Facilities Director, Goodman Manufacturing Company, L.P.
When you learn about hard work and responsibility at a young age, you become equipped to take on daunting challenges. Luckily for Goodman, Charlie Strange has been able to put these values to work as Facilities Director for the 4.2 million square foot Daikin Texas Technology Park (DTTP) facility.
We recently sat down with Charlie, who has a Business Management degree from the University of Mount Olive, to talk about accident investigations with the U.S. Air Force, how his previous experiences prepared him for his current job, and how his greatest professional challenge became one of his proudest professional accomplishments.
What was your first job?
“At 13 years old, I was a paperboy for the local Leavenworth, KS newspaper. Once I started driving, I started delivering newspapers for the Kansas City paper. I had to get up at 4:30 a.m., fold papers, and get them delivered before I went to school. I figured out very quickly that you have to put in the work because no one else is going to do it! If you have the job, it’s your job to do. That was a valuable lesson to learn.”
Tell us about your time in the Air Force.
“I was an F-15 fighter aircraft mechanic and stationed out of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, NC. I was stationed at the same place for my entire ten years with the Air Force, but I was able to travel all over the world. They would send me on temporary duty assignments across the globe. One of the reasons for this was investigating crash scenes. Every time an F-15 was involved in an accident, they would pull experts from every field to do an investigation to determine what happened.”
“I did about 3 or 4 investigations over my military career. There was one F-15 that crashed into a swamp in North Carolina, and it was buried about 30 feet in the mud. We had to get a specialized barge with a crane to get the plane out. But, we also had to scoop up the mud to get all the parts that came off during impact. Then we brought all the pieces back to a hanger to wash everything off. We looked through every bolt and screw and laid it out in the shape of the plane. From there, everyone breaks into his or her area of expertise. We would learn what the pilot went through, what the plane went through, and what the machinery would tell us. All of these versions may all be different, so we had to tear it all apart to determine a cause. If your team is good, they would be able to tell you which particular object or action led to a malfunction. It gets that detailed.”
What did you learn from being in the Military?
“I learned that there is value in becoming an expert in your field. It doesn’t always play out as far as a monetary value, especially in the military, but you can do things that other people can’t. Because of that, you become valuable. If you become an expert in your field as I did, you get to go to accident investigation missions. That was a great experience to learn from.”
What prepared you for your current job?
“My Air Force experience certainly prepared me because, in the military, you have your specific military career field, but you also have other responsibilities outside that field. It's basically whatever they decide you are going to do that day! Working on many tasks and projects helped me to create patterns and processes. But you also need to be able to respond to crises as they hit. Being a Facility Manager at the DTTP works that way too.”
“From my military experience, I was able to easily transition into the maintenance world when I got out of the Air Force. I had been doing maintenance for a long time and understood the Air Force’s great protocol for handling preventative maintenance. That really translated to what I am doing now because Goodman’s protocol is very similar. Paying attention to details is critical for anything. It will either bite you or make you successful. It comes down to putting in the work.”
What do you do as a Facilities Manager?
“If there are any building upgrades required or changes to the office areas, that comes to my team. If a facility issue happens at the DTTP, the investigation falls to my group too. “This place is large. We have water wells, an industrial wastewater plant, and millions of square feet and over 500 acres - it is really a compound. I enjoy it, and it’s a lot of fun.”
What has been your greatest professional challenge?
“This building was an insanely daunting project. It’s over 4 million square feet! There can be some leeway when creating a plan for a large facility. But when it comes to a manufacturing plant, details are critical. If you put a press pit in the wrong spot, or if it’s the wrong thickness, or if the drain lines are off…or, or, or…..when there are so many things that to be on target, it can create stack-up issues. It could be a small problem in one area, but as you start adding the layers of complexity, that little problem can become a massive issue. So my team spends an enormous amount of time going through details to catch mistakes.”
What was one of your proudest professional accomplishments?
“The DTTP building is definitely one of my proudest professional accomplishments. It’s amazing what we did here!”
What do you do for fun?
“I coach wrestling at the Cypress Wrestling Club. When I was a kid, I wrestled a lot and really enjoyed it. My oldest son will be going to high school next year, and my other son is almost 12. I never anticipated that they would wrestle, but that’s what they chose to do. My daughter does gymnastics, but she also likes to wrestle when she is at the club with us. What I like about wrestling is that you have to learn how to lose. You have to wipe that loss away and get back out there. It’s a lot like life.”