2012-2015Col. Rodney Todaro 2015-2017Brig. Gen. Scott A. Cain 2017-2019Col. Jeffrey T. Geraghty 2019-Present
AEDC Commanders 1950 to 2021
AEDC Fellows 1989-2020By AEDC Public Affairs
The AEDC Fellows Program honors Arnold Engineering Develop-ment Complex personnel who have made substantial and exception-ally distinguished contributions to the nation’s aerospace capabilities.
Since the program was established in 1989, more than 100 individ-uals have been inducted as AEDC Fellows. Arnold Community Coun-cil assumed responsibility of the program after changes to government rules and regulations in 2016 concerning awards to non-government employees.
Fellows are recognized in four categories – Technical, Craft, Life-time Achievement and Honorary. All military, civilian and operating contractor/subcontractor Team AEDC members, currently or previ-ously assigned to AEDC, are eligible.
Inductees are honored each year with a banquet held on or near June 25, the birthday of General of the Air Force Henry “Hap” Ar-nold, for whom AEDC and Arnold Air Force Base are named. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a delay in holding the banquet in 2020.
1989Robert O. Dietz Donald R. EastmanDr. Bernhard H. Goethert Dennis D. HornDr. James G. MitchellDr. Jack D. Whitfield
1990Rudy W. HenselDr. Wheeler K. McGregorRobert E. Smith Jr.
1991Maj. Gen. Lee V. GossickDr. William F. KimzeyDr. Marion L. LasterDr. Samuel R. Pate
1992Dr. John C. AdamsA. John CableDr. John W. Davis
1993Dr. J. Leith PotterRobert M. Williams
1994Travis BinionDr. Edward KraftDr. Robert L. Young
1995Glendon R. Lazalier
Richard K. MatthewsWilliam T. Strike
1996Dr. James JacocksJohn Rampy
1997Dean HerronJim SivellsDr. Virgil Smith
1998Dr. Eugene J. SandersW.A. ‘Alvis’ Turrentine
1999Dr. Keith L. KushmanEarl A. Price Jr.Robert L.P. ‘Bob’ Voisinet
2000Dr. Donald C. DanielJerry H. JonesForrest B. Smith Jr.
2001Richard F. ‘Dick’ AustinLuther Neal Jr.
2002Marvin L. McKee
2003Dr. John BenekGlenn Norfleet
2004Dr. William B. BakerCarl T. KiddDr. Wendell S. NormanGen. Bernard A. Schriever
2005Ronald Dawbarn Frank M. JacksonDr. Theodore von KarmanJames C. UseltonDonald A. Wagner
2006Dr. James W. CunninghamMilton W. Davis Sr.Frederick L. ShopeDr. Frank Wattendorf
2007T. Frank LanghamWilliam ‘Bill’ MacDermottPaul E. McCarty
2008Dr. David ElrodWade Stevenson
2009Temple Bowling Dr. Charles ‘Chad’ LimbaughDave Pickering
2010William R. ‘Bill’ BatesDr. Milt Davis Jr.Dr. Stan Powell
2011Dr. Ronald L. ClouseWilliam G. Gray James H. NicholsJim N. PattersonEdgar Wantland
2012David C. BondDr. Robert Hiers IIIWilliam T. Scott
2013David BealeRon PolceMarvin SellersRetired Maj. Gen. Michael Wiedemer
2014Dr. Heard Lowry IIIMichael MillsRoss ReopkeJohn Sutton
2015Dr. John FeldermanPeggy GrayDr. Grant PattersonPhil Tarver
2016Tom BestRobert LindemanDr. Rob McAmisClaude Morse
2017Brent BatesDr. E. Eugene ‘Gene’ CallensPete FrenchDave MintoAnnette McCullough Painter
2018Charles Scott BarlettMark KellyJohn MurphyArt Weise
2019Gary ClowerDr. Doug GarrardDr. Robert HowardDan MarrenAnthony Taylor
2020Maj. Gen. Franklin O. CarrollDaniel CatalanoRamesh Chandra GulatiDr. Greg Power
By AEDC Public Affairs
Arnold Engineering Development Complex has been led by 31 commanders since 1950. Maj. Gen. Franklin O. Carroll was the first and is credited with bringing the Arnold Air Force Base portion of the Complex to fruition.
June 7, 2021 • 3
ing recommendations on the direction of future aviation research. At Arnold’s request, members of this group visited Germany in May 1945 to view test and research facilities captured dur-ing World War II. They found facili-ties, aircraft, engines and rockets more advanced than the Allied nations had imagined.
Among those who made the trip to Germany was American scientist Dr. Frank Wattendorf. After surveying the superior German ground testing facili-ties, Wattendorf penned a report known as the Trans-Atlantic Memo. This June 1945 report would become the baseline for establishing “a new Air Forces de-velopment center.”
The Trans-Atlantic Memo was pro-vided to Brig. Gen. Franklin O. Car-roll, who was then commander of the engineering division at Wright Field, which was later combined with the nearby Patterson Field to form Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Using information from the report, Carroll delivered a presentation to Ar-nold’s Air Staff. Carroll discussed the advancements the Germans had made in ground testing while noting the defi-ciencies in American wind tunnels.
Carroll, who would later become the first AEDC commander, requested the Air Technical Service Command conduct a preliminary study “for the establishment of a new Army Air Force’s Applied Research and Devel-opment Center for Fluid Dynamics.”
A committee was formed to com-plete this study, and the group released a report on Dec. 18, 1945, less than a week before “Toward New Horizons” was published. “Toward New Hori-zons” was a report from von Kármán’s group that visited Germany, in which they proposed a facility for the study and development of jet propulsion, su-personic aircraft and ballistic missiles. The envisioned facility was brought to life with the eventual construction of the Air Engineering Development Cen-ter.
Both reports recommended the use of captured German test facilities in a new installation in order to save time of facility design and construction. It was also recommended that the instal-lation be located near large sources of water and electric power.
Tennessee Valley selected as possible site
After a report titled “Proposed Air Engineering Development Center” was presented to the Air Staff in January 1946, a $1.5 million Army Air Forces contract was awarded to Sverdrup & Parcel Inc., an engineering firm based out of St. Lou-is, Missouri, to conduct further planning for the proposed center. Sverdrup & Par-cel Inc. recommended several possible sites for the new center, including Moses Lake in Washington, Grand Wash Cliffs in Arizona and the Tennessee Valley area. The Moses Lake site was considered too vulnerable to attack, and a water dispute between Arizona and California essential-ly disqualified the Grand Wash Cliffs site from consideration.
Huntsville, Alabama, then became the preferred site, as the Army was preparing to deactivate the Redstone Arsenal, and the use of this site could save time in the construction of housing and offices for the Air Engineering Development Center. However, the Army changed course on the Redstone closure after the Air Force began to take interest in it.
U.S. Sen. Kenneth McKellar of Ten-nessee then stepped in with an offer. He said the state could donate Camp Forrest to the Air Force for the center.
Camp Forrest was an active Army post located in southern middle Tennessee. The camp was active between 1941 and 1946 and was initially used as a training center for infantry, artillery, engineering and signal units. Camp Forrest became a prisoner of war camp in May 1942. Af-ter the end of World War II, the camp was closed. It was declared surplus in 1946 and dismantled.
Along with the Camp Forrest site, McKellar offered to help push necessary legislation through Congress, and the Air Force accepted.
On April 28, 1948, the year after the Air Force officially separated from the Army to become its own branch of the military, Camp Forrest was named as the site for the new Air Force Engineering Development Center.
In early March 1950, the year after Congress authorized $100 million for the construction of the Air Engineering De-velopment Center and less than 5 months after the signing of Unitary Wind Tunnel Plan Act and Air Engineering Develop-ment Center Act of 1949, the Secretary
of the Defense approved the construc-tion of the center. That June, the Army Corps of Engineers began construction on a perimeter fence and access road. Later that month, work began on a dam on the Elk River to create what would become known as Woods Reservoir to provide cooling water for testing facilities.
It was directed that the new center would be operated by a corporation un-der contract to the Air Force. On June 29, 1950, the Arnold Research Organiza-tion, or ARO, the corporation established to manage and operate the center, was awarded a contract from the Air Force to cover the first 15 months of operation.
Gen. Arnold died in January 1950. On June 25 of the following year, the site was
dedicated in Arnold’s honor, naming it the Arnold Engineering Development Center.
