“It’s a tough job but someone had to do it”

By Steve Jantz

On Tuesday March 25, 2008, Special Agent Steve Jantz conducted the inspection of the Aeronautical Center perimeter fence line. The fence spans some 9 miles and has multiple areas which are not accessible to normal vehicular travel. The past two years of perimeter fence inspections have created embarrassing moments for the Facility Security Group, namely Mr. Jantz. Steve has a habit of getting his assigned government vehicle stuck during the fence inspection. Once he ran out of gas and another time he got stuck in the mud. His managers and co-workers always came to his aid and expended numerous hours of labor in the worst imaginable work conditions to bail him out.

After two consecutive years of embarrassing occurrences, Steve saw the light. On the day of the fence inspection, and after obtaining mangement and legal concurrence, Steve showed up to work in his truck, pulling a trailer with an ATV perched on it. The ATV was unloaded and the fence inspection began.

No, this is not the end of the story. During the process of inspecting nine miles of fence line, Steve, aka: “Easy Rider”, was bombarded with snide remarks such as, “How do I get a job like yours?”, “No, really when are you going to go to work?” and “You really get paid to do this”? A very tired and worn out Steve completed the inspection after roaming through swamp land, up steep hills, and through the trees. Steve didn’t have the best day either to conduct the inspection - it was about 55 degrees, overcast with 25 to 30 mph winds. Despite these hardships, there was not an inch of the perimeter fence that was left uninspected. This was the first fence inspection process which allowed the inspector to inspect the entire fence line “up close”. Steve assures us that come next year, he will again sacrifice and bring the “4 Wheeler” to work. Well some one has to do it….