Photo By Staff Sgt. Keith Thornburgh | Amy Foster, outgoing Arnold Engineering Development Complex Director of Contracting,...... read more read more
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. – Over the past 18 years, Amy Foster helped ensure that all the t’s were crossed and i’s dotted so nearly every facet of work at Arnold Engineering Development Complex could be accomplished.
Now, she is entering her next chapter.
Foster retired from AEDC on Jan. 31 following her nearly 20-year career within the complex and nearly 30-year civil service career with the Air Force.
“It has been the greatest – I feel like it sounds so cliché to say – but the greatest experience of my life,” Foster said the week before her retirement. “I never dreamed that I would have this opportunity to serve my country, and it has inspired in me a sense of purpose, a sense of dedication to this mission that is AEDC and to these people of AEDC. I never dreamed that I would have that opportunity.
“AEDC has changed over the past 19 years in its mission, in the organization structure, so many things. But what hasn’t changed is the dedication of the people of AEDC to this place and to the mission, and to be able to be a part of that has been my greatest honor.”
Foster, whose last post at AEDC was that of director of contracting, was born in Opelika, Alabama. When she was around three months old, her family relocated to Winchester, Tennessee, where her father owned the Blue Front Drug Store. He continued to own the local pharmacy until his passing in 2019.
Foster was familiar with Arnold Air Force Base, headquarters of AEDC, due to its close proximity to Winchester. In time, she would aspire to pursue a career at the installation.
Foster married her high school sweetheart Randy. In 1986, Randy joined the Air Force and, at least for a while, the pair would leave middle Tennessee. The area, however, was never too far from Foster’s mind.
Still, Randy’s Air Force career allowed the couple to experience different parts of the country and the world. Throughout his career, they lived in Austin, Texas, at Bergstrom Air Force Base; Tucson, Arizona, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base; and the town of Keflavik at the Naval Air Station in Iceland for two years.
Throughout this time, Foster worked to complete her undergraduate and graduate degrees and helped support her family by teaching high school at various stops.
“As a military spouse, you just do what you have to do to have a career,” she said.
It was when the couple arrived at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, in the late 1990s that Foster entered the civil service realm and made her first foray into contracting. She joined the team there in 1998, working through several divisions before serving as the Tyndall flight chief for civil engineer services.
Following her husband’s retirement from the Air Force, Foster set her sights on continuing her civil service career at Arnold.
“The funny thing is when I came into contracting, I always hoped that I would have the opportunity to come here,” Foster said. “I knew that my career would extend longer than my husband’s, and I hoped that when he retired I’d have an opportunity.”
Foster was hired at Arnold in March 2007 to serve as the installation contracting division chief. She would take on a new position within the organization several years later when she was selected to serve as the test enterprise services division chief at Arnold.
After time spent serving as chief of both contracting divisions within the Arnold organization, Foster was named deputy director of contracting. She took on the role of director of contracting in 2012, a title she held until her retirement.
From construction to janitorial services to the test mission itself, the majority of work across AEDC is completed through contracts. Foster was charged with supervising the office responsible for writing and administering all of the contracts across AEDC.
Over her years at AEDC, Foster said she witnessed tremendous change and growth. When she joined the team, AEDC was known as Arnold Engineering Development Center with a lone operating location at Arnold AFB and reported to Air Force Materiel Command. AEDC was redesignated to Arnold Engineering Development Complex in 2012, reporting to the Air Force Test Center, a unit of AFMC.
Both Arnold AFB and AEDC as a whole experienced significant growth during Foster’s tenure. AEDC expanded to include Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9 in White Oak, Maryland; the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex at Moffett Field, California; and the 704th Test Group headquartered at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The AEDC contracting office at Arnold AFB is responsible for writing and administering contracts for all AEDC operating locations.
As AEDC grew, so did its contracting office. When Foster began her career at Arnold, there were 15 people employed in contracting. Now, the office employees nearly four dozen.
Foster said what stands out the most from her time at Arnold is not a particular project or program but rather the commitment of the contracting team to the AEDC mission and its support of the National Defense Strategy.
“I’m most proud of the people who work in contracting and how I hope that I have instilled in them as a leader the complete dedication to the mission at AEDC and the responsibility we as contracting officers have for ensuring that we execute our mission well so that AEDC can operate,” she said.
Foster said it’s now time for her and Randy to see some sights and spend more time with their seven grandsons.
“We hope to travel,” Foster said. “We’ve got several trips already planned. We love to camp. We love to be outside. We love to hike. We love to be with our family and our friends. We’re very involved in our church and just hope to be able to redirect all this energy to loving our grandkids and seeing the world.”
For her parting message, Foster urged the contracting team to remain committed to their part in accomplishing the AEDC mission and to not lose sight of the special role the complex plays in protecting the warfighter.
“There’s a lot of distractions that can take us away from what’s really important, and that’s executing the mission,” Foster said. “We have to stay focused on the mission and work together as a team to make sure we fulfill our responsibilities for the warfighter.
“Love this place. Take care of this place. Treasure this place.”
| Date Taken: | 02.07.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.07.2025 10:44 |
| Story ID: | 490329 |
| Location: | ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENNESSEE, US |
| Web Views: | 40 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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