Construction of facilities and testing quickly followed, and by Oct. 21, 1952, supersonic airflow was first achieved at AEDC in the one-foot transonic wind tun-nel, known as “PeeWee.”
The following year, construction on the Engine Test Facility at Arnold was completed, and a supersonic test of the Air Force Falcon air-to-air missile was performed in what would come to be known as the von Kármán Gas Dynamics Facility.
The Arnold Engineering Devel-opment Center was re-designated as Arnold Engineering Development Complex in July 2012.
70 YEARS from page 1
Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold
DAF releases FY22 budget proposal, journeys to the Air and Space Forces of 2030
By Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) – The Department of the Air Force released its Fiscal Year 2022 budget proposal, May 28, focusing on investing in people and capability, building the future force and delivering joint lethality and effective-ness.
The Department’s $173.7 billion re-quest includes the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force budgets. The Air Force’s budget of $156.3 billion is a 2.3-percent increase and the Space Force’s budget of $17.4 billion is a 13.1-percent increase from FY 2021.
“This budget starts us on the path necessary to organize, train and equip the Air and Space Forces to deter and, if necessary, defeat the challenges we an-ticipate in 2030 and beyond,” said Acting Secretary of the Air Force John Roth. “It not only funds the capabilities required today, but also where the Department of the Air Force needs to make trade-offs to invest in the capabilities required for fu-ture competition.”
Key modernization programs fund-ed in the budget proposal includes the: Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, the replacement for the aging Minuteman III; Next-Generation Air Dominance, the Air Force’s future air superiority ca-pability; Advanced Battle Management System, the Department’s contribution to Joint All Domain Command and Con-trol; and space-based capabilities such as the Next-Gen Overhead Persistent Infra-red missile warning system.
Roth said the spending plan, in addi-tion to capability-focused modernization, also advances the Department’s commit-ment to empowering Airmen and Guard-ians, connecting the Joint Force and ex-panding partnerships.
Operation and Maintenance (O&M) is the largest portion of the request, ac-
counting for 38 percent or $66.6 billion. O&M dollars go directly toward funding day to day operations and are critical to sustaining readiness. The O&M request also continues to prioritize investment in people, funding an additional $542 mil-lion to include a 2.7-percent civilian pay raise.
The budget also takes action to ad-dress the difficult challenges of sexual assault, suicide and disparate treatment of Airmen and Guardians to build re-siliency. Funding is increased by $7.7 million to develop prevention programs within the DAF focused on the preven-tion of readiness-detracting behaviors including sexual assault, interpersonal violence and self-harm. Additionally, $6 million is added for diversity and inclu-sion initiatives to include new training and recruiting scholarships.
The Department’s Military Person-nel (MILPERS) request of $38.4 billion represents $942M growth from FY21. The FY22 request increases the DAF’s End Strength by 3,400 personnel over the FY21 enacted End Strength. MILP-ERS funding includes a 2.7-percent mili-tary pay raise, a 3.8-percent increase to the Basic Allowance for Housing, and a 2.3-percent increase to the Basic Allow-ance for Subsistence. Additionally, the Space Force grows by 1,966 to 8,400 Guardians resulting from mission trans-fers from the Air Force, Army and Navy.
The Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) FY 2022 budget has an increase of $3 billion to support the Department of Defense’s commit-ment to modernize key capabilities. A large portion of the funding focuses on modernizing the nuclear enterprise.
Nuclear command, control and com-munications are the central system of nuclear deterrence; with oversight of two-thirds of the nuclear triad, the bud-get adds $71 million. This increase will advance security and provide resilient
communication pathways to align nu-clear forces with the National Command authority under all conditions and phases of conflicts.
The RDT&E budget aims to establish the future ground-based strategic deter-rent and replace the current Minuteman III missile systems. The added $1.1 bil-lion includes funding for engineering, manufacturing and development activi-ties for the GBSD and funding for fur-ther long-range stand-off weapon devel-opment.
Other significant RDT&E fund-ing areas include further growth for the B-21 Raider, B-52 and F-35 programs.The budget incorporates funding thatminimizes climate risk, upgrades to air-craft fuel and assesses alternative fueloptions.
In order to focus resources to these and other modernization efforts, the bud-get also includes proposals to right size aging, costly and less-than-capable leg-acy systems by retiring 48 F-15C/D, 47 F-16 C/D, 42 A-10, 20 RQ-4 Block 30,18 KC-135, 14 KC-10, 13 C-130H andfour E-8 aircraft.
The Space Force’s RDT&E budget increases to a total request of $11.3 bil-lion, which is a $725 million increase compared to FY21. In addition to growth in classified programs, the proposal funds the Next-Gen Overhead Persistent Infrared missile warning system with an additional $132 million. This system cre-ates a resilient network when combined with the geosynchronous satellites and associated ground systems to increase missile warning and defense, battlespace awareness, and technical intelligence.
The FY 2022 Procurement budget is $25.6 billion, with the Air Force’s por-tion representing $22.9 billion.
The Air Force seeks to procure ad-vanced weapon systems like the hyper-sonic Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, and increasing the budget for
the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff missile to provide quantities of advanced weap-onry needed to deter future conflicts. The Air Force also requests the purchase of F-35, KC-46 Pegasus, F-15EX Eagle IIand MC-130J aircraft to ensure near-termreadiness while advancing fifth-genera-tion aircraft to outpace competitors.
The Space Force’s procurement bud-get will grow by $456 million to procure National Security Space Launch Vehicles which provide assured access to space for the nation’s warfighting and intelli-gence satellites. It also procures GPS III Follow-on Space Vehicles that provide new capabilities, including a spot beam that offers an anti-jam improvement 100 times greater than current encrypted mil-itary code.
The Military Construction (MIL-CON) and Family Housing portion of the budget increases by $1.1 billion for FY22. MILCON focuses on accelerating installation readiness, resilience, mod-ernization and continued Planning and Design funds to reinforce program stabil-ity and consistency. The FY22 proposal would fund 56 major construction proj-ects, including aircraft bed-downs across six Air Force bases. It adds $105 mil-lion to military family housing projects to continue focusing on the health and safety of Department of the Air Force members and families.
“This budget furthers our ability to operate jointly across all domains, con-tinues to develop the Space Force, recap-italizes elements of nuclear deterrence and accelerates modernization,” Roth said. “All with the focus of providing the nation with an unequivocal advantage through airpower and space power.”
The DAF’s FY22 budget proposal now goes to Congress for its consider-ation. Under the typical schedule, the budget must be approved and signed into law by the president by Oct. 1 when the new fiscal year begins.
By Estella HolmesAir Force Materiel Command
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The primary components of a successful, productive and healthful workplace is within the grasp of every supervisor.
That trusted environment where par-ticipants are committed to respectful col-laboration toward mission success is ex-emplified by members who are connected.
June’s AFMC Connect focus theme is connected.
Connectedness fosters commitment while productivity and trust drives col-laboration and cultivates healthy working relationships. Being connected helps team members know they are seen and individ-ual members’ thoughts and contributions are heard and valued.
The connection with a team produces protective environments which make members more resilient when stressors occur. Simply knowing one is not alone in times of need encourages a vital connec-tion among members.
Leaders can facilitate connection by:
• Offering activities that can help reducestress
• Having fun with the team, whilelearning about each member and fostering camaraderie.
• Emphasizing the importance of inclusion, giving everyone a voice
• Promoting early help-seeking as a sign
of strength and personal growth
• Highlighting individual values andhow they contribute to the team’ssuccess
• Getting to know members of the teamthrough frequent interaction
Constructive action can be taken byleaders by discussing ways the team can create and sustain an environment where everyone feels included.
In addition, opportunities to build con-nections for personnel can be created by employing virtual means, as well as ex-isting forums like staff meeting and calls. Team members can talk about what being connected means. They might also dis-cuss how having everyone contribute to the mission helps build a connected work-place. In addition, being connected helps to identify those who might be in distress.
The objective of AFMC Connect is to reinforce the importance of connection and how that connectedness can encour-age early help seeking behaviors. This directly contributes to suicide prevention efforts by lessening the chance of occur-rence for high risk behaviors.
Each month an AFMC Connect theme and corresponding tool has been estab-lished to assist supervisors in the delivery of relevant content. The monthly themes feed into a broader quarterly message. This quarter’s theme is “Connected.”
