FAA Service of Bill Holtzman
August 30, 1988
SCD: Arrived at Oklahoma City for initial training.
October 1988
Passed screen and reported to Washington Center.
August 3, 1991
Completed training and became FPL in Area D.
May 19, 1992
Submitted NAR to scroll R-CRD. Submitted NAR to generate strips for deviating aircraft.
June 20, 1992
Memo from SATCS Lemley praising my performance during weather. ‘You . . . did a remarkable job of keeping traffic flowing. You worked without breaks for an extended period of time. As usual, you did so professionally, ably, and without complaint.’
August 17, 1992
Cited for a flight assist when N8235V lost avionics after departing LYH.
March 31, 1993
Received a $929 bonus for annual performance rating, including some of the following comments:
April 11, 1993
Submitted a QTP Suggestion concerning data block coding.
May 3, 1993
Received an expression of gratitude from ZDC-1 for reporting to duty despite a severe winter snowstorm.
June 2, 1993
Received a $100 on-the-spot award for taking the initiative to correct a video map depiction error.
July 28, 1993
Received a ‘Job Well Done’ for excellent work during heavy weather and thunderstorms.
January 1994
Acquired a copy of ‘Speed Control in a Radar Environment’ through a contact at Mitre. I had never seen this document during my own training and it is an excellent resource for learning to understand speed control. I distributed this document to ZDC controllers and staff.
March 22, 1994
Earned instrument rating as a private pilot.
May 3, 1994
Submitted NAR to delete an extra strip produced on the TERKS1 arrival. Submitted NAR to force preferential routings to GSO-Z.
July 26, 1994
Submitted NAR to reduce the number of strips generated per flight. Submitted NAR to change conflict alert from ‘on-off’ to ‘bright-dim’ (as it is today). Submitted NAR to eliminate printing of pref routing that matches the assigned route.
Received a ‘Job Well Done’ from my Area Manager regarding a night of severe weather on July 17, 1994. ‘William L. Holtzman continued to assist both air carriers and general aviation aircraft through numerous complex traffic situations, demonstrating the professionalism the controllers of the D Area have become known and respected for throughout the aviation community. This continuous effort shows a level of personal commitment, initiative, and responsibility that is desirable in all employees. William L. Holtzman is a credit to the Agency.’
August 9, 1994
Submitted NAR concerning pref routings.
September 13, 1994
Received annual performance rating of 1.7 out of 2.0. Received a $300 bonus.
February 6, 1995
Submitted NAR regarding the failure to print strips on aircraft routed IAD-ORF.
April 13, 1995
Received annual performance rating of 1.7 out of 2.0. Received a $300 bonus.
April 21, 1995
Received a 4 hour time off award as a result of Area D remaining error-free for 120 days.
July 1, 1995
Completed Facility Instructor Training.
July 1995 – July 1996
Served as Area D lead on VSCS Cadre team.
February 13, 1996
Received a 16 hour time off award for work on the ZDC VSCS Cadre team. ‘The professional manner, good judgment, and cooperative attitude that you displayed was essential to the transition to the new equipment in a timely fashion. This is a commendable display of individual skill in handling a difficult situation with negligible disruption to the ATC system. Your effort on the behalf of your facility and your fellow controllers is a credit to Washington Center and is greatly appreciated.’
February 23, 1996
Received a Superior Accomplishment Award of 8 hours for numerous contributions within Area D. ‘Mr. Holtzman has performed numerous acts within the last 4 months that were extremely beneficial to the D Area.’
February 26, 1996
Received a Letter of Commendation from ZDC-1 for work on VSCS. ‘This accomplishment could not have occurred without your dedication and willingness to do whatever had to be done to meet the needs of your fellow controllers . . . you willingly took upon yourself the task of mapping the communications lines for your particular area, greatly assisting the DEO with this important responsibility.’
March 17, 1996
Participated in VSCS testing at the Technical Center in Pomona, NJ.
May 1996
Submitted four Cost Reduction Proposals regarding changes to the VSCS systems. These changes involved improving versatility and utility of the system and achieving some of the design intentions at the ground floor level.
June 7, 1996
Submitted NAR to correct computer assigned routing.
July 13, 1996
Received Letter of Commendation concerning heavy traffic associated with Hurricane Bertha. ‘You continuously performed your duties in a tireless, diligent, and professional manner . . . I commend you for your professionalism and dedication!’
