What’s Life Without a Little Risk
Pete Lopez doesn’t mince words.
“I knew what I was signing up for. It’s a risk-reward job. Of course there are risks involved, but there is so much reward knowing what we contribute to and what that means.”
Lopez has gained and employed a wealth of knowledge and experience in his 54 years serving the Pantex mission. He carries himself well, tells a story like an old friend, and has an infectious smile that reminds you nothing is ever as bad as it seems. Maybe that’s because Lopez himself truly knows that nothing really is ever as bad as it seems.
“I grew up in a little town called Munday, Texas. I was number 9 out of 10 kids. I got a scholarship to North Texas State for drama out of high school, but we were very poor so it just didn’t feel like a real option.”
Perhaps it was this moment where Lopez first learned the delicate balance between risk and reward.
The risk:
“I had a friend who had gotten drafted to fight over in Vietnam. I knew I was going to get drafted too, so instead of college I just went and signed up. It was good for me, though. It made me grow up fast.”
The reward:
“I used to think we had it really bad being so poor when I was growing up, but … when I got to Vietnam and saw people eating scraps wherever they could find them, it started to change my mind. I met a kid down there who was about my size. I wrote my mom and told her to send me all of my clothes to give to him. It was just a different world.”
After Vietnam, Lopez found himself at a crossroads. The year was 1972, and at 22 years old the young man who had to grow up much faster than most found himself on the road that led to Pantex.
“I was in a conversation with somebody and they asked me ‘have you ever thought about going to work out at that bomb plant?’ I said, ‘bomb plant? What’re you talking about?’ I’d never heard of any bomb plant.”
A short time later, Lopez found himself at the old bomb plant, just not where you would expect.
“I started out in the kitchen,” he remembered as he cracks a smile that quickly gives way to a chuckle. “Eventually they put in a new grill and I was the hamburger cooker.”
While he enjoyed this role, the calling to something greater presented itself. There again he met his old friends, Risk and Reward.
The risk:
“I bid out and became what was then called an assembly operator. (We call them PTs now.) This was back in the ‘70s. The Cold War was still going on, and we knew it was an important job. We knew what we were building and how important it was. It was a different world back then. It’s serious now, but it really felt serious then.”
The reward:
“I enjoyed what we were doing. I couldn’t wait to get to work every day. I still enjoy, it to this day. The standard was to take every day very seriously. I remember saying ‘we got boys on the other side of that water, and if we have to use these things, the ones with my name on them, those better work. I took pride in my work. That was important to me.”
Over a half-century later, Lopez is now settling into the twilight of his career. His life lessons don’t stop once he leaves the site. At home, having raised two sons, and watching as his three grandchildren will soon face the crossroads he did decades ago, he does his best to teach them the value of each day.
Currently, Lopez serves as a quality assurance technician in Satellite Operations where he relishes the role of passing on his immense knowledge and experience to the ones who will follow.
“I do my best to train all of the new people the way they need to be trained. You can’t overemphasize the importance of the job we do. You gotta make sure you do it right. You gotta take pride in your work.”
When all is said and done, Lopez can look back on his life knowing that each time he weighed the risk, and the reward, the risk was never as significant as the infinite growth that would come his way.
The reward:
“When I started out, I was just so blessed and put with really good people, people who did everything the right way. Everybody supported you; you could reach out to anyone for guidance. That’s what I try to do for those new ones that come to me.”
If Lopez has proven anything, whether it be to himself or those who get to know him. It’s that the only real risk in life is never taking a risk at all.