Pantex Blog
Pantex Proud: Macey Ray
Take 5 minutes to learn about Macey Ray, Weapon Material Program materials engineer. This article details her role at Pantex and reinforces the diverse workplace culture Pantex offers. All views and opinions are the employee’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Pantex or PanTeXas Deterrence.
With close to 4,700 Pantexans employed, it may be easy to think of yourself as just a number in a sea of people; however, it takes every one of us to make the mission successful. Weapon Material Program (WMP) Materials Engineer Macey Ray contributes her success to being open-minded.
“I value hearing the thoughts of others because they bring their own experiences, opinions, and perspectives. Without any other input, there is a risk of putting yourself in an echo chamber, which limits your ability to find the best solution,” Ray said. “If I am the smartest person in the room, I am in the wrong room.”
As a material engineer in the Adhesives and Films, Sylgard, and Paints and Coatings Materials groups, Ray certifies and delivers quality production materials.
“Material engineers own the entire life cycle of materials used across the plant and are involved with various working groups and programs to assure their needs are met,” she said.
When Ray began her career at Pantex more than a year ago, she was surprised to see how different Pantex is compared to other organizations.
“I was surprised to find that coming to Pantex is comparable to entering a time machine. It is interesting to see the pros and cons of crucial work being completed using technology and equipment years behind its time,” she said. “It is a testament to the direct and reliable means of performing work, while simultaneously inspiring opportunities for improvement sitewide.”
Ray shared the phrase her organization commonly uses: “We are smarter as a collective.” She emphasized this when detailing the pride Pantexans take in their work and their representation of something larger than self.
What daily task (specific meeting, report, etc.) lets you know you’re helping achieve the mission we have at Pantex? How/why does that task let you know you’re working toward the mission?/strong>
WMP's main endeavor is continuous improvement. This is illustrated by improving processes and methods in supplying quality, certified material to the line. Some of the daily tasks that embody this endeavor are material/drawing reviews, which guarantee a material is meeting specific requirements and are being used properly, as well as equipment implementation in our laboratory and blending and packaging facility to ameliorate material production and testing.
What is your favorite aspect about your work environment? How does that aspect make you know the mission is being met?/strong>
My favorite aspect of my work environment is WMP's ability to collaborate with multiple organizations across the site. Getting to work with people in every department shows Pantex's dedication to the mission and how every person and job are necessary to support production.
What top strength do you bring to your organization and why?/strong>
I bring optimism to my organization—a cheerful attitude, which encourages open-mindedness within the team when faced with tasks. My positive perspective allows me to enjoy every day and take pride in the work that I accomplish for the Weapon Material Program.
What’s your top bucket list item and why?
My top bucket list item is to compete on Survivor. I have always been a fan of the show. I enjoy seeing the differences in competitors as they compete in physical, intellectual, and socially strategic challenges. Survivor is a game of balance—showing your strengths without becoming too much of a threat and balancing the needs of the group against the needs of the individual. I would love to adapt to this social experiment and see if I could become the sole survivor.
Uncleared connection: stories of friendship
Abbey Miller and Joy Taylor reunited for a photoshoot in the uncleared room where they first met.
Joy—It’s a name, but it’s also the emotion Abbey Miller felt when she entered the uncleared room at the John C. Drummond Center on her first day of work after New Employee Orientation. A friendly face welcomed her to an unfamiliar workplace as she began her exciting career at Pantex in Project Management.
Abbey was assigned to sit behind Joy Taylor and knew instantly they would be friends.
“Everyone needs a Joy in their life,” Abbey said. “When we met on the first day, she walked me through everything. She took me under her wing and made me feel comfortable.”
In Room 106, Row 4, Abbey sat across from Joy, a safety analyst in the Nuclear and Explosive Surety Department. The two formed a fast friendship.
“She was assigned to sit right behind me. She was so bubbly and fun, and I knew we’d hit it off well,” Joy said. “Abbey is hilarious. She kept us laughing with her stories.”
What is it about a room filled with up to 79 strangers from different backgrounds, education, experience, and interests that brings people together? Joy says it is all about leaning on each other.
“We’re all experiencing big life changes and learning new things at the same time,” Joy said. “Having the support from the people around you while navigating through new tasks makes a huge difference. The friendships I’ve made from being in the uncleared room are friendships that I can see lasting a lifetime.”
There’s no set time for how long it takes an employee to be granted a clearance so they can move to their permanent workspace. People can spend months to over a year in the uncleared room. During that time, networking helps build professional relationships and diversify personal knowledge of the plant. Joy and Abbey work in different areas, but owe their friendship to those professional conversations and work performed in the uncleared room together.
