{"id":25786,"date":"2023-06-08T14:42:39","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T14:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=25786"},"modified":"2023-06-08T14:47:58","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T14:47:58","slug":"deputy-administrator-for-massdot-aeronautics-brings-distinguished-military-career-to-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/massachusetts\/deputy-administrator-for-massdot-aeronautics-brings-distinguished-military-career-to-post\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Deputy Administrator for MassDOT Aeronautics Brings Distinguished Military Career to Post"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo above <\/em>– Former co-workers of Denise Garcia (center) during the 22nd Fighter Squadron F-15 Maintainers Reunion at the Weisbrod Museum in Pueblo CO.  <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Penny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Denise Garcia<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Denise Garcia is the Deputy Administrator for the MassDOT Aeronautics Division overseeing aviation administration and policy matters for the Commonwealth. Denise began her career at MassDOT 22 years ago as an aviation planner with what was then the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission \u2013 the forerunner of the MassDOT Aeronautics Division. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Before joining\nMassDOT, Denise worked for the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) as a\nnoise abatement technician and communications specialist in Airport Operations\nat Logan Airport and had a distinguished aviation maintenance and leadership\ncareer in the U.S. Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you first get inspired to work in the aviation industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   \u201cMy first flight in\na Cessna 150 is one I\u2019ll never forget because it was a turning point in my\nlife. After suddenly losing my mom at 15, I was having a tough time adjusting.\nA family friend took me flying in his plane which was based at Middleboro\nAirport in Massachusetts. Once we left the airport and headed south over\nNarraganset Bay, he let me fly the plane. Taking the controls that day gave me\na chance to see the world from a new perspective and move past my sorrow. Once\nI got into the plane, I was completely focused on flying and taking in the\nbeautiful views of the coastline. That\u2019s the moment I became excited about my\nfuture and knew I wanted to travel and see the world after graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mentors (Tech Sergeant Stapper (male) & Sergeant Johnson (female) are shown front and center in the photo. Denise is the 2nd person from left in 2nd row from the bottom.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

   At 17, I enlisted\nin the Air Force. My first career choice was air traffic control but there\nweren\u2019t any openings at the time, so I enlisted as an aircraft mechanic. After\nVietnam, the military was promoting Equal Employment Opportunity, so they had\njust opened non-traditional fields such as aircraft maintenance to women. I\nbecame one of the first women in the military to serve as an aircraft crew\nchief. Some people were betting I wouldn\u2019t last one month on the flight line,\nso I set out to prove them wrong and never looked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   I continued my career\nin military aviation and spent 22 years in the Air Force where I worked on the\nSR-71, F-15. F-16, and A-10 fleet of aircraft at military bases worldwide and\nearned a Bachelor\u2019s degree in Professional Aeronautics and a Master\u2019s degree in\nAviation\/Aerospace Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s your first memory of aviation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   \u201cWhen I was in the\n6th grade, our class went on a school field trip to Otis AFB in Bourne,\nMassachusetts. The highlight of our trip was a tour of the air traffic control\ntower. I was immediately impressed by the \u201cbird\u2019s eye view\u201d of the airfield and\nthe teamwork of the controllers. One of my best memories from that day was\nusing their binoculars to gain a close-up view of the aircraft. My dad loaned\nme his prized Brownie Reflex camera for the trip and to my surprise they made\nan exception to the rules and allowed me to take pictures from the control\ntower. I came home beaming that afternoon. It inspired my interest in aviation\nand photography!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who has inspired you the most (any mentors you want to mention)?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   \u201cLooking back, I\u2019ve had some wonderful co-workers and mentors who\u2019ve helped shape my career. I learned a great deal about teamwork and tenacity as an airman in basic training and met many people from diverse backgrounds who encouraged me to push on through early morning runs, unpleasant assignments (such as KP duty), and many other training obstacles. Our military training instructors Tech Sergeant Stapper and Sergeant Johnson (See photo above<\/em>) were tough on us but great role models who turned 50 new trainees into a strong team of professional young women ready to take on new challenges!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Denise with Chief Sanchez (left) and General Davis, taken at the 22nd Fighter Squadron F-15 Maintainers Reunion at the Weisbrod Museum in Pueblo CO in September 2022.<\/em>) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