September 25, 1996
Received Letter of Appreciation from Air Traffic Division Manager John Walker for the four VSCS Cost Reduction Proposals I had submitted.
March 31, 1997
Received 8 hour Time Off Award for managing Area D leave bidding. I ‘devised an intricate bidding system on the Excel program . . . established a calendar for controllers to view prior to bidding . . . worked endlessly on breaks and time off.’
June 18, 1998
Received a Letter of Appreciation from ZDC Air Traffic Manager concerning tremendous traffic resulting from a large weather system. ‘The control room staff on duty performed an exemplary job during these adverse conditions. The teamwork and 'can-do' attitude of all areas was phenomenal . . . Thanks for a job well done and your continued effort that makes Washington ARTCC among the very best in our profession.’
July 21, 1998
Submitted NAR concerning erroneous automated handoff.
September 11, 1998
Performance rating cited the following:
September 1998 – May
2002
Served as member and lead on ETAP Validation Team. Worked with HAME data, flight strip records, Microsoft Excel and the ETAP program to validate the Classification Index (CI) of Washington Center traffic. Authored several reports with compilation and analysis of the data, illustrating areas of the formula in which ZDC's count was artificially reduced, such as aircraft density and transitional counts.
February 1999 – May
2000
Served as Area D lead on DSR Cadre team.
May 21, 2000
Submitted Employee Suggestion to redesign the use of letters in the computer identification numbers associated with flight plans.
December 1, 2000
Received 4 hour Time Off Award for work on the facility Classification Index (CI). ‘ATCS William Holtzman has led the facility workgroup in this process . . . the work performed by ATCS Holtzman has been extremely thorough. As an example, while validating the data for August, September, and October 2000, ATCS Holtzman ascertained that erroneous computer data was being reported, jeopardizing the validity of the derived CI. ATCS Holtzman researched the issue and identified that the problem occurred when the incorrect AMP tape was loaded during the job run. ATCS Holtzman then offered to provide training to the computer operators to prevent a reoccurrence of the problem.’
‘In addition to validating the data, ATCS Holtzman has also reviewed and provided comment on draft directives governing ETAP processing. His comments reflect a comprehensive knowledge of the fundamental theories that govern the CI calculation. His written comments are succinct and provide excellent suggestions for improving the CI process.’
March 31, 2001
Initiated and pushed an effort to add airline dispatch phone numbers to the speed dial function in VSCS. This feature has been available since that time and allows controllers rapid access to dispatch operators who can then contact flight crews quickly via ACARS.
April 2001
Traveled to ZJX on duty fam to gather information on their scheduling program. I brought back copies of it to ZDC and also worked on a prototype component to provide overtime tracking.
April 2001 – September
2002
Served as NATCA representative to the CRU-X project.
May 3, 2001
Received 30 hour Time Off Award for work on DSR Cadre. ‘Your work as a member of the 6:8/DSR Cadre team enabled the facility to reach its goals . . . When problems were encountered, the transition teams worked collaboratively to find solutions.’
June 20, 2001
Received Letter of Appreciation from ZDC Air Traffic Manager for outstanding performance over the Memorial Day weekend.
January 27, 2002
Received 8 hour Time Off Award for meeting numerous facility-wide performance goals.
May 2, 2002
Received 16 hour Time Off Award for performance in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
June 21, 2002
Received facility-wide cash award of $500 for achieving IDU on URET.
June 26, 2002
Received 8 hour Time Off Award for performance during the spring of 2002. ‘You constantly worked with minimum staffing profiles and yet, were able to reduce operational errors . . . Bay 1 also experienced major procedural changes . . . You have taken on these changes with a ‘can-do’ attitude reflecting your concern with the level and quantity of air traffic services provided to the American flying public.’
July 2002 – December
2002
Built ‘Shift Stuff’ a comprehensive and operational schedule and leave bidding system.
Shift Stuff was built partially to illustrate the utility of automating the schedule and leave bidding component of the scheduling process. As such, I believe it was a very successful prototype. It is still used today. I administered the system until January 2006.
Supervisor Vern Roberts commented on the time saving provided by Shift Stuff, saying: ‘For the MUD supervisor, it has probably saved 80 hours per year per area.’
I was compensated with 100 hours of credit for doing this work. I reinvested that time to make myself a more valuable employee by taking classes in Oracle technologies as described next.
April 28, 2004
Received Professional Certification from Learning Tree International in Oracle 9i Application Development. I began this training in January 2003 and spent approximately $9000 of my own funds and 224 hours of credit and leave to earn this and a later certification. My intention was to use my skills to build an enterprise-level version of my earlier programs and build other applications to serve the Agency.