“It was nice to walk in to work and have welcoming faces smiling and letting you know the transition and all of the changes are going to be okay,” Abbey said. “We both support the mission in different ways and now we make an effort to see each other outside of work.”
Eventually both Abbey and Joy gained their clearances and moved out of the uncleared room.
“I was sad when I left because I was leaving the people that I was closest to,” Joy said. “Sad and happy at the same time. I was excited for the work I was going to get to do after gaining my clearance, having more responsibility and the opportunity to get to know my team better. But I knew I’d miss my friends from the uncleared room.”
The old adage, “it’s not what you know; it’s who you know” perfectly describes the significant impact connecting with coworkers in the uncleared room has by enhancing employees’ base knowledge and building professional – and personal – relationships in new areas.
“You find that person to answer your questions, calm your nerves, eat lunch with, be an outlet,” Abbey said. “We don’t work together anymore, but I’m so thankful to have met her.”
People of Pantex: Anne Marie Wilkerson
Information Release Office Lead Anne Marie Wilkerson is a self-described “reformed competitive horse-showgirl.” While horses may have been her obsession early on, it is the Australian shepherd dogs that she grew up with as a child on the farm that play such a big part of her life today.
“We've had this family of dogs since I was an infant, and I decided in 2012 that I wanted this puppy my parents raised named Lightning,” she said. “Australian shepherds are highly productive, versatile dogs that are driven to please their owners and are very task oriented. And like me, they crave a lot of structure, which is probably why I enjoy the breed like I do.”
Structure is cornerstone to Wilkerson’s position at Pantex, where she and her team ensure documents are examined thoroughly to prevent the release of sensitive information. Wilkerson’s experience at fact gathering and naturally inquisitive mind have come in handy as she thoroughly researches the bloodlines of her dogs. Lightning’s lineage can be traced back to the original Australian shepherds on both his mother’s and father’s sides. In order to save the bloodline of the dogs her family had for generations, Wilkerson established a kennel, Code Red, with the Australian Shepherd Club of America. Her goal is to breed the dogs to be structurally correct to meet breed standards, while preserving their brain power.
“Australian shepherds are smart. They can learn up to 3,000 words and are very instinctive animals,” she noted. “They’re able to perform almost any task that you want them to, whether it be working your cattle, bringing your chickens up, or asking them to perform in shows for fun. These dogs can achieve all the tasks you give them.”
Wilkerson’s competitive nature eventually led her to showing the dogs from her kennel, Code Red. She craves competition and strives for excellence with each run she does with her dogs. Though she grew up showing horses, she finds that dogs are much easier to haul around. And she has developed close friendships with many of the people she has met at competitions around the country.
“I crave the competition and I love the people who go to the shows,” she said. “I’ve met a lot of good-hearted people who share my love of dogs and love showing them as much as I do. It’s a great community of which to be a part because they all want to see you succeed.”
Though fun is the primary goal of competing for Wilkerson, winning titles for her dogs is a close second. The more titles behind each dog’s name, the more the dog has proven what it can do. Lightning, who passed away in 2022, has a legacy of winning that is continuing through his daughter, Ritzy (or her official registered name: Code Red’s Initial Public Offering).
Wilkerson and her husband have a daughter, named Claire, who is growing up with Ritzy’s puppies that arrived not long after she did. Wilkerson plans to teach Claire to compete as a junior handler with these dogs in both the Australian Shepherd Club of America’s Agility and Stock Championship Program.
“Staying close to this line of dogs is very much a family task for me since I’ve had them all my life,” she said. “I don't have a particular puppy picked out for Claire, but she will be raised with this herd of dogs, and it's interesting to see how they interact with her.”
"It is a constant puzzle as to how I communicate with my dogs. It is all about managing personalities —whether it be verbally or with my body language. In order to be an effective leader and trainer, I have to be flexible in my approach and tailor my approach to the individual dog.”
While it requires a considerable amount of time and effort to raise, care for, and train them, the joy Wilkerson—and now her young daughter—get from her Australian shepherds makes it all worthwhile.
“It’s a second job. It is a lot of hard work, and a lot people can't or won’t do it,” she said. “But I'm passionate about saving the breed, about saving and maintaining the Australian shepherd. So it’s well worth it to me.”
To find out more about Wilkerson and her dogs, watch this video.
Pantex Proud: Hayden Erwin
Thousands of dedicated Pantex citizens like Hayden Erwin work every day to support the Pantex mission. Take three minutes to learn about who he is, what he does, and why he is proud to be a Pantexan.
For most people a first job involves fast food, a supermarket, or retail.
Hayden Erwin’s involved firearms.