The respect for the contribution of each individual team member allows the team as a whole to be connected.
More information can be found in
the implementation guide for facilitat-ing discussions on connected, along with local support sources at https://
www.afmc.af.mil/Portals/13/AFMC%20Connect%20-%20CONNECTED%20%28June%29%20.pdf
4 • June 7, 2021
By Coffee Airfoilers Model RC Club
The Coffee Airfoilers Model RC Club will host an airplane toss competition June 26 from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Cof-fee Airfoilers Field on Arnold Air Force Base.
The event is a STEM, or Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathemat-ics, focused activity. Middle and high school students who participate will as-semble and modify balsa wood airplanes to learn about aircraft flight. Each student will be given three tosses. Their longest-distance flight will be recorded for judg-ing. First, second and third places will be
awarded for middle and high school cat-egories.
Registration is required to participate. Registration and photo release forms will be available on the day of the event. The event will be photographed and parent con-sent is required on the photo release form.
A flight simulator and flight instruc-
tions will be provided by the Club during the event.
The field is located on Arnold Center Road/Wattendorf Memorial Highway west of the Arnold Golf Course.
More information about the Coffee Air-foilers Model RC Club is available at www.coffeeairfoilers.com.
Coffee Airfoilers to host STEM event
AFMC Connect June focus: Connected
June 7, 2021 • 5
MEMORIES from page 1
“AEDC has been everything that I expected, and I have got-ten to work with and learn from some really great people,” Baker said. “At AEDC, you get to work on essentially every-thing that flies from aircraft to spacecraft. I have been fortu-nate to be able to work in many areas of testing and analysis at AEDC.”
Over his nearly 60 years at AEDC, Baker has held a num-ber of titles while working under various testing contrac-tors and most recently the Air Force. He is currently Techni-cal Director of the AEDC Test Division.
“I have worked in testing, technology and analysis during my career at AEDC,” Baker said. “I was also able to work in a wide range of disciplines from subsonic, transonic, su-personic and hypersonic wind testing; arc heater testing and diagnostics; missile aerody-namics testing; store separation testing; and space environmen-tal and space sensors testing.
“As a tester, researcher, an-alyst and manager, I have been able to work with and for some of the world leaders in test and evaluation. It is working with and being mentored by these incredible people that I have had some of my greatest and most memorable experiences.”
Baker said in the early days of its history, much of what transpired at AEDC was simi-lar to a “research project,” as nearly every test represented a new way of testing.
“It was a great time of de-velopment where everything did not always go as planned, but it was acceptable for a test or research project to fail be-cause something was always learned from the effort, even if the effort was not a total suc-cess,” he said.
Among the things that have stood out for Baker are the knowledge and abilities of those who have worked along-side him.
“After becoming a manager, I was always fortunate enough to have a really great group of technology experts and ana-lysts to work with as a team for some very interesting work that made a difference in the total product that AEDC delivered to its customers,” he said.
Michael BarlowNearly 41 years ago, Mi-
chael Barlow joined the team at AEDC as an electrical engi-neer fresh out of undergraduate school. He has been at AEDC ever since.
“I have been blessed to work in many different areas and functions at AEDC,” Barlow said. “That’s really what made it interesting and, I think, was a key to my longevity here.”
During his time at Arnold, Barlow has worked as a sys-tems engineer and project man-ager. Prior to his stepping into his current role of Aeropropul-sion Deputy Branch Manager, Barlow led engineering, proj-ect management, performance measurement, quality, safety, utility and integrated schedul-ing organizations.
Barlow described his expe-rience at AEDC as “very posi-tive.”
“I made a conscious deci-sion earlier in my career to stay at AEDC,” Barlow said. “I’ve been fortunate to have lots of opportunities to learn new things, work on some one-of-a-kind equipment and work with some really great people. At the same time, my wife and I raised our family in a wonder-ful community.”
While he said the Test Operations and Sustainment contractors, Air Force leader-ship and contracting strategies and constructs at Arnold have changed throughout the years, one crucial element has re-mained constant.
“The thing that hasn’t
changed is the fact that AE-DC’s facilities and the people who maintain and operate those facilities have been and will continue to be the keys to AEDC’s success,” Barlow said.
Barlow said he has many fond memories of people he has worked alongside over the years, many of whom are long retired. He added the most ful-filling project he has worked on in his AEDC career was the activation of the utility systems for the Aeropropulsion Sys-tems Test Facility (ASTF).
“A small group of us were responsible for writing check-out procedures and executing them,” Barlow said. “Along with that responsibility came the resources and the autonomy to achieve our goals. By ‘turn-ing on’ the electricity and cool-ing water, we literally brought ASTF to life. I still remember the hum of the 161-kV trans-formers as they were energized for the first time.
“I encourage young em-ployees and managers to make AEDC theirs. Take ownership and be persistent in doing the right thing. Collaborate with others. It truly takes each of us working together to make this place go. This will ensure AEDC continues to be a great place to work for many years to come. Take pride in a job well done. Enjoy the ride. I have.”
Roy CarrollGrowing up in the Manches-
ter area, Roy Carroll viewed those who worked at AEDC as happy and successful. Because of this, he opted to train in the electronics industry, all the while keeping his sights set on landing a job at AEDC.
Things went according to plan, and Carroll began his AEDC career on April 15, 1980. Carroll said the fact that he recently began his 41st year at Arnold indicates his overall experience at AEDC has been positive.
“My career at AEDC has provided my family with a good life and much happiness,” Carroll said. “It has helped me develop confidence in myself and a feeling that, in some ways, I have helped our coun-try to stay free and safe. I have made close friends with co-workers and traveled through-out our great nation. I am glad to be a part of the team here.”
Carroll, currently an en-gineering technical specialist in the Innovative Technology Group, has worked most of his career as an instrumentation specialist in this same group. He was hired in at the von Kár-mán Gas Dynamics Facility, or VKF, Chamber group and later transferred to Technology when support work was divid-ed into different groups.
Throughout his career, Car-roll has worked closely with AEDC engineers, specifically mentioning Fred Sherrill, Char-ley Pender and Ken Bynum, on a variety of projects. These in-clude working to develop new technology instruments while assigned to the Mark 1 Cham-ber; work with Technology groups that included applied laser, X-ray and emissions measurements; and work on the Joint Standard Instrumen-tation Suite project.
His role at AEDC also called for a good deal of travel. Carroll said he traveled with the Field Measurement team for almost 20 years, going all over the country and occasion-ally overseas to complete jobs. Carroll referred to this as an “exciting time” in his career, and his work during this pe-riod included making signature measurements on the Space Shuttle and on numerous de-fense missiles.
“My fondest memories were traveling with the Field Measurement team,” Carroll said. “During the early years, I was able to have my family
follow me to the testing site. We sat on the causeway at Cape Canaveral and watched a shuttle launch, air shows and missile launches, both large and small. On 9-11, I was trav-eling to Huntsville for a test and barely got through the gate before it was locked down. We traveled to New Mexico, driv-ing all across Texas to White Sands. There, we saw the great sand dunes and cliff dwellings. I went to Cincinnati to test GE engines and took them to the Cincinnati Zoo and Chuck-E-Cheese for the first time. Even the times that they could not go with me and our team worked hard, long hours together, it was rewarding and fulfilling. I have enjoyed the work, the people and the experiences.”
Bruce DeanBruce Dean played a role in
ensuring a proper send-off for many an AEDC retiree.
Beginning in 1984 and continuing the subsequent 20 years, Dean freehand lettered the white matte board portion of the AEDC aerial photo-graphs given out to guests for special presentations and, most often, to retirees.
“During that time, I prob-ably produced over 1,500 of these,” Dean said. “For the re-tirees, I wrote ‘Your Friends at AEDC’ with their years of ser-vice in cursive above the photo and their name in Old English underneath the photo.”
Along with utilizing his cal-ligraphy talent to create me-mentos for retirees, Dean has lent his artistic touch and eye for detail to a number of AEDC projects over his 41-year ca-reer. He is currently a design product manager for National Aerospace Solutions, the cur-rent Test Operations and Sus-tainment Contractor for AEDC. In this role, Dean provides fi-nal review and approval for all design products produced by the NAS Design Engineering Group within Technology In-novations. These products in-clude design estimates, analy-ses, engineering drawings and technical review of NAS pro-curement documents for facili-ties within the Engine Test Fa-cility, Propulsion Wind Tunnel Facility (PWT) and VKF, and for AEDC Base Operations. Since the implementation of AEDC’s electronic drawing management system in the 1990s unto the present, Dean has personally signed over 12,500 drawings for final de-sign approval – a rising number whose magnitude may never be surpassed.
