Edwin (“Doc”) Parks: Team Leader, Archives and Information Management, Office of Legacy Management

Service Branch:  USAF

Years of Service:  27+

Would you like to share any details of your military history, awards you may have received or other accomplishments?   Served mainly in ICBM/Nuclear Operations—3 command assignments; served at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Joint Staff (Nuclear Arms Control), Air Staff (Deputy for Nuclear Operations), and graduate of the National War College (Ft McNair)

Please take a moment to reflect on your thoughts when considering your service uniform.  What does your service uniform represent to you?

Integrity First—it is the foundation for trusting relationships that all else is built upon

Teamwork is essential across many contexts in life.  Please share how your service in the military cultivated an appreciation for the value of teamwork.  Do you draw from these experiences, or what similarities exist, when working within teams at the DOE?

Whether serving on a 2-person missile combat crew, or leading an 800-person operations group, nothing was ever accomplished alone. 

Military service can have a profound and lasting impact on those who serve. Your perspective is unique in having seen both the military and the civilian sides of service.  What story could you share of service before self? 

One of my fondest memories was Christmas 1986, just 16 days after my daughter was born.  I was serving as a missile launch officer, on alert at I-0 Missile Alert Facility (90-feet below the North Dakota prairie) and had Christmas dinner with my wife, son (nearly 2 years old) and in-laws while I sat at my console.  It isn’t only the military member that serves—it is their entire family that puts service before self.

What inspired your interest the agency, and how did your prior service prepare you to join the DOE’s workforce?

As a nuclear operator during my USAF career I had many occasions to work with the men and women of NNSA.  And now I’m part of the team that takes on the long-term surveillance and maintenance of some of former sites of the Cold War weapons production complex that have been decommissioned and/or cleaned up—I’m very proud to be part of the team that is keeping our promise to the American public by protecting human health and the environment.

Your talents contribute to an innovative and vibrant scientific ecosystem important for matters of national security, energy technologies, and economic prosperity.  How does your role, whether directly or indirectly, allow the agency to continue push the frontiers of science?

Given the long-term nature of LM’s work we are constantly looking for innovative solutions to tomorrow’s challenges—my part of that is trying to ensure that we will have access to all of the records and information required to continue this mission for generations to come.