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Mike Allington |
Feeling Right at Home—Overseas
Mike Allington
April 2010
MITRE's Mike Allington has always enjoyed the challenges of overseas assignments. Allington, who is an information systems engineer at the corporation's site in Darmstadt, Germany, has spent the last several years supporting one of the site's sponsors, the Department of Defense's European Security Operations Center (ESOC).
Allington came to MITRE in 2003 with a background well-suited for his work in Darmstadt. After graduating from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a degree in electrical engineering, Allington spent three years as an intelligence officer and analyst before completing a two-year stint as a military aide to the White House. He then took a job with a private contractor and went overseas for an assignment in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Two years later he moved to England to work at the Joint Analysis Center at RAF Molesworth.
It was in England that he first learned about MITRE. "While at Molesworth, I had an opportunity to work with MITRE staff on several projects designing and integrating mission applications. I got to know several MITRE people quite well, and eventually decided to apply for a MITRE position in Darmstadt. I flew to Germany with my family to interview for the position, and it went very well."
Providing Onsite Support
Since coming to MITRE, Allington has provided a variety of systems engineering support to his sponsor. He often acts as a technical advisor on operational networks and assists the ESOC in the development of new analytic capabilities. In addition, he manages the work program activities of the four MITRE staff supporting the center.
MITRE's Darmstadt, Germany, site
Established in 1998, MITRE's site in Darmstadt, Germany, is sponsored by the ESOC and the U.S. Army and has five staff located there. It is part of MITRE's European Operations department, which is comprised of staff from several other European sites including: Brussels, Belgium; Ramstein, Germany; Heidelberg, Germany; Stuttgart, Germany; and RAF Molesworth, United Kingdom. |
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Most recently, Allington's primary focus has been assisting the ESOC in the development of analytical tools, database design, and service-oriented architecture. "I like working in the public interest and knowing that my efforts contribute to strengthening our national security," he says. "I find site work especially rewarding because I have the opportunity to directly observe the impact my efforts have on my sponsor's mission capability."
Another one of the things he enjoys about his work is that it often has an immediate impact on deployed troops. "One of my favorite MITRE projects involved providing systems engineering support to military forces deployed for peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Bosnia," he says. "I travelled to Kosovo and Bosnia multiple times to field technologies to enhance the sponsor's mission capabilities. I found that working in a deployed environment enhances your perspective on how technology is really put to use in an operational setting."
Family Life in Europe
Now, after seven years, Germany is home to Allington and his family. "We moved to Darmstadt with one child and one on the way, so we were adjusting to raising a family at the same time we were trying to learn the language, culture, and customs of a new country," he says, "and learning to speak German was a big challenge."
However, certain aspects of the family's life have not changed. "I would say that in many ways our daily life is similar to life in the states, and you even forget at times that you are living in Europe. All my children were born overseas so they really don't know anything different."
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Mike Allington and Corby Bacco (the Darmstadt site leader) on their climb up the Zugspitze. |
One of the reasons the Allington family likes living in Germany is the proximity to other countries. "We have travelled extensively throughout Europe and have been to a lot of interesting places, including Italy, France, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Croatia," he says. "Our children especially enjoy our summer vacations at the beach in Croatia and, of course, Italian gelato ice cream."
Another thing that Allington himself enjoys about living in Europe is being able to participate in long-distance races on mountain trails. "Over the last few years, I have run several off-road half-marathons and marathons in Europe. My next one will be in July when I am planning to run the Zermatt Marathon in Switzerland—the highest altitude marathon in Europe."
He has even done some mountain climbing with MITRE colleagues. "Back in 2007, a group of MITRE employees from the Darmstadt and Heidelberg sites visited Garmisch and climbed the Zugspitze—the highest mountain in Germany [2962 meters]. The first day we climbed half-way up the mountain and spent the night in a 'Hutte' [hut] before reaching the summit the next day. Even though it was August we ended up climbing through snow to get to the top."
Overall, Allington has enjoyed his tenure at MITRE and his time in Darmstadt. "I have found that living abroad is challenging in many ways but that it's also very rewarding both personally and professionally."
—by Kay M. Upham
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