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John Over bids Tinker farewell

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. Armstrong
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  After six consecutive assignments, and 14 years at Tinker, John Over is moving on. In December, the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center executive director is deploying to Baghdad for a year-long assignment.

Despite a lengthy tenure, Mr. Over said Tinker hasn't been just another base to him. It is where he began his federal career 28 years ago, and where he was stationed when he was promoted to Senior Executive Service, seven years ago. Between the people and memories, it has been a second home to him.

"I've been at Tinker longer than anywhere else in my career and although I'm not a native, I kind of feel like I am at this point," Mr. Over said. "I know that when the time comes for my wife and me to move on, we will miss Oklahoma because it's been good to us. Thank you for what has proven to be a wonderful experience and, at times, a wild ride."

As Mr. Over misses Tinker, he too, will be missed.

"I will personally miss John's thoughtful leadership and his friendship," said Maj. Gen. David Gillett, OC-ALC commander. "I admire his willingness to serve our nation as he transitions to Iraq. I know Iraqi leadership will greatly benefit from what he has to offer."

Mr. Over first arrived at Tinker and the OC-ALC in 1982. Armed with a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace and mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University, he went to work as a structural engineer in the C/KC-135 Stratotanker System Program Office. In March 1986, he was promoted to the chief of the engineering section for the system program office. He stayed there until 1990.

Following that assignment, Mr. Over left Tinker for assignments in Alexandria, Virginia, and at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He returned to familiar stomping grounds at Tinker in August 1996, becoming the chief of the Systems Engineering Division and later chief engineer in the C/KC-135 System Program Office.

Mr. Over said being the KC-135 chief engineer was one of the most challenging assignments in his civil service career.

"I look back on that fondly, but the most significant and stressful issues I've had to deal with occurred during that one job," Mr. Over said. "It was when the Air Force started to wake up and realize we had aging aircraft and there were problems."

One of the problems Mr. Over said he faced was when a device that controlled the horizontal stabilizer on the C/KC-135 was not functioning as it should. As a result, based on his recommendation, half the fleet was grounded twice.

"There was a period - about 18 months - where that problem had the highest levels of attention in the Air Force," he said. "That one problem challenged me in ways I had never been challenged before."

Mr. Over said one of the most important lessons he's learned through his civil service career is, "never stop learning."

"The Air Force values education at all levels and for those people who aspire to higher levels of responsibility, it is imperative," Mr. Over said.

Since returning to Tinker in 1996, Mr. Over completed Air Command and Staff College; attended Defense Systems Management College in Fort Belvoir, Va.; and earned a Master of Arts degree in management from Webster University.

In July 2007, after a year-long assignment as the 448th Combat Sustainment Wing director, Mr. Over became the OC-ALC executive director. He said he is proud of several accomplishments as the executive director, including progress in civilian work force development and the deployment of the supervisor development program.

"I know it was a drastic change for many and we still have folks that are getting used to it and trying to fully understand the nature of the process and the program," Mr. Over said. "I really think it is the right step at this point as we mature our civilian work force development structure."

Mr. Over said he is also proud of Tinker's involvement in the Voluntary Protection Program, particularly the partnership with the American Federation of Government Employees Local 916 and the significant reduction of lost time due to injuries in the past four years. Since the program was introduced in 2006, the total case incident rate and days away/restricted/transferred have been reduced. In the past two consecutive years, specifically, there has been more than 10 percent reduction in injuries.

As Mr. Over looks toward the future, he said Ross Marshall, the next OC-ALC executive director, is in for quite a treat and "the best job he'll ever have."

"Team Tinker isn't a stagecoach in need of a heavy-handed driver," Mr. Over said. "Tinker has proven to be time and again to be staffed by a highly-skilled, capable, motivated and fantastic work force. There have been times I've been praised for center achievements and, virtually in every case, it has simply been my good fortune to be around other people doing great things."