Pantex Blog
I am Mission Success: Eric Bowen
Eric Bowen’s role at Pantex is a perfect mesh with his skills and interests.
The rules and instructions used every day by Pantex employees doing the hands-on work for the mission are exacting and complex. Humans are a wild card in the equation due to our tendency to perform small variations when completing tasks, whether by error or happenstance.
The solution to this variable has been the Human Factors Engineering group – a small number of employees who consider human tendencies and work to eliminate their risk in a process.
Among them is Eric Bowen, an Amarillo native and a generational product of Pantex. Both his parents were longtime Pantex employees, and hearing about a training course his dad attended related to human factors piqued his interest.
“I had an interest in psychology, but didn’t want to be a therapist,” Bowen said.
This seemed like a perfect fit – he went to college at Texas Tech to pursue higher education in psychology and industrial engineering. While he was earning those dual degrees, he felt a calling to do something more, and thus signed up for the Army National Guard.
He worked initially as a mortarman before he was given the opportunity to attend sniper school.
“I feel like every little boy, at some point, has a dream of growing up and becoming a sniper, and I was able to fulfill that dream,” Bowen said. “I loved being a soldier. I still say that being a sniper was the best job I ever had!”
When it was time to settle down with his wife, Laura, they chose to make their home in Amarillo and he joined Pantex’s efforts as a human factors engineer. The Human Factors group is housed within Process Engineering. The idea is common within high-reliability manufacturing industries, but it is rare in the Nuclear Security Enterprise – only Pantex and Sandia have Human Factors employees. Sandia’s team focuses more on design, while Pantex’s team focuses more on hands-on work.
“We look at human capacities and limitations — physical and psychological — and use what we know about that to fit the work to the worker instead of trying to fit the worker into something not designed for them,” Bowen said. “We want to get away from ‘blame/shame/retrain’ and look at actual processes and sequences without leaving anything out.”
They prevent errors by doing procedure validations, and inspecting the processes to evaluate everything from whether tools are designed appropriately, to the cognitive load being applied to a technician. They also advise in casual analyses after an error occurs to locate flaws in the process and work to eliminate them.
Their job primarily focuses on manufacturing processes, but they also provide advice to anyone looking for ways to improve their systems.
It is a perfect fit for Bowen’s interests and talents.
“There is nowhere else I would rather be today,” Bowen said.
What has surprised you the most since joining CNS?
I would say the complexity of everything that needs to get done every day to make the work we do at Pantex possible. Everyone has an important job that they must execute to enable our mission.
What stands out to you about your site?
The singularity of our mission. There is no other site in the nation that is equipped or staffed to do the very specific work that we perform every day.
Give an example when teamwork has helped you in your role.
Wow, there are too many to count. The Human Factors team is so close knit we are always sharing projects and contributing advice if an issue falls more within the realm of another’s expertise.
What is your favorite aspect about your work environment? How does that aspect make you know the mission is being met?
Without a doubt it is the people I work with. Our Human Factors Engineering team has some of the friendliest and smartest people I could ever have the pleasure to work with. Outside of our group, I love the culture within Process Engineering. Our department is close knit and always willing to drop what they are doing to lend a helping hand.
What work advice would you offer someone who is new to Pantex or Y-12?
Talk to people. Build positive relationships with everyone you can. We all have a different perspective based on our roles, the more of those different perspectives you can add to your own point of view, the better informed you are when making decisions.
What’s your favorite outside-of-work activity and why?
I really enjoy traveling to shooting competitions with a few of my sharp-shooting coworkers. We enjoy challenging each other and it is important to keep those skills sharp.
Pantexans named as Amarillo Chamber’s Top 20 Under 40 Recipients
Stefanie Hulcy and Zuleyma Carruba-Rogel were named as recipients of the 2024 Amarillo Chamber of Commerce Top 20 Under 40 award.
Two Pantexans have been named among the 2024 Amarillo Chamber of Commerce Top 20 Under 40. This annual distinction celebrates young professionals who have demonstrated professional excellence and bring value to the Amarillo business community. Recipients are selected based on their professional achievements and community involvement.
Stefanie Hulcy, Senior Security Specialist, a Pantexan for more than eight years, is a spearheaded the launch of the Mothers at Work affinity group, which seeks to help mothers transition back in to the workplace. Outside of Pantex, Hulcy and her husband founded the Yellow City Spark Fastpitch, a girls’ softball organization. The organization requires their athletes to do 10 hours of community service each season. She also has led the Be the Spark Sporting Good Drive, which has provided more than 100 children with gear they needed to get started in their chosen sport. Currently, Hulcy has assembled a school-supply drive and serves on the West Texas Fastpitch advisory board, where she works closely with the youth sports community.
“Being recognized by the Amarillo Chamber is incredibly humbling,” said Hulcy. “I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had, and I truly do have the best group of people around me. So many people help me out each day and I know that I couldn’t do any of this without them.”
Zuleyma Carruba-Rogel, a Pantexan for more than three years, worked on the HR team at Pantex and championed various educational partnerships. She then joined the Performance Improvement team and has started building her skillsets as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, to help Pantex improve processes.
