Cutline

Marla Crossley’s goal is to be a jet mechanic. Photo by Bill Bartkus

Apprentice elated to be on the Depot team

By Bill Bartkus
NADEP North Island

Marla Crossley was a gate and ticket agent for American Airlines at Lindbergh Field in San Diego when terrorists attacked the Word Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. “After Sept. 11, I didn’t know how long I would be with the airlines so I started searching the Internet for job opportunities,” she said.
The 25-year-old Miramar College coed wasn’t sure where her job would lead her after that fateful September day last year. She has been with the airline company for three years.
“At school, I started searching for jobs on the Internet and came across USAJobs.com. My primary goal has always been to be an aircraft mechanic,” Crossley said. “I have an airframes certificate, and I love airplanes.”
Her Internet search led her to the artisan apprenticeship program at Naval Air Depot North Island.
According to Mark Beckerson, Code 6.1.3.2, Depot apprenticeship coordinator, the program has been in the development stage at the Depot since March of 2001 as a method of addressing its aging workforce. “The program targets high school graduates and young adults with a year of college and offers them a career position (after schooling and training),” Beckerson said. The four-year program incorporates two years of college and two years’ on-the-job training.
“The last time the Depot had apprentices was in 1991, so having them onboard now is very exciting,” said Fernando Ramirez, Code 6.3, who leads the Industrial Production Support Department. “They constitute a critical component of our strategy to replenish the workforce, and we intend to hire more apprentices soon.”
Before Crossley could apply for the program, she had to take the standard apprenticeship test that is administered by the Office of Personnel Management. OPM graded the test and sent the results to the Depot. Crossley said that she didn’t find the test difficult. “I felt that it was easy compared to my training,” she said. The test measured an applicant’s reading comprehension and math. “A lot of math,” she quipped.
Beckerson said that 150 applied for the program. The Depot agreed to select 12 for the pilot program from the 20 applicants who passed the test. Crossley was the only woman selected.
The new apprentices come from various job skills. Crossley and one other apprentice, George Blas, have their airframe certificates. They will be attending the electrical program at San Diego City College. The others will attend courses at Miramar College.
“School runs Monday to Thursday, and every Friday we will be here (at the Depot) in our job functions. We will have someone to follow and mentor us,” she said. “In the summer the Depot has planned various training classes for us such as soldering and other skills that we will need to know for our jobs. I’m very excited about this opportunity, and I hope to get my twin sister interested in the apprenticeship program too!” Crossley said.
The apprentices got an overview of the plant during a visit last month before they started school at Miramar and San Diego City colleges.
The father of one apprentice works at the Depot, and the father of another once worked at the Depot. Beckerson hopes that more children of Depot employees will look into applying for the program.