Retiring 554 ELSW director reflects on 33-year career

  • Published
  • By Karen Costura
  • 554th Electronic Systems Wing
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  On October 3, the last of the Electronic Systems Center's original four acquisition wing directors will retire.

After 33 years of federal service, Frank Weber will depart as director of the 554th Electronic Systems Wing, the organization he helped to create and which he has lead for the past four years, leaving behind a legacy of gratitude and leadership.

Mr. Weber attributes that legacy to the privilege of serving with so many mentors and outstanding professionals over the course of his career.

Mr. Weber entered federal service in 1975 as a transportation intern with the Department of Army. He remained with the Army for more than half his civil service tenure, at both the major command and Army Staff levels, including nine years in the Pentagon.

He held several positions in the traffic management, strategic mobility, and mobilization and deployment arenas, culminating in his assignment as chief of the Mobilization Division in the Army's Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans (now the A-3).

"It was an exciting job at an exciting time and an absolutely formative experience that I've carried forward throughout my career." said Mr. Weber. "Our office was responsible for coordinating the mobilization of over 140,000 Army Reserve and Guard personnel during Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. It turned out to be the largest mobilization effort since the Korean conflict. I learned a lot about teamwork, leadership, management and, candidly, myself from that experience that has helped me immensely in subsequent assignments."

In 1992, Weber was appointed to the Senior Executive Service as the Deputy J-5 (Plans and Policy) at United States Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. After several years, he moved to the position of deputy J-4 (Logistics and Business Operations).

Throughout these assignments, Mr. Weber was actively engaged in a wide range of strategic mobility initiatives, including development of the USTRANSCOM strategic action plan, formulating a new readiness program for ensuring DoD access to commercial maritime capabilities for contingency deployments, work for which he received a Vice Presidential Reinventing Government award.

He also worked with the Defense Logistics Agency to integrate supply and transportation activities into a cohesive worldwide distribution system. His final duties at USTRANSCOM included oversight of the TRANSCOM Logistics Readiness Center for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.

In 2002, Mr. Weber was assigned to the position of executive director of the Standard Systems Group at Maxwell AFB-Gunter Annex, Ala. It was his first introduction to AFMC, ESC, and the information technology acquisition process.

"As the SSG Director, I was given the opportunity to run an organization and lead people on a larger scale than I had done before," Mr. Weber said. "It was definitely a lot of responsibility, but I had great people on my team. Not all civilians get that kind of opportunity."

It was also the opportunity to learn about the acquisition process, something he says now he wishes he had learned earlier on in his career.

"I have developed the utmost respect and admiration for our acquisition professionals," he said. "This is hard work in an extremely complex and challenging environment, and those efforts so often go unheralded and unappreciated.

"Yet our people keep their positive attitudes and continue to support the war fighters with incredible capabilities. I often tell people that I would have been a far more effective leader earlier in my career if I'd understood that, as a customer, I was actually part of the acquisition process and needed to understand how to participate in it more effectively."

In 2004, Mr. Weber arrived at Hanscom Air Force Base as director of the newly-formed 554th Electronic Systems Wing. His Wing was formed from five separate units, located across six states, with a workforce at the time of nearly 4,000 personnel. Today, after several years of streamlining, realignment and process improvement, the 554th consists of approximately 2,100 personnel. Over the same period, the Wing's portfolio grew in value from $3.1 billion to more than $8.5 billion today.

"We knew going into it that shaping this wing into a cohesive unit would bring challenges, particularly with the extensive geographic dispersion (only about 100 of the Wing's personnel reside at Hanscom). But I was blessed to be surrounded by great people - on the staff and in our key leadership positions -- who shared a vision and had the skills we needed to make it a reality."

Mr. Weber said he drew upon his own experiences and the advice of "several great mentors," and combined them with innovative ideas from folks across the wing who really wanted to make a difference for the war fighter.

"This wing today is completely transformed from four years ago, to where today we work as one team flying in formation, so to speak," he said. "I'm incredibly proud to have had the opportunity to be part of this transformation."

Mr. Weber advises other government employees to take responsibility for his or her own career.

"You, not the system, ultimately determine how much you make of it," he said. "Don't get trapped in your comfort zone; smart people never limit themselves. So don't be afraid to try something new. And most of all, keep in mind that in our business, it's really all about the Airman, soldier, sailor or Marine, not the technology, the process or any one person."

Mr. Weber clearly enjoyed each assignment in his 33-year career, although he admits some have been more challenging than others. Culminating his career as an acquisition official has been particularly rewarding; his earlier experiences as a customer and then as a provider of services gave him some unique perspective that he shared with his units in his final round of director's calls.

Mr Weber encouraged his troops to keep their focus on the warfighter, work with their customers, and remember who they are working for --- the American people.

And as the father of three daughters, he reminded them to also remember what's important.

"At the end of each day, you need to balance work with family. Jobs come and go, awards and recognitions are fleeting. But with balance your family will be there to sustain you through good times and bad. I've no doubt that, without the support and love of my wife and daughters, my career would not have nearly so rewarding."

Mr. Weber's farewell ceremony and reception will be held at the Hanscom Minuteman Club Oct. 3 at 11 a.m.