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Tim Deaton

Tim Deaton has worked at MITRE for two years but has not yet visited either of MITRE's large corporate campuses in Bedford, Massachusetts, and McLean, Virginia. Yet he feels very much at home at MITRE. Why? Because corporate MITRE is much more than a place, it encompasses excellent infrastructure, expert resources, and top quality staff—all part of the corporate culture.

Deaton, who lives in Huntsville, Alabama, joined MITRE in January 2003 to support the Missile Defense Agency and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program. Technically a Senior Software Systems Engineer, Deaton is the Missile Software Systems Representative for the THAAD Project Office, a subset of the Missile Defense Agency. In this role, Deaton has successfully orchestrated and coordinated process and development issues on all of THAAD's missile software items.

A native of Indiana, Deaton moved to Huntsville in 1982 and started his software and system engineering career there working in the defense industry. Then he and his wife ran their own small document imaging company for a few years. Consequently, one of the things Deaton appreciates most about MITRE is the infrastructure that is in place. "After owning my own business, I know how challenging it is to keep a good support infrastructure in place. But here at MITRE the information services like the MITRE corporate intranet are just wonderful," he says. "The intranet has been a lifesaver for me. I can find virtually all the information I need on my desktop computer and I appreciate what a timesaver that is. These types of electronic resources are incredibly valuable to me, especially since I'm located at the customer project offices, not at MITRE's Huntsville offices."

Deaton also values the flexibility MITRE offers its employees. With two special needs children, Deaton knows the challenges of balancing work and family responsibilities. When his youngest son, who has mild cerebral palsy, underwent some major surgery last year, Deaton used his accrued time-off to care for him. But when his time-off hours were depleted, Deaton thought he would have to resort to leave without pay. "Then my local HR representative suggested I look into the MITRE leave-sharing program," he says. "I didn't think I had been with the company long enough to use that, and I didn't want to burden anyone. She replied that's what the program is there for. So I filled out a single form and ultimately used another 80 hours of leave-sharing time, thanks to my MITRE colleagues." (The leave-sharing program is a voluntary program in which MITRE employees may donate a portion of their own leave time to other employees in need of additional time-off.)

While Deaton appreciates the benefits of working at MITRE, he also clearly enjoys the work he is doing. When asked what is his favorite part of the job, Deaton answers. "Working with the people. A lot of what I do is really social engineering, figuring out how to integrate all the different parts of what is going on among the government, military, prime contractor, and support contractors. Since I am embedded with the customer, I know what's happening in the program on a day-to-day basis. The customer considers me part of the project office. Hardly anyone around here thinks of MITRE as a contractor. We're a mix of very senior people and we are known as experts in our particular areas. That's a good feeling."

—by Kay M. Upham

Among the local attractions in Huntsville are the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and the U.S. Space Camp.

For nearly a quarter of a century MITRE has supported its sponsors with a site in Huntsville, Alabama. The 34-member staff provides expertise in battle management command, control and communications, with core competencies in real-time software systems engineering, battle management functionality, and software testing.