It all started with a 707: A profile of Raymundo Villar

Starting your job on the first day of NBAA could be a trial by fire, but not for EMS SATCOM’s newest Account Manager, Raymundo (Ray) Villar

Q1: How long have you been with EMS SATCOM and what is your background?

Ray Villar’s father was in the Peruvian Air Force and his brother works for the commercial airline industry, so he comes by his desire to be involved in aviation honestly. The first time he was bitten by the need for speed was when his father was transferred to Brazil as an Air Force Attaché.

“So my father is being transferred to Brazil and I said to him on our way there, ‘Dad you need to take me to the cockpit.’” He notes, “I would have been about 12 years old and I remember on that Boeing 707, we traveled from Lima to Rio and then to Brasilia. He arranged for me to be in the cockpit when the plane landed—I was in the Jump Seat.”

“While in the Navy I was always onboard ships. I was in charge of communications and electronic equipment. Radars, radios, antennas—you name it—was part of my area of responsibility. I also had the opportunity to finish my post graduate degree in electronics and communications because that was my area of expertise.”

A natural teacher, Villar volunteers with “Junior Achievement” in the Atlanta area in his spare time. “What I like about Junior Achievement is that we teach values,” he notes. “We teach the kids the importance of staying in school and what they will achieve if they stay in school. It can be quite an eye opener for them, and I like to be that eye opener.”

Prior to joining EMS SATCOM and following his work in the Navy, he spent about ten years with Lucent Technologies. He joined the company in 1998. “I started with them in Peru in a sales engineering type role and then expanded my reach to cover part of South America,” says Villar. “I was transferred to Venezuela for two years because of a project we had there. At this point I had engineers working for me in the sales engineering role, supporting the commercial folks on technology related items for Lucent.”

Following this he was transferred to Atlanta because his main customer, Bell South, housed its Latin American headquarters there. There were 11 countries and he was in charge of all of them for technical sales. When Alcatel and Lucent merged, he stayed on for a year, but joined a consulting engineering company in Virginia and then transitioned to EMS SATCOM in October this year.

During his time in the Navy, Villar became a systems engineer, and upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, became a surface warfare officer because he wanted to be outside. “In other words,” he smiles. “I needed the sun.” His experience in the Navy was varied. From his work as a communications expert to a situation he would never have thought to find himself—working in the remotest locations of Peru, fighting a terrorist insurgency.

During the 1980s, Peru was plagued by terrorist groups that were using drugs to fund their insurgency. Villar describes the situation: “The regular Navy was supporting the fight against terrorism. So all of a sudden, regular Navy troops were training like infantry battalions.”

Villar ended-up being a staff officer in the emergency zone. There were police, troops and marines with Navy troops in charge of the operation, in the middle of the jungle. “We had to go to communities that were totally isolated from civilization. We’re talking Indian tribes and very poor people. For many it was the first time they had seen a military helicopter.”

“So here I was on a mission to provide support and relief to these people in the middle of a conflict where there is terrorism and knowing that these communities are probably infested with Narcos—drug dealers—that were using that community and the air field for drug trafficking. We were doing a duty that was two-fold: a civic action, supporting the local population, but at the same time trying to collect information from them to gain support, and defeat the terrorism. We were kind of disturbing their typical way of life.”

“That contact with these other societies was an eye opener to me. There are groups of people who live happily and simply. They appreciated the support and I was able to contribute.”

Also while in the Navy, he did a lot of part-time IT consulting, including working for a United Nations program that provided IT consulting for a number of public and private institutions. This is where he honed his background in networking.

Of his desire to work with EMS, he believes there are a number of attractions. “Number one, working for Latin America, is important. Number two, working with a company that is so involved in innovation and technology,” Villar says. “I did my MBA in technology management. I had always worked in the telecom industry, but I thought to myself, you know what I can really make the jump to a different industry, but I really wanted to make that jump. Eventually I knew I’ll work with something that has to do with planes and what a better opportunity than dealing with communications systems on board aircraft. EMS gave me that opportunity.”

His philosophy of living life is simple – give back more than you take. And to this point, he is interested in alternative energy and global warming, as is one of his young sons who he is helping with a model to show the effects of global warming on glaciers. This learning and understanding is important to Villar: “I have two boys 12 and 9, and I am telling them to think of something that will make an impact in the world years down the road.” He has also taken this idea to heart, donating to a program in Peru that provides funding to people who cannot pay for their education. “The most rewarding thing is that I get a letter from the student, telling me what they have studied; say they have an associate degree in nursing, and they now look after others in the community.”

About the next year and having joined EMS, Villar is enthusiastic. “In a challenging economy there is always room for opportunity, but you have to be ready and identify the opportunities,” he says. “Latin America is in the process of growth, experiencing growth for seven years, and is predicted to continue. Progress on the economic side means opportunity for companies like EMS.”