John Jones:  

ee also. We use only professional level audio/video equipment and detection devices. School I can only remember good times at FCHS. Looking back, most everyone was cool, and today we've done pretty well for ourselves as a class - Doctors, Lawyers, Movie Stars!! There are still several people I keep close ties with, and some have become closer friends since we graduated. It's amazing looking back how much of a binding experience High School was. Workplace After I left the Navy, I moved to Mt. Airy, MD, and worked for an HP/Honeywell Federal Systems Computer Repair Depot in Rockville (I ran one of their IT Customer Support Centers). After that, I went back to work for Dept.of Defense as a Civil Service Quality Assurance Rep, both as an Itinerant and Resident at Aerospace contractors in and around the Baltimore-Washington area. I was initially responsible for inspections/oversight on programs like the F-14, F-16, B2, F-111, A-10, and a bunch of other aircraft avionic systems. After 18 months, I was transferred over to NASA program support and oversight, and never went back to DoD aircraft. I spent about 8 years doing Quality Assurance for NASA programs such as the Hubble Space Telescope (I worked on major components for all4 Servicing Missions), the Space Station (oversaw development, manufacturing, and testing of major cooling systems) and the Space Shuttle (Main Engine, Orbiter Maneuvering Systems, Air Conditioning Systems, Reaction Control System), Astronaut Tools (primarily for Hubble Servicing and Space Station fabrication) and a slew of big and small satellites too numerous to list here. I can smile today knowing that everything I worked on flew or is still flying with perfect performance. For my NASA work, I was fortunate to receive several really cool personal awards, and got the opportunity to go to the Cape to see the Shuttle on the launch pad up close. I was even lucky enough to have a VIP spot for a nighttime Shuttle launch in 1997. It was by far the coolest thing I have ever witnessed in my lifetime. I worked in the Space Program until August of '99, when my spinal problems finally progressed to the point that I was forced to retire on disability. Since then I try to keep busy with my Website Hosting/Design business that I've had since 1996, as well as professional photo editing/retouching, and print publication layout/editing, While I don't do as much as I used to, I have one large corporate client site that keeps me pretty busy, plus a charity site I do for free, and referrals as they come up. Military 1979-1988 U.S. Navy - Submarine Sonar Technician (First Class (E-6) - Rode Fast Attack submarines for 6 years, then did a stint as a Small Arms Instructor / Logistics Coordinator my last 2 years ashore. The biggest thing that happened to me in the Navy is that I went to the North Pole in 1986 (a few Arctic pics are in my albums here). Everything else I can't tell you about because I'd have to shoot you. But, you can read all about it in "Blind Man's Bluff", a great book by Sherry Sontag.. If you read it, there's a reference to a guy nicknamed "Buddha" who rode the USS Parche, the Navy's premier black-ops boat at that time. "Buddha", who shall remain nameless, was the best man at my wedding. After that, I moved back here to the area, partly because job offers led me back to the area, and my wife is originally from Baltimore. We've been in the same place since 1988 (Mt. Airy, MD) I did a Naval Reserve gig at the Pentagon, working in the Chief of Naval Operations offices writing policy and training programs for the Reserves. I was there for Desert Shield/Storm.