The 40 Year Co-op

More than forty years later, that young co-op student, Dave Moody, will be retiring from MITRE this fall.

A lot can happen in forty years. A lifetime can happen.

Early Career

As a young co-op, older members of the technical staff took to him right away and mentored him in his career and in his personal life. For instance, when they heard he was thinking of investing in a new company called Apple, they convinced him to go with Computervision instead.

He met me shortly after I joined MITRE also fresh from college. I was in an office with Mindy in K building across the hall from him. It didn’t take him long to start flirting – even though he had a serious girlfriend at the time.

Back then, there was always a group of us that hung out together. On hikes. On fishing trips. At local bars (like one originally called My Place, then Edible Rex, now an HVAC company). And playing softball in the MITRE softball league. (He deserted his team to join mine.)

Mid Career

After a couple of hiccups in our relationship, we got married and bought a house in 1988 and then had a baby in 1989. He had to give up his red Toyota MR2 for the baby. I decided to go part-time, and he became a group leader – the first of his promotions up the ladder. (Every time I got a promotion, I had to kick and scream for it. Every time he got a promotion, it caught him by surprise.)

His career back then involved various periods of time in the vault, at the base, and on frequent travel.

We added another baby to the mix. Juggling two careers, two kids, and a house sitting on two acres was a bit of a challenge. A challenge that almost did us in.

We would often have to deconflict our travel schedules. We were “discussing” our need to both travel over dinner one night when our oldest daughter (who was 5 at the time) asked “Who is going to take care of us?” 

We took different measures to get our marriage back on solid footing – like getting rid of the Wheel Horse – and decided to have another baby. Always having shared priorities helped.

Our careers continued. My career had its ups and downs. His had a steady path up. There were multiple reasons for that, but the primary reason was because of our personalities. He had the knack of getting along with whomever he worked and brushing off events that didn’t go his way. There were very few people or situations over the years that really got to him. 

The change that caused him the most stress was when he was asked to become Tech Director of G060. He went there kicking and screaming (at home, not at work). He was always self-conscious about only having a bachelor’s degree, and he didn’t know how he was going to lead a division of PhDs. He got the usual support from me – I told him to get over it and just do it. 

After a few years in that role, they asked him to transition roles once again, and, once again, he went kicking and screaming (at home, not at work) – this time because he didn’t want to leave G060. He actually loved his time there despite his initial concerns. That always seemed to be the case – he grew into every role MITRE asked him to take on and quickly developed new relationships.

Late Career

In 2014, I was pretty miserable at work in large part because our youngest daughter was going through a difficult time, and I couldn’t focus at work. I agonized over the decision to leave without having anything else lined up. I had my resignation letter typed up, but I hadn’t taken the step to hand it in. I called him one day and asked “Should I do it?” He said “Yes.” So I did.

Around the time I resigned, he was told he was on “the short list” for VP. For quite a while, he was assured he was still on that short list. But as more and more new VPs were announced, he never seemed to move up the “short” list. His bosses never gave him an explanation. It bothered me more than him (though it did bother him), and, in taking a look at the MITRE public web page, it irks me that he is not included somewhere on the leadership page. To use a phrase he commonly uses, “Are you kidding me?”

Since I left MITRE, he had one more role transition. His new title became Director of Bedford Operations and Strategic Development. It’s the role he is currently in and a role that is right up his alley. It involves outreach to military leaders, politicians, representatives from government agencies, and corporations, mentoring early career people, and getting buy-in for innovative projects within the company. He gets excited when he talks about his “early careers” and getting past red tape and process hurdles to push innovative projects forward. (For more, see these two articles: matchmaker, STEM inspiration.)

Retirement

Dave’s dad was right – Dave does not fit the mold of the typical MITRE employee. Over the years, he has taken a number of personality tests as part of various leadership development programs, and these tests tend to point him out as an outlier. But I think that’s what has made him such a valuable MITRE employee. Based on what I hear after hours, he seems to trust the employees who work his projects, and he gets excited about their accomplishments. He is proud of them, and he encourages them. In terms of his peers, he has built relationships so that he is able to talk them into doing things that might be slightly outside of MITRE standard operating procedures in order to get the job done. He has worked for a number of characters over the years – characters who are often more inline with the typical MITRE employee – and they all seemed to like him and depend on him. 

So why is he retiring at the age of 60?

Well, you remember that young co-op from 40 years ago? The one who liked to have fun?

He’s still there.