Retirement Reflection

Details: Published: December 10, 2015

By Kathy Sanford, Chapter FL1 Member and PASS Fatigue Safety Steering Committee

As I approach my retirement, I am still in disbelief at what I have accomplished over the years. At the end of your working career, you start thinking about the beginning of it all. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was a secretary during the day and a grocery store deli clerk at night. I had a college degree but no real opportunities so I decided to join the Air Force. My father was in the Army Air Corp, so I thought the Air Force was the place to go. I enjoyed my time in military service. I met my husband and started my family. I got to see Texas, Nebraska, and Turkey. Thanks to fate, I ended up in Washington, D.C. (Andrews Air Force Base, to be precise) during the time of the first Gulf War. With a new baby and a four-year-old, and an active duty military husband, we decided that we didn't both need to get deployed. That was when I made my decision to exit the military.

The FAA manager of the Andrews AFB Sector Field Office (SFO)—now known as the System Support Center (SSC)—was always on the hunt for military people, women in particular, who had a technical background and were leaving the military. I had just completed my Industrial Engineering degree. At the time, there was a shortage of women in the technical fields in the FAA, so I walked my separation paperwork through myself in one day, left the military and became a member of the Washington National Airport (DCA) SFO. My first day on the job at DCA was also the day that we invaded Iraq (Operation Desert Storm – Shock and Awe). I will never forget that day because the control tower had military guards with large guns at the door. It was very intimidating, but memorable.

I pulled my first shift alone, a midnight shift, during my first month on the job. I was given a list of phone numbers to dial in case something broke because I had absolutely no training yet. After numerous trips to Oklahoma City for training, I became a fully trained radar/ARTS technician at DCA. Thanks to my husband’s military retirement, we ended up at Tampa in 1995.

I continued to look for challenges so I took on jobs with PASS over the years. It all started with a familiarization trip to PASS national office on my own vacation time. It energized me to become involved with the union. I became a contract representative at Tampa and Sarasota. I served as president and vice president of the Florida Chapter. I was on the national Legislative Committee and lobbied Congress during PASS legislative events. All of this was fun and rewarding, but I decided to try an even more satisfying, as well as time-consuming, detail. I was chosen to be a subject matter expert (SME) for the Fatigue Safety Steering Committee. This led to my participation in the Fully Charged campaign, which in turn led to the Department of Transportation’s Secretary Award this year. The union made me look at things from another perspective, and to try to enhance myself and my working environment. I thank PASS for helping me become a better, safer and informed technician.

I also became a regional for the Technical Women’s Organization in the FAA. This organization was created to encourage women to want to study math and science and work in technical fields. Looking at the FAA today, we have a lot more to do in this regard. We need more qualified women in the Technical Operations arena.

As I leave the agency, I hope that what I have done here has left a mark on which future technicians can build. Always continue your education, and don't be afraid to try new ventures. It can be within the agency, or the union, or even with another agency, but always follow your heart, and don't waste your brilliance. Thanks for putting up with me all these years, and I will miss everyone. Of course, a special thanks to my family, especially my husband, for putting up with the shiftwork and TDYs over the years. I have already signed up to be a retired PASS member, and I look forward to seeing what comes next for our union.

Pictured: Region II Vice President Dave Spero congratulates Kathy Sanford on her retirement.