As part of our ongoing celebration of Military Appreciation Month, we’re highlighting the remarkable stories of our team members. This week, the TECO Veterans Alliance (TVA) shines the spotlight on Jason Gumto, Lead Network & Systems Security Engineer. Join us as Jason shares how his 21 years in the United States Air Force Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC) Network Operations have influenced his life and career.
In general, describe your daily role/responsibility while in the military.
My general role in my first 3.5 years was a cable antenna journeyman. I worked on antenna towers/poles and worked on fiberoptics. We would do installations all over the world. I then moved to Okinawa, Japan where I did some installation but most of the time, we were just maintaining the equipment. After that, I decided to cross train into IT networking. I started doing IT at the Air Force weather agency. This is where my daily role became like TECO. I was supervising a group of people yet also doing some of the work. After that we moved to MacDill Air Force Base where I had the honor of being a part of Special Operation Command. Basically, I will do the same job for the rest of my career.
What are some of the things you remember about adapting to military life?
Military life was hard but worth it. When I first joined, I thought we would have to run miles and miles but in the Air Force you work up to 1.5 miles. You run as a group. I joined right out of high school, so I was running 3-5 miles a day, also working out all the time. I was thinking I might have joined the wrong service, but I didn't. The Air Force teaches you a skillset that can be used outside of the military in the civilian world. Integrity and honesty are keys to success.
What were some of the reasons that you joined the military? How did you choose your branch of service?
I joined the military for a change. I was going to a community college but didn't like it and my sister was in the Air Force. She told me how great it is, so I joined. I was only supposed to do it for four years, but it turned into 21 years. I talked to a lot of people that retired from the military getting a pension right away and basically free healthcare for life. I also wanted to travel. I got married early in my career and we lived in Okinawa for five years. That was amazing - the culture and pride of the Japanese are very impressive.
How did you stay in touch with family and friends back home while you were deployed?
I was technically never deployed but served temporary duty (TDY) a lot. When I first joined, I was part of a special group out of Kessler Air Force Base called the 1839 Enginering and Instillation group. This group built communications all over the world for all types of agencies from tower/microwave dishes to cable/fiber/radio instillations. My first TDY was to Saudi Arabia where we installed a 120-foot tower and ran miles of fiberoptic cables. We fabricated the foundation from rebar to pouring concrete. From there we put the tower together in 20-foot pieces. From talking to the noncommissioned officers (NCOs), I learned they have never done this in their career. When completed, we installed a couple microwave dishes giving the site communication. This site is in the middle of the desert. We got moral calls once a week and mail came once a week.
What unique experiences did you encounter during your service?
I lived in Okinawa, Japan; I also went to Australia to the U.S. Air Force Solar observatory which they look for solar flares and sunspots and rebuilt their network. This was in the middle of nowhere where a small plane flies once week on a dirt runway. My other experience was working at Special Operations Command. You learn a lot and work with different services as a combined force.
How does your past military service impact your job at TECO?
The military really set me up for civilian life as I am doing basically the same job now as I was in the military. I started off working as a communication lineman climbing towers and gaffing poles. Also running fiberoptics then cross training into inside plant learning servers/routing and switching. I also learned how to manage people and completed my bachelor's degree before retiring and moving to TECO. I retired as a Master Seargent managing nine people before moving to TECO as a Senior Network Analyst. This was a great transition as I got to do a lot of hands-on work again. I since then have moved back up to supervisor mentoring and working side-by-side with team members. Like the military, TECO is a great company that takes care of people. It is very family oriented.
