encore
Security Setback
A young officer’s final command briefing — to the Army chief of staff — doesn’t go as planned, despite practicing the presentation only moments before.
I
n the early fall of 1971, on orders for
a second Vietnam tour, I was processing out of the 8th Logistical Command at
Camp Darby, Italy, and turned over my duty as director of Security, Plans, and Opera- tions to my successor. As director, one of my responsibilities was presenting the com- mand briefing, which was a slideshow of the command, installation, Leghorn Army Depot, and attached units. I had given this briefing to distinguished visitors, including the secretary of the Navy, the NATO com- mander, the commander of the Sixth Fleet, and members of Congress. Before each visit, I did a dry run of the
briefing. The conference room contained a large table, a podium facing the table, and, behind the briefer, a curtain with a two-way screen embedded in it. A projec- tor operator sat behind the screen and advanced the slides as I spoke. A few days before leaving, I received
a letter from the commander saying then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. William C. Westmoreland was coming on short no- tice, and the commander wanted me to present the command briefing. After I finished a dry run of the brief-
ing, the room was turned over to security agents, who debugged and secured it. No one was allowed to enter the room until General Westmoreland arrived. Soon the general and his entourage
came in and sat down. I began the brief- ing and sensed something was going wrong as I spoke. I glanced at the screen behind me and was shocked to see the
8 4 MI L I T A R Y O F F I C E R J U N E 2 0 1 0
slide was projecting upside down. How did that happen? Not missing a beat, I com-
pleted the briefing while the slides continued to be reversed, sideways, upside down, and out of order. What a disaster! After the presenta- tion, General Westmoreland thanked me and left the room. I was furious, as I sus-
pected the projector opera- tor, for whatever reason, did this on purpose. I threw back the curtain. There sat the operator, sweating blood, saying, “Sir! Sir! I don’t know what happened.” He was so sincere, I immediately knew he had not caused the problem. How could it happen? The slides had been in perfect order during the dry run. Later, we learned the security agents,
while debugging the room, accidentally had knocked over the tray of slides and just put them back in the tray, apparently not aware they would be used for the briefing. I got word to the commander before the general left so he could explain, but the command- er chose not to inform the general. I felt lucky to be leaving, so I wouldn’t
have to deal with the teasing that was sure to come.
MO
— Hardy W. Bryan III is a retired Army lieu-
tenant colonel. He lives in St. Petersburg, Fla. For submission information, see page 18.
ILLUSTRATION: ELWOOD SMITH
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