“Aside from routine design jobs, the work has been very interesting and often very chal-lenging,” he said.
Dean has spent his entire AEDC career in design engi-neering. When he arrived, all beginning engineers were re-quired to produce their own drawings on the board.
“Although these were hand-crafted masterpieces depend-ing on your ability to plan and space your creations on vellum, in the straight-laced world of design engineering of that day there was very little room for modest embellishment,” Dean said. “After several months of platforms, small piping re-visions and the like, I finally got do to some engine instal-lations. These were side-view elevations of the engine in a test cell. I shaded the engine and inked the title on my first one. Appearance-wise, they re-ally stood out and I produced several of them.”
Dean’s skill, particularly his penmanship, did not go un-noticed. The section leader of an employee who was set to retire asked Dean to letter the aerial photo to be given to the retiree. Others began approach-ing Dean for the same purpose, kicking off what he referred to as his “secondary job” of letter-
ing the aerials. When asked to point out
some of the changes he has ob-served at AEDC over the course of his career, Dean responded it would be easier to begin with what hasn’t changed.
“And that is my first and only phone number that was assigned to me over 40 years ago,” he said.
Dean said one of his most memorable experiences was working on the Engine Test Facility C-Plant Bypass Duct from 1987-88. The purpose of the duct was to meet new test parameters for upcoming avia-tion turbine fuel engines requir-ing low Mach number altitude without impairing the existing operating capabilities of ASTF. Dean was the lead mechani-cal engineer on the project and oversaw the planning and preparation of shop fabrication and installation drawings for the ducting, structural support, foundations and a large process valve access platform.
Operational checkouts of the Bypass Duct were per-formed in March 1988. It met all of its performance objec-tives.
“The C-Plant Bypass Duct has remained in service for over 30 years,” Dean said.
Thomas HartvigsenRegardless of the types of
testing conducted within, many facilities under the AEDC um-brella have one thing in com-mon – they have been impacted by the work of Thomas Hart-vigsen.
Over his 47-year AEDC career, Hartvigsen has either completed design work or pro-vided other support for all of the wind tunnels within PWT; Tunnels A, B and C in VKF; Hypervelocity Ballistic Range G; 7V; 10V; 12V; Mark I, the Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit; ASTF; and the sea-level test cells. He has also done some work for AEDC Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9 in White Oak, Maryland.
“For me, my work has al-ways been interesting and chal-lenging, and that has never changed,” Hartvigsen said.
Hartvigsen, an aerospace/mechanical engineer III, began his AEDC career in January 1974, initially working in PWT Test Operations as a design en-gineer. He continued full-time in that role until his retirement in September 2017. He is now working as a part-time, casual employee.
Currently, Hartvigsen is working on the design of a store actuator mechanism for a new 18-percent scale F-35 model. He referred to this as the most challenging thing he has ever worked on.
“Of course, over the years I have seen many changes in technology, work environment and management emphasis,” Hartvigsen said. “
Before the days of personal computers, Hartvigsen com-pleted most calculations on an HP-35 calculator. For more in-volved calculations, he would have to submit Fortran jobs on punch cards that would run on the base IBM 370 mainframe computer that was then located in the Administration & En-gineering Building at Arnold. Prior to the advent of comput-er-aided design, design work was completed by hand with the aid of a swing-arm drafting machine on large sheets of vel-lum.
A number of other processes have evolved since Hartvigsen began his AEDC career.
“Many things that are now done on PCs were done by people handling typed forms,” he said. “Material requests, for example, were done on typed multi-part M7 forms which were mailed or hand-carried to the warehouse for process-ing. The tunnels and associated plant systems were manually
operated by people because there was not much computer-controlled automation back then.”
From his early work com-pleting design for tests in the 1-foot transonic wind tunneland his attendance of offsitesymposiums and a design en-gineering show in Chicago,Hartvigsen said he has accu-mulated many fond memoriesthroughout his time at AEDC.In the mid-1970s, Hartvigsenwas fortunate enough to beone of a few young engineersselected to attend the Experi-mental Flight Mechanics shortcourse at the University of Ten-nessee Space Institute. For thatcourse, test flights were flownfrom the AEDC airstrip, and allof the students took flight dataand processed it after the flight.There were several top test pi-lots and engineers who lecturedat that short course. Neil Arm-strong was one of them.
“Overall, I would have to say that I had a very positive experience over my career at AEDC,” Hartvigsen said. “I got the opportunity to do some incredible things that I never imagined I would do when I started here.”
One of Hartvigsen’s most memorable moments was see-ing the new Captive Trajectory System installed and operating in the 4-foot transonic wind tunnel. The scene was a satis-fying payoff for a multi-year effort.
“I worked on that proj-ect from when we first started talking about it in January of 2007 through the installation in 2015,” Hartvigsen said. “There were some very challenging technical requirements to meet for that mechanism and it took a lot of hard work to meet them all.”
Dr. Ralph JonesAlthough Dr. Ralph Jones
has observed a number of changes at AEDC in his more-than-40-year career at the Complex, he said one thing has remained constant – the focus on providing the accurate and reliable information needed to support system development.
“In addition, there’s the complimentary focus on mak-ing sure the facilities and test capabilities are in place to meet current and future test needs,” Jones said. “This is at the heart of AEDC’s mission and what continues to make AEDC an important partner in system de-velopment.”
Jones, currently a subject matter expert with Quanti-Tech, the Technical and Man-agement Advisory Services contractor for AEDC, began his AEDC career in December 1978. He retired in 2014 after 36 years at Arnold but returned to part-time work in Septem-ber 2016. He began his stint at AEDC working in the PWT in the 16-foot transonic wind tunnel analysis group. He was primarily involved in the aero-dynamic analysis of compres-sion systems for this wind tun-nel and the 16-foot supersonic wind tunnel. In the early 1980s, Jones began work in the area of transient engine modeling. He continued in his capacity until jumping at an opportunity to support a propulsion facility exhaust system design effort undertaken in preparation for the testing of military propul-sion systems equipped with ex-haust nozzles capable of both vectoring and reversing.
“A number of other chal-lenging technical efforts fol-lowed that I really enjoyed,” Jones said. “However, even-tually I found myself mov-ing into a series of manage-ment positions with Sverdrup and then Jacobs and retiring as the branch manager for ATA’s Technology & Analysis Branch.”
See MEMORIES, page 6
6 • June 7, 2021
Jones described his AEDC experience, both technically and personally, as “outstand-ing.” Although he has amassed his share of memorable mo-ments throughout his AEDC career, Jones said two in par-ticular stand out. The first is his aforementioned involvement in the development of the aerody-namic design for a component of the facility exhaust system in the ASTF. The second was associated with an acoustic anomaly that occurred during the testing of a military engine in ASTF. Large acoustic levels were generated in the test cell and exhaust ducting that posed a danger to both the facility and test article. Jones was respon-sible for an exploratory effort to try and understand what had occurred.
“I had the good fortune to work with Glen (Lazalier) along with folks at UTSI, Geor-gia Tech Research Institute, Florida State University and NASA Glenn in a combined computational and subscale ex-perimental effort that ultimately arrived at a plausible explana-tion for the unexpected acoustic phenomena,” Jones said.
As far as changes at AEDC he has observed throughout his career, Jones said he has wit-nessed significant growth in the use of computational tech-niques to support facility and test installation and data analy-sis.
“I’ve seen a number of mea-surement techniques, both in-trusive and optical, that were demonstrated and refined as part of the technology pro-gram find their way into rou-tine test support,” Jones said. “And, from a broader Complex standpoint, the various contract constructs we’ve seen over the years is certainly a part of the changes AEDC has seen. When I came to work, there was a single contractor and, over the years, there have been varying numbers of contractors creating different interface challenges. But a strength of the workforce has always been to adapt and make sure the Complex is ready to support development pro-grams.”
Mike MetzgerMike Metzger began his ca-
reer at what would later become AEDC Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9 in White Oak, Mary-land, when he was hired as a summer intern in May 1979.
