Technical
Writer Travels Extensively
by Lana
Walker-Helmuth
Dick Millslagle has been around the block a few times. He's been around the world a few times, too. But right now he's planted in Temecula, having moved from San Diego a couple of years ago. Putting in his yard and hooking up eight televisions to his satellite dish keep him busy when he's not consulting for an aerospace company in Anaheim.
Dick, with an extensive background in technical writing, instructional design, training, teaching, and management (whew!), is trying to ride out the recession, like many other talented technical writers who've been sidelined. He has an accounting degree, a business and management degree, and a master's in human resources.
He's also seen the world. He was in the Air Force for 22 years — 8 years of his tour he lived in England and Germany. He started out working in electronics, progressed to teaching electronics, and then to teaching management. He also helped develop a training program for the cruise missile. He was hired out of the military by General Dynamics, who brought him to San Diego. He worked there for eight years until the defense industry in San Diego went belly up.
Next stop, Saudi Arabia, where he worked for oil giant Aramco, writing and developing training for refinery operations. He worked in four different locations there, including Riyadh (the capital) and venues on the Gulf and Red Sea. After seven long years, living in shared rental houses, two-person trailers, and tiny apartments, it was time to come home.
Back on home soil in San Diego, Dick worked for Conexant, a semiconductor company, for 18 months. Then he joined a startup, LightPointe, writing about free-space optics (technology that uses laser beams to transmit data through the airwaves). It was a great job; but, like many new businesses, they had problems getting sales to support the staff and had to downsize.
Since then he's been drumming up business on his own and is eager for the recovering economy to generate more work opportunities. His goal is to deliver the write solutions.
