Have you heard the story about the ex-military weapons expert who also writes spy novels and restores old cars in his spare time?

No? Then you haven’t met Mike Kennedy.

Kennedy, site manager for Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s Ready Missile Test Facility, celebrated 40 years of government service in a Feb. 5 ceremony in Point Mugu, California. Four decades is a long time, but it’s not the years that make Kennedy special – it’s what he’s packed into them.

He joined the Navy in 1979, and after training eventually made it over to the Pacific Missile Test Center at Point Mugu. He worked primarily on F-14 Tomcats, but had the opportunity to work with a wide array of naval aircraft. Because President Ronald Reagan often flew through Point Mugu, Kennedy had the chance to get his hands dirty working on Air Force One and Marine One as well.

After four years on active duty, Kennedy entered the civilian workforce and joined government service a few months later. He initially worked on systems including AIM-120 and AMRAAM. But in 1988, Kennedy made a game-changing move to the RMTF as an engineering technician, and 31 years and dozens of weapons systems later, he’s still there.

“It’s a great team we have at RMTF,” Kennedy said. “I leave my family every morning to go to work and join my work family. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Think about the amount of experience that you accumulate, the number of contributions you can make in 40 years of service. The pace of change is so fast, and you start to realize just how much resident expertise is there,” said NAWCWD Commander Rear Adm. Scott Dillon, who presented Kennedy with his 40-year length-of-service award. “I feel very privileged to be a part of this ceremony today.”

Kennedy’s family – wife of 32 years Andrea, daughter Shannon, and sons Cameron and Shawn – were also on hand to help him celebrate. Kennedy’s home life revolves around his family, from camping and boating to restoring cars with his sons.

For another side project, he is a little more on his own. Kennedy is a published author, with three espionage thrillers – the Mark Springfield Trilogy – under his belt. He published the final installment in 2019.

But he’s not quite ready for the final installment at NAWCWD.

“The work we do is so interesting,” Kennedy said. “We get to travel, we support our NATO partners. It’s a great feeling to get to be able to do that. I could retire tomorrow, but why?”