Career History
2015, my father was working for a company in the shipyard industry called “Marine Specialty Painting.” He was able to assist me landing my first job at “MSP” as a driver, delivering necessary tools and resources to different jobsites at the different shipyards in the local area. Being that the job was pretty dangerous, they decided to move me into the tool room where I was learning what different tools were, and even how to repair different tools like dye grinders and needle guns, eventually being moved up to the tool room lead within a few months. Then, I was approached with a new position, diving down into different storage tanks like JP-8 and potable water tanks on naval vessels to measure the square footage of surface area in each tank. After some time working for the company, I still didn’t really know what career I wanted to shoot for. In 2016 I decided to join the Air Force, follow in my father’s footsteps and serve our country. January of 2017, I head off to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas to start my Air Force Career. In the Air Force, my specialty was Non-destructive inspection or “NDI”. NDI uses 6 different inspection techniques ( Magnetic Particle or MT, Penetrant or PT, Eddy Currents ET, Ultrasonics or UT, X-Ray and, as a bonus, Spectroscopic Emissions or OAP) to unmask defects in different metals or bonds on aircraft and aerospace ground equipment, commonly referred to as “AGE.” From 2017-2023 I used NDI to inspect over 9 different aircraft and a multitude of AGE, as well as Spectroscopic Emissions to analyze oil wear trends ( also known as Oil Analyses Program or “OAP”) in order to provide direction for preventative maintenance and avoid catastrophic failure. 2023, after 6 years ,I decide to get out of the Air Force as an E-5 and return to my family/hometown in Norfolk. Here, I re-enter the shipyard industry with an opportunity to work for a company called “Colonna Shipyard Inc.” With my new NDI skillset, Colonnas hired me as a Quality Assurance/Non-destructive Testing Technician (NDT in the shipyard industry). At Colonnas, I used NDT techniques like Visual Testing (VT) and other techniques, similar to the NDI used in the Air Force, to inspect welds on Coast Guard, Navy, and civilian marine vessels. 2024, I begin my path with Old Dominion University, working toward a bachelors degree in Cybersecurity and a future as a professional in the cyber world.
Where I Grew Up
My name is Charles W. Pridgen ( I make sure to add my middle initial to distinguish my father and I) and for a big chunk of my life I grew up in the 757, or Norfolk Virginia to be specific. As a Navy brat, I was constantly moving from place to place, school to school, so when people ask me where I am from, I just claim Norfolk.
Hobbies
My hobbies are sports and video games. I grew up playing multiple sports like Basketball, Wrestling, and Football, but the Baseball diamond was my bread and butter. My main positions in Baseball growing up were either on the mound pitching, or in the middle infield at shortstop, and every now and then at second base. Presently, I picked up Snowboarding, Softball, and Volleyball. I love to Snowboard, but not living near a mountain makes it challenging to routinely hit the slopes. As far as videogames, Halo 3 and Modern Warfare 2 were my go to games back in the day. Nowadays I still play Modern Warfare, but I enjoy anything from first person shooters like “The Finals,” to just downright difficult games such as “Dark Souls,” and survival games like “The Forest.”