Ensley Engineer Yard (EEY) Pipefitter Guy Nadler recently celebrated 40 years of federal service with 20 of them being with the Memphis District.
Nadler started his exciting career with the government in 1978 when he joined the U.S. Air Force. He attended Basic Training and Technical School before going into the security police career field in Italy.
“My first assignment was Aviano Air Base in Italy,” Nadler recalled. “I was there for three years protecting priority ‘A’ resources like different types of aircraft and weapon storage facilities.”
After Aviano, Nadler moved to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, which is where he trained into the plumbing career field.
“Vandenberg afforded me every possibility to hone my new craft,” he recounted. “My duties encompassed everything from everyday civilian/commercial plumbing to maintaining missile silos and launch complexes. I was even there for President Reagan’s first four out of 10 test launches of the "Peacekeeper" missile.”
Nadler’s third assignment lasted eight years at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida.
“Again, every aspect of the plumbing field was experienced with my biggest take away being because of my security police background,” Nadler said. “I acquired a part time job as a security forces team member with Johnson Controls. This company is in charge of all security at Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center. I had posts at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), the two shuttle launch pads, missile launch facilities and numerous beach posts. I was even working a beach post that one fateful morning we lost the Challenger.”
Four days after the end of the first Gulf War, Nadler found himself heading to Al Kharj Air Base in Saudi Arabia where he stayed for six months. Located one and a half hour out from Riyadh in the desert, he was assigned to a reconstitution unit out of Holloman Air Base, New Mexico.
“We took in, cleaned and readied Harvest Eagle and Harvest Falcon assets (deployment kits) for the next time they were needed for redeployment,” Nadler said. “These kits included 100,000 gallon portable water bladders, shower/shave units, washers/dryers, toilets and reverse osmosis water purification units (ROWPU's).”
Two weeks after returning to Patrick Air Base, Nadler received his last assignment to Sheppard Air Base in Wichita Falls, Texas where he served as a Technical School Instructor. After completing Instructor School, he was certified to teach six out of the eight basic plumbing blocks (classes) and three advanced level classes.
“That assignment taught me a lot about people and the importance of always doing a good job the first time, to take ownership of everything you do, and to have a sense of pride in all your accomplishments,” Nadler explained.
Nadler retired in April of 1998 before moving to Memphis to work in the private industry as a plumber, recruiter, and trainer. He later applied for his current position at Ensley and started work on June 19, 2000.
“Even though I had no real experience with Marine pipefitting, I welcomed the opportunity to learn something new,” he explained. “I originally only planned on staying three years tops, but here it is 20 years later and I am about to retire. So many tasks completed and natural disasters endured and participated in. The thing I took away from my time here is the immensity of our job -- the ability to take on just about anything and make it work, and the fact that I am still in awe of the talents and skills the employees of Ensley possess.”
Just like during his time in the Air Force, Nadler was involved in many significant projects throughout his career at EEY. Projects included two boat reconditionings for the Rock Island District, upgrading the Air Condition Systems at the EEY Administration Building, Graham Burke support, the DD-17 control room, total refitting of the M/V Mississippi's cooling system, revetment office upgrade, Revetment support, and much, much more.
By reading everything written thus far, it’s easy to believe when someone says Nadler is and always has been willing to help, especially when coming from his supervisor Marvin Roddy.
“Mr. Nadler has always answered when called upon for support, which is a true testament to his service and dedication to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and this country,” Shops Unit Chief Marvin Roddy said. “I enjoyed working with Mr. Nadler as his supervisor and as a valuable team member. He always brought a certain degree of calmness to a job or project that always made the job go smoothly. Mr. Nadler’s expertise on various pipe fitting issues that his experience during his time in the Air Force and here at the EEY always reassured me that I could send him anything and the job would be done correctly each time.”
Roddy continued on to say that Nadler will be very missed, but that he's done a great job mentoring the “new guys” in the Pipe Shop, so transitioning will not be too difficult to do.
Nadler’s hobbies include wood working, jet skiing, motorcycling, and finding the time to restore his 1961 Chevy Pickup. We’re happy he’ll finally have a little more time to participate in these hobbies and of course, finally finish restoring that pickup of his.
Thank you again, Mr. Guy Nadler, and congratulations on hitting such a huge milestone of 40 years of federal service. We are beyond grateful for you and your dedication to this nation and the Memphis District.