Taking Service to a New Level
with Howard White
With the Top Gun: Maverick sequel being released just in time for Memorial Day weekend, we couldn’t help but see some parallels between the real elite fighter pilot training school and the work experience of readySC’s Boeing Project Director Howard White.
Jacket Patches and Dolphin Pins
TOPGUN was established in 1969 to improve naval fighter pilot performance during the Vietnam War. Though pilots were flying the most sophisticated fighter jets in the world – the F-4 Phantom II and the F-8 Crusader – they were sustaining high levels of casualties against an inferior North Vietnamese Air Force. After an in-depth, months-long investigation that addressed technical flaws in aviation equipment and a shift in training, TOPGUN was born. Within one year, fighter pilots showed marked improvement in dogfighting and gathering intelligence on enemy aircraft. Today, the school’s reputation is second to none, and those selected as trainers earn the coveted TOPGUN patch, a symbol of aviation superiority around the world.
Though Howard wasn’t a naval pilot, he did serve 30 years in the US Navy as a submariner, earning his “dolphins” – the submarine warfare insignia – for demonstrating knowledge in all systems aboard a submarine. Long considered one of the most difficult honors to earn in the Navy, the dolphins are a fitting symbol because they are the patron saint of sailors and they dive and surface similarly to submarines.
Howard enlisted in the Submarine Force in 1978, mainly because it paid $55 per month more than the other forces. He describes the pride and sense of accomplishment he felt after completing a deployment, though nothing quite compared to seeing his wife, son and daughter waiting on the pier when he returned home.
Transitioning from something that flies underwater to something that flies through air may seem like a big adjustment, but Howard says making the shift was surprisingly easy. “The procedural requirements, level of detail, strict discipline and work with controlled surfaces that comes with building airplanes was not dissimilar to operating and repairing submarines,” he says.
Call Signs
The nicknames that aviators used in the original Top Gun movie – call signs like Maverick, Iceman and Goose – are a part of the culture at the real TOPGUN too. Bestowed early in an aviator’s career, they are usually assigned by his or her comrades in good fun.
For instance, one young pilot learned a valuable lesson in humility when he thought the nickname Bulletproof accurately represented his aviation and martial arts skill. Instead, his fellow pilots opted for the nickname Condor. “With his attitude and the way he flies, he’s an endangered species, right?” Suffice it to say that Condor stuck and served as a reminder to the pilot “not to believe my own B.S.”
With that in mind, we decided to have a little fun and assign nicknames to some of those folks who have had particular influence on Howard since he joined readySC in 2008.
First up is State Farm. Two weeks before Howard was set to retire from the Navy, he was enjoying a beverage with his good neighbor Tim Craven and pondering what his next steps should be. Tim, an instructor at Trident Technical College who supported aerospace manufacturers VOUGHT and Global Aeronautica, told him that readySC was hiring. Howard was hesitant because didn’t have a teaching credential or much knowledge of airplanes. However, his considerable leadership experience in the military spoke for itself, and he was soon hired as an instructor for the aerospace projects. Like a good neighbor, State Farm was there; Tim had made the perfect recommendation at the right time in Howard’s career, and things took off from there.
Up next is Jimini, Howard’s aptly nicknamed colleague and mentor Jim Maxon, director of the top-secret Project Gemini (later revealed to be Boeing). When Jim needed someone to develop and manage Boeing’s pre-hire training program, he knew Howard was the man for the job. For a year, Howard wore dual hats, working in this role and as Project Manager of Bosch, an automotive parts manufacturer and supplier. When he eventually became Project Director of Boeing, he still served as Area Director for other companies in Charleston.
In the last few years, he has been able to turn over these other projects to Area Director Liz Jablonski (a.k.a. BFF) and focus solely on Boeing. BFF seems to be an appropriate nickname for Liz. In an email filled with exclamation marks, she gushed about how fortunate she is to have Howard as a mentor and told us that she is over-the-moon excited to read her best friend’s spotlight. ;)
Humble, Credible, Approachable
Yeah – probably not the words you would use to describe Tom Cruise’s character in Top Gun. In fact, the real TOPGUN is quick to acknowledge that the egotistical, death-defying, rules-breaking Maverick is not representative of the school’s pilots. These men and women resist the movie’s stereotype by being humble, credible and approachable.
To us, that sounds a bit like Howard.
Sure, he knows that being the Boeing Project Director and managing 52 employees, 30-100 students per day, 11 classrooms and 3 labs is no small task. “Not to make light of things,” he says, “but we’re teaching folks how to build airplanes” – with all the significance that implies.
But he lights up when he talks about watching his instructors in action. They’re an “unbelievably talented group of technical experts,” he raves. And though he admits that it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day, all he has to do is step out on the 4th-floor balcony overlooking the manufacturing and assembly building and know that his team has trained “everyone turning a wrench on that factory floor.” It gives him goosebumps every time!
“I feel the need…”
“...the need for speed.”
Quote that or any other memorable line from the movie at the TOPGUN training school, and you’ll be fined $5. And not for the reason you may think.
Sure, TOPGUN officials are likely tired of the joke. But the real reason is to help aviators stay focused, professional and at the top of their game. “You don’t turn TOPGUN into a joke by referencing the movie,” wrote retired Navy Commander and former TOPGUN instructor Guy “Bus” Snodgrass in his book TOPGUN’s Top 10: Leadership Lessons from the Cockpit.
Howard, on the other hand, is able to have a little more fun, even when his supervisor Brad Neese says he leads “an abysmal life.” (Brad is a Braves fan, and Howard is a Mets fan, so that explains a lot.)
Growing up on the 13th floor of a 14-story apartment building in the Bronx, New York, Howard could see the Mets’ Shea Stadium from his living room window. A fan was born as he watched those lights across the river, and he’s convinced that living on the 13th floor for all those years has brought good luck.
Even though the Mets’ record against the Braves is not so great.
Even though he now lives in a house divided.
Even though his boss gives him hell for being a Mets fan.
Even though the Braves’ mascot tried to convert him during one of his annual father-daughter trips to the big game.
So props to Howard for sticking to his guns and supporting his team – even if it means a little fun at his expense!
A Long-Anticipated Sequel
Top Gun: Maverick, opening in theaters on Friday, May 27th, is a sequel 36 years in the making. Viewers will get to see what Maverick and Iceman are up to these days, as well as how Maverick will confront Goose’s grudge-bearing son and how his trainees will handle a highly dangerous and unprecedented mission.
Howard’s future is, shall we say, a little less high-octane. After 30 years of travel with the Navy, he’s glad to be on solid ground with his wife in Goose Creek and a ten-minute drive from both his daughter in North Charleston and his son, daughter-in-law and grandkids in Moncks Corner. He looks forward to three more years with Boeing before retiring again. (Or maybe not. “Boeing has a way of expanding,” he says. “I’m not totally against another challenge!”)
If he does retire, he’d like to volunteer, do some kind of non-profit work with children or veterans. Or maybe kick back with his go-to snack mix of almonds, walnuts and dark chocolate M&Ms and watch a baseball game or a golf match. Or who knows? Maybe he’ll live out his dream of becoming a high school basketball coach. Guess we’ll just have to stay tuned!