An outstanding career

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Travis Schirner
  • 49th Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  According to a nationwide poll this year, public esteem for the U.S. military is higher than all other American institutions.

While this is great news for military personnel, the American public may not realize many civilians are worthy of a similar level of respect.

The military is dependent upon a cadre of civilians who are embedded among their ranks. In a revolving door system where military personnel shuffle to a new duty station an average of every two and a half years, civilian experience, expertise and continuity are essential to mission completion.

Enter George Gregory.

With 54 years of civilian service under his proverbial belt, Gregory has finally hung up his hat as the 746th Test Squadron Operations Flight chief.

Gregory arrived at Holloman Air Force Base less than two decades after it was built and continued to serve the Air Force until his retirement in August 2015. If he were an active duty Airman, this feat of endurance would leave him just six years shy of three retirement-eligible careers.

"It's been an outstanding career," he said. "It was an outstanding time for me professionally. I enjoyed working with the people and all the challenges over the years that I worked there."

In April 1961, Gregory was hired as a General Schedule grade five engineer fresh out of college and, over time, worked his way up to the GS-14 level, the second highest in the civilian pay system.

At the beginning of his career, Gregory worked at the Holloman High Speed Test Track designing instrumentation and state-of-the-art telemetry for rocket sleds. He then moved to the guidance squadron where he worked on instrumentation that took testing into the digital age.
 
Though he contends he is a low-level person and does not aspire to be at the top, as operations flight chief, Gregory led all aspects of testing for the global positioning system and inertial systems at the 746th TS.

Not only was Gregory an accomplished engineer, but subordinates also praise him for the leadership lessons he provided over his extensive career.

"He mentored me on how to be a good supervisor. And what I should look at as far as my personnel," said Jerry Sanchez, the current 746th Test Squadron Operations Flight chief who succeeded Gregory after being his subordinate for 20 years. "He was always one to (say), 'You know, you work for me, but part of your job is to take care of your people.' That's something that he instilled in me."

Gregory's leadership style, calm and agreeable, fostered a climate of acceptance and cordiality within the unit.

"Mr. Gregory had a bunch of what we called George-isms," Sanchez said. "We may have an argument or a discussion, and we may not agree on it. He says, 'Well, after it's all said and done, we're gonna keep on as if nothing happened.'"

Other internally-famous George-isms include the phrases: "We don't air our dirty laundry in front of everybody" and "Just between us girls."

Gregory frequently credits his work and coworkers as primary factors behind his longevity.

"I just liked the people, liked the challenges and liked the idea that I was given free reign, a lot of times, to support the efforts that we were involved in," he said.
He had a family to consider in his decision to remain in the local area for the last five decades. His wife, the late Eula Faye Gregory, taught third grade at Holloman Elementary School for 40 years. In addition, Alamogordo proved to be a good environment for the family, Gregory said.

Just four years ago, when Gregory hit the 50-year milestone, then Airman 1st Class Suita B. Ika penned an article that touched on the social climate of the early sixties and the changes in attitudes Gregory observed over his tenure.

In the 2011 article, Gregory, an African-American, described a marked difference between segregation in his native central Texas and acceptance in the local area.

"That's one of the reasons why I liked Alamogordo," he said. "Don't get me wrong, (as a nation) we hadn't reached the maturity point where that sort of thing had gone away. It was prevalent, but it was more relaxed in Alamogordo. You could go to the theater and not have to sit in the balcony."

Today, he maintains race was not an impediment during his time at Holloman.
"That was always an issue during the time period that I grew up in," he said. "But, the people were very professional out at Holloman. I commend them for their professional support during the time period that I worked there. Without them, I couldn't have gotten through the system at all."

Because of the length and importance of his work with the Air Force, Gregory is Air Force Material Command's nominee for the National Public Service Award. The program honors individuals who make outstanding contributions and whose accomplishments can be viewed as models of public service within and outside the work environment.

"Mr. Gregory exemplified the Air Force motto 'service before self,'" Sanchez said. "He worked instrumentation, in some form, his entire career because he thoroughly enjoyed and understood it."

He remains active in the community through his church -- Owens Chapel African Methodist Episcopal. The variety of positions he has held at Owens: choir director, trustee and general handyman provide a clear picture of the man's humility.

"I supported the church by doing manual things -- air conditioning and stuff that would help the local congregation," Gregory said. "My focus is trying to be a good Christian."
After 54 years, the Air Force is now fully in Gregory's rearview mirror.

Though he has a remarkable career to reflect upon, he would probably sum it up with characteristic humility and a popular George-ism, "After it's all said and done, we're gonna keep on as if nothing happened."