Photo By Halle Thornton | Airman 1st Class Stephen Harrison, 50th Space Communications Squadron client systems...... read more read more
Born in the small town of Copperas Cove, Texas, Airman 1st Class Stephen Harrison, 50th Space Communications Squadron client systems technician, was looking for a way out of the Lone Star State.
“I really wanted to travel and I really wanted to get out of Texas, especially central Texas, and that’s easy if you join the military,” he said.
Harrison was originally going to join the Army like his stepmother, who was enlisted for 22 years, and retired as a chief warrant officer.
“She was pretty high up there,” he said. “As soon as I said, ‘Hey, I want to join the Army,’ she said, ‘Oh no you’re not. Go to the Air Force.’”
Harrison followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and joined the Air Force at 20 and arrived at Schriever February 2016 for his first assignment.
“I was stoked when I heard this was my first assignment,” he said. “I had lived in the Springs for a year prior to going back to Texas. It was like I was coming home again.”
“It’s way out here in the boonies, so it’s kind of like a home feel for me,” Harrison continued. “I love the mountains and the people.”
Harrison decided to pursue a career in client systems due to his love for technology.
“I’ve always loved computers and I’ve always been a gamer,” he said. “The day I found out I had the job, I was like, ‘All right, I actually know computers, this will be fun.’”
Harrison explained training for the job was mainly administrative, learning how to push computers on to the domain, in addition to learning how to provide customer service.
“I’ve always been really good with people,” he said.
Cyber security was also a large part of his training, and he said the most important take away from it was to always carry a Common Access Card on person and never leave it outside of arm’s reach.
Harrison learned other tips to ensure cyber safety such as updating the computer’s firewall regularly, which his team does for Schriever’s 8,000 members, and to avoid websites that are not secure.
In the short time Harrison has been at Schriever, he has yet to encounter any cyber security threats.
Harrison works with 20 other Airmen in the client systems technician job, and said he has learned something from each of them.
“They’re all very interesting characters,” he said. “They’re all really fun.”
However, Harrison’s favorite part of the job is getting out of the office to and teach people new things along the way.
“That’s an amazing thing about this job,” he said. “If they’ve never actually been shown what’s wrong or just don’t understand, I can help them figure out what to do to fix the problem.”
Harrison continues to learn and grow with the clients he assists.
“I’m definitely still learning,” he said. “I call a teammate, and they help me or I’ll just get on the phone and they’ll walk me through it, then I can teach the customer what I’ve learned.”
Harrison is currently helping with installing Windows 10 on Schriever computers.
Tech. Sgt. Melissa Garcia, 50th SCS non-commissioned officer in charge, said Harrison is personable, and a hard worker.
“Harrison was handpicked for the Windows 10 team because of his customer service skills and being a fast burner. He is a very quick learner, and a perfect fit,” she said.
Harrison appreciates the leadership of Garcia, and said she definitely keeps me on the right path.
Thanks to the Air Force Harrison has gotten more in touch with his passion, and looks forward to growing as a technician and as a person.
“I get to meet a whole bunch of people, and go to school and continue to do what I love,” he said.
“I just love learning. I love what I do.”
| Date Taken: | 10.12.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 10.13.2017 09:44 |
| Story ID: | 251579 |
| Location: | COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US |
| Hometown: | COPPERAS COVE, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 41 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, I am SCHRIEVER: Learning, lending a hand, by Halle Thornton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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