encore On the Spot

An Air Force offi cer who is new to the Defense Logistics Agency attends his fi rst monthly update meeting and has a moment of panic over a question he can’t answer.

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In May 2004, I had just arrived at the Defense Supply Center in Richmond, Va., as the deputy director of its Customer Opera- tions Directorate. The Defense Supply Cen- ter is the vital aviation parts center for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), headquar- tered at Fort Belvoir, Va. Being completely new to the DLA, I was a fish out of water, having to learn all the services’ lingo on parts procurement, business management concepts, and the elaborate relationships of the DLA.

About the second week there, my boss, a

Navy rear admiral, told me I was going with him to the monthly update at Fort Belvoir. This was the staff meeting with our big boss, a Navy vice admiral. It also would be my introduction to him and an opportunity to see the senior staff at work. I was excited to go to learn my working environment, see Fort Belvoir for the first time, and get out of the office — especially because I had no speaking part in the briefing. Prior to the briefing’s start, I was intro- duced to the vice admiral with the appro- priate, “Welcome aboard, Ray, you’ve got an important job,” etcetera. As we entered the main briefing room, I dutifully took my seat in the first row, directly behind the principals who were sitting at a large U-shaped table. I was not more than 20 feet away from the big boss and was sit- ting at ease, listening to the early parts of the briefing. Around 20 minutes into the effort, the tone and edginess of the staff and big boss started to change as more and

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more unresolved problems were discussed. The vice admiral began asking more point- ed questions and was not letting the brief- ers off the hook. I now was starting to pay real attention to the flow of things. This DLA stuff was serious business. A young major was barely surviv- ing his time at the podium. The rest of us were extremely uncomfortable in our seats, wanting the agony to end when, all of a sudden, the big boss looked right at me and asked, “Ray, what are you going to do about it?” My jaw dropped, and my mind began to race. I had no clue what the major was talk- ing about and no idea of an ap- propriate response. The only good that could come of this was that the major would no longer be the target of direct fire. After about five seconds of coming up with nothing cre- ative, I began to stand but still had no words or an answer. As the staff turned in my direction to witness my embarrassing fate, an Army brigadier general directly in front of me ad- dressed the admiral in words I did not hear. Apparently, his first name also was Ray.

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— Raymond A. Robidoux Jr. is a retired Air Force colonel and a Life member of MOAA. He lives in the Netherlands. For submission informa- tion, see page 6.

Tell Your Story Submit your humorous true stories (between 400 and 450 words) of ser- vice-related experiences by email to encore@moaa .org or by mail to Encore Editor, 201 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314. All submissions will be considered for publication.

ILLUSTRATION: ELWOOD H. SMITH