AEDC executive director heading home

  • Published
  • By Janaé Daniels
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  After nearly two years, Ricky Peters, Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) executive director, will hang up his AEDC hat in April and re-don his Wright-Patterson AFB hat as he becomes one of newest civilians to join the Senior Executive Service (SES) ranks. 

According to the Office of Personnel Management, the Senior Executive Service is comprised of men and women charged with leading the continuing transformation of government. These leaders possess well-honed executive skills and share a broad perspective of government and a public service commitment which is grounded in the Constitution. The keystone of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the SES was designed to be a corps of executives selected for their leadership qualifications. 

Members of the SES serve in the key positions just below the top Presidential appointees. SES members are the major link between these appointees and the rest of the Federal work force. They operate and oversee nearly every government activity in approximately 75 Federal agencies. Despite the short term, Peters has made a considerable impact at AEDC, according to AEDC Commander Col. Art Huber. 

"He has been my right arm and I know I will miss him greatly in exercising our privilege to lead this great organization," he said. "And although we must say good-bye to him, we do so glad that the Air Force has seen fit to promote him to the ranks of the Senior Executive Service where he can have an even greater impact in our support to the warfighter." 

With his 26 years of experience at Wright-Patterson AFB, Peters brought extensive experience in research and development coupled with a friendly and wise demeanor to his role as executive director that proved a perfect fit to what AEDC needed in its executive director, AEDC Commander Colonel  Art Huber said. 

"His contributions range from having led various center-wide process improvements to implementing the new National Security Personnel System (NSPS) civilian evaluation system to mentoring our junior government workforce," the colonel added. "His depth and breadth of capability have been invaluable and a tremendous asset to us." 

Junior Force Council (JFC) member 1st Lt. Eric Rabarijaona echoes that sentiment. 

"Mr. Peters has very much positively impacted the JFC," said Lieutenant
Rabarijaona. "He gave a lot of mentoring to JFC members for career advancement, especially to the civilians. A lot of JFC members were exposed to various Air Force senior leaders during the JFC luncheons. The luncheon allowed JFC members to ask specific questions that might affect their personal careers." 

Brandon Lucy, acquisition program manager with the center's 651st Test Systems Squadron, said what he liked about Peters was his open door policy with many junior level engineers and how he provided valuable mentoring through a one on one basis. 

"What made Mr. Peters so approachable was his willingness to communicate with anyone in a casual manner," Lucy said. "We not only discussed career development but also very interesting personal matters in general." 

Current JFC President Kristi Deaton explains Peters' impact on the JFC in a way few other senior leaders have done thus far at AEDC. 

"He has made the Junior Force a top priority and boosted morale amongst the group," Deaton said. "Along with providing leadership and mentoring, he has taken it upon himself to engage the Junior Force in matters that would not otherwise be possible for individuals at such a low grade." 

By mentoring, Peters feels he is giving back to the people who helped him get where he is today. 

"It was really important to me, especially when I was a young engineer, to understand the type of experiences I should be getting and what type of knowledge and skills I should have," he said. "I wanted to share that with the junior engineers here." 

Moving to Tullahoma was Peters' first move with the Air Force. For more than 40 years, he lived in Brookville, Ohio, but, in order to be considered for senior leadership positions in the Air Force, he knew he would have to move away from home sometime. 

"Within the career development template for scientists and engineers, geographic mobility and technical breadth are important for those who aspire to senior leadership
positions," Peters explained. 

Even though geographical mobility was a big reason for his move to AEDC, Peters also recognized the potential learning possibilities AEDC offered much in the test and evaluation spectrum he had yet to fully experience. 

"My experience at AEDC has been wonderful, and the folks here are tremendous," he said. "Everyone I have come in contact with has made this a wonderful and enjoyable experience. I would have never experienced this elsewhere."