Wasted years

The sad part here is that the F-35 provides no combat value.

Maintainers

From former Staff Sgt. Royce Brown:

I was a fighter crew chief from 2005 through 2011 and I worked on F-15s and F-35s. The service was great, but I got a bad taste in my mouth toward the end of my enlistment due to the regulations and policies.

I worked on the F-35 for the last two years I was enlisted alongside Lockheed Martin contractors on the developmental test program at Edwards Air Force Base, California. When I decided to get out it was primarily for the increase in money and freedom, and to stay in the area and buy a house with my now wife. I had a job with Lockheed before I even got on terminal leave starting at $30 an hour with great benefits and union membership. Starting pay was almost identical to base pay with basic allowances for housing and subsistence. Extra money came from overtime, and set hours were also a perk. Things were great at first because management cared for its people. After about a year the good managers had gone and in came a few bad eggs.

So I started looking for another job. This is another good thing about the private sector — being able to find a new job at one's convenience. I found an opening at NASA for a civil service engineering technician so I applied. Being a disabled vet gave me preference and I made the certification list. My eight years combined Air Force and civilian work gave me an impressive resume with experience comparable with some 20-year-plus maintainers. Out of the many people who applied, only a few got interviews and I landed the only position. Now I am a NASA civil servant and I have landed my dream job.

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