On Veterans Day, BART honors employees who served

A present-day photo of Frank Bautista. 

When Frank Bautista was in his early 20s, he intended to become an officer in the Marine Corps.

“I was finishing up school, and a few buddies told me BART was hiring,” he remembered recently. Bautista wasn’t interested; he had other plans. But his buddies kept bugging him, so Bautista applied and was hired shortly thereafter as a Train Operator.

“My plans changed,” he said. “BART paid well, I was moving up, I was learning a lot…I thought I’d use it as a steppingstone.”

That was 28 years ago. Now Bautista is BART’s Senior Operations Foreworker, a role he’s held for more than a decade.

Bautista served in the Marine Corps Reserves from 1989 to 1993 as a Communications Specialist operating radio. He said the experience helped prepare him for his career at BART. He was disciplined, flexible, and knew the ins and outs of radio operation.

Frank Bautista (left) with a fellow U.S. Marine Corps member. Picture courtesy of Frank Bautista.

“I came to BART at 23. I think I was a little more mature. I never felt like I was young,” he said.

Bautista is one of many veterans working at BART. On Veterans Day, we celebrate their contributions and recognize their sacrifices.  

This Veterans Day, Bautista volunteered to work. When he gets off, he intends to “relax, barbecue, and reminisce.”

“I’m going to thank the guys I served with,” he said. “We always do that, thank each other.”

A recent photograph of Mahendra Gautam at BART Headquarters.

Mahendra Gautam, Principal Construction Engineer, served in the U.S. Army from 2009 to 2014 as a technical engineer seargent. When you serve in the military, he said, you are motivated by a common goal: keep the country and its citizens safe. At BART, employees are also motivated by a common, singular goal: make the trains run safely and timely.

Gautam says the Army prepared him for BART’s 24/7 operations – “Somebody’s always working in some portion of BART,” he said. “Most of the construction and maintenance happens at night, actually.”

He said the Army made him flexible and amenable to shifting situations.  

“If you can do the military, all the other things aren’t a big deal,” he said.

Mahendra Gautam in uniform and his son at Dublin Elementary. Picture courtesy of Mahendra Gautam.

Gautam, who called BART “a big family,” said he continuously and randomly discovers fellow employees served in the military.

“There are a lot of veterans around BART in various fields,” he said. “I’ve seen more veterans here than anywhere else I’ve worked.”

Gautam takes pride in that. “It’s good to see people transitioning into civilian life and doing well,” he said.

A current photo of Jim Allison.

Jim Allison, Media Relations Manager, thinks veterans at BART have an “unspoken language.”

“It's just fun to meet other people in different job descriptions who’ve also been in the military. We have that camaraderie,” he said.

Allison served in the U.S. Navy as a journalist from 1982 to 1987. He said the experience helps him stay calm under pressure – a necessary quality for the man who manages media relations – and instilled in him a deep attention to detail.

On Veterans Day, Allison remembers those who served and continue to serve. He spends the day with his family.

Jim Allison in a helicopter while serving in the Navy in the 1980s. Picture courtesy of Jim Allison.

“A lot of people in our society are disconnected from the military, an all-volunteer force,” he said. “You have ordinary people who have for whatever reason volunteered to serve in some very difficult circumstances. [It’s important] just to appreciate the fact that these are humans who have made a choice. It’s not about making war, it’s about their own personal choice.”

For Allison, that choice is an incredibly profound one. Allison’s father was a WWII veteran who fought in one of the worst battles at Guadalcanal.

“He wasn’t a person to talk a lot about what he went through, but he was the best man I ever knew. He was so honest and so humble about it. He just did what he had to do,” Allison said. “It makes me reflect upon these types of people all of us need more of, not necessarily by serving in the military, but just people who are willing to do selfless things for the greater good.”

Thank you to those who served. Happy Veterans Day.