Marcus Giddings: YTC Mission Employee of the Third Quarter
Yuma Test Center (YTC) leadership recently named Marcus Giddings the Mission Employee of the Third Quarter for his work as a test officer in combat systems.
“I was excited when I first heard about it. I put in a lot of hard work while we were testing and to be selected for this is an honor because I know the work, I am putting in really has an impact on what we are doing out here.”
That work is testing equipment before it gets into the hands of the Warfighter. YTC Commander Lt. Col. Shane Dering presented the award to Giddings during his division’s safety meeting.
“I was a little nervous at first, but you think back on all the work you’ve done and why you are here. It’s good to be recognized among your peers.”
Giddings extended a shoutout to his co-workers, Alexis Baez Ruiz and Ramon Morales, who were by his side during those months of testing that he received recognition for.
“Those guys were pivotal in the success of the program and how the testing went.”
Giddings has worked at Yuma Proving Ground for five years on various combat vehicles. He started working on AMPV, then moved onto testing Bradleys and Abrams.
Most recently, he’s been working on active protection systems. To better describe the capability Giddings explained, “It’s a bolt on kit for the system and it essentially tracks incoming threats and then will deploy a counter-munition of sorts to stop the threat from reaching the vehicle. We test the effectiveness of those systems.”
Giddings’ days vary from time on the range preparing combat vehicles for testing to office days working on reports.
“The fact that I can go out with the crews and be really hands on with the vehicles and be part of the big picture step of the process is exciting.”
He goes on to explain what a day can look like for a test officer.
“If we are setting up for a shoot then I will be prepping the vehicles on the range to be able to put the vehicle in whichever configuration we need it to be in. If we are running performance tests, then I am prepping those.”
Giddings went to school for biomedical engineering and after his first job in semiconductor factory for about a year he decided it’s not what he wanted to do and found out about YPG.
“I’ve loved it since day one.” Adding, “I like the culture and the comradery that I have with my teammates.”