JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – It’s Engineers Week and we wanted to spotlight a few of our engineer teammates at AFIMSC.
Meet Maj. Harrizon Sanchez with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Facility Engineering Directorate. Sanchez is the deputy director of the Facilities Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization Execution Branch in the Strategic Design and Construction Division.
What is your engineering area of expertise?
I received my Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Master’s in Engineering Management.
What are the main things you are working on now?
I’m helping my teammates figure out execution strategies to ensure design and construction projects are well defined, vetted and managed before, during and after execution. One project in particular is the Ascension Island runway replacement project; I am getting ready to go do a 6-month TDY on the remote island to be the AFCEC project manager.
What do you enjoy the most about being an Air Force CE?
I’m proud of what civil engineers contribute to the Air Force; in particular, I enjoy showing my family or friends around the base and pointing to construction in progress or projects we completed. Being able to say, “we built that hangar over there, we paved that road, we built that side walk, we managed the renovation of that child development center,” and point at tangible structures, is enjoyable to me.
How do you contribute to the lethality and readiness of the Air Force?
By ensuring successful completion of infrastructure projects in support of various activities or mission sets, such as dormitory to house our Airmen, a hardened aircraft shelter to house fighter jets, a facility for a critical asset, a warehouse to shelter readiness materials and full depth runway repair to help project air power from our bases.
What has been your favorite, most successful or most rewarding project in your career with the Air Force so far and why?
My favorite was a deployment to King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center in Jordan as Task Force Protect Our Warfighters and Electrical Resources officer in charge. I like doing civil engineer works (i.e. roads and buildings) but electrical engineering is what I went to school for. When my team wasn’t involved with upgrading the operations center (a warehouse converted to command and control node), we traveled all over the Jordan area of responsibility to perform electrical safety and provide power generators where needed. Being able to navigate Jordan and do electrical work is just a bonus, the real reward for me was preventing a service member from getting hurt because facilities weren’t properly grounded or had improper conductor sizes.
What motivates and inspires you the most?
My family motivates and inspires me the most. I do what I do because of my family. They inspire me to see more of the positive side of the world than the negative. They help me find the balance between work and life. When I start to get bogged down at work, my family is there to remind me that taking a break is important too.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Do your job! This has always been my motto. No matter where you get assigned or whatever task might fall on you, just do your job to the best of your ability and try to have fun along the way.