Don Mertz

Background

About Don Mertz

I have returned to Defense as a systems analyst since the central purpose of one's life is productive work. While retired, I completed 124 Red Cross blood drives as a volunteer, and still respond to local fires as a member of the Disaster Action Team. Intellectually, I take deep dives into systems engineering, systems thinking, mathematics, and the physical sciences. As such, I 'm a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), International Command and Control Institute (IC2I), and Building Industry Consulting Services International (BICSI). In my spare time, I volunteer as the training and exercise lead for the Hampton Public-service Team - amateur radio augmentation supporting the City of Hampton Emergency Management Office. Tasks includes ver/val testing, configuration management, exercise planning, and ops execution."Normal" radio activities: Instructor, FCC exam proctor, net control operator, weather spotter, repeater trustee, antenna experimenter, and Morse (CW) operator. I primarily work portable: voice, CW, and weak signal digital. I completed a 28 year Air Force career, E-1 to O-5. The last 23 years was as a communications officer. I then worked over 14 years as a systems analyst and systems engineer for General Dynamics. After a ~ 3-year retirement, I am now on task with Booz | Allen | Hamilton. After nine years studying Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism, I'm pursuing my own happiness on Earth through the values of reason, purpose, and self-esteem.enabled by the primary virtue of rational thought.