SANDIA LABORATORIES REVISITED

On my return from my Peace Corps assignment in Peru in 1965 I reclaimed my Staff Member Technical designation and was assigned to the Computing Department doing scientific programming using Fortran. I eventually learned COBOL and BASIC mostly for business applications. We programmed for IBM 7090 machines, a dinosaur by today's PC's and other standard computers.

I also resumed my Public Welfare Board and County Mental Health Board positions which I had resigned on leaving for Peru. I served as Chairman of the State Public Welfare Board until the end of Governor Jack Campbell's tenure and Republican Dave Cargo requested my resignation as is the practice when there is a change of administration. Cargo and I are good friends and I frequently run into him and remind him of when "he fired me." He laughs about it, and adds, "politics is politics, Andy." I should point out that he offered to appoint me Colonel Aide-de-Camp on his staff. I said, "Thanks, Dave, but I already am on Betty's Staff."

Kentucky Colonel

Colonel-Aide-de-Camp                         On Fiorina's Staff

Sandia had begun to change during my two year absence. I noted the change immediately on my return. Perhaps it was that I was no longer in Engineering even though I was doing technical programming, it was not the same. I got restless and knew that I would soon make a career change. I even tried the Purchasing Department but found it un-challenging and quickly returned to Computing. By the end of 1967 I knew that the Federal Government was where I wanted to go, although I did not know where in the Federal Government I would end up. I took the Government Exam and got a GS-15 Rating. Armed with that bit of "a leg up" I started looking. I got a GS-12 offer at White Sands but turned it down. I am glad I did. White Sands is in Eastern New Mexico or "Little Texas." Need I say more?

My activism in civil rights issues gave me the opportunity I was looking for. In October of 1967 Vicente Ximenez invited me to participate in a discussion panel on Education of the Mexican-American at the El Paso Conference called by President Lyndon Baines Johnson and chaired by Vicente Ximenez. My topic was on understanding the power structure and its implications for Mexican-Americans in seeking first class citizenship. A controversial topic indeed, however, I made an impression on Vicente and other Mexican-American leaders. Late in December Vicente called and said, "I want you to come and help us convince the Bureau of the Census to improve the accuracy of the 1970 Census, in particular the count of Mexican-Americans. They tell me that they cannot program their computers to do it. Can you get Sandia to give you a leave of absence for three months?" I submitted a letter through my supervisor and by January 12, 1968 I was on my way to Washington, D. C., little did I know then that I would not be returning.

I drove a 1965 VW Squareback in two and a half days, all by my self in the middle of a snow storm, and reported to Vicente that evening. The next day I went to work as a per diem consultant getting $75.00 per day. That was pretty good money in those days but I did not think I wanted to stick around on a per diem basis. So I kept my left foot at Sandia Labs, after all I was on Leave of Absence.

But I have gotten ahead of myself again. Let's do a fast flashback to some to the things that motivated me to turn away from engineering, from being a warrior or a producer of the warriors tools, i.e. atomic bombs, and instead work for peace. That is my complete transition from Hawk to Dove.

From Hawk To Dove!

Hawk                 To                         Dove

Read On!