GroundCrew Issue - December 2007 - Page Four

President's Pen - Dwight Jarboe

If an aircraft mechanic were a member of an orchestra, what part would he play? I believe you’d find him among the violas or perhaps fourth chair trombone. There aren’t many aviation maintenance technicians who would say, “If I can’t be the concert master or conductor, I won’t play.” Their usual attitude would be to perform skillfully in a less prestigious place to assure the orchestra produced the full, rich sound an audience would enjoy.

In the world of aviation, aircraft maintenance is something the flying public rarely sees and seldom considers. Most mechanics I know draw deep satisfaction from making an aircraft safe and comfortable for passengers they may never meet. Public recognition of their efforts are nice, but aren’t necessary for them to continue their pursuit of excellence behind the scenes day after day.

Here at MMS Aviation in our GroundCrew newsletter we regularly feature our aircraft mechanics and the valuable work they do for the mission aviation community. However, there are those who work behind the scenes at MMS to make our mechanics productive. Let me introduce four of them to you.

Mary Satterthwaite is our Office Administration Director. Mary is MMS’ chief financial officer; making sure we handle funds properly and maintain our books so they are audit-ready. She also coordinates and oversees volunteer office help.

Our Human Resources Director is Keith Dodson. He guides people into service with MMS, facilitates and oversees their fund-raising, and helps them find career positions with another organization as they complete the MMS program.

The Production Manager, Tim Obarow, schedules maintenance events and controls the flow of aircraft through our shops. Tim focuses on the interests of our external customers—the airplane operators. His responsibility is the “preparing planes” part of our mission statement.

In January of this year, Bob Schwartz began his duty as Training Manager. This corresponding position to the Production Manager focuses on the interests of MMS’ internal customers—those here for training. Bob’s responsibility is the “preparing people” part of our mission statement.

These people are the MMS Senior Management Team; or, as we say in the economy of acronyms, the SMT. I meet with the SMT regularly to discuss ways to respond to opportunities and challenges to accomplish MMS’ purpose and thereby please and glorify our Heavenly Father. Mary, Keith, Tim and Bob in their individual roles, and as the SMT, are vital to MMS Aviation continuing to Prepare People and Planes for Worldwide Mission Service. I’m very grateful God put them on the MMS team.

Left to Right: Keith Dodson, Mary Satterthwaite, Tim Obarow, Bob Schwartz
(each one out standing in a field)

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December 2007 GroundCrew Index

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