   Later in my career,\na former Maintenance Officer from Bitburg Air Base in Germany, Captain Glen\nDavis, (who is now a retired two-star general) took a chance and selected me as\na new flight chief to manage a group of 50 F-15 mechanics. This was a role that\nI didn\u2019t believe I was ready for but was one of the best assignments I ever\nhad. I deployed to Al Kharj Air Base in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War with\nthis great group of men and women, and many of them have since become life-long\nfriends. Once I\u2019d settled into my role as a flight chief, our Maintenance\nBranch Chief, Frank Sanchez, gave me some tough advice on getting out of my\ncomfort zone and taking on new assignments to better position myself for future\npromotions. Following that talk, I took his advice and was selected for a new\njob in Maintenance Supervision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   What I love the\nmost about aviation is that it\u2019s always challenging, and you never stop\nlearning!\u201d (Photo at right – Denise with Chief Sanchez (left) and General\nDavis, taken at the 22nd Fighter Squadron F-15 Maintainers Reunion at the\nWeisbrod Museum in Pueblo CO in September 2022.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice for other women inside our industry or thinking about aviation and aerospace?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   \u201cThis industry is a\ngreat career choice for women because the field is very diverse and offers many\nopportunities for personal and professional growth. I enjoy speaking with young\nwomen about their future career prospects because outreach is such an important\npart of what we do in aviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   I\u2019m always excited\nto see students learning about aviation and STEM education at a young age. But\neveryone isn\u2019t fortunate enough to have that experience. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so\nimportant for us to get out to the schools to educate students on the possible\ncareer choices that are available to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   My advice to women\nin this industry would be to believe in yourself! If you have a dream, pursue\nit, and ignore those who try to stop you! You\u2019ll have setbacks along the way\nbut be persistent and don\u2019t give up on your goals! There will always be people\nwho doubt you, but no one knows your strengths better than you do. Align\nyourself with positive people and don\u2019t be afraid to ask for help if you need\nit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   If your\norganization has a mentorship program, sign up. If there is a job posting that\ninterests you, go for it! Most employers want to hire people with passion and a\nstrong work ethic and don\u2019t expect the candidates to know everything about the\njob before hiring them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Become familiar\nwith the industry organizations and resources available to you that support\nyour interests and career goals. Volunteer to join a committee or narrate a\nconference panel and become an active member of the group. The relationships\nyou build through those associations will often open new doors and prepare you\nfor future leadership roles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Background?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   \u201cMy affiliation\nwith industry organizations such as the National Association of State Aviation\nOfficials (NASAO) has opened many doors for me and further enriched my career\nthrough networking and professional development. It\u2019s always exciting to attend\nNASAO events and serve on aviation committees to discuss airport industry\nchallenges and new innovations in technology with other state aviation\nofficials. It has also been my honor to represent NASAO as the recently\nappointed Regional Director for New England, serving CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, and\nVT. Additionally, I\u2019ve learned about the Transportation Research Board (TRB)\nand its resources through my interactions with NASAO. Since that introduction,\nI have participated on many speaking panels, research, and synthesis projects,\nAirport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) committees with focus on Aviation\nAdministration & Policy and Aviation System Planning and serve as an ACRP\nAmbassador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

   After working in aviation for 49 years I can see that my career has come full circle, starting with the military, and still working with them at MassDOT on airport projects in a new but still relevant way. I\u2019ve experienced many highpoints in my career on both the military and civil side that included an incentive flight (photo at right<\/em>) in the back seat of an F-15 where I experienced the effects of 7.5 g\u2019s and a negative 2g dive \u2013 without getting sick, supporting the trio of world record setting flights as a maintainer in the SR-71 Blackbird program at Beale AFB where the speed and altitude records were set in July 1976 and still stand today, serving my country in the SW Asia theater in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, a long rewarding career at MassDOT and having the privilege of traveling to 26 countries and meeting many interesting people from very diverse backgrounds and cultures. Aviation is a very rewarding field to work in. I hope that when I retire from MassDOT in four years, I will have contributed enough to inspire others and to have made a difference in this industry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo above – Former co-workers of Denise Garcia (center) during the 22nd Fighter Squadron F-15 Maintainers Reunion at the Weisbrod Museum in Pueblo CO.   By Penny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D. Denise Garcia is the Deputy Administrator for the MassDOT Aeronautics Division overseeing aviation administration and policy matters for the Commonwealth. Denise began her career at MassDOT 22 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-massachusetts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Group-Photo-22-TFS-Reunion-edit-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25786","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=25786"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25796,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25786\/revisions\/25796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}