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MILITARY Navy, the harder I worked, the more I was appreciated and rewarded. I felt like I fit in," he says. BLUE ANGELS AND CLIMBING THE LADDER OF SUCCESS In October 1999 Hartney took his next job, as an aviation maintenance techni- cian for the Blue Angels, when he started taking public speaking classes. "One good thing about being in the military is that it gives you the opportunity to go to college for free. I wanted to be an officer so I had to go to college, and I had to take public speaking courses as part of that," he says. "It served me well with the Blue Angels when we traveled and visited schools and the public." From there, Hartney became the mate- rial control manager/airframes and pow- erplants division officer for Strike Fighter Squadron 146 during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2002. "As a material control officer, I had to balance the squadron's budget and watch over spending. One of the big- gest challenges was paying for fuel. If we got it off our ships, it was fine," says Hartney. "But if we got it from Air Force or European tankers, it was a challenge. But the bottom line was we provided the squadron with mission-capable aircraft in Afghanistan." Hartney says he was also responsible for providing leadership for between 40 and 50 sailors who served as aircraft technicians. "The sailors specialized in structure and composite repairs, similar to what I did at Shannon Aerospace," he states. "I wasn't just pushing paper. I could talk intelligently about the work they were doing. I understood what they did and could offer them advice and guidance." Later in his career, Hartney was tapped to create a special aviation maintenance department for the Navy's Special Warfare Special Reconnaissance Team One in June 2010. "The team was operating a new aircraft platform that required a mainte- nance program in San Diego. My name came up as someone who could head this up," he says. "As it turned out, it was the best tour I ever had. When I walked in, I was the maintenance department." Hartney built the department up, along with a program to support it logistically. "There was a lot of work that went into it and I enjoyed it. It was my baby for three years," he says. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES During that time, Hartney also took full advantage of the military's free education program, getting his bachelor's degree at THE BLUE Angels en route to Nashville, TN, in December 2014. Visit us at AP&M; Europe June 01-02, 2016 London, UK DECLAN HARTNEY