September 18, 2004
Technical training discussion noted, ‘employs positive separation, able to work high volume and complex traffic without difficulty.’
October 27, 2004
Received Professional Certification from Learning Tree International in Oracle 9i Database Administration.
February 20, 2005
Awarded 32 hour Time Off Award for maintenance and administration of Shift Stuff.
March 2005 – December
2005
Built ‘Shift Stuff for the Web’, an internet-based version of the Shift Stuff software. This software:
Shift Stuff for the Web was deployed successfully at CLT and BNA in the fall of 2005. OM Mark Clark at CLT was very happy with the performance of the program, as were all of the employees who used it. The local administrator was surprised to report that users had no complaints about the product.
The development of this software required approximately 800 hours of my own time. I performed successful testing at ZDC in the summer of 2006 with about 45 users. I had coordinated this work with Kerry Johnson, former ZDC-1, and Jaime Llana, ZDC-2.
At the end of 2005 ZDC-1 determined not to use the program. With a new manager in place, the system was deployed in June 2009, ran successfully for 10 years at Washington Center and continues to run today at Boston and Miami Centers.
September 17-21, 2005
Attended Oracle Open World in San Francisco. I spent $1825 of my own funds simply to attend this conference, and also used several days of leave.
October 24, 2005
Received 4 hour Time Off Award for work on the evening of August 10, 2005. ‘ZDC ARTCC and ZTL ARTCC lost both Primary and Secondary URET interfaces resulting in the need to manually process and coordinate all flight plan information . . . Area One CPC's worked above and beyond what was expected to accomplish a workable solution in an increasingly desperate situation . . . I am very proud of the professionalism and dedication exhibited by CPC Holtzman.’
February 23, 2006
Performed a presentation at Desktop 2006, a technical conference produced by Oracle Developer Tools User Group. The presentation was titled ‘Getting Addicted to Oracle Application Express’.
Completed a phraseology study to demonstrate impracticality of timed vertical clearances. Submitted this study to the Air Traffic Procedures Advisory Committee (ATPAC) and the proposed change to the 7110.65 was tentatively approved at their January 9-11, 2007 meeting.
Discovered and reported an issue whereby the data blocks disassociate from the map during re-centering.
Submitted Employee Suggestion to assign reduce the ‘slant zero’ computer entry into NAS to simply ‘zero’. Currently, the controller enters:
/0 123
to reduce the leader length of a data block to zero (where 123 is the CID). However, there is no assigned meaning to the entry:
0 123
The suggestion was to assign the same function to the latter entry, eliminating a keystroke for an entry that is made millions of times a year.
Received thanks from Administrator Blakey in developing the FAA Flight Plan. In her message she said: ‘I appreciated your thorough review and extensive comments on the Flight Plan.’
Presented "ApEx Lessons from the Trenches" at the annual conference of Oracle Developer Tools User Group in Daytona Beach, FL.
Attended a meeting of the ATPAC at FAA Headquarters. Presented a specific proposal to change the phraseology for a timed vertical clearance in the 7110.65. Provided the Committee with a detailed report discussing aspects of the issue, including the awkwardness, inefficiency and practical uselessness of the existing phraseology using real-life examples and quantifiable data. Gave a presentation of the report as well, and provided proposed text to be changed in the 7110.65. The Committee unanimously voted to recommend the change to FAA.
Received $200 award for a "special propensity toward situational awareness and air traffic control professionalism".
Taught Paul Hargett, ZDC Data Systems, to retrieve data from the National Offload Program. This was to enable Paul to process ZDC radar data on a PC and thus demonstrate the extent to which ZDC holds aircraft for New York, Philadelphia, Washington and other airports.
Presented "Steal the Show with ApEx" at Oracle Open World, San Francisco Moscone Center.
Received 4 hour time off award for working busy session at Gordonsville Sector, cited as "consummate professional".
Presented "ApEx Development: Watch it Live" at Oracle Development Tools User Group Kaleidoscope 2008 Conference, New Orleans.
Received $300 award for "significant contribution to safety and efficiency of the NAS" for work on my 7110.65 4-5-7b proposal.
Received $200 award for providing quality instruction during 200 hours of OJT in a 12 month period.
January 2009
Awarded SCI-1 rating for Cycle Year 2008.
Bill Holtzman, March 2009