Taking care of logistics

U.S. Marine Colonel Andy Hutchison had enough to concentrate on: getting ammunition, fuel and equipment to Marines heading swiftly toward Baghdad. The last thing the logistics officer needed to worry about was whether his Boeing benefits were still providing coverage for his wife and two sons back in Seattle.

Hutchison, director of programs with Air Traffic Management, was one of several hundred Boeing employees called up by the military Reserves earlier this year to serve a tour of duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom. More than 200 Boeing employees with the Reserves currently are supporting coalition military operations in the Middle East.

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HULK MANIA

When Hollywood producers contacted Boeing Integrated Defense Systems F/A-22 Test Pilot Randy Neville to be a technical adviser for the movie "The Hulk," little did he know he would end up playing a part in the movie as well.

In the film, you can spot Neville as a fighter pilot who tries to avoid the Hulk's wrath after the Hulk jumps onto his F/A- 22 and attempts to enter the cockpit during a chase scene. "Because an F/A-22 cockpit mockup is part of the movie, I was hired initially to make sure it looked realistic," Neville said.

The chance to act came as a surprise.

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Deflecting the Skeptics

Like most inventors, John Vetrovec knows he can think of a better way. True to form, the skeptics always say it can't be done or isn't practical. He's learned to listen to them but not be swayed.

He developed his first invention when he was 20. Vetrovec, who had recently immigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia, had found a better way to make carpet-seaming tape used by carpet layers to make invisible joints. His Los Angeles-based employer wasn't so sure.

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