USACE People: LA District couple deploys to Bulgaria together

By Mr. Justin Matthew Ward (USACE)July 6, 2010

USACE People: Tucson couple deploys to Bulgaria as 'learning experience'
John Taylor, office engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District's Bulgaria Project Office, and his wife, Diane, a quality assurance technician, review plans on one of the district's construction projects for U.S. Army Europe's Task ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

NOVO SELO TRAINING AREA, Bulgaria - Deployments can be tough for any family. That's why when John Taylor was offered a position working on a large military construction project in an isolated region of eastern Bulgaria, he gave one caveat.

"Not unless there's a job for my wife as well," said Taylor.

As the office engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District's Bulgaria Project Office, Taylor oversees the plans for a $50 million design-build project to construct or renovate more than 75 buildings, roads and maintenance areas amid the verdant hills of the Novo Selo Training Area.

His wife, Diane, is a civil engineering technician who specializes in quality assurance. They spent the past six years working together in the Corps' Los Angeles District office in Tucson, Ariz., and for Taylor, working without his wife was not even an option.

Lucky for them, his new boss had the same idea in mind.

"We actually had someone accept and then back out of a quality assurance position," said Patrick Klever, the district's resident engineer in Bulgaria. "So when we heard that his wife has a good reputation and long-term experience in the QA field, we jumped at the opportunity to bring her to Bulgaria as well."

Together, they are part of a team supporting U.S. Army Europe's Task Force-East initiative to build projects that will support training opportunities with U.S. forces and partner nations.

According to Diane Taylor, even though there would be a position for her, she was still hesitant to make such a big leap of moving to another continent.

"First we talked about it as husbands and wives do," she said. "We talked about it and prayed about it, and we decided we'd just do it together. Our kids are grown up. So we just decided, 'Now's the time,' because if we don't do it now at our age, pretty soon we'll be old."

They arrived in January, in the middle of one of the coldest winters in decades. It was a far cry from Tucson, said Taylor.

"It was a culture shock," he said. "[Diane] cried for a couple days and said she was going home."

But after the weather warmed, so did their attitudes about being more than 6,500 miles from home.

"We like to drive and see new sights," said Taylor. "There is a lot of history in the area."

Diane Taylor said they've enjoyed exploring the country and the region, including taking several road trips to Greece.

"It's interesting, it's beautiful," she said. "We like learning about Bulgarian culture and history."

And according to Diane Taylor, learning is the main reason they came.

"We both love to learn, love to be out in the field," she said. "And being here, working in a different country, with a different language, on such a unique project, that's quite a learning experience that I'm sure will help me in the long-run, whether it's in the knowledge itself or in the flexibility we learned to adapt to change."

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