He returned to school that fall and, after earning his degree from the University of Mary-land, Metzger returned to the White Oak facility, then known as the Naval Surface Weapons
Center, as an aerospace engi-neer in April 1980.
Early in his career, Metzger was involved in the develop-ment of a high-pressure, high-Reynolds Mach 10 capability. As President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as the “Star Wars” program, took off in the early 1980s, various aspects of in-terceptor missile testing was conducted at the White Oak facility. Metzger was heavily involved in the model and sting designs for this work.
Tunnel 9 became an Air Force facility in 1997 after the Base Realignment and Clo-sure commission closed much of the Navy’s White Oak site. Metzger brought his nearly 20 years of experience at Tunnel 9 to AEDC when the Complex assumed management of the fa-cility.
“Early in my career, I was on a steep learning curve and, in some ways, I still am,” Metzger said. “There’s always something new to learn or tackle here. I learned from the skilled people working here, first as a Navy fa-cility and later as AEDC. In this business, it seems everything is unprecedented, and there are a vast array of technologies, pro-cesses and skill sets involved in pulling off the testing we do.”
Metzger added that through-out his career, the Tunnel 9 team has constantly evolved to meet the latest needs of the aerospace community. This has meant adapting or developing the technologies that make the facility work, or work better, and to increase test capabilities for customers.
“I have had, and continue to have, the privilege of working with the best technical profes-sionals on the planet,” Metzger said. “For me, it’s the unique and talented individuals I have worked with and continue to work with which is most mem-orable.”
Together, this team has over-come the challenges they have faced. It was the range and breadth of the staff and their skills that allowed for the suc-cessful completion of a shroud separation test conducted in Tunnel 9 in 1990, an effort Metzger referred to as one of the “greatest technological challenges in testing” he has encountered. The staff also ne-gotiated a “complex transition” when Tunnel 9 moved from a Navy to Air Force facility.
Throughout his career, Metzger has also worked to im-prove the technology, reliabil-ity and safety of the Tunnel 9 heater system, which is used to store and heat the nitrogen gas
needed for testing operations at the facility. He has been pass-ing his knowledge on to fellow Tunnel 9 engineers.
“I’ve long thought that I’m privileged to serve from a unique vantage point in history, helping to equip our warfighters with the latest tools and tech-nologies they need to keep us safe,” Metzger said.
Randy NicholsonLike several longtime em-
ployees, Randy Nicholson has spent his whole professional ca-reer at AEDC.
“I came here straight out of college and never bothered to leave,” he said.
Nicholson has worked in the space chambers area for the entirety of his 40-year AEDC career. He is currently a subject matter expert for sensor testing in this area and spends most of his time performing test engi-neer and data analyst roles.
“At this stage of my career, I find myself more frequently serving as a mentor and trainer for the next generation of test engineers and data analysts,” Nicholson said. “Passing the torch to ensure that the valuable work performed in our little corner of AEDC will continue long after my career has ended is a responsibility that I cherish and do not take lightly.”
Nicholson first heard about AEDC through an on-campus job interview while a student at West Virginia University.
“I followed that up with a plant trip to AEDC where the things I remember most were eating breakfast at Cracker Bar-rel, seeing all the big pine trees lining the AEDC highway, and being overwhelmed by all the amazing things that went on at AEDC,” he said. “The most enticing aspect of the AEDC mission was the space cham-bers group, even though my education had probably better prepared me for some of the other mission areas. I accepted my job offer from ARO rather than some other available op-tions, even though it meant re-locating 600 miles from where I grew up and from my family and friends. I have never regret-ted that decision.”
A career at AEDC provided Nicholson the opportunity to work in a field in which he has long held an interest.
“I have always had a pas-sion for space-related things,” Nicholson said. “AEDC has provided me the opportunity to work with and evaluate perfor-mance of several critical space-related systems, most of which have been surveillance and interceptor systems that are de-
fensive in nature.” Nicholson said there have
been many significant changes at AEDC since the start of his career, with one of the more dramatic being the work envi-ronment.
“There used to be a lot more people working here,” he said. “Offices that today are occupied by one or two individuals used to be smoke-filled and typi-cally inhabited by four to five people. In spite of the reduced workforce, I think the workload itself has actually increased.
“Emerging technologies have certainly helped in many areas to provide the ability to do more with less. I failed to anticipate the personal comput-er revolution and, thus, failed to take typing in high school. Big mistake. I assumed I would always have a secretary or ad-ministrative support staff to do my typing for me. I would defi-nitely do that one over if I had the opportunity. From my per-spective, accessible and flexible computers have been the big-gest element driving change in the aerospace field for the past four decades.”
Nicholson said AEDC has been a great place to spend his career, adding his work has never gotten dull or routine.
“There have always been plenty of challenges to keep things interesting and excit-ing,” Nicholson said. “For the past 38 years or so, I don’t think there has ever been a day that I have not had more to do than I could possibly get done that day. Sometimes I think I would long for just one day to kick back and read magazines or do something mindless. But my nature is such that I prefer being busy and always having an overflow reserve of tasks to perform.”
Nicholson said his role in the testing of complex and unique systems designed to operate in a space environment has provided many challenges and resulted in many special accomplishments. And while this work has created its share of memories, Nichol-son said his fondest memories of his AEDC career are of the people he has worked and asso-ciated with over the years.
“No two of them have ever been exactly alike, and each has had interesting traits and qualities – or quirks – that have tended to make each workday a new experience,” Nicholson said. “Working together as a team to derive and implement solutions to challenging prob-lems has provided many memo-rable experiences. I have fond memories of playing intramural sports – softball and basketball
– with many of my colleagues.I have had many opportunitiesto travel and experience boththe benefits and hazards of suchventures. I think I could prob-ably write a book documentingthe range of travel experiences Ihave encountered.
“I have made some good friends locally and in other parts of the country via my work ex-periences. Many of those I will continue to enjoy and treasure for the remainder of my career and perhaps the rest of my life.”
Timothy WhiteWhen asked to reflect upon
what has changed the most during his more-than-40-year career at AEDC, one thing im-mediately jumps to mind for Timothy “Bubba” White – the computers.
“Just the changes that have occurred since 1992 when I came to the Advanced Missile Signature Center are unbeliev-able,” White said. “What we can do with computers now compared to then is amazing.”
White, an Engineer Tech V who has been working with computers for more than 47 years, began his AEDC career in September 1978, working in the computer room of the En-gine Test Facility Shop Build-ing. He left AEDC for brief period in 1984, returning two years later. Upon his return, White worked in the Data Stor-age Processing Room in ASTF. In 1992, he moved to what was then known as the Plume Data Center, now the Advanced Mis-sile Signature Center, and has been there ever since.
White said he has been “blessed” to work at AEDC and work with some great minds over his career.
“While here at AEDC, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the most brilliant people I have ever known – Dr. Wheeler McGregor, Dr. Robert Reed, Dr. Glen Lazalier, Rick Roepke, Mike Gallagher and Dr. Robert Hiers, just to name a few,” he said.
Like other longtime em-ployees, White said his fondest memory of his time at AEDC is the people with whom he has worked.
“Right now, I work with a group of folks that are just like family – the folks at the AMSC and the Clan 130, Denise Pe-gram, Stephanie ‘Genius’ Shetters, Rick Roepke and Mia Wilkerson,” White said. “Everybody steps up when needed to get the job done, whatever that job might be. It has been a joy and blessing to be working closely with them the last few years.”
MEMORIES from page 5
By Marisa Alia-NovobilskiAir Force Materiel Command
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The Air Force Materiel Com-mand released $5 million in funding for projects across the mission as it continues to drive towards the goals of the AFMC We Need.
The projects, tied directly to command lines of effort, range from facilities and infrastruc-ture improvements to informa-tion technology, dorm improve-ments, training tools and more.
“Several hundred require-ments, totaling over half a bil-lion dollars, were submitted this year as part of the AFMC We Need data call. Our team reviewed and prioritized the requests, working closely with functional experts and AFMC leaders at the wing, center and headquarters level. I’m thrilled that we are able to fund a num-ber of really high impact proj-ects across the command.” said
Kim Norman, director, Com-mander’s Accelerated Initiatives Office. “These projects are go-ing to make a real difference to our Airmen, and they play a key role in our continuous efforts to become the AFMC We Need.”
