JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – It’s Engineers Week and we wanted to spotlight a few of our engineer teammates at AFIMSC.
Meet Erik Potter with our Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Installations Directorate. Potter is a utility privatization program manager in the Real Estate Development Branch.
What is your engineering area of expertise?
I have a Master’s in civil engineering and I’m a registered professional engineer. I’ve also worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and have experience in project execution and project programming. I’ve been with AFCEC for about a year now.
What are the main things you are working on now?
The new utility installation (electric, water, wastewater, natural gas) for the rebuild effort at Tyndall Air Force, Florida. I’m also responsible for the utility privatization programs at Travis AFB, California; Hill AFB, Utah; and MacDill and Eglin AFBs, Florida, as well as efforts to privatize the utility systems at Cape Space Force Station and Patrick Space Force Base, Florida.
What do you enjoy the most about being an Air Force CE?
Working with design engineers and construction companies in a team effort to meet base infrastructure requirements and need by dates to ensure the Air Force mission, prevent mission interruptions and provide a resilient and modernized infrastructure to the Air Force.
How do you contribute to the lethality and readiness of the Air Force?
As a senior project manager, I was charged with ensuring proper design and construction standards were performed to all applicable Unified Facility Criteria and other required state and federal building codes, on some of the most challenging and demanding facility requirements for the developmental test of new weapons systems and weapons platforms. Carrying that mentality to the UP program is equally important to ensure the bases that operate those weapons systems and platforms have reliable utility systems.
What has been your favorite, most successful or most rewarding project in your career with the Air Force so far and why?
I was the lead Air Force project manager and project engineer for the design and construction of the Air Force’s newest and future model for all new flightline fire stations. The Air Force’s newest 42,000 square foot flightline fire station was design and constructed to include both crash and structure firefighting capabilities. This facility was a modernization from the existing 1954 12,000 SF facility that was too small to support modern firefighting crash vehicles and supporting equipment.
What motivates and inspires you the most?
I’m motivated by how large the Air Force footprint is and the need to ensure every Air Force installation I have direct involvement with has a modern and resilient infrastructure in support of the Air Force readiness and test missions.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Air Force CE can be very challenging and rewarding. Every design and construction project is unique in its own way. Unforeseen site conditions almost always occur. Managing and minimizing those conditions brings out the best in your ability to engineer a solution and helps in the success of your project.