Topics: Brown County, Federal Civil Service, Military Service
I have always had an interest in or a calling for government and military service. My interest in military history led to a study of political history and then biblical philosophy. Further research led to a perspective on an interrelationship between Christianity, citizenship, and quality management. Quality management includes support for secular- and nonsecular-based approaches to quality improvement. A non secular approach includes prayer.
The aim of our system of government – a republic – is to work together towards a more perfect Union. Perfect can be defined as “all needs being met,” which is not possible. Legendary coach Vince Lombardi captured the concept in his statement “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”
Improvement leads to more needs being met, which results in less harm to people because of unmet needs. Consequently, continuous improvement becomes a moral imperative, e.g., more improvement correlates to less harm.
In America, We the People are top management. In addition to being a government employee and military service member, a citizen remains a representative of top management. I was always cognizant of the importance of helping to ensure the effective and efficient use of tax dollars and working to prevent waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement of resources.
I elaborate a little on my experiences. I’m curious and like to learn. The more you learn and understand perspectives from different people and areas, the more you can understand how changes in one area can affect others. This observation supports the insight that small changes can produce better results with a higher probability of success.
My election to Commissioner would be a small change that I am confident will lead to objective and measurable improvements.
Brown County
I routinely attend county government meetings – over 400 since 2016. I am aware of the issues and the context.
In choosing to retire to Brown County, I never planned to get involved in county government. It reminds me of the saying Man plans, and God laughs. However, I have enjoyed learning more about county and state government. My volunteerism became a continuation of my civilian and military careers. I am still curious and enjoy learning as much as I can about an issue. I share what I learn at Independent Voters of Brown County, IN and on the Facebook group Brown County Matters. I have also written several guest columns published by the Brown County Democrat.
Areas I’ve studied and been involved in within the county have included the following: economic development, property assessments, affordable housing, comprehensive plans, tourism, state planning grants, school funding, regional opportunities and planning, tax policy, road and railroad crossing closings, county employee morale, county history and culture, road and bridge maintenance, finance and budgeting, septic and sewer systems, land deeds, zoning, re-zoning, special exceptions, organizational assessments, and the mission, functions and administrative responsibilities of elected and appointed officials, departments, boards, and commissioners.
Federal Civil Service – Over 35 years
In my civil service career, I worked for two civilian agencies and three organizations that fell under the Department of Defense. I appreciated the challenge and opportunities for improving my contributions knowledge, and capabilities. I served in a variety of technical, analytical, and professional roles that required additional education and training, including college courses, continuing education, and on-the-job training.
Areas of specialization included:
- Accounting and Financial Management
- Information and Computer Technology
- Quality Management, Operational Analysis
These various opportunities helped to develop insight into the respective systems and an understanding of how change in one area can affect others. Additional duties as assigned included serving as a project manager for the annual review of internal controls.
The intent of internal control policies is twofold: (1) To support the effective and efficient use of tax dollars and (2) to help prevent waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. Indiana – Internal Control Standards.
I participated in almost every major change management idea and program in my 35-year career, including Zero-based Budgeting, Quality Circles, Manage to Payroll, Total Quality Management, Corporate Information Management, Activity-Based Costing, Lean and Six Sigma, Business Process Reengineering, Reinventing Government, and Transformation. Many of these initiatives were treated as fads or a program de jure by the bureaucracy, but each one included good ideas, and it was always interesting to learn what worked and what did not. In addition to these programs and initiatives, I also experience hiring freezes, downsizing, right-sizing, contracting out, and contracting back in.
Legislation that I believe made positive contributions supported the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework, Government Performance and Results Act, and the Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act which requires an annual review of internal controls.
I specialized in quality management and taught courses part-time through Indiana University’s Division of Continuing Studies and conducted workshops through the public library. I was active in my local section of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and volunteered to support a variety of projects in the local community, including public schools and regional quality initiatives. I was an ASQ-certified quality auditor, and I authored a book on quality (Success Through Quality) that was published by ASQ.
