The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/65892
The heat sink nosecone, located in the Air Force Space & Missile History Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station $ORQJ WKH ZD\ KLV UDQN URVH VHFRQG OLHXWHQDQW ƂUVW OLHXWHQDQW FDSWDLQ PDMRU OLHX- tenant colonel, and, in 2009, colonel. And with it, his education and job responsibili- ties grew. He earned two degrees (master of airpower art and science and master of science in organizational management), both paid for by the Air Force. He also got married and started a family, who joined him in his travels for years. In December 2004 he was deployed to Iraq for four months, working as a strategic planner in the strategy division at the multinational force headquarters under Gen- eral George Casey. He says he didn't see any direct combat, but there were frequent rocket and mortar attacks. "Fortunately, most of those attacks were brief and wildly inaccurate," he says. All but one, that is. While serving, his building was struck once, killing and wounding several people. ,Q MXVW WKRVH IHZ PRQWK :HOFK VDZ ƂUVWKDQG SURIRXQG FKDQJHV ZLWKLQ WKH FRXQ- WU\ Ŕ:H ZHUH WKHUH IRU ,UDT V ƂUVW QDWLRQDO HOHFWLRQ ŕ KH VD\V Ŕ,W ZDV DPD]LQJ WR VHH VR PDQ\ WKRXVDQGV RI ,UDTLV SURXGO\ OLQH XS WR FDVW WKHLU YRWHV LQ GHƂDQFH RI WKH insurgents and terrorists who sought to intimidate them through violence." While there, he also helped lay the initial plan for rebuilding the Iraqi Air Force. Ŕ, ZDV IRUWXQDWH WR ZRUN ZLWK D WHUULƂF WHDP RI 8 6 DQG LQWHUQDWLRQDO RIƂFHUV IURP all of the military services," he says. "I learned a lot from them." By 2009 his children, then 16 and 13, were settled in school in Virginia, just out- side of Washington, where the family owns a home. So when Welch was transferred to Florida, they decided that the best thing to do was for the family to stay put. Welch would become a "geographic bachelor" until they could be together again. While the distance has been hard on the family, Welch's superiors say that he LV KDQGV GRZQ WKH EHVW ƂW IRU WKH MRE DV YLFH FRPPDQGHU RI WKH WK 6SDFH :LQJ Brigadier General Ed Wilson, who has worked with Welch on multiple occasions in multiple states, is effusive about his abilities. "He's one of the smartest guys we have in the satellite space business," says Wilson, who then ticks off accolades about Welch as if reading a shopping list. "He's outgo- ing. He's very focused on mission success. And a real thinker, a visionary in a lot of ways. He's good at dissecting and identifying how we're doing business today and how we can do it better." When asked how Welch manages it all, Wilson doesn't hesitate. "I know Rory would point to WPI as really setting the foundation for him. Now, he's continued to build on it, but without that foundation there'd be no way that he could do what he does today." After rocketing forward in his career for more than two decades, Welch says he's now taking the day-to-day challenges of the 45th Space Wing in stride. When asked what's next, his tone changes. "To be quite frank, my next priority is to get back WRJHWKHU ZLWK P\ IDPLO\ ŕ KH VD\V ƂUPO\ His son, Ryan, is a member of the WPI Class of 2015 (and high school daughter Lauren is considering applying to WPI in the near future). Welch says he texts back and forth with both kids a lot, and talks on the phone with Nancy every evening. "It's been tough for our family to live apart," he says. "My wife and kids have been amazing through it all. I've been fortunate to get home to Virginia about once a month. I also follow what they're up to via Facebook, and we Skype frequently." The irony is that these devices—as well as the Garmin that guides him home—rely on the satellites that Welch and his division helped launch. That which keeps them apart also has the power to bring them together. …THEY'RE PREPARED TO PERFORM WHAT IS CALLED IN MILITARY-ESQUE TERMS, A "COMMAND DESTRUCT CAPABILITY"— THAT IS, BLOW THE VESSEL TO SMITHEREENS. Spring 2012 39