Peter MacNichols prepares for life after the center

  • Published
  • By Janaé Daniels
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  With retirement at the end of the month looming, Aerospace Testing Alliance's Peter MacNichols reflects on his time at Arnold Engineering Development Center.

When MacNichols graduated from college in Missouri in 1962, the draft was still in effect, so "being of sound mind," he said, "I joined the Air Force." 

MacNichols completed officer training in Texas and after a year of flight school in Selma, Ala., he was assigned to Sewart Air Force Base to fly the large C-130 cargo aircraft. Sewart Air Force Base later became what we know today as the Smyrna Airport. 

While MacNichols was at Sewart, he carried cargo and passengers all over the U.S. and Europe, and he air-dropped both paratroopers and cargo. He also did a 13-month tour in Southeast Asia, most of it in Vietnam. From there, he returned to Sewart and stayed, until in 1970, he decided to leave the Air Force and return to school for a master's degree in English literature. 

As he was already in middle Tennessee, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) seemed a logical place to start this new chapter in his life. 

In 1972, while he was teaching English 101, he heard from a neighbor who worked at Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) that there was a job opening for a technical editor at the center. 

"I thought that sounded better than grading English papers," he said. "So I came and interviewed and got the job. I really thought is would be a temporary thing." 

Little did he know he would still be at AEDC almost 36 years later.

"I enjoy my work here," he commented. "I feel I'm using my education and experience to do something important." 

In his current position as supervisor of the Technical Publications section, he is responsible for editing, proofreading and production of technical reports, which detail the results of testing at AEDC and technical papers written by center engineers for presentation at conferences and seminars. 

He said he spends 85 percent of his time editing. 

"That's my favorite part. I spent enough time in management to know that's not my cup of tea." 

MacNichols was manager of Administrative Services for the previous support contractor, ACS, from 1988 to 1995. 

"I'd rather leave all the meetings and decisions about staffing and money to somebody who enjoys that responsibility." 

Of course being at one place for an extended period of time sometimes means change. 

"The biggest change I've seen here as been the integration of wind tunnels with
computers," he said. "Not to mention the migration in the office from IBM typewriters, to word processors, to computers." 

He admits there have been people changes, too. 

"A lot of my friends have retired or passed away, or both," he said. "I've had too many friends who didn't get to enjoy their retirement, and that's one reason I'm going now. I intend to spend a lot more time bicycling, playing music (piano and guitar), reading something other than technical reports, teaching adults to read, and volunteering for the Salvation Army. And of course there's always the church." 

He is a member of Trinity United Methodist Church, in Murfreesboro, and a longtime choir member there. 

What may seem small to the average worker is one thing MacNichols will miss the most about AEDC. 

"I enjoy breakfast in the A&E cafeteria. I didn't grow up in the South, and I never had biscuits for breakfast before I came here. In fact, I hardly ever had biscuits at all. And after all these years, it's still a treat."