Meet . . .

TJ Burr, Civil Engineer and USAF Reserve Officer

On April 10, 2007, TJ Burr left for a 4-6 month deployment to Northern Iraq. He is managing the construction completion of the military's busiest hospital in Iraq, the Air Force Theater Hospital. The $20 million project will provide a medical campus consisting of over 100,000 square feet. This hospital is foremost for the American soldiers in Iraq, but will also be used for Iraqi soldiers and civilians who are injured in the war.

TJ is in a hostile-fire area. At times he has had to seek cover in bunkers and under his desk.

Last May, TJ Burr described his service in the US Air Force reserves. Go to http://www.wv.nrcs.usda.gov/news/06may_nv/meet.html.

Charlotte A. Elliott-Friend State Administrative Officer State Office, Morgantown, WV Familiar Face, New Name

On March 23, 2001 Charlotte A. Elliott-Friend became the first woman to hold the State Administrative Officer position in West Virginia and the highest-ranking woman in NRCS in West Virginia.

Charlotte said "Six years later, I am and will continue enjoying the position very much." There have been many challenges with this job and I have learned a lot."

I credit the support I receive from my co-workers, friends, and family for my success. I have a great staff and enjoy working with them. I credit my success to my staff; they do excellent work!

I look forward to the future with open arms. I love the work that NRCS does and the employees in West Virginia are of the best in the Nation second to none. I am so proud to be an employee with NRCS here in West Virginia, and I would like to say to all the employees, "Great Job!"

Rebecca MacLeod, RC&D Coordinator

I was very excited about becoming the Project Coordinator for Potomac Headwaters RC&D in January 2007 after Roger Boyer retired. It is a very fulfilling job with a tremendous amount of freedom. I am trying to contain my happiness so I don’t cause offense.

I have worked for the agency for 24 years, starting as a student trainee in Jefferson County in 1983. From there I spent time in Jackson and Pendleton Counties. I have fond memories about all the soil conservationists and DC that trained me, but I have an especially soft spot for the technicians, Ralph Hartman, Owen Pingley, and Charles Henry Jamison. They would drive my crazy at times, but I learned so much from them. I know new employees get tired of hearing us go on about “in the old days”, but everything (well, almost) is true. I hear this all the time when I serve as an instructor for NEDC’s Orientation for New Employees.

It was a hard decision to leave the District Conservationist position. I really did love the job having done it for 20 years in Morgan (when Morgan was a single employee Field Office), Martinsburg, WV and Frederick, MD. My main objective with that job was always to help our clients achieve a better environment. Now, my clients are somewhat different, but my objective is still the same.

RC&D spills over into my weekends and evenings with projects and meetings. It has never been easy for me to separate my family life and career. I am grateful that my husband, Gordon, has been supportive all through the years, and my children Clayton, age 16, and Diandra, age 12, are tolerant, even when they are corralled to help plant trees or clean up trash on the weekends.

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