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\u201cIt is with a mix of both excitement and sadness that I write to let you know I plan to retire on May 1, 2023,” noted Walston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an email to colleagues and friends, Walston said that it has been an extraordinary 30+ years working at NCDOT and the Division of Aviation. \u201cI have gained so much personally and professionally from working with you during that time to build a strong air transportation system for North Carolina,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe have accomplished so much together, building one of the strongest airport systems in the country, launching a nation-leading unmanned air transportation program, providing the highest-quality passenger and photogrammetry flight operations for state agencies, and building an aviation business development program that attracts companies and create jobs for our state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walston says he is leaving the Division in very capable\nhands. \u201cWe have a strong team at the Division. \nOur aviation managers and staff wake up every day focused on serving the\nneeds of this community and the state. They are well prepared to continue\nmanaging that work and supporting you during the transition to new leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walston\u2019s work over three decades in North Carolina has led\nto significant innovation in the state\u2019s air transportation system, from\ndeveloping the state\u2019s first airport contract program to save tax dollars\nthrough economies of scale to creating a first-of-its-kind tiered\nclassification system with objective criteria for prioritizing grant funding.\nMore recently, North Carolina has become a national leader ushering in the new\nera of unmanned air transportation, with more missions flown and more national\nfirsts achieved than all other teams combined in the Federal Aviation\nAdministration\u2019s UAS drone integration initiatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since becoming NCDOT Aviation director in 2013, state\nfunding for airport development has climbed nearly 500 percent \u2013 the\nsecond-highest level of state investment in the country behind Florida.\nAccountability and stewardship of state aviation funds are at an all-time high\ndue to his commitment to transparent, evidence-based programs for awarding and\nspending public funds for airport development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a parallel 26-year career in the National Guard, most\nrecently serving as civil engineer operations officer with the North Carolina\nNational Guard, Lieutenant Colonel Walston has led training exercises for Air\nForce personnel and directed aviation engineering projects around the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bobby Walston, Division of Aviation Director for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, announced that he will be retiring this Spring. \u201cIt is with a mix of both excitement and sadness that I write to let you know I plan to retire on May 1, 2023,” noted Walston. In an email to colleagues and friends, […]<\/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":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-north-carolina"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24623","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=24623"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24626,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24623\/revisions\/24626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}