Back ||NOAA Home NOAA Association of Commissioned Officers Dining-In remarks by Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., U.S. Navy (ret.) Baltimore, Maryland January 9, 2003 NOAA CORPS Thank you for the invitation to participate in this portion of the NMAO Annual Conference. I’m here tonight because I support the NOAA Corps, its very talented officers, and the way it supports NOAA’s mission. I’m proud to have your service in NOAA and your service for NOAA. In this era of greatly enhanced concern for homeland security, uniformed officers have an increased cachet. I want to see the NOAA Corps in the forefront of NOAA’s homeland security efforts, and to this end Commander Phil Kenul will report this month as Director of NOAA’s Homeland Security Program Office. I’m a process-oriented person, and I talk about matrix management and corporate NOAA a great deal. I think the NOAA Corps is well-placed to move-out in these areas as we continue to make process improvements in NOAA. I was very happy to receive a NOAA Corps leather flight jacket from Scott Gudes recently. I’ve had a jacket like that for years. It’s all torn up now, so I’m glad to have this new jacket, and I’ll wear it proudly. If it had come back from having the patches sewn on it, I’d have brought it with me tonight. LEADERSHIP The NMAO leadership asked me to comment on my leadership philosophy. I learned my leadership techniques from the people around me. Watching. Learning by example mostly. I believe leadership can be taught. I believe there are techniques. You learn from looking at the people around you, they all have different styles. In my Navy career, I worked for General Norman Shwarzkopf during the Gulf War, and he has a very straightforward leadership style–usually with his hands closed around your neck! General Colin Powell--I certainly learned a lot from him. He has a way of cutting effortlessly through bureaucracy. Other leaders who have impacted on me in different ways include Napoleon Bonaparte, believe it or not. He realized how important it is to reward people. He realized that thanking people and, as he says, giving them little pieces of ribbon will make them fight to the death. We don’t have to give them a nickel! The point is that rewarding people, recognizing what they do, recognizing their accomplishments, is very important. It’s important to people that work for you. So there’s something to be gained from that. Some Navy people certainly were influential in my life. Admiral Jerry Johnson is one of them and my Executive Officer at Naval Station Norfolk, Admiral Veronica Froman is another. I have known some fantastic leaders in my life that have really taught me a great deal. To further your own leadership skills, find leaders in the Corps, in NOAA, anywhere, and learn from them! SAFETY NMAO leadership also asked me to comment on safety tonight. Let there be no question; safety is important. It is always concern number one. Especially on moving platforms! I’ve told your bosses that safety is important, and I expect them to tell you. Safety begins with you, the NMAO leadership, and you have to pass it on down the line to every employee all the time. If we need to stand down ship and aircraft operations periodically, for safety training, this is an acceptable practice, and we will do so. I know the Deputy Secretary, Sam Bodman, spoke to you about safety already this week, so I don’t want to dwell on the topic any more than necessary. But it is important and needs to be emphasized all the time in all situations and especially on our ships and aircraft. CONCLUSION Having said all that, let’s get on with the Dining-In! I understand promotion congratulations are in order for CAPT Gary Bulmer, CDR Michele Bullock, and LT Nancy Ash. Did I miss anybody? And I understand CDR George White will pin on O-6 on February 1, and LT Jeff Sandorf and LT Mike Weaver will pin on O-4 on February 1! That’s great! Let me reiterate my support the NOAA Corps and my wishes for its success for many years to come. Thank you very much for the invitation tonight!