News

From typist to executive:SES?reflects on illustrious 30-year career

  • Published
  • By Wayne Crenshaw
  • 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Anyone toiling away in a low-level job at Robins should find inspiration from Brenda Romine, the retiring executive director of Warner Robins Air Logistics Center.

Thirty years ago she went to work as a clerk typist at Tinker Air Force Base in her home state of Oklahoma. She never dreamed at the time where that job would take her.

"When I started out the people that I knew at the time who encouraged me to go to work for the Air Force were GS-11s and 12s, and I thought being a journeyman GS-12 would be the epitome of any career," she said. "I was really looking for a steady paycheck, retirement benefits and good health care. Somewhere along the way, though, it became more than a job. It became a calling to go on and do other things, and serve my country wherever I was asked to serve. I never started out thinking I would rise to this level or have the opportunities that I have had, but I believe God puts you where he wants you to be."

Her official retirement date is July 3, but her last duty date is June 26. She said she will take a year off from work before deciding what do next.

After earning a bachelor's degree at East Central State University in Oklahoma, she worked as a school teacher for a year but left that job because of the low pay. After working for a hospital, she went to work for the Air Force.

While in the Air Force, she also earned a master's degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

After her initial stint at Tinker, she went on to work for what was then called Air Force Logistics Command, which would later be combined into what is now Air Force Materiel Command. She then went to Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, and then back to Tinker before getting an assignment at the Pentagon. It was there she was selected for the Senior Executive Service.

She recalled being notified early the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 that she was to interview for the position on Sept. 12. The interview didn't occur until a week later in the same battle-scarred building where she would soon be busy identifying and advocating for funds necessary to help prepare America's response to that tragic event.

After three years in that SES position, she transferred to Headquarters Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., where she served as the deputy director for logistics. Three years later, she was tapped to serve as director of the 542nd Combat Sustainment Wing here. 

So what might those who are just starting out in civil careers in the Air Force take from her story?

"I hope what it tells young people who are just starting out is that if you work hard at your job, and you try to do the things that develop you and increase your utility, if you go through the education courses that teach what the military is all about and why we do the things that we do, there are opportunities for you, and you need only to be willing to take advantage of them," she said.

She also encourages people to consider "going outside your comfort zone and doing something different.

"I believe the walls that keep us from moving forward are the walls that we put up for ourselves," she said. "You never know when a particular door might open that will take you down a pathway beyond what you ever thought about being. The question becomes whether you are willing to walk through the door."

Her advice to her successor, she said, is to listen to the front-line workers at Robins.

"We need to focus on our people and on what they need to be able to grow both professionally and personally so they can do what they need to do," she said. "They are the ones who get the job done."

Her own passion for her work grew over the years as she came to understand the importance of the Air Force mission, and what it means to the nation and the world.

"I began to realize that we have a much more important impact than just having a job and showing up for eight hours a day," Ms. Romine said. "I began to have a lot of pride in what we are providing, and I think everyone who works here should have that pride because we provide a great service. Everything we do at this base touches the people who are over there on the frontlines."

Other bases where she has worked have had a certain family atmosphere, she said, but in her time at Robins she has noticed that type of atmosphere is more evident here.

"It's just that warm, Southern hospitality that reaches out and envelopes you and makes you a part of that family," she said. "I've loved it here. It's been great. The relationship between the base and the surrounding communities is absolutely phenomenal -- it's the kind of relationship that will keep Robins strong in the future."

"I know regardless of who sits up here, Robins is going to continue to fill an important mission. It's going to continue to do great work," she added.