This was the job I wanted and after a number of years contracting thought I deserved and my hubris led to the end of. But, still, it was pretty fun while it lasted.
Read more: From the Archives: SDDCAfter years of being ‘the contractor’ with HRC, and after that opportunity came to an end the first time, I was offered SDDC, the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command now located at Scott Airforce Base, IL. Three commands were being combined into the new command and the designers weren’t moving to fill them, so they needed someone to ride out the rest of the 6-month contract and I fit the bill.
There was a lot of chaos while the new command got spun up and I was stuck in little more than a supply closest with all of the equipment, desk, desktop computer, wide-format printer, laser printer, work table, various supplies. A supply room with one door, no ventilation, and very little to do. We had daily stand-ups in the morning to go over our projects, “Business as Usual, Sir.” which translated to, “I have fuck all to do, but try and stay awake.”
Now, a person with vision and gumption would have had a portfolio put together and walked the two floors introducing themself and doing a bit of advertising, especially since I was literally trying to keep my eyes open in the warm stuffy room for 8 hours a day. A person who had wanted their own command and been rather self-assured they could handle it.
But, I was a person used to people just walking in and saying what they needed to be done. I didn’t have any formal design education, just stumbled into the job and had been doing fairly well at it in a contracting capacity and being an introvert used to being holed up in his room I lacked some social skills. So, time was ticking down to the end of the contract and the days of having nothing to do were dragging unbearably.
Although, as it happened, I started naturally getting in front of people, shaking hands and smiling, making friends and slowly people started realizing my department existed and was useful. Projects started trickling in. Print. Digital. Video. Everything I wanted to be doing. The more I did, the more there was to do and the scale of the projects grew.
When the the Public Relations department stumbled across me I was working on rebranding the new command and updating all the collateral associated. I was doing what I’d planned on, starting something from scratch and building the business into a necessary and valuable thing.
Morning meetings for me evolved into a list of projects and priorities and soon I had plenty to do.
I learned from my contract manager that the six-month contract was being extended and, ironically, due to the initial downtime I had the were tacking on some additional video-teleconferencing duties, which was fine. I learned how to facilitate teleconferences and do some minor troubleshooting along side the technicians until I had so much graphics work they pulled me off the VTC work and let me focus.
This may have led to my downfall or at least contributed to it…
One thing I did, once things were up and running, was start campaigning some of the higher-ups for a permanent position. Having one person deep in anything is poor planning, but I’d been trying to get into a civil service position unsuccessfully for a while, so thought this a perfect opportunity. Like with HRC, you have a government position then a contract position to back it up. The thought got some consideration.
I had started getting complacent in my position, not being as efficient as I usually was, and compounding some personal problems and possibly a bit of burn out it had started affecting my work and timelines.
Ultimately, after 2 years I was let go and replaced.
It was still a great opportunity and learning experience and one thing I learned, “Stay Professional” no matter the atmosphere. Learn to read the room and especially as a contractor learn the environment and rules of engagement.
It was a disappointing end, but better things were coming, so as a learning experience and stepping stone it was still a pretty good time.