50-Year-Reunion

This was the absolute pinnacle of my Army career. Shortly after the conclusion of that three - year command I retired from the Army having served for 30 years. I always made it a habit to ask ex - military personnel if they regretted leaving the military and in almost every case they said yes. I took that to heart and stayed with it for a full career. After retiring in 2008 we moved back to our house in Tampa, FL and I took a position with a defense contractor as the Director of Program Management. We really enjoyed Florida, but the heat and traffic was wearing on us. We decided to move to the Greenville - Spartanburg, SC area where I worked at Amazon, Samsung and another defense contractor for the next five years. At that point I got the itch to get back into managing large organizations, so I applied for a position with General Dynamics (GD), a major defense contractor. GD hired me and I took a General Manager position in Marion, IL to run their ammunition production facility. This required us to move from South Carolina but it turned out to be a sound decision as I was able to turnaround a very troubled organization. During this time, we were also looking at places to retire and ultimately landed back in the Spartanburg, SC area. This also got us close to our children and grandchildren. We returned to South Carolina but instead of retiring I took a position in Columbia with another defense contractor. After about two years, GD called me about taking a position as the General Manger for their ammunition plants in Scranton, PA. I reluctantly took the position because I would have to commute back and forth on the weekends. During my first six months at Scranton the Ukraine War unfolded putting extreme pressure on the United States to provide 155mm artillery which was the exact shell we made. Over the next two years we worked night and day to expand our facilities and ramp up production to meet requirements. In the summer of 2024, I decided to retire and move back to South Carolina for good. My son and daughter and five grandchildren are all in the area providing constant joy and entertainment. Although I am still doing consulting work hopefully my career will slow down. As I look back on my career, I have moved 22 times to locations across the country and the world. Some were without my family but all with experiences and memories that I cherish. I compared every location to Bluefield, and few measured up to the location I still call home. I return as often as I can and still fill the constant pull. I can say without any reservation that the Bluefield culture, the education I received, and the outstanding people provided me with everything I needed to succeed in life.

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