AEDC's Sharon Butcher: an interesting journey

Published May 9, 2012
By Philip Lorenz III
AEDC/PA

ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- Sharon Butcher, an Information International Associates (IIa) Inc. resource librarian at AEDC's Technical Library, loves to travel.

She recently returned from a 10-day vacation to Machu Picchu and Nazca, Peru and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, satisfying a long-time desire to visit those "special places."

A dual love of learning and traveling has provided her with the motivation that has been the driving force throughout her life.

"My parents never traveled, but I caught the travel bug when I went to California with my grandfather, when I was in high school," she said. "And I probably have all the genes for adventure and excitement in my family."

Over the years she has travelled to England about 12 times and vacationed in Scotland, Wales and Italy. She has also visited Canada, including trips to Toronto, the Maritime Provinces, Prince Edwards Island and Newfoundland.

Her most recent trip still has her attention. Almost as long as she can remember, Butcher has wanted to visit Machu Picchu, a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located close to 8,000 feet above sea level.

"I just came back from Peru, she said. "Long before that Peru was at the top of my list. "Machu Picchu is there and the Nazca Lines, ancient geo-glyphs made famous by Erich von Daniken in 'Chariots of the Gods: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past.'

"It was a bestseller and everybody I knew was reading it in the late 1960s and early 1970s."

Butcher said, "Machu Picchu is a fantastic Incan ruin in a very high elevation in the Cusco region of Peru. It was found in the 1930s, shrouded in jungle. They have cleared all of that out; it's a World Heritage Site.

"Machu Picchu, due to the fact to where it's located, is very intriguing and the Andes are just awesome, changeable. When you take the train from outside Machu Picchu, you follow this river and the changes in the appearance of the mountains are really phenomenal."

Butcher had read about the area and knew the seasons are the reverse of what are experienced in the Northern Hemisphere.

"There was some snow on the high peaks," she said. "They're seasons are reversed with ours - they're coming off of summer right now. The mountains are so steep that they can't cultivate most of them, but you will see terraced areas on occasion there."

Although Butcher enjoyed the breath-taking scenery, both natural and the pre-historic structures of the Incas, she was not oblivious to the "horrible poverty there."

She said, "I felt guilty going back to my hotel at night, considering where some of these people live."

Butcher also went to Galapagos Island.

"That's always been on my list of things to see," she said. "I saw giant tortoises, whales, sharks, sea lions, iguanas and some really interesting birds. There are several islands in Galapagos, and we stayed at what I called the 'Mother Ship' out in the deeper water. Then we would take a dingy out to the islands, twice a day.

"We'd spend a couple of hours there, but the heat and humidity there was just off the charts."

For her, the best part of the trip was Machu Picchu itself.

"It is just so stunning," she said. "I was actually moved to tears. Machu Picchu is a beautiful sight, that's all I can say, it's so high in the air, it's really blows you away."

Butcher's professional journey, like her interest in traveling, also began when she was young. She had considered a career as a librarian since junior high school.

"I wanted to be a librarian in the Air Force," Butcher recalls. "I became an administrative specialist and was in SAC (Strategic Air Command) and then the U.S. Air Force Security Service. It was basically secretarial work. At that time, enlisted WAF had very few options as medics, personnel and administration. That started to change with Admiral Zumwalt from the Navy."

Butcher, who came to work at AEDC in 1998, was stationed at Barksdale AFB Louisiana and RAF Chicksands, UK. Living in England was the highlight of her time in the Air Force.

"I remember traveling in Europe, developing an appreciation for history, making some really good friends there, buying my first car in the UK, and driving it in the UK," she said.

Still wanting to pursue a career as a librarian, she committed to only four years in the Air Force and then returned to civilian life.

While working as a sales representative for Shell Chemicals, Butcher focused on continuing her formal education.

"I also enrolled in Library School at Case Western [Reserve University] during that time."

In 1983, she earned her master's degree in library science (MLS) while filling an MLS position with the corporation that had bought Shell Animal Health Division.

"I also worked briefly in a public library, which was a really good experience," she said." "Then I ended up with B. F. Goodrich Company Research and Development Center for 13 years."

At Goodrich, Butcher worked in the corporation's library, helping the scientists and chemists who made the wide range of chemical products.

"I helped the patent law department since patents are important to chemical companies. They also had an aerospace division, landing gear and deicers."

A college minor in chemistry came in handy at Butcher's job and she loved working with patents by helping Goodrich's patent law department.

When the company downsized, Butcher and her coworkers suspected a layoff was inevitable.

"I was at the library one day and picked up a newspaper publication and there was a job opening announced in there," she recalled. "A certain term was referenced, DTIC, I said, oh, I know what that is, because we did some work with landing gear and stuff. DTIC stands for Defense Technical Information Center. I applied for the position and I came down [to AEDC] for an interview."

Butcher said the highlight of working at AEDC's Technical Library is being in a position to help people.

"I've always enjoyed finding information," she said. "I like helping people resolve information problems; I like the thrill of the hunt.

"I like to learn something every day and I have many interests."

Her life-long interest in the sciences led Butcher to one of her most cherished personal encounters and provided a joke she enjoys relating about her hometown ties.

"There are two famous people from Wapakoneta, Ohio, me and Neil Armstrong," she said. "Wapakoneta is a small town; my mother knew Neil's mother who worked at one of the agricultural services offices in town. Also, my great aunt played cards with Neil's mother, Viola, at the local woman's club.

"When I was in the 8th grade, an English class assignment was to interview someone in the profession we wished to go into. I wanted to be an astronaut and mentioned the assignment to my great aunt as we were washing dishes one Saturday afternoon. I said I'd probably have to interview a nurse or something....it would be unlikely I could interview John Glenn or Gus Grissom."

What happened next took Butcher completely by surprise.

"Aunt Rowena suggested I interview Neil, an X-15 pilot, who was going to be visiting his parents in a couple weeks," Butcher said. "Thus was hatched a plan for my interview with Neil. He was a gracious interviewee, suggested I take math and the sciences, and wished me success in all my endeavors. This was before the time of word processing, so I hand-wrote the assignment, handed it in [and] got an A."

Meeting Armstrong left an indelible impression on Butcher, but provided her with the opportunity to meet the astronaut three more times.

"Viola Armstrong saw to it that I had a ticket to the hometown parade and reception for Neal, to celebrate the moon landing," she said. "I also met Neil at the 25th anniversary of the moon landing celebration at NASA Lewis Cleveland."

Butcher said she cherishes those memories but her focus going forward will be on more traveling and enjoying life after retirement.