At the top of the list, receiv-ing nearly $2 million in funding, is the command-wide imple-mentation of a Robins Air Force Base application that minimizes the administrative burden of obtaining network systems ac-cess for new personnel. Moving this local web application to a cloud environment not only ties in with AFMC’s Digital Cam-paign, but addresses a major ad-ministrative concern raised by AFMC Airmen.
“This was the second line of effort related to system ac-cess that the team took on. The first was providing a path for commanders to accelerate basic network access for new civilian employees, reducing the aver-age wait time from 10 days to a single day. This new effort will
allow for continued expeditious completion while providing a tracking mechanism as well as a repository of approved 2875s,” said Norman. “This is a big win for us and will help ensure our Airmen have the tools they need to hit the ground running.”
More than $2.4 million was allotted to infrastructure im-provement needs across the command. These projects in-clude restroom renovations, dorm room furnishing and appli-ances, fitness facilities, sidewalk repairs, mold mitigation, paint and more. Forty-five thousand dollars was designated for lacta-tion pods to be purchased, pro-viding nursing mothers a space to nurse and to meet Air Force requirements.
“To deliver cutting-edge technology and support for our warfighters, we need to have the facilities and infrastructure to support a world-class force,” said Norman.
The list of funded projects include:
• Automated E-2875 CloudTool
• Civilian DisciplineAutomated Tracking Tool
• Bulk laptop purchase -Air Force Life CycleManagement Center
• Network expansionswitches - Edwards AirForce Base
• Restroom renovations atmultiple locations
• Dorm room furnishings,appliances - Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
• Dormitory repairs - Hill AirForce Base
• Paint, mold mitigation -Tinker Air Force Base
• Lactation pods, otherbuilding repairs - Wright-Patterson AFB
• Innovation Center electrical
upgrades - Eglin Air Force Base
• Equal Opportunity officeexpansion - Tinker AFB
• Parking lot repair,reconfiguration - AEDC
• New facility sidewalkinstallation - Tinker AFB
• Fitness facilitiesimprovements - Eglin AFB
• ZoomGov training licenses– Air Force NuclearWeapons Center
The Commander’s Accel-erated Initiatives Office con-tinues to work with Airmen and leaders across the com-mand to identify barriers and solutions to continue moving toward the AFMC We Need.
For more information on the AFMC We Need an ongo-ing efforts, visit https://www.afmc.af.mil/About-Us/AFM-CweNeed/.
AFMC designates $5 million for AFMC We Need effortsAEDC project among those funded
June 7, 2021 • 7
8 • June 7, 2021
By AEDC Safety
Summertime brings to mind the thoughts of warm weather and lots of outdoor activities – vacations, sports, hiking, pic-nicking, days at the lake, yard-work (bummer), grilling or even just sitting on the porch watch-ing the world go by. Any excuse to be outside is acceptable and encouraged. With the warmer weather and outdoor activities, comes the elevated risk for in-jury and heat-related illnesses. Consider the following informa-tion to be safe this summer.
First Aid KitDo you have a first aid kit? Is your kit stocked and the items up to date? Or, is it like so many, half full and some expired? Be-fore you have an emergency and need it, restock your first aid kit and get replacements for any outdated items. You may also want one in each of your vehi-cles.
Stay HydratedThe body’s ability to deal
with extreme temperatures is truly amazing. In cold weather, muscle contractions caused by shivering help warm you, and in warm temperatures sweat evap-orating from the skin helps cool you. It is important to stay hy-drated. The best tools for stay-ing hydrated are: sports drinks, water, fruit juice, milk or coco-nut water. Start drinking fluids before you start your activity to stay ahead.
Heat-related IllnessesHeat cramps are muscular
pains and spasms that usually occur in the legs or abdomen. Heat cramps are often an early sign that the body is having trouble with the heat. To treat heat cramps:
• Get the person to a cooler
place and have him or her rest in a comfortable position. Lightly stretch the affected muscle and gently massage the area.
• Give an electrolyte-containing fluid, such as acommercial sports drink, fruit juice, milk, or water.Do not give the person salttablets.
• Get medical help right awayif the cramps last more than1 hour, you are on a low-sodium diet, or if you haveheart problems.
Heat exhaustion is a moresevere condition than heat cramps. Heat exhaustion often affects athletes, firefighters, and construction and factory work-ers. Signs of heat exhaustion include cool, moist, pale, ashen or flushed skin; headache; nau-sea; dizziness; weakness and exhaustion. To treat heat ex-haustion:
• Move the person to a coolerenvironment with circulatingair. Remove or loosen asmuch clothing as possibleand apply cool, wet cloths ortowels to the skin. Fanningor spraying with water also can help. If the personis conscious give small amounts of a cool fluid;sports drink, fruit juice, milkor water. Give about 4 ouncesof fluid every 15 minutes.
• Get medical help right awayif the person’s condition doesnot improve or gets worse.If they refuse water, have achange in consciousness, orvomit, call 9-1-1.
Heat stroke is a life-threat-ening condition that usually occurs when the signs of heat exhaustion are ignored. Heat stroke develops when the body
systems are overwhelmed by heat and begin to stop function-ing. Signs of heat stroke include extremely high body tempera-ture; red skin which may be dry or moist; changes in conscious-ness; rapid, weak pulse; rapid, shallow breathing; confusion; vomiting and seizures. If you suspect someone is suffering from heat stroke:
• Call 9-1-1 immediately.
• Give care until help arrivesby:
o Rapidly cooling thebody by immersing theperson up to the neck incold water, if possible, ordouse or spray the personwith cold water.
o Sponge the person withice water-doused towelsover the entire body,frequently rotating thecold, wet towels
o Cover the person withbags of ice.
o Do not give the personanything to drink.
When you make your sum-mer plans be sure you are fully prepared for the weather. Plan ahead and be aware of both the temperature and the heat index. The heat index is the tempera-ture the body feels when the ef-fects of heat and humidity are combined. Stay hydrated and have places in mind where you will be able to stop and cool off. Wear loose-fitting lightweight, light-colored clothing. Avoid dark colors because they ab-sorb the sun’s rays. If possible always work with a buddy and keep an eye on each other.
Remember your animals as well, give them shade and plen-ty of water.
Take care of each other.
Summertime safetyAmerican Red Crosssuggestions for your
first aid kit• 2 pairs of latex-free gloves
• 25 adhesive bandages (assorted sizes)
• 2 absorbent compress dressings (5-in. x 9-in.)
• 8 sterile gauze pads (2-in. X 2-in.)
• 8 sterile gauze pads (4-in. X 4-in.)
• 1 roll of adhesive cloth tape (2 ½-yds. X 3/8-in.)
• 4 roller bandages (2-in. or 3-in. X 4 yds.)
• 4 roller bandages (4-in. X 4 yds.)
• 1 elastic bandage (3-in. or 4-in. X 5 yds.)
• 3 or 4 triangular bandages (40-in X 40-in. X 56-in.)
• 1 36-in. malleable radiolucent splint
• 5 antibiotic ointment packets (approx. 1 gm.)
• 1 unit antibiotic ointment, cream, or wound gel
• 2 chemical cold packs or 4 sealable plastic bags (1 qt.)
• 5 antiseptic wipe packets
• 2 packets of aspirin (81 mg each)
• 2 hydrocortisone ointment packets
• 1 space blanket
• 1 CPR breathing barrier
• 1 pair of utility shears or scissors
• Oral thermometer
• Tweezers
• First aid manual
For more information visit https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/anatomy-of-a-first-aid-kit.html.
By 1st Lt. Christine SaundersAir Force Test Center
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Air Force Test Center hosted a virtual Enlisted Professional Development Summit May 17 – 19, 2021. The three day event connected Test Airmen across the AFTC enterprise spanning from Arnold Engineering Development Complex at Ar-nold AFB, Tennessee, the 96th Test Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida, and the 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB, California.
The first day kicked off with a Commander’s perspective briefing by AFTC Commander Maj. Gen. Christopher Azzano.
“A lot of you are wearing the TEST patch on your sleeves because the mission is important,” Azzano said. “It’s exciting, and we’re proud of it. We need you as en-listed leaders to be champions for the Test mission, so when you leave the Air Force Test Center, you go with the knowledge of what the Test mission does; raising the understanding of why our mission is so important.”
During the summit, AFTC Command Chief Master Sgt. Brian Stafford reiter-ated the core mission of AFTC throughout: develop, test, and evaluate Air, Space, and Cyberspace systems to deliver war-win-ning capabilities.
