FORT BELVOIR, Va. - For Michael Pollack, work as a government civilian was not an ideal career upon fulfilling his two-year commitment to the Navy.
Little did he know, 50 years later, he would receive a government pin recognizing his dedication and 50 years of service as a government civilian.
Pollack is a human resources specialist at Fort Belvoir's Civilian Personnel Advisory Center. His specialties include workers' compensation; management labor and employee relations; and classification and pay management.
He has worked at Fort Belvoir for 10 years.
Growing up in the Washington, D.C., metro area, Pollack was introduced at a young age to government civilian personnel work because his father was a personnel director at the Security Exchange Commission.
"After spending two years on a destroyer in the Navy, I did not want to work in the government because I thought it was too boring," Pollack said. "At the time, I was a young adult with big ideas in my head and it just wasn't exciting enough to me.
"After holding several other positions and working summers in the government, I decided to begin working for the old civil service commission," he said.
Pollack has had a variety of positions in the federal government personnel sector. After his work at the Civil Service Commission, Pollack worked for the Department of the Army at the Pentagon's personnel office.
"I always like to give credit to my father for me having this great career in human resources, because he was the personnel director at the SEC, and worked his way up to a GS-15 position," Pollack said. "He was very well-respected within the federal, civilian work force. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have gotten the opportunities I have today."
After working at the CSC, Pollack next moved on to a position in the personnel office in Heidelberg, Germany, where he spent a year.
Upon his return stateside, Pollack worked at Fort Myer where he stayed until he retired after 38 years of federal service.
"Knowing I was going to retire, I applied for a non-appropriated funds position here at Belvoir and was accepted," Pollack said. "So, I retired on a Friday and began working at Belvoir that Monday. So much for retirement."
"I always enjoyed working with people and that's the job with human resources," Pollack said. "Plus, the opportunity allows me to put away some more money for my real retirement, whenever that comes along."
Despite his many years of service, Pollack doesn't really see an end to his career because he is still enjoying it too much.
"I keep threatening to retire, but, as long as I enjoy what I am doing and my health holds up, I will keep working," Pollack said. "My schedule allows me to work four days a week. So, I think I am gradually easing into retirement and it allows me to have some more leisure time on the weekends."
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