NATCA Bookshelf

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015 NATCA DAILY DISPATCH 7 Steve has been an NSC member since 2007. He started his ATC career while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985-1989. He worked as a radar controller at MCAS Yuma, Ariz., and MCAS Futenma, Okinawa, Japan. Steve was hired by the FAA in 1991 and has worked at Indianapolis Center (ZID) for his entire career. He has served as an area rep, facility safety rep, and has also served ATSAP in many positions. He's worked with the ATSAP Implementation and Training Team and served as the ERC en route member for the Western and Central Service Areas. Steve is now a member of the ATSAP Analysis Team (AAT), which supports the three Service Area ERCs and helps trend safety risk information to develop mitigations that deal with any identified safety risks. The AAT also works with the Confidential Information Sharing Program (CISP) that involves sharing ATSAP and airline ASAP data between programs. Steve McKenzie zid • en route representative Micah graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in aeronautical science with an air traffic control minor. He was hired by the FAA in 2000 and reported to his first and current facility, Toledo ATCT (TOL), later that year. Having grown up in a union household, Micah understood the importance of union membership and joined NATCA on his first day at the facility. From 2002-2005, he served his local as secretary, and he has been the local's president since 2006. Micah has been involved in many rewarding roles at NATCA, from legislative activities to public outreach, facility realignment, regional labor relations, and now safety initiatives. Through each of these activities, Micah has been able to learn and grow. The experiences have helped him become a better FacRep for his facility. Through the NSC, he hopes to be able to learn even more in order to assist facilities nationwide. Micah Maziar tol • combined tower/tracon representative Don has served as Region X rep since 1999. He is a charter member of the Engineers/Architects unit in the Renton ENM local, and serves as local VP. Don was hired into the Northwest Mountain Terminal Engineering Branch in 1986 after graduating from South Dakota State. Don was the lead electronics engineer for the Salt Lake City ATCT (SLC) and TRACON (S56) and Seattle (S46) TRACON facilities. Don was reassigned to the Seattle ES en route group in 2004. He designs automation and communications system installations at Denver (ZDV), Salt Lake City (ZLC), and Seattle (ZSE) Centers, and was the ERAM lead engineer. Don Schmeichel region x representative Mike has been the aircraft certification rep since 2013. He is the ENM AIR VP and has been a member the Local ENM AIR Safety Committee since it was originally formed. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1977 with a mechanical engineering degree and started his career in nuclear power plant construction. He transitioned to aerospace in 1984 as an engineer with Boeing in Renton, Wash. He has been with the FAA since 1989 as a propulsion specialist in the Transport Airplane Directorate of the Aircraft Certification Service. He represented the FAA on the NTSB investigation into the cause of the TWA Flight 800 fuel tank explosion and was on the FAA rulemaking teams that resulted in two new major transport airplane fuel tank safety regulations. Mike works on the standardization of the application and interpretation of those and other propulsion rules for transport category airplane projects, both foreign and domestic. Mike Collins aircraft certification representative Judd started his air traffic control career at Community College of Beaver County's CTI program. Hired by the FAA in the spring of 2007, he reported to Cleveland Center (ZOB) that summer. Shortly after becoming a CPC, Judd became the local safety rep at ZOB. Hired under the imposed work rules, Judd has seen a drastic change in how the entire agency is run. He has seen a culture of blame and punitive solutions turn into a collaborative effort to fix the issues. It is Judd's belief that this change only occurred due to NATCA's efforts to implement programs like ATSAP and Professional Standards. It is encouraging when the FAA comes to the workforce for solutions, rather than with solutions to be handed down. CFS is a great forum for both the Union and the Agency to strengthen these new lines of communication. Judd Wallace zob • en route representative Originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., Cat has been a CPC at Houston Center (ZHU) since 2012. She graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona in 2008, with a bachelor's degree in aviation safety, with a minor in air traffic management. She worked as an aviation safety analyst for a federal government contractor in Washington, D.C., as well as an operations intern at ExpressJet Airlines in Houston. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide and hopes to complete her degree in early 2015. She has been selected to par ticipate in the NSC mentorship program and looks forward to this oppor tunity to fur ther pursue her passion in aviation. Brandon began his aviation career by earning his private pilot license in 2006. He then graduated from a dual-degree program between Geneva College and the Community College of Beaver County with a bachelor's degree in business aviation and an associate degree in air traffic control. He was hired by the FAA in January 2008 at Potomac TRACON. Brandon became the PCT safety rep in 2012 and has helped organize public outreach programs in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., areas, as well as pilot outreach programs such as Operation Rain Check and Airline Ready Room Briefings. He also works with his facility on all ATSAP issues and QC matters, in addition to chairing PCT's Professional Standards group. He has recently been selected to participate in the NSC mentorship program, and he is looking forward to learning about safety on the national level. Jennie started her government career in January 1990 by enlisting in the Army as a Russian interrogator. She began working for the FAA in Alaska as a Russian interpreter, along with Airspace Analysis and Obstruction Evaluation. In 1996, Jennie became a controller at Merrill Field Tower (MRI), where she spent four years before moving to Anchorage International Tower (ANC) for two years. In 2002, she transferred to Anchorage Center (ZAN), where she is today. In 2010, Jennie became the first ZAN NATCA facility safety rep, a position she still holds. In summer 2012, she was selected to represent NATCA as a regional coordinator for collaboration for the Western Service Area. Her favorite position has been that of Alaska Region pilot safety outreach NATCA team advocate. This collaborative group was formed in January 2013 and in its first year reached hundreds of pilots within the state of Alaska. Catherine Lovetro, ZHU Jennie Sandland, ZAN Brandon Miller, PCT As NATCA works towards creating a formal mentorship program for the Union, the NSC has taken up the challenge to become the first national committee to implement an official mentorship program. The NSC has focused on pairing motivated safety NATCAvists to veteran committee members who will "show them the ropes" and give them a glimpse of what it takes to serve on the NSC. NSC mentorship Program NSC mentorship Program For more information about the NSC and its mission, please visit natcasafety.org.

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