I was a programmer at Data Processing for about 4 years
when I was asked by my boss to help a Crane group called NAPEC with some issue
pertaining to the overseeing of ammunition. I worked on the specific issue and
they must have liked my work because it was not too long later that they
offered to pull me out of indirect programming work to direct funded
programming work with them. I accepted the offer and have stayed with that code
ever since. The branch name and code designator has changed many times over the
years as well as the programming languages and computers I was tasked to work
with, but what has never changed is the dedication of the people to ensure that
the ammunition they built was safe for the duration of its life cycle. I have been given a rare opportunity to be
involved with a computer system from its creation to its maturity and an even
rarer opportunity to be a programmer since the day I hired in as a CO-OP here
at Crane. CORP was started when those
paying for configuration management at NAPEC decided that the bill for services
from the CADMSS System out of Point Mugu was just too high. So I was sent to
Point Mugu to retrieve our data, bring it in-house and to create our own
configuration management system. It is
from this one module that CORP started and has blossomed into the 25 modules it
is today. CORP started on an NCR Tower
68020 running Unix operating System and had 2MB of total memory, 8
communication ports, 4 344MB internal disk drives, 1 Nine Track Tape Unit, 1
60MB cassette tape drive for backup and a laser printer for reports. CORP data
was stored using a Unify Relational database management system and the
application was programmed in C. It has
since transitioned to more computers and programming languages than I can
recall. NMCI forced CORP to transition from a desktop application to the web
where it is today. The dream of the 2T
program office was to create an application that the engineers could access
that would be a one-stop-shop for all their ammunition engineering needs. I think the program office's dream is about
98% complete. Along the way CORP has
picked up many other users outside of the 2T COG community who see CORP as a
better tool than some official systems out there.
As I
retire on May 29th 2015, I look at what I have been working on for the last 26
years and I can say with pride that it is a great system. I pray it will
continue to be a great system. I will
also pray that those taking over for me and those in the program office will be
granted wisdom and discernment to make the right decisions to keep CORP active
for another 28 years.
Thanks
again to all who have been with me and CORP for these many years and I wish you
all the best.
I want
to leave you with a piece of advice and that is to get to know Jesus Christ in
your life first, then work each day as if you were working for the Lord. The blessings you will find as you look back
over your career will be truly wonderful.
Bret Hobbs
Soon to be retired CORP Administrator/Developer
