Lessons from Lt Col Halick

Lessons from Lt Col Halick

I have a high interest in pursuing a career within the Department of Defense and a high respect for our armed forces, so for this blog entry I’ve asked Air Force Lt Colonel Micheal Halick to an interview to provide me with insight into the department so heavily dominated by the military. 

Lt Colonel Halick is an aerospace and astronautical Air Force engineer by trade and responsible for much of the development of modern GPS systems used by both commercial and American intelligence. He’s served in several space operations including the constructions and launch of NASA satellite’s Titan and Atlas and was the Air Force Acquisition Brach Chief for the National Reconnaissance Office responsible for America’s intelligence satellites. Today, Lt Col Halick is responsible for the successful training of 120 Air Force Cadets at ASU and is also a Professor of Aerospace studies.

Although I don’t aspire to follow his career in aerospace and astronautial engineering, his career as a public servant is very admirable and I find his commitment to excellence and love of his country incredibly inspiring.

Lt Col Halick explained to me that although his training and education was important the major reason why he’s been able to advance thus far in his career was due to the recommendation of his peers and his ability to get things done. Each couple of years when promotions are due, the Air Force has a board that judges Airmen by their performance and peer evaluations against the rest of their graduating class. Promotions are thus granted on a basis of experience, expertise, performance, and tenure.

His advice to anyone invested in public service is to honor your core values, be honest, always think service before self, don’t be afraid to be wrong, continuously work on excellence, and realize when its time to walk way.

Particularly in the military, Lt Col Halick indicated the Department of Defense will shrink causing the inevitable closures of many nonessential military bases, ROTC will become nonexistent, and most active military personal will be overseas.  My interest in the Department of Defense is specifically in budgetary appropriations and policymaking. Considering it takes up our nations largest budget, the department is huge, and billions of dollars go through it every day. My interest more than anything is one of vigilance and self-assurance that those funds are being allocated in the best way possible.