Monica J. Martin Ware

I've been in the aerospace industry for almost 40 years, and my main area is aerospace engineering, working on the technical side. I started at Rockwell International, then worked at McDonnell Douglas and Boeing. My longest tenure was 18 years at JPL, which was really significant for me. In 2018, I started working with the Air Force through Aerospace Corporation, and then I transitioned to a government contractor around 2019. I currently support a commander who oversees the largest Delta, a 3-letter delta SYD88 with three divisions. I worked with him in a previous position, and he took me with him when he moved to this role. My typical day is very busy and involves scheduling meetings, managing his calendar, de-conflicting overlapping meetings, delegating meetings to his deputy, checking for read-ahead materials and making sure he has them at least 2 days before, coordinating speaking engagements, managing office phones and conference room calendars, and preparing his travel itineraries and agendas. He's a heavy traveler, so I do all his travel arrangements and expense reports to make sure there are no glitches. I also coordinate prep meetings when the divisions need to meet with him before they present to his boss. I work in a secure area, and sometimes I have to open it or close it, coming in early or staying late. What I really like about what I do is that I'm customer-driven. For me, my customer is the commander I support and everyone else in my department and orbit that I work with. I care about how I present and I want them to be taken care of. I don't want anyone to feel like they can't come to me and ask for something. To me, this role is kind of a servitude-type position, it's customer service, and you have to be open to interacting all the time and being on all the time. That's just how I feel about this role.