Page 11 - MILConnection_Fall_2019

employee stories

REPS: Building a better base A few minutes with

The Challenge “The Natural”
On October 10, 2018, Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, Kenny Swab
sustained a direct hit from Hurricane Michael, a category five
storm which came ashore from the Gulf of Mexico and swept By Lisa Donnelly
through the entire base. Every building on the installation
sustained some degree of damage. Approximately 100 facilities This morning I had the pleasure of
were destroyed, while 195 facilities received moderate to severe having a cup of coffee with recently
damage. hired MIL employee Kenny Swab. I
knew going into our meeting that
The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center and its Kenny came to MIL after playing professional baseball as well as
partners established a program management office (PMO) at being a golf pro, (amazing resume if you ask me).
Tyndall to lead redevelopment and reconstruction efforts. The Kenny grew up in the middle of North Carolina, and as a child
mission of the PMO is to repair, reshape, and rebuild Tyndall played football, golf, and baseball. Upon graduation from high
AFB to support both near-term resumption of mission operations school, a mentor of Kenny’s mentioned that he should really focus
and long-term redevelopment of Tyndall as the model Air Force on baseball if he wanted to play professionally, and that’s just what
installation of the future. The PMO intends to conduct fast- he did. After graduation, Kenny played for a small junior college
tracked redevelopment planning that will provide a unified, before attending and playing baseball at the University of Virginia.
long-term vision for the installation that meets current needs and At Virginia, Kenny played first base, outfield, and catcher; and in
allows flexibility for future mission needs.
his junior season, he was drafted by Major League Baseball, but
The scope of this emerging redevelopment and reconstruction declined to finish his senior year, eventually graduating from UVA
project is larger than any other in DoD and will incorporate majoring in Economics and Political Science.
45 separate military construction (MILCON) projects into the
overall effort to redevelop and rebuild Tyndall AFB by 2023. In 2011, Kenny was drafted by the Kansas City Royals to play
catcher, and in his last two years, to pitch. Over the next six
seasons, he moved around to different farm league teams under
The Solution the Royals organization until he was released in 2016.
MIL, in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft I asked Kenny, how he could play professional baseball and still
Division, is working to meet this fast-tracked redevelopment and have time to keep up his golf game? He explained that baseball is
reconstruction challenge by developing a comprehensive, onsite a ‘night owl’ sport, yet he’s an early riser. And since he didn’t have
information technology (IT) systems engineering and project to report to the field for batting practice or
management strategy to assist the PMO in the reconstruction. workouts until 1 p.m., and he’d typically
The strategy includes the development of an active IT architecture be up at 6 a.m., it seemed only natural to
as well as a “Smart city IT architecture” for the installation. find a place to play golf!
In addition to the PMO team, MIL is working with the 325th
Communications Squadron and several of the installation tenant As his baseball career wound down, his
units to develop comprehensive IT requirements documents and golf game picked up. Kenny worked
a system engineering plan. The plan describes the engineering at both Congressional Country Club
process that will be followed during the design, procurement, and and Riverbend Country Club as a golf
integration of this ‘mega’ MLCON project. pro until this past April when he came
on board at MIL as a financial analyst. When asked about the
The Payoff transition from being a professional athlete to a financial analyst,
Kenny noted that it’s been pretty seamless. As an athlete, he
The PMO for reconstruction at Tyndall AFB will benefit from was part of a team on the baseball field, but also an individual
MIL’s comprehensive IT systems engineering and integration contributor on the golf course. At MIL, his role is singular,
support services for MILCON projects. Their plans to implement however when there’s a deadline, his team pulls together to get
a process to guarantee a new active IT infrastructure and “smart the work done. In the workforce and in his sports career, Kenny
City IT architecture” will be technologically advanced, within believes that you can always find people who want to be their best,
budget, and delivered on time. and he’s found a great new team at MIL.

FALL 2019 | The MIL Connection | 9