An Interesting Line of Work

Lockheed hired me in 1962 as a buyer

by Robert B.

In 1962, Lockheed-California hired me as a buyer. One of my early assignments was to purchase components of the fuel system for the AH-56A helicopter, including the self-sealing fuel and oil tanks from Uniroyal of Canada. That was in Van Nuys. Later, I was the material department liaison with Rolls Royce personnel in Palmdale on the L-1011. In 1974, I transferred to Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnydale. One interesting assignment there was to purchase products to manufacture exterior tiles of the Space Shuttle, primarily the fiber from Johns Manville and the glass grit for coating the tile from Corning. Congratulations on 100 years and thanks for 29 years of retirement.

The Lockheed AH-56A Cheyenne

Eyes Turned Skyward

Congratulations on 100 years, and I wish you all the best

by Thomas B.

Sorry, I have no hairy tales. As they say, “Good pilots don’t have any good stories to tell.” Congratulations on 100 years of aviation excellence! Keep up the great work and all the best!

One Company, One Team

Thank you for the opportunity to show my appreciation

by Bob B.

In 1997, I retired from the contracts department of the Lockheed Martin facility in Pomona, California. I had been working for the Loral Electro-Optical Systems Company in Pasadena when it was acquired by Lockheed. I was immediately impressed with the professionalism of the Lockheed personnel and the manner in which program management interfaced with the contracts department. Some examples are as follows:

1)      Complete and detailed backup was provided for proposals.

2)      Frequent dialogue with contracts was the rule of the day. (No surprises.)

3)      Sufficient time was allowed for data submittals.

4)      Contracts was included in program support meetings.

5)      The attitude among departments was, "We all wear the same badge."

Thank you for this opportunity to express my admiration for Lockheed Martin.

Truly Inspired Leadership

It was a joy to come to work every day

by Marilyn G.

Congratulations to Lockheed Martin for 100 years in business! My working days at Martin Marietta and happy ones. I worked with Michael Salis, northern region director. He was a wonderful boss. He was dedicated to the company and very kind, and he was understanding and knowledgeable about many things. He made it a joy to come to work every day. We worked well as a team. I retired in 1995. May Lockheed Martin have many more successful years!

Lighting up the International Space Station

I was proud to work on the solar array program

by Jesse C.

During my 30 years, I had the great fortune to be in the right place at the right time. I was involved in some great programs. The solar array program was the most rewarding. Seeing and meeting the people that were going into space with the array to test it and to bring it back was the highlight for me. Thanks, Lockheed Martin for the great and wonderful memories.

ISS: Destination Space

Supporting Work-Life Balance

I was the recreation director at Lockheed-Georgia

by R.L. McC.

I worked on the C-130, JetStar, C-5 and B-70 Experimental Aircraft programs. I worked in quality control, X-ray, magnaflux, ultrasonic and penetrant magnetic testing. After many years, I was selected to serve as recreation director at the plant. I had many hours of volunteer service in planning and implementing recreation programs. From the beginning, I had excellent support from management, my staff, the recreation council and volunteers. We received top awards from the National Recreation Association for three years out of my 17 years with the Georgia Lockheed Employees Recreation Club.

Rubbing Elbows with Heroes

We were pilots-in-training during World War II

by Charles M.

Share a Story is rather unique in that you learn about people who, until reading about their respective backgrounds, were completely unknowns. I must confess, I fall into that category. I can however proudly state that I met and rubbed elbows with the Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham while we were serving our country in World War II as pilots-in-training for United States Navy.

Otto Graham (left), All-American