Tom's Place

After college I went to work at a small company that made wing-tip missile launchers for the General Dynamics F-16 and a myriad of hydraulics, mostly for the Northrop F-5.

In 1984 I went to work at Hughes Aircraft. I had plenty of contacts in the aerospace industry and could have worked at any of the large companies, but I chose Hughes because it was privately owned, non-profit, and they had never had a lay-off. Soon after I joined Hughes the company was sold to GM, profit was king, and we started having lay-offs. It wasn't my fault, honest.

I was in the part of Hughes that was sold to Raytheon in the late 90's, so now I'm a part of Mother Ray.

I started out in Estimating, working on the F/A-18 Program, and my first duties were to negotiate a large back-log of spares contracts with the Government. I did so well at that that they stuck me with a manager title and I wound up a business manager in the manufacturing area.

After a stint in manufacturing I went back to the F/A-18 Program, this time as a part of the Program Business Management team. That worked for a while until I was recruited over to another manufacturing area where I stayed until we were bought by Raytheon.

Shortly after Raytheon took over I became the Finance Manager for California Operations, a position I held for two years. Two long years. I was honored to be recognized as a contributor to the F/A-18 Super Hornet team, which won the 1999 Collier Trophy. I have an engraved glass plaque, mounted on a piece of marble to show for it, too. Say "Oooooooooooh, niiiiice". Thank you.

I've now come full circle and am back in Estimating and Proposals as the California Proposals Manager for Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems.