{"id":2928,"date":"2014-07-10T13:27:51","date_gmt":"2014-07-10T13:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928"},"modified":"2014-07-16T18:38:18","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T18:38:18","slug":"5-minutes-with-bill-goodwin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928","title":{"rendered":"5 minutes with Bill Goodwin"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is nothing particularly special about Bill Goodwin\u2019s office on the second floor of the west wing of the Shelby Center. His desk is neat, but not obsessively so. The stuff in his office is also just what you would expect. Some pictures. Bookshelves with the kinds of texts, manuals and miscellany that walks into any room. A couple of low-key items let you know he is an Auburn fan, even though he graduated from the University of South Carolina. A retired naval officer who rose to flag rank with high-level commands in Europe and the U.S., he can recite the Auburn Creed in an almost casual way that makes you believe it more, not less. On the wall to the right of his desk is a photo of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. It\u2019s more than just a picture. It\u2019s been a part of his life. In a career before his current one as director of the College of Engineering\u2019s Alabama Power Nuclear Power Generation Systems program<\/a>, he was the first captain of CVN-76, the Navy\u2019s $5 billion supercarrier that continues in active duty today.<\/p>\n

JK:<\/strong> What does it take to build a boat? I\u2019m not talking about laying the keel, but how people are brought together on a project of this scope.
\nBG:<\/strong> To build a crew, you bring some in by choice, and some by chance. I had some latitude in finding a nucleus of officers in senior leadership positions, but 95 percent of the ship\u2019s complement was, in normal fashion, sent to us. We had a couple of dozen people working on the USS Ronald Reagan before there was a USS Ronald Reagan \u2013 in what we call the pre-commissioning phase. In September 2001, some departments started on the ship for testing, and a year before sea trials, the crew lived aboard the ship. Some of them were experienced, and others were right out of boot camp. The vast majority had never been to sea before.<\/p>\n

JK:<\/strong> Tell me about the sea trials on your ship.
\nBG:<\/strong> I have to say this first \u2013 that it was never my ship. It belongs to the taxpayer, not me. Beyond that, the ship belonged to our crew. It was my pleasure to see a high level of leadership among our officers, because they were given the opportunity to bring themselves together for a common, greater purpose. This was never more evident than during the ship\u2019s sea trials in 2003, which I remember well. Four days without sleep. We tested all of the ship\u2019s systems, its safety gear, and the many on-board aircraft systems crucial to its operation in a wide variety of circumstances. We also tested our top speed: \"JLK_4060\"over 30 knots . . . in an unclassified kind of way.<\/p>\n

JK:<\/strong> The USS Ronald Reagan is billed as a supercarrier \u2013 tell us what that means in terms of size.
\nBG:<\/strong> Let\u2019s look at the flight deck first. It\u2019s the size of three football fields, and I always point out to people that it\u2019s like standing at the 50-yard line of Jordan-Hare Stadium, with another football field on each end. Or it\u2019s from home plate at Plainsman Park to Petrie Hall on the Thach Concourse. The flight deck is four and a half acres, and the bridge is 100 feet above the water line. The deck is 65 feet above water, which is a small advantage coming off the catapult, but also a long way down if something happens. The sight line from the bridge to the bow is such that there is about a 400-yard blind spot in front of you. The ship\u2019s company includes about 2,800 officers and sailors, with an additional 2,000 in the air wing \u2013 pilots, mechanics and support personnel. The vast majority of the crew is 18 to 20 years old, while most of the others are in their late twenties.<\/p>\n

JK:<\/strong> How does that compare to the carrier USS Lexington, where you also served?
\nBG:<\/strong> You could easily fit the entire Lexington on the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan, with plenty of room left. But I have a soft spot for that carrier, a World War II ship with a wooden deck, if that can be believed. I was assigned to it for two years, operating the arresting gear and catapults. Carrier landings are tricky, to say the least, and the USS Lexington, I have to add, is where I made my first 10 landings as a student pilot. Later, I was attached to a squadron on the USS Eisenhower, flying A-7 Corsairs.<\/p>\n

JK:<\/strong> Later \u2013 much later \u2013 you were on the bridge of the USS Ronald Reagan. What was that like?
\nBG:<\/strong> As captain, working with a hierarchy of officers, the safety and operational efficiency of the entire ship is your responsibility. There are 16 departments on board, sort of like 16 schools and colleges on a university campus, along with a chief engineer, chief supply officer, even medical and dental units. Our bottom line was training for combat missions, always. I was privileged to be the first captain of the USS Ronald Reagan \u2013 and with that came the sobering realization that with a 50-year service horizon, the ship\u2019s last captain had not yet been born. An engineering fact, if you will: the twin reactors only need to be refueled once during that lifespan. At about 23 years the ship will be drawn out of service to do just that. In a way, it\u2019s amazing. Fifty years, two tanks of gas.<\/p>\n

