{"id":19773,"date":"2021-10-24T15:08:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-24T15:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=19773"},"modified":"2021-10-24T15:08:23","modified_gmt":"2021-10-24T15:08:23","slug":"carol-comer-retiring-after-stellar-career-in-aviation-transportation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/georgia\/carol-comer-retiring-after-stellar-career-in-aviation-transportation\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Carol Comer Retiring After Stellar Career in Aviation, Transportation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Carol Comer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As a young girl growing up, Carol L. Comer never dreamed\nthat she would spend her career in aviation and transportation. \u201cI always thought\nI would go to law school,\u201d said Comer, who will be retiring from the Georgia\nDepartment of Transportation at the end of the month. \u201cIt is interesting\nlooking back that those things didn\u2019t go as I had probably planned, but I\ncouldn\u2019t have scripted a more rich and rewarding career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comer began her Georgia Department of Transportation career\nin 1997 as an Aviation Planner in the Intermodal Division and, because of outstanding\nleadership skills and commitment to modal program delivery, quickly rose\nthrough the ranks reaching her final post as Director of the Division of\nIntermodal overseeing Aviation, Rail, Transit and Waterways in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up in North Carolina, Comer\u2019s interest in aviation\nbegan at an early age. She remembers on Saturday nights after dinner, they\nwould clear the kitchen table and her dad \u2013 who got his pilot\u2019s license by\njoining the Civil Air Patrol in his teens – would bring out his old FAA\nsectional charts and his E6B computer and they would flight plan trips, calculating\ntheir time enroute, fuel, etc. \u201cThose early lessons truly sparked my lifelong\nlove of aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comer remained very interested in learning all she could\nabout Aviation particularly about flying safety. She received her education\nfrom North Carolina State University in industrial engineering and received a\nPrivate Pilot License in 1986; an Instrument Rating in 1990; and a Commercial\nPilot License with Single and Multi-Engine Land Ratings in 1991. She also\nobtained a Flight Instructor Certificate in 1992. Carol has logged over 3,500\nflight hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was introduced to state aviation while attending an FAA\nSafety Seminar sponsored by NCDOTs Aviation Division where she met some of\ntheir staff. \u201cI was very intrigued with the diverse responsibilities they had,\nand one thing lead to another and here I am now after more than 30 years of\npublic service to two state DOTs.\u201d Comer joined the North Carolina staff as an\nAviation Safety Specialist, developing promotional and outreach programs,\nproviding training for general aviation pilots, and performing pilot duties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comer has been a leader on the national stage as well,\nhaving served in various capacities for the National Association of State\nAviation Officials (NASAO), highlighted by her time as the organization\u2019s\nChairman in 2015. In 2020, because of her contributions to aviation and her\ncommitment to improving airports in Georgia, she was awarded NASAO\u2019s Kenneth A.\nRowe Ambassador of Aviation Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Members of the 2013 NASAO Executive Team from left, Tommy Booth (MS), Comer, Chris Willenborg (MA), and Dave Gordon (CO). Photo by Kim Stevens.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

On a personal level Comer noted that NASAO, in a word, is\nfamily. \u201cI feel so fortunate to have made friendships that will last a lifetime.\nThe comradery, expertise, professionalism and passion for aviation that the\nmembers share provides such a unique system of support and a forum for the\nexchange of information.\u201d In participating in NASAO Comer always felt a strong\nsense of responsibility and awe in knowing that they were representing the\npublic interest in aviation and helping to shape aviation policy at the\nnational level. \u201cWhen we step back and think about it, that\u2019s pretty weighty\nstuff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back over the years, Comer reflected on the\nincredible opportunity public service has given her. \u201cI\u2019ve always liked helping\npeople and building things,\u201d said Comer. \u201cAs I look around our state, it\u2019s\nreally gratifying to see infrastructure projects my office has completed and\nthe economic development that has followed. I know there are invisible\nfingerprints from our staff that helped make those projects a reality, and\nthat\u2019s always a powerful motivator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In retirement, Comer said she definitely plans to keep\ninvolved in aviation in some fashion. \u201cI don\u2019t have a well thought out plan at\nthis point, but if history repeats itself, I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll have a fun and\nrewarding time ahead in retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The State Transportation Board adopted a resolution that recognizes\nMs. Comer for her \u201c\u2026 hard work, dedication and tremendous contributions made\nthrough her leadership, passion, professionalism and unwavering commitment to\nadvancing a multi-modal transportation system that promoted safety and mobility\nand supported opportunities for economic development. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a young girl growing up, Carol L. Comer never dreamed that she would spend her career in aviation and transportation. \u201cI always thought I would go to law school,\u201d said Comer, who will be retiring from the Georgia Department of Transportation at the end of the month. \u201cIt is interesting looking back that those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-georgia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19776,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19773\/revisions\/19776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}