For 12 years, 3 months, and 19 days, I have worked for the same company,for the same customer, at the same location, with only minor variations in details. I've sat in something like 11 different desks. There have been something like eight different contracts I've been on over that 12+ years, but it's all been essentially for that same customer and in roughly the same place. For my 12-year old daughter, this is the only place I have ever worked. The biggest change was in 2001 when I went from being a one-man shop to being a supervisor of a team. That team fluctuated in size over the years from as few as 3 to as many as 11.
In the eight years and six months I've had a team working for me, there have been 19 different people that have worked for me and this customer. Considering the present team size is nine, that's not a lot of turnover for eight and a half years. Also, three of the nine have worked for me seven or more years, which makes for a pretty solid core. This team has grown the size of our customer's maintenance applications from 4 to more than a dozen, with several more left in the pipeline. We've grown our customer's user base from roughly 400 to more than 1500, and that number reaches more than 4400 if you include users of systems derived from our work with this customer. But most importantly, I truly feel that we've provided a service that has saved our customer and our country time and money, allowing them to focus on the more important aspects of supporting our warfighters in the field.
So, what will I miss the most?
Well, first and foremost, I will miss my team, and being part of the Air Force family. Even though I'm a contractor, I've been part of this organization for longer than many of its own personnel. I will miss working on an Air Force Base, because, as a former Air Force Brat, it's always been a bit more like home than about any place else I can think of working. With a father that served 21 years in the Air Force, I've had access to a base for all but one year of my life just after college. I will miss working near an active runway, seeing all the many types and sizes of aircraft that have come through, from the typical fighter, bomber, and tanker inventory to the strange and unusual, like the space shuttle, air force one, and the super guppy. Most of all I will miss being part of the BONE family. I built and played with a model B-1 as an 11-year old boy. Twelve years later I found myself working with the people that support that very aircraft. And another twelve years later I find myself parting ways with something that had become such an integral part of my life. Though I may go off and find myself working someplace else for the next thirty years of my life, I suspect that my years here will always feel the most like home.
For the record, I will NOT miss the cafeteria food. Having to park near building 3705 at times and walk ten minutes to building 3001. Cramming in the hallway as a tornado shelter. Enduring 90-degree weather INSIDE 3001 when the chillers go out. Standing outside for hours on end during post-9/11 building evacuations due to suspicious boxes of dirty pants. Or random vehicle inspections. Also among the glad to be rid-ofs are leaky roofs and the associated seemingly endless repairs, ear-shattering fire alarms, getting a new CAC every 2-12 months, and... did I mention the cafeteria food?
I know I've gone on a bit, but if I may, I'd like to make one last introduction of my team for those that may not know them (and to let you know where they're going from here), though before I do, let me say one last thanks to my team themselves for many years of loyal service, to my customer for more than a decade of unwavering support, and particularly to all of you that took us in over the years, and made us feel like we belonged, despite our unfortunate status as contractor scum. It has been in all regards an honor and a privilege to serve with you.
Some good friends of ours in the maintenance organization took us out to the flight line earlier this week so that we could get a nice group picture, and say our last farewells to the BONE in person.