“This is an opportunity to invest in you,
to give you more information to make you a better Airmen, and a better leader,” Staf-ford said.
Day one focused on strategic messag-ing for Test. Day two targeted personal development across all enlisted tiers to include emotional intelligence, leadership philosophy and taking care of Airmen.
“We all need to have a basic under-standing of why we exist and what our in-stallation functions are,” said Stafford.
Day three focused on professional de-velopment, to include the Enlisted Force Distribution Process and Stratification, feedback and getting board ready. The key-note speakers included the command chief for Air Force Materiel Command, Chief
Master Sgt. Stanley Cadell.“The weapon systems that you are a
part of testing, developing and getting ready for today, are going to be what’s being utilized in the future,” said Cadell. “AFMC is the foundational command in the Air Force, because everything we do, we do for someone else.”
The event was hosted by a core team of senior non-commissioned officers from within AFTC and was opened up to all en-listed Airmen and career fields. Feedback was collected at the end of each day.
Over 160 AFTC Airmen from Arnold, Eglin, and Edwards AFB tuned in to learn more about Test and its strategic impor-tance to National defense.
AEDC quarterly award winners announced
Test Center champions professional development summit
June 7, 2021 • 9
Maj. Ali Hamidani586th Flight Test Squadron,
Holloman AFBField Grade Officer
of the Quarter
AEDC quarterly award winners announced
1st Lt. Landon Walrod846th Test Squadron,
Holloman AFBCompany Grade Officer
of the Quarter
Master Sgt. Colton O’Banion586th Flight Test Squadron,
Holloman AFBSr. Non-Commissioned Officer of the Quarter
Tech. Sgt. Stacy Browne586th Flight Test Squadron,
Holloman AFBNon-Commissioned Officer
of the Quarter
Sr. Airman Travis RussellMedical Aid Station,
Arnold AFBAirman of the Quarter
Anthony HannerSpace Test Branch,
Arnold AFBCivilian of the Quarter
Category II
Christian DaleTest & Communications
Branch, Arnold AFBCivilian of the Quarter
Category III
Karen SchellServices, Arnold AFB
Non-appropriated Fund Civilian of the Quarter
Category II
Team winners:
Exceptional Innovator Award: 704th Test Sup-port Squadron HR Team, 704th Test Support Squadron, Holloman AFB
Technical Achievement Award: Team 16S Re-turn to Test, Aerodynamics Test Branch, Arnold AFB
Photos unavailable for the following award winners:
Jeremy Salazar846th Test Squadron, Holloman AFBCivilian of the Quarter Category I
40 YEARSWilliam Bridges Jr., AFTerrell Hand, TOSJoseph Martin, TOSMarvin Sellers, TMASJohn Shuttleworth, TOS
35 YEARSJohn Gilmer, TOSHerman Holt, TOSWilliam Sloan, TOS
Donald Smith, TOS
30 YEARSSonia Gault, TOSSuzanne Singleton, TOS
20 YEARSJason Austin, AFMaureen Burke, TOS
15 YEARS
Gregory Bateman, TOSChristopher Harrell, TOSJose Rosario Ferrer, TOS
10 YEARSLee Smith, AFMarlin Stephens, TOS
5 YEARSBecky Morris, AFWilliam Stevens, TMAS
INBOUND MILITARYMaster Sgt. Chauncey Matheney, AFLt. Col. Dayvid Prahl, AF
OUTBOUND MILITARYLt. Col. Joshua Goins, AF
RETIREMENTSKenneth Bloom, TOSFrank Brown, TOSMichael Cowan, TOSPhillip Hice, TOSDoyle Huffer, TOSMaster Sgt. Jaime Martinez, AFBrian Monroe, TOSCrawford Parrish, AFLt. Col. Adam Quick, AF
NEW HIRESJoseph Absher, TOSSpencer Anderson, TOSJames Bailey, TOSSaxon Barrett, TOSCassidy Baumann, TOSStephen Bell, TOSDelona Benitez, TMASAndrew Blackburn, TOSTyler Bradshaw, FSSEthan Brooks, TOSBryan Brown, TOSMarianela Cintron, TOSRickey Couch Jr., TOSWilliam Darlington, TMASStephen Foltz, TOSDaniel Fox, TOSGeorge Gannon, TOSEmmalee Gilliam, TOSSilas Graves, TOSKatrina Haley, TMASBenjamin Hart, TOSEthan Holcomb, TOSMatthew Holder, TOSCerese Holes, TOSEdward Jones, TOSJoseph Kennedy, TOSJacob Koziol, AFJenna Lane, TMAS
Daniel Mailman, TMASPaytonne Martin, AFWarren Martin, TOSJonathan McDaniel, TOSCollin Milliken, TOSGarrick Muncie, AFJaron Northcutt, AFBenjamin Northington, TOSAnna Painter, TOSDaniel Parton, TOSChristopher Plemons, TOSBrittany Prince, TOSMatthew Raines, TOSSamantha Robinson, FSSAlberto Román-Afanador, TMASJason Sanders, TOSRoger Sanson, TOSSteven Scissom, TOSWilliam Shields, TOSLeslie Smartt, TOSDixie Smith, TOSRobert Smith, TOSGergory Sterling, AFLeanne Turpin, TOSJason Wanamaker, TOSBilly Warren, TOSJohn Williams, TOSZacariah Wooten, TOS
Arnold AFB Milestones
William Bridges Jr., AF40 years
Terrell Hand, TOS40 years
Marvin Sellers, TMAS40 years
John Shuttleworth, TOS40 years
William Sloan, TOS35 years
Donald Smith, TOS35 years
Landrum promoted to first lieutenant
Lt. Col. Lane Haubelt, chief of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex Propul-sion Test Branch, left, administers the oath of office to newly-promoted 1st Lt. Gregory Landrum during a promotion ceremony May 21 at Arnold Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)
Just as family was an important factor to Jim when choosing to stay in the area, it was the same for Doug.
“Having grown up in Manchester and with my dad working here, it was an easy choice,” Doug said. “And, since Angelia and I were getting married two weeks before I was to report to work, and she and her family were and still are very close, it just didn’t make sense to either one of us to go somewhere else. She and I have never regretted that decision.”
Family wasn’t the only consideration, though. The impact of the AEDC work-force on the surrounding community helped Doug form his opinion of AEDC from a young age and influenced his de-cision to join Team AEDC when he had a chance.
“It was more than just my dad work-ing here,” he said. “I was around AEDC families at church, in youth sports and in the Boy Scouts. Pretty much everything I did as a kid happened because an adult that worked at AEDC gave up their time to make it happen.”
That sense of community is one of the reasons Doug has stayed at Arnold so long, in addition to the work and op-portunities.
“Angelia and I have made lifetime friends here,” he said. “And you’d be surprised at the number of people we went to school with growing up that work out here too – we’re not the only local folks that know a good thing when they see it!”
When it comes to the work, Doug has provided analysis and modeling support to nearly every facility on base. His cur-rent job, working at the Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit (APTU), is his favorite, so much so he says his children refer to it as his third and favorite child.
“Working at APTU, I get to fire up an air-isobutane-liquid oxygen rocket mo-tor every time we run,” he said. “I think I’ve got the best job on base!”
His work has also afforded him edu-cational opportunities to pursue master and doctoral degrees and travel opportu-nities across the United States and world.
Doug’s wife, Angelia, was the third family member to find a job with AEDC. She is currently the Government Spe-cial Access Program Security officer for AEDC.
Angelia began her career at Arnold with a tip from her husband about an opening for a temporary employee. She had worked as an X-ray technician for more than a decade before a stint as a stay-at-home mom, but when she was ready to return to work outside the home there were few local job openings in her field.
“With an interesting job close to home, I decided this was the work op-portunity for me,” she said. “I became a temporary employee for Sverdrup. I enjoyed the work and jumped at the chance to be a full-time employee when an opening became available in the Sver-drup security office.”
Sverdrup was the company contract-ed to operate AEDC by the Air Force at that time.
The work ended up being a good fit, and Angelia has worked at Arnold for more than 25 years.
“I love my job and knowing that what we do at AEDC supports the warfighter,” she said. “I work with great people at AEDC, in every mission area.”