Carruba-Rogel started demonstrating community service when she was in the Fourth grade. Her volunteer experience focuses on providing college and career advice to support Amarillo citizens and others through various networks across the nation. While at college, she founded a student organization which provided at-risk high school students with college-readiness support services.
On her visits home to Amarillo, she led presentations to help disadvantaged students see college as an option for them.
After receiving her education, she went to work for Amarillo Independent School District, where she established the Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Department through which she developed and delivered various programs and trainings for parents across the district.
“I feel incredibly honored and humbled for this recognition,” Carruba-Rogel said. “I’m deeply grateful for all the people God blessed me with along the way to help me break generational cycles. Thanks to my parents’ sacrifices, I get to live a life that as a child was unimaginable.”
Carruba-Rogel has also served on a range of committees in support of the community, including United Way, Operation First Five, Panhandle Community Partnerships, and Los Barrios de Amarillo.
“We are very proud of both Stefanie and Zuleyma’s selection as Top 20 Under 40 recipients,” said Site Manager Colby Yeary. “Their achievements exemplify the company’s values of excellence and commitment to the community. This recognition is a testament to their hard work and the positive impact they have made on our team and the Amarillo community. We are incredibly proud to have them as Pantexans.”
Both recipients were recognized for their achievements on August 22.
People of Pantex: Marley Hoggatt
People of Pantex is a series that highlights what makes Pantexans unique when they are not at our plant, and how those activities help them contribute to the mission. Do you have a talent or hobby that makes you stand out in a crowd? Were you ever a contestant on a popular daytime game show? Are you a former member of a famous 70s rock band? If so, we want to talk to you and share your story in an upcoming feature.
Pantex Classification Officer Marley Hoggatt regularly finds herself giving presentations and teaching classes to large groups of employees about how they can identify sensitive information. While the mere thought of speaking in front of an audience causes many to recoil in terror, it’s second nature for Hoggatt, thanks to her years of experience playing to a crowd.
Hoggatt was a shy child, and her parents thought that theater camp might help bring Hoggatt out of her shell, so they signed her up for camp at the one and only Amarillo Little Theatre (ALT), an Amarillo institution established in 1927, making it one of the oldest continuously operating community theaters in the country. Hoggatt describes her first camp show as the moment that she knew that theater was something of which she would always want to be a part.
“I was terrified, because it was a musical, and we had to go onstage and sing in front of everyone—and I don’t think I’d said a word to anyone all day. I didn’t know any of the other kids,” she said. “I got up there and started singing, and the music director looked up like he was surprised that the girl who’d tried to hide in the back could actually sing. I was terrified of him, the director, and the choreographer. Allen Shankles, the director, never stopped scaring me—but he also made me laugh, helped me grow as a professional, taught me to dream big, and challenged me to strive to make things the best they can be in the places I have influence.”
Since then, Hoggatt has been an actress in around 25 productions. She has also been on the board for ALT for the last 7 years, including the last 2 serving as board president. Hoggatt has even lent a hand backstage on a few shows to run sound and lights and helped out by printing props on her 3D printer. When asked why she is so active in ALT and why it is so important to get involved in activities outside of work, Hoggatt’s answer is simple: community.
“Being a part of ALT means being a part of an incredible community,” she said. “Everyone involved is different. We all have different strengths, beliefs, values, and viewpoints—but we come together as a community to create something that brings joy to others.”
Though Hoggatt remembers fondly the good times she has had with her ALT community, she also has to remember the times that the same community brought her through a tough period.
“In 2018, I was cast in Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 with some good friends and some people I didn’t know as well,” Hoggatt said. “We were about 2 weeks into rehearsals when I found out that my dad was very ill. I decided to quit the show, but my dad told me I couldn’t—'the show must go on’ and all that.
“[My dad] went into hospice care the day we opened the show,” she continued. “I don’t remember much about doing the show at all, but I will never forget the way the cast and crew carried me through it. Their kindness and love helped me survive the most devastating time of my life, and that cast are some of my best friends to this day—that’s why ALT is a community that I will always treasure and feel so grateful to be a part of!”
There may not be many similarities between her job and the theater, but one thing that remains consistent is the sense of community and hard work that Hoggatt brings to her roles on and off the stage.
“I always find room for improvement in my performance, no matter where I am,” she said. “I also believe that you can accomplish great things on your own, but if you’re not bringing others up with you, you’re not really a success. If I’m with the cast of a show or with my team at work, I want everyone to have the same opportunities, be able to learn and grow, and receive recognition for their own work.”
Tramicah Young, who also lives in both the Pantex and ALT worlds with Hoggatt as an ALT board member and as a member of Hoggatt’s work team, complimented her on the way she treats her community at both places.
“Marley is a highly motivated, artistic, goal achieving individual,” Young said. “She leads by example and wants the best for all around her.”
