ESC chief of staff readies to retire, recalls career, emphasizes mission

  • Published
  • By Patty Welsh
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  "No regrets" says the departing chief of staff for the Electronic Systems Center as a 26-year career in the Air Force comes to a close.

Col. Tim Nickerson, whose retirement ceremony will be held May 2 at 2 p.m. at the Hanscom Conference Center, said there's nothing he would change about the path he chose.

"There are a lot of valleys and mountains in the Air Force," he said. "But there are more high points than low points and you need to get through the low points to get to the high points."

Nickerson has been at Hanscom for four years. He was the Aerospace Management Systems deputy division chief in the Battle Management Directorate before he became chief of staff.

Prior assignments have been varied, including stints as a B-52 navigator and KC-135 pilot. During a time when the Air Force had too many pilots, Nickerson believes he was the senior "banked" pilot before getting an opportunity to fly again.

Additional positions included one in the acquisition field at the Space and Missile Systems Center, as the chief of safety for the 100th Air Refueling Wing in Mildenhall, England, and as the Defense Contract Management Agency director of safety, handling all safety operations for the organization.

His philosophy has always been, "Bloom where you are planted." He believes personnel should take on whatever role they are in and do it to the best of their ability.

This is why he likes to mentor younger personnel.

"I like to offer myself - my time, especially - to FTAC [First Term Airman Course]," he said.

One initiative that Nickerson started was to have a DUI, or Driving Under the Influence, panel as part of FTAC with a few people, including himself, that have been personally affected telling their story. Nickerson's grandfather was killed by a drunk driver in 1981 and he feels it's important for these young Airmen to hear the story.

"We're trying to affect the decisions that are made," he said. "We want the participants to have a mindset that there are consequences, not only for themselves, but for a family on the other side."

While at Hanscom, Nickerson has also participated in Lieutenants Professional Development Program through Squadron Officer School mock boards and career days for cadets at Boston University.

And in his role as chief of staff, he created a list of items he wanted to achieve during his tenure and he is proud to say all have been accomplished.

One item was working with the Air Force Materiel Command inspector general about what is inspected during operational readiness inspections.

"We wanted to ensure they weren't inspecting items outside of our mission areas," Nickerson said.

He also ensured that there is a signed ESC instruction for the SOS board process and that out-processing for deployments will be easier.

"I looked at items that would help make life better for everyone," he said.

For the future, Nickerson is hoping to get a job where he can continue to contribute to the Air Force, but in a different way. He is also going to focus more on his family.

"I've always had a good work/life balance," he said, "but now I'm going to make them a higher priority."

For the personnel at ESC and Hanscom, Nickerson encourages them to be proud of what they do and what they accomplish.

"They may not realize it, but everything that is done in acquisition and the programs affects the warfighter at the tip of the sword," he said. "Never forget why we're doing what we're doing - to fly, fight and win."