Justin joined his parents at Arnold AFB in 2011, working at the base until 2018 when he briefly left for another work opportunity. He didn’t stay away long, returning after about a year-and-a-half. He currently is the manager of the Reliability Engineering Section in the Asset Health Assurance Branch of the Test Operations and Sustainment con-tractor.
Familiar with AEDC through his grandfather and parents, a summer in-ternship with the operations contractor at the time was Justin’s first experience working at the base.
“Working that summer, I met a lot of great people and really enjoyed the type and variety of work that AEDC had to offer,” he said.
Like his father, Justin enjoys the work and the sense of community he’s found at Arnold.
“AEDC is an engineer’s play-ground,” he said. “Every area is dif-ferent. You can become a master of controls or data acquisition, or be-come an expert in hypersonics testing and propulsion. You should never get bored because there are so many op-portunities to learn new things and
work in different areas.”When he’s taken those opportunities
to learn, someone has always been avail-able to help.
“I’ve been blessed that every group I’ve worked with has felt like family,” Justin said. “Everyone is always so help-ful and it’s a great working environ-ment.”
The fifth member of the Garrard fam-ily to join the ranks of AEDC was Ra-chel, a test manager in the Propulsion Test Branch. She began her career at Arnold in 2013 through the Air Force Palace Acquire Program, a three-year, full-time paid training program.
“That program let me get my mas-ter’s degree and paid off my undergradu-ate student loan debt, and it set me up to succeed in my career field,” Rachel said.
An opportunity too good to pass up brought her through the gate, but the continual opportunities have kept Rachel at AEDC.
“I love being able to learn new things,” she said. “AEDC lets me do that on a daily basis. The teams I am on and that I have been on are filled with people who are passionate about what they do; and they are always willing to help teach me and help me grow. Beyond the teams I’ve been on, I’ve been given great op-portunities to travel and see new things and meet new people.”
All the Garrards have valued having family working at the same place, even if for different employers and in different job types.
Jim has seen the ripple effect and taken joy in the accomplishments of his family.
“It was great to know that Doug had gotten a good job straight out of college,” he said. “I’m really proud of the life he and Angelia have made for themselves and Justin and Rachel. And now Justin and Rachel are doing the same thing for themselves.”
Doug has had the opportunity to make memories of seeing his father, wife and children at work.
“When I started working out here, it was great to spend time with my dad to see the type of work he was doing and how all of his co-workers really enjoyed him being there,” he said. “Now, Ange-lia and I are really proud that our kids both worked hard in school so they too could get great, well-paying jobs out here. And, since none of us work in the
10 • June 7, 2021
GARRARDS from page 1
Jim Garrard, left, a technical assistant, and a Bob Burt, a project engineer, look at the force measurement instrumentation system in the Tunnel B control room in the late-1960s. (Courtesy photo)
Dr. Doug Garrard, center, an Arnold Engineering Development Complex senior staff engineer, explains testing operations in the Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit at Arnold Air Force Base, Sept. 9, 2016. APTU is a blow-down, true temperature and pressure test facility designed for testing the performance, operability and durability of supersonic and hypersonic missile scale flight system hardware including propulsion systems and materials. (U.S. Air Force photo by Holly Peterson)
See GARRARDS, page 11
June 7, 2021 • 11
same area on base, it’s fun to get caught up during family gatherings on all of the activities going on at the base.”
At a workplace with a jargon all its own, Angelia has found having family that knows the lingo a bonus.
“When I talk about AEDC and use the acronyms we are so fond of on base, my family understands what I am say-ing,” she said. “They do not look at me like I’m speaking a foreign language. Also, I do like knowing if I am in the area and time permits, I can pop in for a short visit.”
Rachel knows with family around, there is always someone to turn to for help.
“Even though sometimes it feels like Cheers working with my parents and brother –
if you don’t know my name, you probably know someone with my last name,” she said. “It’s helpful for many reasons. We’re pretty spread out in the
different mission areas we work with, so if I need to get some information or to find someone, I usually have an in-side source to contact. Or, at least I have someone to point me in the right direc-tion. It’s also nice to know there’s always someone there if I have car trouble, need help with anything or just someone who understands what happens on base on a daily basis.”
Justin echoed his mother’s and sis-ter’s feelings about working with family at Arnold concerning being understood and having reliable sources of informa-tion and assistance. He also added an ap-preciation for the opportunities AEDC has afforded his family.
“I’m proud to be the third genera-tion of my family working at AEDC,” he said. “Each of us has had very dif-ferent careers and we’ve all been able to find our niche here. I think that speaks to what a great place to work AEDC is, where you can follow your own career
path and find interesting work no matter where your interests lie. Also, interview-ing my grandfather for this article taught
me a lot more about his career here and let me know that I had worked in some of the same places!”
GARRARDS from page 10
Angelia Garrard, left, then with the Aerospace Testing Alliance Mission Sup-port Department, accepts the ATA External Customer Service Excellence of the Quarter Award from ATA Deputy General Manager Jeff Haars in October 2014. ATA was the operations contractor for AEDC at the time. Garrard started as a contractor before accepting a job with the government. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Justin Garrard, then an AEDC reliability engineer, demonstrates the software interface for the instrumentation on the Condition-Based Maintenance Wire-less Network, Feb. 11, 2020, at Arnold Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)
Then-Junior Force Council members Rachel Garrard, Angela Bowden and Leah Lasater pack baskets with food items donated as part of the Thanksgiv-ing Food Basket Program at Arnold Air Force Base, Nov. 7, 2019. Activities such as the Thanksgiving Food Basket Program allow the Arnold AFB work-force to come together to support the community. (U.S. Air Force photo by Deidre Moon)
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (AFNS) – The Air Force will resumephysical fitness testing July 1with only three components: push-ups, sit-ups and the 1.5-mile run.
Without the waist measure-ment as a scored component, push-ups and sit-ups will in-crease from 10 to 20 points each, while the 1.5-mile run will remain at 60 points. Scor-ing will fall into five-year age groups, as opposed to the previous 10. Updated charts can be found at https://www.afpc.af.mil/Portals/70/docu-ments/07_FITNESS/5%20Year%20Score%20Chart%20updated%201.5%20mile%20p u s h u p s % 2 0 a n d % 2 0 s i t -ups%2020210525.pdf?ver=pPTBzu2XxX83JsIWgzfzOg%3d%3d.
The waist measurement will no longer be required as part
of the physical fitness test but a separate assessment of body composition, as required by DOD Instruction 1308.3, will continue starting in October. Testing for body composition may continue to use some form of waist measurement and may be administered during PT test-ing to reduce scheduling and ad-ministrative burdens, but body composition will not be a com-ponent of the PT test itself. Fur-ther details on the body compo-sition program will be released at a later date.
The Air Force has also worked on alternative strength and cardiovascular testing ex-ercise options with plans to announce them in the coming weeks. Once announced, mem-bers and fitness monitors will have approximately six months to familiarize themselves with use and execution of the alter-native testing options prior to having them available in Janu-ary 2022. Members will have a
choice of which testing options they choose for their physi-cal fitness assessment compo-nents. The six-month timeline will help ensure fitness assess-ment cells are prepared to train physical training leaders to ad-minister tests using the new op-tions.
“We are moving away from a one-size-fits-all model,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. “More testing options will put flexibility in the hands of our Airmen – where it belongs. We know not all Airmen maintain their fitness the same way and may excel in different areas. Alternate components provide choices while still providing a mecha-nism to determine overall fit-ness.”
These changes align under the Air Force’s Action Order Airmen, people-first approach.
“Physical fitness is an impor-tant part of our everyday lives, it’s more than just a test – it’s a
way of life, our readiness and ultimately our future success,” said Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass. “July 1st is a chance to refocus on build-ing a lifestyle of fitness and health, and I know our Airmen will be ready.”
For additional information,
Airmen can visit myPers or the Air Force’s Personnel Center’s fitness program page at https://www.afpc.af.mil/Career-Man-agement/Fitness-Program/.
The Space Force will follow these policies until service-spe-cific fitness policies are devel-oped and fielded.
Air Force releases updated fitness test score breakdown
Physical fitness testing will resume July 1. Several changes have been made to the test to include increasing scoring for push-ups and sit-ups from 10 to 20 points each, five-year age groups and the waist measurement no longer being required. The Air Force has also worked on alternative strength and car-diovascular testing exercise options with plans to announce them in the coming weeks. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Staff Sgt. Elora McCutcheon)
12 • June 7, 2021
