Photo By Timothy Sandland | Civilian Airman Brian Stutzman, a communications planner with the 102nd Communications...... read more read more
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Airmen of the Air National Guard come from all walks of life – bringing with them a great diversity of experience and knowledge. Some enlist straight out of high school, and what they lack in experience, they more than make up in their spirit of exuberance and wide-eyed curiosity. On the other end of the spectrum, some bring years, and in some cases, decades of experience to bear following their initial indoctrination into the force.
As diverse an experience base as this already represents – some of these key members of the team have never worn a uniform.
One such Airman is Brian Stutzman, a Communications Planner with the 102nd Communications Flight.
Stutzman, who grew up in the shadows of Joint Base Cape Cod as a resident of the town of Sandwich said, “I grew up here my whole life. Although we never cut through the base when we were able to, one thing we had was the dining room shaking once a month on Sundays,” referring to artillery detonations by the Army National Guard back in the 70’s and 80’s. “It would shake your house.”
Despite living in such close proximity to the base and having family members who served, Stutzman never pursued a career in the military, although he always had a love of it. “I miss the jets growing up as a little kid – having the jets flying around. It’s neat to come work here now, after living right next to the base for so many years.”
After a long and successful career in the family business, Stutzman was looking for a change. His brother, a retired Lt. Col. in the Marine Corps, told him he should check out the USAJobs website and pointed him in that direction.
After several months of searching, a communications plans position opened up in the 102nd IW that caught his eye. For Stutzman, who had majored in business and minored in Information Technology in college, the position was a perfect fit for his educational background and work experience.
As a communications planner, Stutzman is able to leverage his background in the performance of his duties. “We’re the point of contact for anything from a half-a-million dollar fiber run project, to the coordination of an office move (as it relates to communications requirements).” said Stutzman. “We keep track of all the stuff going on, project-wise, that affects communications – and almost everything does. Every new building, every new SIPR room, every office move – everything affects comm. If it affects your internet or your telephone, it affects communications.”
As an intelligence wing, with two distinct Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions, the requirements for communications are vital and more complex than the typical baseline of most Air Force installations with more conventional missions. Stutzman says, “You put it all into perspective – we support the two [ISR] missions – if it weren’t for those missions, we wouldn’t be here – but other than that, the base needs to function, day to day. Security forces needs their radios, logistics readiness needs their alarm systems for their storage areas – so we need to make sure everything is always up and running.”
In addition to the support provided to wing missions by Stutzman and his fellow Airmen, the flight also manages communications-related requirements for the whole of Joint Base Cape Cod, including units from the Coast Guard, Army National Guard and the Air Force.
In stark contrast to the large-scale management projects, Stutzman also manages more user-centric programs. As the cell phone and iPad administrator for the wing, he is a familiar face to commanders and other managers around the base.
“One of the greatest things about my job is that the cellphone administration part allows me to meet everyone – the higher ups mostly – so I’ve got to personally meet most commanders, wing staff. I’m lucky – I’ve been in just about every building and gotten to meet everybody in about two and half years,” said Stutzman. “There’s always something to do – there’s never any sitting around.” His goal is to keep moving forward, helping the mission and the wing as much as he can.
For Maj. Richard Haddon, commander of the 102nd Communications Flight, Stutzman is an invaluable member of the team. “We are fortunate to work with Brian on a daily basis and witness the outstanding communications support he constantly provides the wing on and off-duty. Brian is our ‘one-stop-shop’ in terms of satisfying the needs of our customers while setting the standard for what a team player should be”.
Part of the ‘off-duty’ support that Haddon eludes to is Stutzman’s consistency and dedication to the wing’s volunteerism efforts. He regularly joins his fellow Airmen at charitable events designed to give back to the local community.
In regards to the differences between himself and his military co-workers, Stutzman said, “The military aspect of their responsibilities and the extra stuff required of military personnel – it’s a lot of training – there are so many things they need to get done in 16 hours a month. The Comm Flight has people deploying all the time – and that’s another thing about being a civilian – being able to support the deployers. In the Comm Flight we have at least one civilian in every shop – so being the backup is important.”
Looking back at his two and a half years being part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing team, Stutzman reflected, “I’m a patriotic American – I’ve always followed the military so I kind of knew what to expect. What I didn’t expect here was the diversity. That’s one of the greatest things about it here – the people – the diversity of people who come from all over the country and the world.”
“The people I’ve met in the last two and a half years in this job are already lifelong friends.”
When asked if he considers himself a ‘civilian Airman’, Stutzman responds without hesitation, “Yes! – The wing makes me feel that way too. Especially everyone in the Comm Flight and Major Haddon – they have always considered me as part of the unit.”
Stutzman’s value to the unit was evidenced by his recent wing civilian of the quarter award earlier this year.
Airmen like Brian Stutzman represent a part of the integrated Total Force—Guard, Reserve, Active Duty, and Civilians—strong, able, and ready.
| Date Taken: | 04.05.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 04.05.2019 10:46 |
| Story ID: | 317069 |
| Location: | OTIS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, MA, US |
| Web Views: | 192 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, I am an American Airman - Brian Stutzman, by Timothy Sandland, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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