by Dale M.
I began as a student summer
employee for the Glenn L. Martin Company in Denver as a design draftsman in facilities
engineering. Upon graduation from the University of Colorado Boulder in June
1958, I began a 38-year career with Lockheed Martin in aerodynamics. Early on,
I had to learn how to listen to, understand and respond to ‘Baltimorese’,
having been born and raised in Colorado.
Over the years, I had
fascinating and challenging assignments in engineering, test, leadership,
program management and sales. I worked on many programs and technologies. They
ranged from ICBMs, strategic war game analysis and ballistic missile defense to
satellites, the Space Sextant autonomous satellite navigation system, radio and
laser communications systems and others behind the doors. We worked long and
hard days, for weeks and months. Winning, performing and delivering provided both
satisfaction and pride, not only for the company and team but also for me
personally.
One of the greatest rewards
I received was to be able to know, work with and be thrilled by the brilliance,
leadership and commitment to excellence of my peers and leaders.
At times I compared my
career with that of a dentist, who might have enjoyed going to the bank with
his money. But, I enjoyed my many hours working on challenges that were much
more fun that looking into someone’s mouth and doing the same thing day in and
day out.
