Along with the svc(s) they were absolutely vital; not only work wise but socially too. I now count many many GEs as personal friends and keep in touch fairly regularly. Along with the vast majority of homebase engineering support, the GE's exemplified utter professionalism. The downtime stories, however, achieved almost legendary status worthy of going into print. Generally larger than life characters that made the job enjoyable. Enough sunshine blowing.
Regards to all
Chris