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SPOTLIGHT ON SAFETY “ EDWIN D. MARTINEZ-VEGA


COMMAND/ORGANIZA- TION: U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, Aberdeen Test Center


TITLE: Senior test officer


YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORK- FORCE: 10 years


DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Level III in test and evaluation, Level I in engi- neering and program management


EDUCATION: B.S. in mechanical engineer- ing with a minor in aerospace engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez


AWARDS: Department of the Army Civilian Service Commendation, 2020 and 2021


‘Planes are built by engineers,’ and so I decided right then that I would be an engineer, no question.” And though the path wasn’t always easy, he kept his eyes on the goal.


F


He breezed through high school, before applying to and being accepted into the engi- neering program at the University of Puerto Rico. Once there, he said, he struggled to keep up with his peers academically. “I never had to study before, so it was difficult for me. I definitely wasn’t the smartest kid anymore—my class, entering the engineer- ing program, had 110 students, and I believe 109 of them were smarter than I was,” he said. His grades suffered and he couldn’t see—even while studying engineering— how he would ever reach his dream of building planes. “I was lost,” he said. And then two things happened that changed the course of his life. He found some other airplane enthusiasts, and he met a girl. “I heard about this engineering competition team that built planes, and they had a chapter at the school, so I went to talk to them. Tat really gave me a sense of direction—I finally could see how the dots connected, from what I was studying to where my goal was.”


And about that girl—the girl, actually—when Martinez-Vega took a job working the front desk at a nearby hotel, he met his future wife, Alondra, and the remaining puzzle pieces began to fall into place. “She worked the midday shift and I was on the night shift. I started arriving earlier, she started leaving later.” Te connection was immedi- ate, and they married in 2011, after he had taken a job at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and she had moved to New York for her doctorate.


Since that first Army job 10 years ago, he has found a string of opportunities at Aber- deen. Today, he works as the senior test officer for U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, Aberdeen Test Center. “I am a senior test officer in charge of automo- tive and fire-control programs. We test systems that are either legacy, new programs of record or technology demonstrators. Testing addresses safety and performance concerns to provide the data for evaluation and action by oversight and decision- makers,” he explained.


“Tere are very good opportunities—always jobs opening on the installation. I believe now, it’s up to 20,000 civilian and contractor positions. Tere are big organizations here, and they keep adding more, so yes, there’s a wealth of opportunity.”


When he is asked for career advice, he has two suggestions for junior acquisition profes- sionals. “I have received a lot of advice throughout my career, giving me much to pass along to others,” he said. “One piece of advice that applies more generally to the acqui- sition world is that every program is different and its differences must be considered when applying standard practices.” His second tip for colleagues—always know why


rom a very young age, even before the age of 6, I knew I wanted to be an engineer,” Edwin Martinez-Vega recalled. “I never had any doubts about that.” Like many children, he had a fascination with airplanes and he wanted to know who was responsible for building them. “Somebody said,


36


Army AL&T Magazine


Fall 2021


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