Photo By Robert Jackson | Civilian Marine of the Quarter for the 4th Quarter of 2020 James Seifert... read more read more
Retired Marine Jim Seifert is recognized as the Civilian Marine of the Quarter for the 4th Quarter of 2020 at Production Plant Barstow, Marine Depot Maintenance Command, aboard the Yermo Annex of Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California.
Seifert is an engineering technician who has worked at the Plant for more than 13 years.
“I came on as a program manager, and then an industrial engineering technician then later I was promoted to my current job as electrical engineering technician,” he said.
As a Marine, Seifert’s training was in electronics in the field of communication, which gave him an excellent background for the job he does today.
“The most current project I worked on was the Military Construction Project 930 (building 584),” he said. “I worked with Public Works to design electrical systems and other aspects of the facility which were incorporated into the plans used to build the structure.”
“I am honored to be chosen as Employee of the Quarter for Production Plant Barstow,” Seifert said, “but there are at least a hundred employees just as worthy of the recognition.”
Seifert’s job touches almost every aspect of production at the building 573 and now building 584, the newest structure aboard the Plant grounds.
“My job is to help design the systems that support the work that the artisans on the floor of both buildings perform to get their assigned jobs accomplished,” he explained.
The Pittsburgh native was a Marine for more than 24 years, his last three years assigned to MCLB Barstow, where he retired as a master sergeant.
“I’ve done overseas tours including Afghanistan and I’ve used the equipment we work on here out in the field. I know what the vehicles are like because I’ve used them, and I know what we put these vehicles through in combat,” Seifert said.
He and the artisans he works with take great pride in their work and bring more than a hundred percent to the office every day, because Seifert and other former Marines working at the Plant know the equipment has to work when a Marine presses a button.
“The vehicles we maintain had better work, because a Marine’s life may depend on the engine turning over when they need it or the weapon we work on goes ‘boom’ when it’s supposed to,” Seifert said.
There are no half measures or “nearly perfect” work in Seifert’s world.
“We have a saying that ‘good is the enemy of great’ and we always try to be a little bit better than great,” he said. The same applies to the civilian artisans as well as the retired and former Marines and other former military personnel working in the Plant and on the floor repairing and resetting all types of military vehicles.
“The people I work with have the same feelings about the work that they do. It’s like an extension of the Marine Corps out there and everyone takes their job very seriously and gives more than a hundred percent to get the project out the door,” Seifert said.
There is no jealousy between the many different departments at the Plant, Seifert noted.
“If I need support from any other branch I can call the head of that branch and get any support I need right away, and if they need help from us of course they can do the same,” he said.
Away from the Plant Seifert is a certified personal trainer and nutrition expert.
“I’m also involved in amateur ham radio with the Barstow Amateur Radio Club which arose from my communications work in the Corps,” Seifert said.
His training in the Marines was ingrained to “shoot, move, and communicate, and I keep my Corps experience in mind when I work at the Plant,” Seifert said.
Marine Corps experience has also driven home the point that’s prominently displayed in building 573, “The work you do here today could save a Marine’s life.”
“That’s why I know how vital the work we do at Production Plant Barstow is, and how critical to the operation of the Corps we are as one of only two Marine Corps repair depots in the entire world,” he said.
“At the end of the day you have to remember that the end customer for our work is the Marine in the field, the one who’s in harm’s way and has to use the vehicles and weapons we work on to do their job and possibly save their lives or the lives of their comrades. There’s no room for 95 percent, or ‘good enough.’ It has to be 100 percent and work when you need it to work,” Seifert concluded.
| Date Taken: | 12.17.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 12.18.2020 13:20 |
| Story ID: | 385334 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 93 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Civilian Marine of the Quarter: James Seifert, by Keith Hayes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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