Instead of asking, ‘would you like fries with that?’ or marking down produce to half price for the manager’s special, Erwin worked in the family business founded by his grandfather in 1982.
The namesake shop, Erwin Pawn, primarily sold firearms to numerous law enforcement departments and gun enthusiasts — including many Pantexans. As Erwin grew, so did his interest in weapons. He began doing gun repairs and machining in 2012. The skills he learned in that first job transferred directly to knowledge needed in his current position at Pantex.
“I had never intended on leaving the family business,” Erwin said. “An opportunity arose to support our country and its national security. I started here at Pantex in late 2018 doing a job that I love to do.”
Erwin has worked the last six years as a Protective Force armorer. He maintains, repairs, and ensures the operability of all firearms within the Protective Force. Accountability for firearms, ammunition, and pyrotechnics for security also fall under his scope. Safety and accountably play a major role in their daily job duties.
“I work with a great group of people within Safeguards and Security,” Erwin said. “The energy is always positive and everyone strives to work hard. We motivate one another to ensure that we meet our deadlines, stay productive, and enjoy the workplace all at the same time.”
Erwin is proudest of the quality work that his team does while refinishing fielded guns with new coating, repairing and testing broken firearms, and performing general munition maintenance.
“I absolutely love my job and what we do here in the armory,” he said. “I’m proud knowing that I can put out quality work ensuring firearm operability to support the mission.”
What has surprised you the most since joining Pantex?
The operational side of each department and the sheer size of the plant. It’s great to see everyone working together as a team, and helping one another when needed.
What stands out to you about Pantex?
Pantex isn’t just a place or a job. It’s a historical landmark with a fascinating history. Every Pantexan, past and present, has been a part of the mission and we are all key in ensuring that Pantex operates in an optimal manner that will continue to secure America for decades to come.
What work advice would you offer someone who is new to Pantex?
Always show up to work with a positive mindset. Set goals and challenge yourself to be the best that you can be. We are all here to support the Pantex mission and to provide for our families.
What’s your favorite outside-of-work activity and why?
I love working outside and spending time with family. I do a lot of gardening and if I ever feel like I might have some free time, I’ll start another project or five.
Everyone offers value to our tasks. Why must we be open to learning and hearing from others?
Everyone has their strong suit. It could be from past experience or newly introduced ideas. We are bound to be successful if everyone can collaborate and work together.
Why must we understand the requirements, procedures, etc. tied to our jobs?
Each and every job on plant site plays an important role. If we follow the procedures set in place for our job, we ensure our safety and mission success.
Pantex Proud: Karla Rich
Thousands of dedicated Pantex citizens like Karla Rich work every day to support the Pantex mission. Take three minutes to learn about who she is, what she does, and why she is proud to be a Pantexan.
Mission success at Pantex “takes a village” according to Pantexan Karla Rich. She is proud to be part of the plant’s community for the past 21 years and takes pride in the work she contributes in the Special Tooling Program.
Rich’s duties include a multitude of special tooling tasks from scheduling work; maintaining inventory, inspection, and repairs; disposing of obsolete products; managing the needs for line operations; and coordinating delivery and movement of special tools. She attributes her success to the personnel that work with her on a daily basis.
“The pride of the people who work at Pantex is one thing you can always count on,” Rich said. “Pride in not only the way we provide the best quality product to the customer but how we support one another and the community.”
Overcoming challenges and obstacles head-on gives Rich a great sense of accomplishment. Providing direct support to line operations is how Rich feels she contributes to the mission.
“It takes strategic thinking and problem-solving to provide all of the special tooling used by Weapons Operations,” she said. “As long as they have the tooling they need, when they need it, the line is working to meet the mission.”
What advice do you offer someone who has made a mistake in his or her job? How should they be accountable for that issue?
Everyone makes mistakes and owning those mistakes is what makes you grow, not only as a person, but in your role at Pantex. Although it may be painful, owning a mistake may help you learn new skills, such as problem-solving or communication. I would encourage everyone to communicate mistakes with their management so they can solve those mistakes together.
What has surprised you the most since joining Pantex?
The growth. The mission has grown exponentially since I started 21 years ago and thus so has the workforce.
Who in your life has inspired you the most and why?
My dad—he worked for over 30 years with a disability and it never stopped him. He worked for the railroad in a dangerous position, but he never asked for special treatment. The culture back then led him to believe that his disability would force his retirement, so he found ways to overcome his disability. He was a pillar of strength for our family and passed on an exceptional work ethic to my siblings and me.
What is one thing your coworkers would be surprised to know about you?
Prior to Pantex I worked for a small family-owned business and I not only did financial analysis but I did in-person repo work.