AEDC's Brad McClure still counting his blessings

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  Brad McClure considers himself blessed.

When the tornado "season" was getting underway earlier in the year, his home was damaged, but not destroyed.

Trees were laying on the front of the house and the shop behind it was missing its roof and a large door and block wall was blown out on two sides as well.

"There's plenty to do on the farm now since the EF2 tornado hit on Feb. 28," he said. "I currently reside there with my two 80-year-old parents on the farm. We were under a tornado warning on the base and as we were going to shelter I called them. They were at a doctor's appointment in Nashville on their way back. We were thankful that they weren't home. We were also lucky that our two horses escaped injury during the tornado, they were just covered in mud and very scared."

McClure, who came to work at AEDC in 2005, is an ATA systems engineer in the Facilities Operation and Maintenance Group. Professionally, he feels particularly fortunate in the path his career has taken.

He said his 24 years of technical, engineering, quality and manufacturing experience in both engineering and management roles has paid off in many ways.

"I did a lot of project work on ergonomics and improving safety by reducing injuries on the line that impacted people's quality of life," he said, referring to his time working for Nissan. "That was real rewarding for me to do that kind of work and usually we would do that through semi-automation of equipment and also lift assist devices, projects involving re-engineering of equipment, processes and facilities to improve assembly line work like that."

McClure said working at a place like AEDC resonates for him partly for personal reasons.

"Actually my father, Fred McClure, worked here, more than 30 years before he retired," he said. "I had several uncles who worked here as well, as I was growing up."

McClure, who is the father of three daughters, feels that AEDC is particularly well suited to his personal values.

"I really feel blessed that [I] was able to get a job here and work here," he said. "For most of my career I've worked for a company that valued family. And the supervisors here have been very understanding about that and there are not many places like that, but ATA is definitely one of those places. It's the best job I've had."

As the news of devastating tornadoes and storms continue to dominate the news, McClure is continually reminded of his own experience.

"The thing that really overwhelmed me with the tornado was just how people in the community, friends and family, came to everybody's aid - from one house to the next with chain saws [and] equipment," he recalled. "One friend of ours that actually has his own business and work crew. He basically took them off what they were doing just to come and do whatever was needed, whether it was cutting a limb, pulling trees off of houses, getting on the roofs [and] putting tarps on."

Whether it's singing tenor for the worship team at King's Cross Church in Tullahoma or spending time with his youngest daughter, Leah, taking her fishing or hunting, McClure said life is rewarding in countless ways.

"This past fall she went out with me on a deer-hunting trip out here at the weapons range for the first time," he said. "We were lucky she actually got to see a buck in the wild for the first time, [saw it] saunter on by us."

Leah didn't want her dad to shoot the deer and McClure decided not to harvest the animal himself, but said his daughter appreciates the skills that go into hunting and fishing.

McClure hopes others, despite life's challenges, will continue to count their blessings.