J.D. Sons credits grandmother with opening doors to a rich life

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  John David "J. D." Sons, Aerospace Testing Alliance's cooling water lead operator at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), credits someone special in his life with opening the door to a long and rewarding career at the world's leading ground testing complex. 

"If it wasn't for my grandmother, who was a poor lady from a small country town in middle Tennessee, I would never have had a career at a place like AEDC," acknowledged the 62-year-old former [union] chief steward of operating engineers at Arnold. 

He said his grandmother, Florence Baker, a humble lady who worked cleaning people's homes, did more than just provide him with his first "real" job. 

"If not for her, I would never have been to places like London or Africa or met all these different people, like engineers, scientists, Air Force officers, [AEDC] commanders and all of my coworkers over the years," he said. "When I graduated [from high school], she told me, 'I don't have nothing to give you for graduation, but I have talked to this guy I clean house for; he said he'd try and get you a job.' So, I graduated on Friday night and went to work here on Monday." 

During a career that has spanned more than 35 years, Sons has worn many hats, starting his career at AEDC in 1966 as a laborer killing trees on the part of the base where Camp Forrest once dominated the landscape. He also worked at the Model Shop cleaning machines on the evening shift and at the J-4 Rocket Test Cell as a general laborer. 

Having grown up in a rural part of Tennessee and rarely traveling far from his hometown as a boy, Sons said he experienced something of a culture shock when he first came to AEDC. 

Recalling his initial reaction after showing up for his first day of work at AEDC, he laughed and said, "I just couldn't believe it - you've got to realize I came off the creeks and the farm and if you went out to the barn and saw five cows, you would've done a whole lot. If you'd walked in out here and had seen a complex like this, you'd say, 'And I'm going to work out here?" 

Sons described AEDC as a self-contained "city, complete with taxis and stop lights at all the intersections." 

A few years later, he remembers looking in awe at all the controls for the long rows of pumps, large valves and the huge infrastructure controlling the water going in and out of the testing facilities and circulating into and out of Woods reservoir. Sons wondered if he had bitten off more than he could chew. 

Fortunately, he had a number of experienced professionals who took Sons under their wing and provided the guidance necessary for a young man to succeed and pass along those same lessons to those who followed after him. 

One of those who first mentored Sons was Riley Watkins, an ARO pumping station operator who taught him to always have a backup plan, a contingency for any job one was trying to tackle. 

"Riley Watkins was a super guy, he taught me everything about the job," Sons recalled. "He took a lot of time with me to be sure I had the knowledge I needed." 

Another of his mentors, Paul Shasteen, was also the commanding officer for the local Tennessee Army National Guard unit Sons served with during much of his 22 years in the guard. During that time Sons was the non-commissioned-officer-in-charge (NCOIC) of safety at the firing range at Arnold AFB. 

In 1968, Sons bid on a job as a pumping station operator trainee to work in the building where he has worked much of his career. The day he completed the apprenticeship training and earned his operator certification, he was laid off and didn't return to AEDC until 28 months later. 

Sons has also played an active role with the union over the years, something he takes great pride in and said has allowed him to help improve the lives and working conditions of the wage work force at AEDC, especially during some challenging times when labor and management struggled to find common ground. 

Due to retire Oct. 16, Sons said there were many people who helped him personally and professionally during his time at Arnold. He also recalls how his rural roots have served him well, especially at some of the more challenging times at the base. 

Sons, who was born and raised in the small community of Raus in Bedford County, Tenn., said he attended first grade at a one-room schoolhouse where his eighth grade classmates, taught him most of his lessons. 

"There ain't nothing there but two churches, a store and a school," he said. "[I] went one year and they closed it [the school] right after that. It was a one-room school house with outdoor toilets, outhouses. It [the school] was built around 1850." 

Sons jokes about his "country" way of talking, but then his mood turns serious as he explains how his way of speaking and tendency to "say it like he sees it" has often helped him win the respect and cooperation from those in upper management who tended to intimidate some of his peers and possibly even some of those in management. 

"People tend to judge someone like me because of how I talk," he explained, "but there are two sides to that, it also gets them to loosen up and laugh, which allows me to tell them things they might not otherwise be willing to hear." 

Sons said he was raised in a household in which his father's association with the union played a significant and central role. 

"I remember seeing my father almost limping from operating a jackhammer after a very long day of work," said Sons, who then saw his father return to the same work every day without a break. Besides being the infamous day that terrorists attacked the U.S. mainland and galvanized a nation to unite and defeat terrorism abroad, it was significant to Sons for another reason; Sept. 11 was also the day his father, John "Junior" Sons, died. 

Sons' father worked intermittently at AEDC for close to 20 years as a construction worker, helping to build Mark I, the roads and working on many other structures around AEDC, including PWT and Building 1507, the Secondary Pumping Station, where J.D. has worked during much of his career. 

Sons said working at AEDC has fulfilled his life's ambitions many times over; to operate heavy equipment, continue the legacy of union involvement instilled in him early in life and to work in a place that makes a difference to the nation and its defenders. 

Reflecting on his career at AEDC, Sons also said he is grateful for being in a position to help others and pass on what he learned from those who mentored him when he first came to the base.