- A free copy of my book is available at Success Through Quality. Copy of the book HERE.
In 2017, while a member of the County Redevelopment Commission (RDC), commissioners asked us to apply for Indiana’s Hometown Collaborative Initiative (HCI) grant. Our application was accepted, we recruited volunteers, and we participated in a series of training sessions.
The three options for selecting a capstone project included economics, leadership, and placemaking. Leadership was the unanimous choice. We initially chose a project on local foods which was not successful. The lack of a process and time commitment of volunteers identified the need for developing a foundation that would offer quality improvement methods and tools for supporting any type of project. This led to the creation of the Brown County Leader Network and included the development of a website and self-help support guide. Henry (Hank) Swain, a Brown County author and storyteller, once remarked that in Brown County, a good idea can take 8 years to be accepted. The BCLN may have a few more years to go.
Military Service
Over 31 years – Active and Reserve, Enlisted and Officer. Retired as a Colonel. Over 3.5 years on active duty after 9/11.
National Defense Service Medal – Family Tradition
I enlisted in the Army after high school and served from 1972-1974 as a team leader in the airborne infantry assigned to the 172nd Light Infantry Brigade (Arctic) in Alaska. After my service, I went to college on the G.I. Bill and acquired a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in public administration. I applied for and received a direct commission into the Indiana National Guard in 1982 and later transferred to the Army Reserve. I was branch-qualified in Infantry and Military Intelligence. I was selected for and graduated from the Army War College with a master’s in strategic studies. I retired at the rank of colonel in 2012.
NOTE: WMD Issue and Iraq. At the time of 9/11, there was national unity, trust and confidence in the government and intelligence community – civilian and military. Trust in these institutions may now be at all-time lows. In his article “Think Again: Intelligence,” Paul Pillar, a 28-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), commented, “If the intelligence community’s assessment pointed to any course of action, it was avoiding a war, not launching one.”
After 9/11, the strategic intelligence unit I lead, which specialized in Chemical Warfare (CW) assessments, was mobilized for two years in support of the Global War on Terror. Our teams worked 24/7, published daily situation reports, and published assessments, concluding that the CW-related reports we were receiving were not credible. As a result, based on our reporting, U.S. forces did not have to take any unnecessary risks to investigate a site that we concluded had a low probability of containing CW materials. In contrast, we also collaborated with a team that took a more traditional approach to supporting site exploitation based on historical knowledge and indicators.
Two movies that illustrate the challenges and consequences of intelligence reporting in support of the war in Iraq are
- The Green Zone – Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes a U.S. Army officer to go rogue as he hunts for weapons of mass destruction in an unstable region.
- Shock and Awe – A group of journalists of the Knight-Ridder news service covering President George W. Bush’s planned invasion of Iraq in 2003 are skeptical of the President’s claim that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction.
In addition to the two years, I extended another six months to finish work on a new system to improve the quality of intelligence production. My civilian-acquired experience helped me to quickly identify critical weaknesses in the design (small changes) that could be easily corrected. This new system was process-based and included audit trails. I coordinated the first project that validated proof of concept. The system was completed and shared through the intelligence community (better results).
I also had the opportunity to complete an assessment directed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. This was another opportunity where my civilian experience was instrumental in resolving a long-standing challenge (Small change, better results).
My last tour of duty was in South Korea. I served as the Chief, Intelligence Operations Division, U.S. 8th Army. I was recruited to help with transformation plans to include the transition of the 8th Army from an administrative headquarters to a warfighting command. This led to the need to support a successful argument for increasing intelligence capabilities and resources. The sinking of a South Korean Navy Ship by the North Koreans reinforced that the Korean War ended with an Armistice Agreement.
An additional project involved resolving a financial-related issue involving the Army, Joint Services Area, and U.S. Forces Korea. The combination of my quality management, accounting, and auditing experience and my security clearance resolved the situation to everyone’s satisfaction (Small change, better results).