Page 80 - profiles 2019 working copy containing all bios as of Feb 20 final version

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

I am Jeanne Garrison and I served in the Federal Aviation Administration for
more than 32 years. As an air traffic controller, I worked arrivals and

departures for the local airport and other aircraft operating in the surrounding
airspace. Some days were spent in the tower, directing aircraft taxiing or
clearing them for takeoff or landing. Other days, I worked radar sequencing

arrivals, providing headings to get departures on their way, and directing those
landing and departing smaller nearby airports or passing through the airspace.
The job is not the same every day and involves working almost anything that

flies including helicopters, small and large general aviation aircraft, airlines,
and military aircraft including Air Force One. Therefore, I found it enjoyable
and challenging.

As in life, there were some difficult times, such as being the only female
controller trainee in a facility of men controllers or being caught in the middle
of the strike of August 1981. Slowly more women entered the profession and

I was able to provide them encouragement. As for 1981, I honored my oath to
the government and remained on the job until I retired in 2003.

For many years, I served as an on the job training instructor teaching new
hires to work live traffic and watching them develop into proficient
controllers. I have worked the Presidential airplane and assisted pilots with
aircraft problems, weather issues, and uncertain student pilots. I also worked

on various committees to develop local procedures, spoke to school groups
about aviation careers, and met with various pilot groups.

I became a first line supervisor in charge of overseeing the operation of a

shift. This also included overseeing training and maintenance of controller
operational proficiency. After the terrorist acts of 9/11, I helped get airplanes

on the ground as soon as possible and coordinated the gradual return to
normal operations in the following weeks.

My interest in aviation remains strong in retirement, as I continue to

participate as a member of Women in Aviation International and a charter
member of Professional Women Controllers.

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