JK:<\/strong> Bringing the carrier to life, you have told me, was truly a highlight of your military career \u2013 how so?
\nBG:<\/strong> Mrs. [Nancy] Reagan was the ship\u2019s sponsor, and broke a bottle of champagne across her bow in March of 2001. But she was more than that \u2013 she was so very gracious, and never turned down a request to write a note to a sailor, something she did quite often. She was honored at an event we held in Williamsburg, Va., that was attended by a virtual who\u2019s who of the eight years of the Reagan White House. It\u2019s a memory I will always have \u2013 Mrs. Reagan on the stage \u2013 Jim Brady, former press secretary, in the front row.<\/p>\n

JK:<\/strong> How have these experiences informed your Auburn career as director of the Nuclear Power Generation Systems Program?
\nBG:<\/strong> It\u2019s all about leadership and ethics. I have come to believe that leadership is learned through a succession of experiences, and that it doesn\u2019t come from reading a book. The same thing with ethics. If you don\u2019t have a sense of integrity, you are probably not going to succeed as a leader. In my own career I have had to do the right thing . . . which was so often the hard thing. I hope that makes sense. It\u2019s something that students are going to have to learn, particularly in the nuclear industry, which perhaps more than any other, is based on a sense of an ethical compass. There\u2019s always a lot at stake. In my course at Auburn \u2013 Introduction to the Nuclear Power Industry \u2013 I don\u2019t preach or proselytize, I simply put integrity into the core of my discussion. It\u2019s leadership by example.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is nothing particularly special about Bill Goodwin\u2019s office on the second floor of the west wing of the Shelby Center. His desk is neat, but not obsessively so. The stuff in his office is also just what you would expect. Some pictures. Bookshelves with the kinds of texts, manuals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[554,555,556],"yoast_head":"\n5 minutes with Bill Goodwin » Auburn Engineer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 minutes with Bill Goodwin » Auburn Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is nothing particularly special about Bill Goodwin\u2019s office on the second floor of the west wing of the Shelby Center. His desk is neat, but not obsessively so. The stuff in his office is also just what you would expect. Some pictures. Bookshelves with the kinds of texts, manuals […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Auburn Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-10T13:27:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-07-16T18:38:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2014\/07\/JLK_4060-300x199.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim Killian\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim Killian\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928\",\"name\":\"5 minutes with Bill Goodwin » Auburn Engineer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-10T13:27:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-07-16T18:38:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/eef77c3333e900e4ada00c2f39b42fef\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 minutes with Bill Goodwin\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/\",\"name\":\"Auburn Engineer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/eef77c3333e900e4ada00c2f39b42fef\",\"name\":\"Jim Killian\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb6625ed86887be0a5610fbac1f5a42e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb6625ed86887be0a5610fbac1f5a42e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jim Killian\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?author=10\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 minutes with Bill Goodwin » Auburn Engineer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 minutes with Bill Goodwin » Auburn Engineer","og_description":"There is nothing particularly special about Bill Goodwin\u2019s office on the second floor of the west wing of the Shelby Center. His desk is neat, but not obsessively so. The stuff in his office is also just what you would expect. Some pictures. Bookshelves with the kinds of texts, manuals […]","og_url":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928","og_site_name":"Auburn Engineer","article_published_time":"2014-07-10T13:27:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-07-16T18:38:18+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2014\/07\/JLK_4060-300x199.jpg"}],"author":"Jim Killian","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim Killian","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928","url":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928","name":"5 minutes with Bill Goodwin » Auburn Engineer","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-07-10T13:27:51+00:00","dateModified":"2014-07-16T18:38:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/eef77c3333e900e4ada00c2f39b42fef"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=2928#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 minutes with Bill Goodwin"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website","url":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/","name":"Auburn Engineer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/eef77c3333e900e4ada00c2f39b42fef","name":"Jim Killian","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb6625ed86887be0a5610fbac1f5a42e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb6625ed86887be0a5610fbac1f5a42e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jim Killian"},"url":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?author=10"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2928"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2928"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3070,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2928\/revisions\/3070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}