Centuria is pleased to announce the award of the inaugural Centurion of the Year award to James “Jim” Bollinger. Jim supports Centuria’s Radar Operations Center (ROC) Missions Support Services (RMSS) contract as an instructor at the National Weather Service Training Center in Kansas City (NWSTC), MO. In this role Jim develops lesson plans and student handouts for instruction, maintains the NWSTC’s WSR-88D radar test bed, and answers student questions. As the WSR-88D is a dynamic system, improving with SW and HW updates, he incorporates technical manual changes, SW improvements, and HW modifications into lesson plans and student training material. 

Jim has an extensive background in radar maintenance and repair, team leadership, quality assurance and training. In his early career, Jim served 24 years in the U.S Air Force; the last 4 years of his service was dedicated to performing highly technical tasks on the WSR-88D at the ROC. Jim has 16 years of experience with NEXRAD and is recognized as an expert in WSR-88D system maintenance and support. Jim routinely provides important technical input to the WSR-88D technical manual suite through submittal of Publication Change Requests. He was ROC Hotline certified before becoming an instructor, able to solve the most challenging problems in the field. He is a capable public speaker and classroom leader. His dedication and broad system knowledge were demonstrated when he was selected to travel to Beijing, Shanghai, and Taipei to present and conduct NEXRAD maintenance training courses; and when he helped develop and deliver five webinars during the Signal Processor Upgrade. This large project changed how the radar acquires system data and drives the antenna. He worked with ROC and Centuria Engineers through the webinars to update field technicians on the new capabilities and procedures post-upgrade. 

Jim’s daily efforts in support of this important mission are representative of Centuria’s commitment to excellence through service. His dedicated preparation and training of the next generation of NWS, FAA, and DoD electronic technicians who will sustain the NEXAD network supports NWS’ strategic vision and NOAA’s mission to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts; and to share that knowledge and information with others. 

Congratulations, Jim, from everyone at Centuria and thank you for your service to our company, our customers, and our country.