Operating in a joint environment requires use of core skills

There are many milestones in the career of a naval officer, but one that I'll never forget is the day I received my commission. The keynote speaker at my commissioning ceremony said the key to success as an officer was to "know your job, know your people, and know yourself." Nowhere did this advice prove more true than during my deployment to Baghdad from May through October 2004 where working in a joint environment, and playing by Army rules as an individual augmentee, offered many chances to reflect on the oath I took and my obligations to fellow Department of Defense personnel and the American taxpayers.

My orders said I would be the Services Officer" working within the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). When I got to the Republican Palace in Baghdad, no one knew what that billet was or what I'd "'really" be doing. Eventually I relieved a senior chief storekeeper" in the Director of Logistics office whose job it was to vet material and work requests in support of the Green (International) Zone and to approve or deny requests for the issue of uniform items from the Central Issue Facility.

The gist of the job was to look at a request and decide if CPA, later Joint Area Support Group, funds should support it. There were no fast and hard rules or organization charts to go by. It was a matter of instinct.

I read the contract under which we operated and consulted with the Defense Contract Management Office. Finally, I made the initial decision to approve or deny taxpayer money for erecting safety barriers, fabricating and mounting backyard-engineered armor on Humvees, providing a two-star general air conditioning, or if contracted personal security detachment (PSD) personnel should have a government-purchased printer and refrigerator in their office. In particular, I had a hard time denying requests for increased security measures but often personnel who lacked knowledge of the overall plan for an area submitted these.

One of the most important jobs we do as officers or non-commissioned officers is being good stewards of taxpayer money by bringing together different parties with a common goal so we can eliminate redundancy and wasted effort.

My office also handled billeting and issued vehicles, both of which were ripe ground for special requests. When you choose not to issue someone an armored vehicle, you are sending him/her into harm's way unprotected. One day a PSD team member came into the office to thank my colleague for issuing him a Hard Armor Vehicle the day before. His group had been ambushed and without the protection, they would have been killed.

The Air Force lieutenant colonel who ran our office provided some of the best insight I've ever heard in my Navy career--When in a joint environment where you don't know the rules and where people turn over so fast that there is little continuity of policy, the best you can do is fall back on your officer skills and ask yourself the question, "Is this the right thing to do?"

I've heard the same advice given many different ways, but I've never heard it said in such a straightforward fashion. Asking ourselves "Is this the right thing to do?" is good advice in any decision we make as an officer. If the answer is "yes," then a way should be found to make it happen. If this means making an exception to policy, then so be it, because in a wartime environment the decisions you make are the ones you have to sleep with at night.

LT Billy Plant graduated from the Navy Supply Corps School in Athens in December 2000 and served as Disbursing Officer on board the decommissioned USS David R. Ray (DD 971) and Foods Service and Cargo Officer on board the decommissioned USS Sacramento (AOE 1). After Keflavik, he will be returning to the Northwest to Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Kitsap.

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