Maintaining a career after 30 years

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Allison M. Boehm
  • 2d Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, LA. --  Second in a series

After two years of working as a civilian, Chief Master Sgt. Carolyn Forester, 2d Maintenance Group, quality assurance superintendent, knew she wanted more out of life. 

She arranged a meeting with an Air Force recruiter and five possible jobs were presented to her. All five options were in the maintenance field, not afraid to get her hands dirty, she settled into a maintenance job that she found to truly enjoy. After being a fuels systems maintenance aircraft specialist, she knew becoming an Airman was the right choice. 

"I joined the military because I thought they were the ultimate equal opportunity employer," she said. "If you made the grade and wore the rank you got paid equally.
"At the time, I thought that working on engines would be a job that I could apply both in and out of the Air Force. But working in maintenance gives me the adventure I was looking for so although I considered getting out at my four-year point, I ended up staying 30 years." 

As a young Airman, Chief Forester's job was to put on a respirator and crawl in through the fuel tanks of an aircraft. She would then drain the fuel out to repair any leaks or damage to the tank. 

"It wasn't quite snorkeling, but close," she said jokingly. "It can definitely be a dirty job. Those who work with fuels know the scent that comes along with it. There were times my husband preferred that I changed my clothes in our carport before entering our home." 

Although many Airmen are members of the maintenance career field, very few of them are females. Chief Forester did not meet another female Airman in her career field until her second duty assignment three years into her enlistment. 

"I don't think it is perceived as the most appealing job for females," she said. 

Chief Forester joined in 1979 and explained that in that time, she had more options than her grandmother had back in her day. In her grandmother's day-and-age, there were only about three career paths a woman could go into. 

"I'm pretty fortunate that only a year or so prior to 1979 these jobs were opened up for women," the Chief said. "The Air Force seemed to me to be the biggest challenge I had faced so far and would offer me something new, something different and would allow me to be working on an aircraft." 

Along with managing a military career as a maintainer, Chief Forester also balanced time with her husband of 25-years and her two, now adult, children. 

"My daughter is now a maintenance troop in the Air Force," she said proudly. "Once she decided she wanted to join, I left her career decision up to her. She knew what the challenges were as a maintenance troop and the hours can be very long out there." 

Her daughter, Airman 1st Class Connie Carr, propulsion apprentice, 18th Component Maintenance Squadron, Kadena Air Force Base, Japan, attributes her mother for her military career. 

"My mother has always been a big advocate for the Air Force," said Airman Carr. "She wanted me to have at least four years in the military to gain the experience. She was there with me at Military Entrance Processing Station to help me pick out my job and guide me through the process." 

Chief Forester's career also helped Airman Carr decide what she wanted to do in the military. 

"My mom has a lot of influence on people, being a female chief in a maintenance unit," said Airman Carr. "One of the crew chiefs here is one of her old troops and thinks the world of my mother and is very proud of her." 

Chief Forester's husband also served in Air Force munitions. After deciding it was best for their family for one spouse to get out, her husband separated from the service, allowing Chief Forester to further her military career. 

Now, with almost 30 years in the Air Force, Chief Forester has had the time to fully understand and perfect her job. 

"Maintainers have a different mindset," she added "Everything is focused on getting that aircraft up and turned for the next mission. We've got to fix them to fly them." 

Chief Forester's hard work and dedication to her job did not go unnoticed by her family. 

"Maintenance has always been a part of my life," said Airman Carr. "My mother is my number one hero, I'm very proud of her and how far she has come. I followed in her footsteps--I hope to end up like her one day."
 
Although maintainers are predominately male, segregation was never an issue faced by Chief Forester. 

"When it comes down to it, nobody wants to work extra-long hours and reek of fuel," she said. "As long as you give equal effort they will accept you as an equal. When I stuck my hand in the grease and started working and didn't do the "eww thing" they saw that, okay, I was going to give it a shot and they treated me like an equal. 

"I have never thought that there was a difficulty between men and women in this job," she continued. "I found through the years even when I was the only female in the shop that the truth of the matter is if you give an equal amount of effort your coworkers accept you as an equal. We (women) are really no different when it comes to performing this job." 

Chief Forester progressed through the ranks and throughout her career, was stationed at six Air Force bases and worked on about 12 different airframes. 

Although now she serves as the quality assurance superintendent for the 2d Maintenance Group, she has held several positions from chief of aircraft maintenance at Osan Air Force Base, Korea, to a group chief at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam and a flight chief at Barksdale. 

"I am truly proud of my mom in many ways," Airman Carr continued. "I was proud of her for working long hours and smelling like fuel, of the way she raised my brother and me--she has done a great job. 

"She has pushed through and proved that women can do this job just as great as a man," Airman Carr continued. "She is the strongest person I know, physically, mentally and emotionally." 

On September 1, Chief Forester will have served the maintenance career field for 30 years. She plans on retiring soon after.