DaytonDailyNews.com

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — Diane Wright was a mechanical engineering student at the University of Dayton in 1980 when a co-op program with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base gave her a jump start on an Air Force career.

At the base, her classroom study suddenly came into real-world focus.

"It was an opportunity to really focus on what I was learning ... I could see my education at work there," said Wright, who now is executive director of the Aeronautical Systems Center and a deputy program executive officer. "I knew that, when I got out of college, that was what I wanted to do."

Wright started out as a mechanical engineering trainee for the Air Force. She helped conduct tests of aircraft structures to determine how and when vibrations would cause the parts to crack or break.

She returned to Wright-Patterson this summer in the Senior Executive Service at a civilian rank equivalent to a two-star general. Wright is assigned to help Lt. Gen. Jack Hudson, commander of the ASC, oversee multimillion-dollar aircraft acquisition programs.

Wright said she hopes to see the base's educational outreach program give others the opportunity she had. Budgets are tight, but the government still needs to find qualified successors for federal workers who are nearing retirement, she said.

Wright said she would like to see the government fine-tune the existing college co-op program to address needs that are becoming more critical. One priority is filling contract administration and financial management jobs that the government, rather than contractors, should handle, she said.

"You want to make sure that the person who is negotiating with a contractor for programs or weapons systems is not also a contractor," Wright said.

The base for years has offered programs designed for students from kindergarten through high school, and for collegians. In the lower grades, the programs are designed to try to excite students about mathematics and science in the hope they will become tomorrow's manpower pool to fill the military's need for special expertise.

The college-tailored programs offer those students co-op jobs that can lead to permanent job offers, if the trainee and potential employer are suited for each other.

About 30 college students are in line this year to switch over to full-time government service.

The benefits of these programs add up for participating schools. More than 1,000 graduates of Wright State University, located adjacent to the base, have obtained full-time jobs at Wright-Patterson.

Students majoring in information systems management are among those in demand, said Barbara Denison, a Wright State assistant professor of information systems and operations management.

"They get terrific experience that will help them find jobs elsewhere or help them find jobs on the base," Denison said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.