I don’t even know where to start. I have started and stopped three times trying to review this company. It kept turning into five and six pages and I wanted to be more concise. They are supposedly world renowned for being a premier helicopter repair company. My impression is that they are more of a restaurant chain that decided to buy an aerospace company. Reminds me of the Keystone Cops running around bumping into each other. They were my fourth contract company, each one getting progressively worse, much like the rest of the businesses in the country and probably abroad as well. Each prior contract was three years. Amentum won an eight year contract. They grossly underbid it and they have spent the last two years trying to make up for that, cutting corners where ever and when ever possible. The standing joke was that they needed an eight year contract because it was going to take seven years to straighten it out. Every month, work steadily slowed down and they sold off equipment to the point that everyone thought that the facility was going to be shut down. They lay off and rehire people as work ebbs and flows, which is common, but they laid off or fired some really gifted and talented mechanics and others just left because of extremely poor management and better opportunities. They promote and demote as it suits them, regardless of qualifications. They are reactive as opposed to proactive. They whittle the workforce down to the absolute bare minimum, then move unqualified people to positions that they are unfamiliar with the expected results: failure. It seems to the workforce that management stays up late at night and dreams up rules and procedures that make it nearly impossible to perform a job. The paperwork is absolutely unbearable, as are the myriad of websites they use for time keeping, training, benefits, Gov’t and company documentation, which constantly change just as they become familiar. They only recently hired an HR representative on site. For two years we had to settle issues with phone calls and emails. Earlier, they ran off another gifted employee who was saddled with HR responsibilities along with her other normal responsibilities. Communication is nearly nonexistent. With as few people as we had on our site, communication should not have been an issue. They claim that their employees are their greatest asset and that they wouldn’t exist without them. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Actions speak far louder than words. I was proud to work alongside some of the finest mechanics I’ve ever come across. They were dedicated to their craft and to the US Army. But they were treated like just another commodity, with barely a thank you for their efforts. With very little notice, mechanics were informed (barked at, not asked) that they were working long days and / or weekends because management failed to plan properly, only to be sent home during the week so as to not get paid for overtime. There was a revolving door for management. As soon as we got comfortable with someone, the company would change things up and shuffle management again. There was no long term history of people working together so reputations of good and dedicated workers went forgotten and unrewarded. No one trusts a word that management says. Health benefits are dismal. They rely on the fact that the majority of workers are former military and carry their own health insurance. The remaining few are left to deal with the bare minimum coverage afforded by the cheapest insurance available. Dealing with benefits and HR was difficult, as mentioned earlier, for two years we had no representative onsite and everything had to be handled via phone and email. If you are looking for just a paycheck with absolutely no regard for you or your work/life balance from the company, this is the place for you. If you want to be part of a team that truly values you and has a long term positive outlook, I suggest that you search elsewhere. I really don’t see this organization lasting much longer.