Hoggatt was recently asked to be a part of an all-female showcase in which she sang “Somewhere That’s Green” from her previous leading role in Little Shop of Horrors, as well as “You’ll Be Back” from the musical Hamilton. The show, Leading Ladies, brought together women who have performed in the ALT over the past 20 years.
“I was incredibly honored to perform alongside some of the most talented women I know—it was the most fun I’ve ever had on stage,” said Hoggatt. “Nothing is quite like the Amarillo Little Theatre.”
To hear more from Hoggatt about why it’s important for Pantexans to have a community outside of work and see her prepare for her latest performance, watch this video.
Health groups’ array of medical services supports both personnel and mission
Occupational Health Services staff at both CNS sites perform a wide array of services to support employees’ physical and emotional health.
Occupational Health Services employees may not typically be viewed as “front-line workers” for Pantex’s mission, the people who are part of this team embody the site’s purpose just as much as the protective force or technicians working the line. They’re part of a team that has served Pantexans for decades.
“Pantex is now the longest-running accredited clinic in [Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care] in the history of DOE facilities being audited,” Morris noted.
Having cared for employees’ health since the 1970s, employees might be surprised at the incredible range of services today’s clinic provides. They perform hundreds of physicals each month, on top of on-the-job injuries, job-transfer physicals, and hew-hire physicals. Morris regularly meets with Human Resources staff to project the number of those pre-employment physicals so his team can appropriately staff to address the demand.
“We have been able to give HR eight empty slots per day,” he said. “We fill the rest with reschedules, follow-up appointments, etc. On any given Monday, we could have 50 [return-to-work approvals],” Morris said. “Our case managers are really good at triaging those and flowing them to the providers. We get lots of calls with people asking, ‘I’ve got a headache. Do you have ibuprofen?’ And, we do –– we’ll take care of those things.”
Morris compared OHS to an urgent-care facility in town, stating that people may come in and say things like, “I’m having chest pains. Can you check me out?”
Such instances call for urgent action.
“About once a month, we will see somebody in [atrial fibrillation] or having a heart attack, and we’ll send them to the emergency room,” Morris said.
Not every request, though, is predictable.
“We got a phone call last week: ‘Do you guys do pregnancy tests?’” Morris recalled.
The answer?
“We never have before, but we will if the person needs a medication or medical test that may interfere with, or be a risk to a pregnancy.”
Luckily for Pantexans, challenges don’t intimidate OHS clinic staff.
“Professionally, [the benefit of the clinic is] the urgent-care aspect,” Morris said. “If you have a stuffy nose, you don’t have to suffer through it, and don’t have to go home and take
I am Mission Success: Brandon T.
Take 5 minutes to learn about Brandon T., Bay/Cell & Prod/Disposition project controls representative. This article details his role at Pantex and reinforces the diverse workplace culture CNS offers.
Staying on budget and on schedule—two high-priority tasks that Brandon T. ensures in his work supporting portfolio and project managers.
“I work with the Integrated Project team to develop solutions to challenges that arise on multimillion-dollar and multifaceted construction projects and enjoy the collaboration of working with so many Pantexans,” Brandon said. “It’s truly a team atmosphere.”
Being part of a team is something Brandon is used to. He has been at Pantex for 3 years and previously worked for the Department of Defense, plus served in the U. S. Navy for 10 years.
On a daily basis, Brandon manages a spreadsheet that tracks all costs for the entire bay/cell portfolio –– which includes the design, build, and testing of the high-pressure fire loop, the Flame Detection System, and the updates to the Radiation Alarm Monitoring System in production facilities.
“Continually updating that spreadsheet and tracking portfolio costs makes it a continually moving target that must be managed constantly to ensure the budget does not get overrun,” he said. “Managing that makes me feel like my role in portfolio works toward keeping a successful mission.”
Brandon enjoys discussing the bay/cell portfolio and project costs with managers. He is always ready to defend and explain the numbers of a project to ensure accurate reporting. Making a decision and sticking with it is one way he has dealt with problem-solving in his role.
“Everyone has their own ways of problem-solving, but when it comes to making a decision, people tend to become hesitant and question themselves on if they have made the best decision,” Brandon said. “There are many ways to handle an issue, but it cannot be resolved unless you or someone else makes the decision on how to do it and sticks with it.”
Whether he’s solving a problem, laboring over a spreadsheet, or crunching numbers, Brandon is proud to be a Pantexan.
“I love having this great opportunity to continue my service to our country,” he said. “I see so many people at Pantex who want to serve our nation and protect our national security, making America and Amarillo an even better place to live.”
What has surprised you the most since joining CNS?
Coming from the Department of Defense, I wasn’t surprised with much of the security measures or quality checks, but how far in advance projects are being planned and managed to forecast expected costs from contractor to CNS support surprised me.
What is one thing your coworkers be surprised to know about you?
I enjoy helping my wife make candles! Shoutout to her and her company Scenter Stage!
What’s your favorite outside-of-work activity and why?
I enjoy going shooting! I picked up the joys of shooting when I was in the Navy and it has stuck with me since. It is a skill that always must be practiced or will be lost and there are always new skills to be learned or improved.