In 1999, when Evan Goss was 18, he sensed his future would no longer include college. He decided to serve his country instead and joined the U.S. Air Force.
A month after graduating high school, he was on a plane bound for San Antonio, Texas and bootcamp. Evan couldn’t have known that his military career would last over two decades or that he would earn several awards while traversing the Middle East.
“Probably the most memorable award was the first achievement medal I earned,” Evan says. “It was right after 9/11 and the day before my first wedding anniversary. I was sent to Qatar, where we built a base from the ground up. Al Udeid, it would be called. It wound up supporting over 10,000 people and today is considered the hub for the U.S. military in the Middle East.”
Four Medals, Eight Deployments, and Back on American Soil
And that was just the beginning. Evan would serve eight deployments in support of several operations, including Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Inherent Resolve, and Freedom’s Sentinel. Between 2001 and 2018, he would rise up the ranks—from airman to staff sergeant, then technical sergeant to master sergeant. All told, his awards would include the Meritorious Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Air Force Commendation Medal (with three oak leaf clusters), the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Air Force Achievement Medal (with two oak leaf clusters). He would be stationed and deployed throughout the U.S. and the Middle East, with his final assignment landing him at Los Angeles Air Force Base (LAAFB).
“My last assignment, in 2017, had me stationed at Los Angeles Air Force Base,” says Evan. “When I first got there, I worked in operations with General Manager Jose Perez from PRIDE Industries. A little over a year later, after I was deployed to Kuwait for six months, I came back and worked with the Engineering Department, where Program Integrator Beth Farm told me how much PRIDE Industries could use me.”
“Integrity First.” Evan Brings the Air Force’s Values to His Job at PRIDE Industries
Like the transition from high school into the military, Evan’s transition out of the military and into employment with PRIDE Industries moved fast.
“I went straight into the position as a building information and geographic systems (BIM/GIS) manager,” said Evan, noting a key difference he’d observed between PRIDE Industries and other military contractors he’d encountered over the years. “With other contractors I’d dealt with, it was always about getting more money from our government—which bothered me. But PRIDE Industries isn’t like that. It’s a company with a good moral standing.”
As “Integrity First” is the first of the Air Force’s core values, it makes sense that a good moral standing would resonate with Evan. So do the Air Force’s other two core values: “Service Before Self” and “Excellence in All We Do.” In fact, according to LAAFB leadership, Evan has brought these values into all aspects of his work with PRIDE Industries—going above and beyond to serve both customers and fellow employees.
“When Evan first found out that the CADD digital as-built system was not up to industry standard, he corrected it himself,” said Chris Paek, PRIDE Industries’ General Manager at LAAFB. “He did that even though doing so was not part of the contract.”
And Evan’s hands-on approach didn’t stop there. He also conducted all of the physical labor work of scanning necessary drawings, including creating accommodations for his employees with disabilities.
And all of this was in addition to Evan’s numerous other achievements that first year, which included overseeing two technical programs simultaneously.
Eighteen-year-old Evan’s decision to join the U.S. Air Force was a great gain for them and now is ours.
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“With other contractors I’d dealt with, it was always about getting more money from our government—which bothered me. But PRIDE Industries isn’t like that. It’s a company with a good moral standing.”
