New group director looks to set steady course

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  His recent appointment as director of the 853rd Electronic Systems Group will allow Ronnie Carter to gain three things -- four, if you count windows.

For its civilian senior leaders, the Air Force is emphasizing three major career broadening components: moving to new locations, taking on new mission areas, and accepting higher levels of responsibility. Mr. Carter, who since September 2000 had served as deputy director of the Cryptologic Systems Group at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas, is now accomplishing all three in one shot.

In addition to that and to exposing Mr. Carter and his wife, Karen, to some harsher winter weather, the new job has provided him with something he hasn't had in over 20 years.

"I've spent pretty much my entire career working in cryptography and intel, so I've never had an office with windows," he said, pointing at the row of glass in his building 1630 office. "This is nice."

Because his experience has been so concentrated, Mr. Carter comes into this new job without a great deal of air traffic management experience. He does, however, bring quite a bit of program and personnel management experience along.

"If ever forced to choose, I'd err on the side of personnel," he said, discussing his own management philosophy. "I believe in always focusing on people -- mission first; people always. We achieve all the great things we do as an organization because of them and the work they do. The men and women of the 853rd are obviously an extremely capable and dedicated team of professionals."

He added that he's coming into an organization that's "already in great shape," and that has a long tradition of doing big things.

"My job is to keep moving things forward without messing up what's here already," he said.

Building and maintaining external relationships with customers, testers, other government agencies and the group's many international partners will also be key focal points for the man who began his career as an Air Force officer in 1985. In fact, one of the very first things on his plate is an ongoing effort to rebuild Iraqi air traffic control capabilities.

The National Air Space program, which is providing an equipment renaissance for mid-sized U.S. air fields and Air Force bases worldwide, is at the center of his scope, too. He is also looking forward to the challenge of equipping the entire Air Force fleet with updated communication, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management technologies.

Mr. Carter is also joining the 853rd just when what might be its biggest initiative, the Next Generation Air Transportation System known as NextGen, is picking up steam. "This thing is huge; it goes beyond the group, beyond the wing and even beyond the center," he said. All of that is true, but the Air Force is looking at the 853rd to lead the way, and he is excited about that.

In fact pretty much everything about the mission of the 853rd enthuses him, because it's all about enabling American air superiority. Some may take that advantage for granted, but Mr. Carter does not.

"My son, Andy, recently got out of the Army, where he'd spent 14 months in Iraq. His vehicle was hit 12 times by car bombs and roadside IEDs (improvised explosive devices), and on one of those occasions, he and his unit were saved by close air support. I asked him if he could imagine what it would have been like not to have had that, or what it would be like if the enemy did."

In addition to Andy, the Carters have a daughter, Andrea, attending law school at Baylor University in Texas. Their youngest daughter, Amanda, actually attends the University of New Hampshire in nearby Durham.

"She's been fascinated by this area for years, and has been a Red Sox fan since she was about 11," Mr. Carter said. "So she decided this is where she wanted to go to school, and now it turns out we're able to be near her."

The Carters are currently living in Nashua, N.H., and are just starting to get fully acquainted with the area and climate.

"It's definitely different. I played golf down in San Antonio just before I left, and I guess that's the last time I'm going to get to play for a while," he said with a broad smile. And as for the snow? "Well, we were looking out at it through the glass of the sliding doors the other day, and it sure was pretty."