PATSY: Parability for Automatic Test SYstems
By: Don Tobey
The story of PATSY depicts the twist and turns of a young engineer and project manager, Ross Anderson, who developed a unique device which, if successful, could save the U.S. Navy over $180 million a year through the remote calibration of deployed test equipment around the world using satellite digital and laser technology. A technological oddity occurs during the test which generated a thermal surface image of an aircraft carrier in the Asian-Pacific Rim. When Russia detects a false image, they respond by launching MiG-31 aircraft to destroy the imaginary target creating an international incident. U.S. Intelligence and WARFARE Agencies become involved, and soon Rodd learns that his lead programmer was murdered and his assistant had stolen the test back-up tapes and attempted to sell them to KGB agents in Toronto before being killed himself. Recruited by the CIA, Ross assists in a clandestine exchange of data with a disgruntled high level Russian scientist through a risky mission which requires the covert distraction of a mistress. Through it all, Ross earns the respect from his peers as he attempts to renew his contract with the U.S. Navy and restore his marriage while formulating a new business plan strategy for his company.
About the Author
Don Tobey was an engineer, project manager, and business consultant before retiring in 2001. A native New Englander, he served in the U.S. Air Force and earned his BBA leveling degree and MBA from the University of Texas at Arlington. After being selected to an elite position as a calibration engineer and project manager for the A-7 Corsair aircraft deployed to the U.S. Navy, U.S. and Hellenic Air Forces and after developing a unique turn-key concept for the Department of Defense who wanted to apply this concept to other weapon systems, he was recruited by Science Applications to extend his development for this remote calibration model. He later worked as a regional administrative manager at DFW International Airport an also started his own company to develop software programs, business plans, and operation procedures for small business. As an elder in his church for eighteen years he travelled to Europe, Asia, Africa, Russia, Ukraine and Nicaragua to oversee various projects.
His family asked him to document some of his travel experiences as memoirs they could later read. In order to not reveal any similarity to actual characters or events, he wrote PATSY, a fictional account of not just his experiences but the observations of events and people he encountered along the way.
