Pantex Blog

Take 5 minutes to learn about Chris Harkins, CNS chief operating officer. All views and opinions are the employee’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of CNS.

CNS Chief Operating Officer Chris Harkins helps manage daily operations of Pantex and Y-12 and works with President and Chief Executive Officer Rich Tighe to ensure the sites conduct safe and productive operations. When you consider there are more than 13,000 employees working to achieve the mission, that is a large undertaking.

“I’ve been impressed by the massive scope at Pantex and Y-12,” said Harkins, who arrived at CNS in May. To help keep safety and security at the forefront, he also provides oversight for investigations, critiques, and corrective action plans.

“The similarities between these and other sites made for a seamless transition,” he said. “From the safety first culture to our link to the national security mission, the Pantex and Y-12 workforces have a sense of purpose, are professional and proud, and know what they are doing.”

It doesn’t take new CNS employees long to understand the importance of the Pantex and Y-12 mission and feel a sense of pride and patriotism in serving that mission. For Harkins, a U.S. Navy veteran, the patriotism was already well established, but seeing an assembled product ready for shipment at Pantex recently, he felt added pride.

“Standing next to and seeing the final assembled product [at Pantex] waiting to be shipped to the Department of Defense was surreal,” he said. ”The Pantex workforce is extremely competent, and that is really important in this line of work.”

He has similar thoughts about Y-12. “I’m amazed at the employees’ expertise on uranium and other special materials and how the site is its own self sufficient manufacturing plant.”

The communities around both sites intrigue Harkins, thanks to a childhood hobby.

“I really enjoy watching the trains in the Amarillo area on the way to and from the site (I was a model railroader growing up),” Harkins said. “In Oak Ridge, it’s the historical aspect and the fact that the activities of the secret city of Oak Ridge were actually kept secret until the time of our choosing in 1945.”

As a U.S. Navy veteran, you likely are more familiar than most people with the mission of Pantex and Y-12. How has working for CNS changed or reinforced your thoughts on our mission (nuclear deterrence, managing the stockpile, etc.)?
My first exposure to nuclear weapons in the Navy came late in my career when I was assigned commander of the Atlantic fleet’s nuclear ballistic missile submarine [known as SSBN] squadron in Kings Bay, Georgia. As commodore of the SSBN squadron, I was responsible and accountable to the U.S. Strategic Command and the U.S. Navy for the readiness of our SSBNs (crews and equipment) to execute strategic missile launch tasking if directed. It didn’t take me long to gain immense respect and admiration for the exacting standards maintained by the SSBN force.

Today, having worked at Savannah River, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and now Pantex and Y-12, seeing the production end of the weapons programs brings an even greater respect for the entirety of the team behind our nation’s successful nuclear deterrence capability.

What daily task (specific meeting, report, etc.) lets you know you’re helping achieve the CNS mission? How/why does that task let you know you’re working toward the mission?
In the Navy, it was the ability to keep the required minimum number of SSBN submarines (and their warheads) at sea and/or trained/ready/available to meet national security requirements. Here at CNS, the most important metric is the ability to safely meet our warhead and bomb production rates so that our delivery platforms [bombers, ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), and submarines] actually have the number and types of nuclear weapons required by our national strategy. That’s why I believe it is so important for every employee to see a clear connection between what they do in their everyday job and how it directly contributes to our national security.

What is your favorite aspect about your work environment? How does that aspect make you know the mission is being met?
My favorite aspect about my work environment is the ability to leave my office and go to the shop floor or into the field to engage the team. I am a big believer in getting out and about and engaging employees in their workspace.

I have yet to meet a CNS employee not eager to talk about what they do, share their accomplishments, and even more important for us as leaders, tell me how I can help them. Putting “eyes on target” is a very informative tool and enables the leadership team to maintain confidence that the mission is being met.

What top strength do you bring to your organization and why?
Towards the end of my Navy career, I became an expert in human factors analysis, specifically why smart, trained, and qualified people sometimes make bad decisions, the most significant of which could end up costing hundreds of millions of dollars and/or causing fatalities. Having a good understanding of decision making under various conditions and cognitive biases is essential to the prevention of errors, but that alone is not enough. Getting organizational buy in in this area and implementing the right processes and culture is much harder, but I have had the pleasure of leading it at several organizations. It is exciting to watch an organization become a genuine “high performing organization,” because the ultimate winners are the organization’s employees. If you have ever been on a winning team, you know what I am talking about — it inspires you to be even better and seek ways to improve yourself and your organization each and every day.

What’s your favorite outside of work activity and why?
I love the outdoors and staying active: fishing, boating, and relaxing at our lake house. I also enjoy hiking.

Pantexan Brandi L. has contributed her efforts to Pantex and its mission for a decade-and-a-half in several different departments.

Brandi is an Amarillo native and graduated from West Texas A&M University with a degree in chemistry and biology.

“I had always been interested in a job at Pantex,” Brandi said. “I was born and raised in the Texas Panhandle. While I certainly didn’t understand the full mission of the plant when I was younger, I knew the mission was important to the United States and felt I wanted to be a part of that mission.”

While still a student, she made use of WT’s career services to assist with things like resumes and interviewing skills and, after she graduated, got a job working for a local environmental company. Then the personnel in the WT Career Services called her. They were having a career fair and knew that Pantex was looking for personnel with her skills. They had printed off her resume and asked her if she’d be able to come in for an interview.

“That was 15 years ago, and I still think about that scenario from time to time and feel blessed that the Career Services people, even though I had already graduated, were in my corner, and that [Pantex] took a chance on me,” Brandi said.

As an employee, what do you want to be remembered for?
I want to be remembered as a transparent leader who could be trusted to do what I said I was going to do.

What work advice would you offer someone who is new to Pantex?
Never stop listening and learning. The opportunities to make an impact at either site are endless. However, in order to make an impact, you must be willing to listen twice as much as you speak. Find the mentors and confidantes that you can run your ideas by and who are willing to provide constructive feedback.

What’s your favorite outside-of-work activity and why?
I love to fish, even when I don’t catch a thing! Going fishing with my husband and son provides for me a work-life balance and much-needed downtime where I can truly be present with my family.