Aviano's Finest - U.S. Civilian Category

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AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  Unit: 31st Civil Engineer Squadron 

How long have you worked for the military? 28 years 

Title of address: Mr. 

First & Last Name: Bill Nettelmann 

Duty Title: Geographically Separated Unit and Military Construction program manager 

Hometown City, State and/or Country: Long Beach, Calif. 

How do you support the 31st Fighter Wing mission? 
I develop infrastructure projects in support of current and future 31st Fighter Wing mission requirements at Aviano Air Base and its GSUs. 

What's one thing you've learned about Italy's history, people and culture?
· Italy, as a country, has a relatively short history having been put together in 1861 (without Rome, Trento, and Trieste ... they came later).
· To me, Italy's people are very kind and generous ... and are very willing to discuss virtually any topic you desire to great lengths.
· Italy's culture is reflected in their love of calcio (soccer), food and wine, opera, cycling and going on vacation. 

What's one advantage of being stationed overseas?
· From a work standpoint, you can see that what you do directly supports the women and men who are making the sacrifices to carry out the mission (sometimes at remote locations and away from their homes and families). This is very satisfying when you know that your efforts directly help. This feeling of satisfaction provides a work advantage that one might not have when living and working in the U.S.
· From a personal standpoint, the main advantage of working overseas is having the opportunity to experience other cultures and people on a daily basis and having the opportunity to be an unofficial representative of the U.S. to those same people. 

What's your favorite European destination and why? 
My favorite European destination is right here, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. In one hour I can be in the mountains skiing. In one hour I can be at the beach. In one hour I can be in the Collio area (officially Collio Goriziano) tasting wonderful wines. After a one hour train ride from Sacile, I can be in Venice (Venezia) looking for a place to have lunch and enjoying this wonderful city. At a time of my choice, I can jump on my bike and ride around one of the most beautiful areas in Italy. But the main reason I like this area is the people. The Italians from the south say that Italians from the north are reserved and hard to get to know. However, my experience here has given me a very different opinion. I have met many wonderful people in this area and because of their friendship and kindness I have had wonderful opportunities to experience the many different areas, foods, and wines of Friuli.

Why I nominated Mr. Nettelmann as one of Aviano's Finest? 
"I nominated Mr. Nettelmann because over the last three years he has forged a high-quality Geographically Separated Unit support program. In fact, we received a letter from the Director of Public Works at Camp Darby, a major customer, providing testament to Mr. Nettelmann's work. In addition to Camp Darby, he has built the largest program ever for Ghedi, has successfully implemented a new support agreement with a classified site in Israel, and has leant far forward on support to our newest GSU at Papa, Hungary." - Mr. Adam Leigland, 31st Civil Engineer Squadron chief deputy civil engineer