On The Mark

By the time you read this, I will have brought a 40-year career in Navy Flight Test to a close. I spent 20 years as a Flight Test Engineer (FTE), executing tests to see if our aircraft were safe and effective. I graduated from the US Naval Test Pilot School as an FTE, where I spent the toughest year I ever loved sharpening my skills. In my career, I flew in 25 types of aircraft, from two-seat trainers to the mighty F-4 Phantom, in which I went from 5,000 to 30,000 feet in 58 seconds in full burner at 0.95 Mach. I saw 25 Test Squadron Commanding Officers come and go. My projects took me to Sicily and the Philippines and all over the US. A gratifying thing was helping to select and test the new T-6A/B primary trainer for the USAF and USN, then seeing multiple of my colleague’s sons and daughters safely get their wings in that aircraft. 

The next 20 years were spent as a Branch Head, recruiting, hiring, training, and leading younger people. A high-ranking woman in our organization called me a “servant leader” and I took that as the highest compliment. I have had 54 employees in my career and hired at least that many more for others. It wasn’t always easy: two of my folks got arrested (it ultimately turned out OK). I went to court to support one who was assaulted. I had someone threaten suicide and the organization put the responsibility for response on me, but we talked it out and that person later went on to have a brilliant career. I’ve had others “ride the struggle bus,” professionally and emotionally, and we largely worked things out. Most of the ones who left did so for good reasons: they got promotions or their military spouses got reassigned.

The national average for women in engineering is about 17%, but I’ve had the honor of a 33% average. I didn’t set out to make that happen: I just hired the best people I could find and there they were. I’ve had both Iranian and Bosnian Muslim women employees, unusual for Defense, and both were fantastic. One Navy wife was from Madrid and she gave a formal little bow and called me “Don Mark” during her interview, something I loved and didn’t discourage. I mentored a Mexican protege in English and she still calls me “Don Mark.”  One of the most determined people I know, she struggled with English at first and now she asks me grammar questions that have me diving into the books. One lady didn’t like the salty language in the office, but instead of making a big deal about it, she set up an incentive plan where she baked desserts if they behaved. When use of the bad words fell below her threshold, she simply lowered the threshold! I wish I could tell you all the great stories.

Recruiting has been pure joy: the organization liked the people I was hiring, made me a recruiter, and what a blessing! One time, I offered a young woman a job and the reaction and smile made the lights in that room get brighter, closely followed by tears of joy and an immediate phone call to her parents. I hired a guy by phone and I could feel the elation through the line. Giving a young person their first job is like being Santa and the Easter Bunny all rolled into one - the energy is amazing. Recruiting and teaching are two of the things I am going to miss the most, but no one is irreplaceable. A man wants to leave a legacy and our people are my Magnum Opus.

That was my vocation and now it is time for my avocations, or as I call motorcycling, my occupassion. If you need a moto pilot to carry someone, I’m your huckleberry and I have multiple bicycle event moto jobs lined up already. I will still write for Backroads and hopefully find more time for Diner Runs and Big City Getaways. It will be liberating to be able to join the Summer Solstice and not have to worry about how much vacation I’m using! In one column, I threatened to get on my moto and randomly head for a compass point: I intend to make good on that. I hope to see more of “the family” and be at some of the events in the Northeast on which we’ve had to pass because of our distance. Shakespeare said, “All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts…” It’s time to play the next part, dear readers.